Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Definitely Maybe manages to encapsulate much of the best of British rock & roll — from the Beatles to the Stone Roses — in the space of 11 songs. Their sound is louder and more guitar-oriented than any British band since the Sex Pistols, and the band are blessed with the excellent songwriting of Noel Gallagher. Gallagher writes perfect pop songs, offering a platform for his brother Liam's brash, snarling vocals. Not only does the band have melodies, but they have the capability to work a groove with more dexterity than most post-punk groups. But what makes Definitely Maybe so intoxicating is that it already resembles a greatest-hits album. From the swirling rush of "Rock 'n' Roll Star," through the sinewy "Shakermaker," to the heartbreaking "Live Forever," each song sounds like an instant classic.

Barney Hoskyns, Amazon.com

With the swaggering chords of the opening "Rock'N'Roll Star," Oasis announced that big, brash Brit rock was here to stay--at least for a few years. They wore their rock & roll with an angry young sneer, a Mancunian petulance wedded to a vision of cathartic release. Their supersonic two-guitar attack took them "Up in the Sky," where they would "Live Forever" or burn out in a blaze of alcoholic glory. Noel Gallagher's songs weren't subtle--or shy of overt plagiarism--but, spat out in the Lennonesque snarl of little brother Liam, they took on a venomous power that had millions of young Brits taking them at their own arrogant word. In the U.S., meanwhile, the response was more Maybe than Definitely.

Everett True, Amazon.co.uk

So this is where it all began. This is where Noel Gallagher first realised his vision of a band that matched the swagger of the Stone Roses to the harmonic thrill of the Beatles. It is difficult to resist this album, despite the obvious flaws. (It plods. The production is too heavy-handed. "Shakermaker" borrows its melody from a soft drink commercial.) There is such a passion, such self-belief in these tracks, such a refusal to be overwhelmed by the odds. "Cigarettes And Alcohol" virtually defined a generation. "Supersonic" still sends a pure adrenaline rush through the listener, despite the cack-handed lyrics. "Live Forever", meanwhile, is simply fantastic--still Oasis's finest moment. Singles aside, there are so many other gems to discover; from the classy "Up In The Sky" to the acoustic ballad "Married With Children" to the chirpy "Digsy's Diner". On this classic album--and its even finer follow-up (What's The Story) Morning Glory--Oasis still had a real naiveté to their sound, one that they subsequently lost.

Oasis: Liam Gallagher (vocals); Noel Gallagher (guitar, background vocals); Paul Arthurs (guitar); Paul McGuigan (bass); Tony McCarroll (drums). Additional personnel: Anthony Griffiths (background vocals). Producers: Oasis, Mark Coyle, Dave Batchelor. Engineers include: Anjali Dutt, Dave Scott, Roy Spong.

In 1967, Roger McGuinn laid down the blueprint for rock immortality in The Byrds' "So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star." The process, according to McGuinn, was an arduous one, involving taking "some time," learning "how to play," and generally accepting the prolonged pace at which stardom is achieved. Nearly two decades later, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher turns that road-tested advice onto its proverbial head. "In my mind my dreams are real," he exudes during DEFINITELY MAYBE's opening track. "Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star." This is not a newcomer's brash, hollow hype; it's a statement of arrogant confidence. Much of DEFINITELY MAYBE, written with tons of '60's Brit-pop appreciation by guitarist Noel Gallagher, reflects the band's poses. The songs are about what they like ("Cigarettes & Alcohol"), who they want to be ("Rock 'n' Roll Star," "Live Forever"), and what they want to avoid becoming ("Married With Children"); and they defy turning into typical rock star cliches only through sheer will, as well as simultaneously pretty and edgy guitars. DEFINITELY MAYBE makes it supremely obvious that Oasis have studied the lessons of the English rock aristocracy--drawing on influences as superficially disparate as the Beatles, T. Rex and the Buzzcocks--and have learned them well. Nevertheless, it'll take some time to see whether or not the Gallaghers have rendered Roger McGuinn's blueprint anachronistic; DEFINITELY MAYBE confirms that they do begin with a more complete package than most.

Steve McGuirl, CMJ New Music Report

Signed to Creation after its first out-of-town gig, crass as hell (one of its singles, "Shakermaker," lifts the melody from "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing"), and continuing a line of brawling musical siblings that includes the Everly Brothers and Ray and Dave Davies, Oasis is the latest English band to emerge "from out of nowhere," surrounded by media hype that sometimes unfortunately threatens to eclipse the quality of its music. Oasis occupies a strange uncharted niche where boogie, glam and neo-psychedelia unapologetically mix-imagine a combination of the Faces, T Rex and the Stone Roses without the unsure retro kowtowing of, say, Primal Scream, and you're on the right track. Liam Gallagher's vocals may turn a few people off (he's obnoxious, sure, but he makes that work), but the hooks are exceptionally well-crafted and most of these tunes manage to get under your skin immediately. "Live Forever" and "Married With Children" are ballads that most bands this young just could not pull off; "Rock `N' Roll Star" musically and lyrically recalls Ziggy-era Bowie ("You're not down with who I am, but look at you now, you're in my hands tonight"). But Oasis' confidence and earnestness, ultimately its most valuable assets, gets the band through shaky territory unscathed. Definitely worth checking out: "Slide Away," "Up In The Sky" and "Supersonic."

Troy Carpenter, Nude As The News

This brash blast of defiant British rock sprang forth from Manchester in 1994, reaffirming rock and roll's identification with the common man, and the salvation at the heart of a pop melody. Though Definitely Maybe's 11 songs don't add any new colors to the rock and roll pallette, they do paint some pretty pictures with the ones already kickin' around.

Noel Gallagher cut his teeth as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, while he studied the rock guitar a la Stones, Stone Roses, Nirvana and Beatles. When he returned home from a U.S. tour, and found his kid brother Liam had a powerful set of pipes and a passable backing band already assembled, Noel agreed to join the band as long as he could write all the songs and have complete control: Oasis was born.

Their debut's opening track, "Rock And Roll Star", is all that is righteous about being in a band -- a swirling wall of guitars (rhythm guitarist Paul Bonehead Arthurs keeps the simple progression in place, Noel leads the brash melody) behind Liam's exalted sneering: "In my mind my dreams are real / I know you're concerned about the way I feel / Tonight, I'm a rock and roll star!!" It's not all that original, but it sure feels good.

Song after song keeps that classic feel, with simple but memorable tunefulness (in some cases, because Noel would rather nick an already-proven-to-rock riff than come up with his own) and a fistful of U.K. attitude. The raucous "Cigarettes & Alcohol" is a T.Rex rave-up about the Gallagher brothers' dearest chemical pastimes (you could wait for a lifetime / to spend your days in the sunshine / might as well do the white line"). But "Live Forever" is a luminscent example of Noel's irresistably melodic songwriting and Liam's knack for singing that can turn vapid, idealist lyrics into an inspiring celebration of life's possibilities.

"Slide Away" is the album's hidden gem, a six-minute-plus opus whose melancholy progression makes it seem like the band is playing from the top of a high hill in England, singing into the overcast skies. Liam's choral couplet is one of his best: "Now that you're mine, we'll find a way of chasing the sun / let me be the one who shines with you, and we can slide away". Noel's guitar line slides off into the distance in the song's fade-out, giving way to the album's last track, the acoustic toss-off "Married With Children".

But the true beauty of Definitely Maybe is in its innocence -- the music hadn't worn itself out yet, and there was still room in an Oasis-less world for the concept of melody and attitude winning over originality.

The band's immense popularity in England has spawned legions of copy-cats, and since Oasis itself was already swimming in imitation, there is a tendency to resent the Gallaghers for their permeation of pop culture. But on Definitely Maybe, the presentation is fresh, honest, and slightly dirty -- pure rock and roll.

Stuart Maconie, Q Magazine, October 2000

The rush to canonise Oasis would make Cardinal Basil Hulme curl his lip with cynicism. They're manna from heaven in a slow newspaper week: boorish, Northern, easily patronised, fluent in the quotable obscenity. Don't be put off: Definitely Maybe is an outrageously exciting rock/pop album. The saleable sibling hatred of Noel (guitars/tunes) and Liam (vocals/words) Gallagher obscures their collective gift: superheated, brazen guitar married to wonderfully daft and striking lyrics delivered with guttersnipe self-possession A rutting mess of glam, punk and psychedelia, you've heard it all before of course (Beatles, Pistols, Hollies, Stooges, T.Rex, The Clash) but not since The Stone Roses debut have a young Lancastrian group carried themselves with such vigour and insouciance. A riot.

Paul Corio, RollingStone, issue 698/699

Not since the smiths has an Anglo act shaken significant Stateside action. And that's a shame. For while the current cadre is more defiantly British (e.g., insular, cocky, ornamental) than ever, they're also keenly fab.

The countless Yanks who never grokked the giddy theatrics of glam will find Dog Man Star revolting. But for jean genies who cream over Bowie's Aladdin Sane, it's very nearly the Second Coming. Madly making like David, London Suede's Brett Anderson emotes ecstatically, and Bernard Butler lays down lustrous doom guitar. Rushing, with splendid haircuts, to the apocalypse, these brass-knuckled poseurs pause even so to mourn for Jimmy Dean ("Daddy's Speeding"), to rip off Byron and to evoke Marilyn ("Heroine"). Smashing or what?

Suede's ultrarivals Blur are a sunnier lot. And for Suede's wondrous moody drone, this crew exchanges crazed stylistic variety. Songs echoing '80s synth pop ("Girls and Boys"), Ray Davies ("Tracy Jacks") as well as the Walker Brothers and even music-hall sing-alongs make Parklife a carny ride through the theme park of classic Brit pop. Teen-dream cute and insufferably gifted, they're prime fodder for idolatry.

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher – whom the UK press, pissing off hippies, has compared to Lennon (a fate that, American style, befell Cobain) – has God-given cool. And with his brother Noel supplying him with sumptuous rockers (their echoing production recalls the Beatles' Revolver), it's easy to see why this quintet is next year's model. Heavier on guitar than Blur or Suede, they're the simpler, catchier outfit. And with youth's blithe arrogance, they see the world solely in black and white: "Rock 'n' Roll Star" (cool), "Married With Children" (cool's antithesis).

© Frank Steven Groen