The Audio Mug: Oasis

By The Audio Mug | October 3, 2015

If Definitely Maybe was an unintentional concept album about wanting to be a rock & roll star, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? is what happens after the dreams come true. Oasis turns in a relatively introspective second record, filled with big, gorgeous ballads instead of ripping rockers. Unlike Definitely Maybe, the production on Morning Glory is varied enough to handle the range in emotions; instead of drowning everything with amplifiers turned up to 12, there are strings, keyboards, and harmonicas. This expanded production helps give Noel Gallagher’s sweeping melodies an emotional resonance that he occasionally can’t convey lyrically. However, that is far from a fatal flaw; Gallagher’s lyrics work best in fragments, where the images catch in your mind and grow, thanks to the music. Gallagher may be guilty of some borrowing, or even plagiarism, but he uses the familiar riffs as building blocks. This is where his genius lies: He’s a thief and doesn’t have many original thoughts, but as a pop/rock melodicist he’s pretty much without peer. Likewise, as musicians, Oasis are hardly innovators, yet they have a majestic grandeur in their sound that makes ballads like “Wonderwall” or rockers like “Some Might Say” positively transcendent. Alan White does add authority to the rhythm section, but the most noticeable change is in Liam Gallagher. His voice sneered throughout Definitely Maybe, but on Morning Glory his singing has become more textured and skillful. He gives the lyric in the raging title track a hint of regret, is sympathetic on “Wonderwall,” defiant on “Some Might Say,” and humorous on “She’s Electric,” a bawdy rewrite of “Digsy’s Diner.” It might not have the immediate impact of Definitely Maybe, but Morning Glory is just as exciting and compulsively listenable.

10. Guns N' Roses - 'Use Your Illusion 1 and 2' (1998)

These are technically two different albums, but since they were released on the same side they are widely seen as a double album. Even most hardcore Guns N' Roses fans admit that it's bloated and all over the place, but the high points ("November Rain," "Civil War," "You Could Be Mine" "Don't Cry") rank among the best work the band ever did. The original group split after a long tour supporting the disc, and Axl Rose has made it quite clear that he will never again share a stage with Slash. GNR are eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, so the world will finally be able to call his bluff.

9. The Smashing Pumpkins - 'Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness'(1995)

It's been the great debate amongst depressed teenagers for over 15 years: What's the better Smashing Pumpkins album, Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness? Rolling Stone readers went with the former by a handful of votes. Mellon Collie does contain more classics, including "Tonight, Tonight," "1979," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Zero." It was also the last disc with the classic line-up of Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin and D'arcy Wretzky. Judging by Wretzky's recent mug shot and Corgan's recent statements, they'll almost certainly never come together again.

8. Metallica - 'Metallica (The Black Album)'(1991)

Metallica's army of hardcore fans found their 1991 self-titled disc to be a betrayal. Metal bands weren't supposed to score huge radio hits, or wind up playing stadiums alongside Guns N' Roses. They also weren't supposed to write songs as catchy as "Enter Sandman" or as gentle as "Nothing Else Matters." They may have lost some stubborn, old fans with The Black Album – but they more than made up for it by bringing in a whole generation of new ones. Twenty years later they're still one of the biggest bands in the world, and The Black Album remains their best selling disc.

7. The Smashing Pumpkins - 'Siamese Dream'(1993)

In late 1993 the Smashing Pumpkins were an inescapable presence on MTV, with their videos for "Disarm" and "Today" playing around the clock. The two massive hits made them one of the most popular groups of the exploding alternative music scene. But relations in the band were tense before the disc even came out. Bassist D'arcy Wretzky and guitarist James Iha complained that frontman Billy Corgan had overdubbed their work on the disc, and that he wasn't open to their input. The band continued through 2000 before massive internal problems split them apart. Today Corgan tours with a new line-up of the band.

6. Oasis - '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' (1995)

It's difficult to overstate just how massive Oasis were in England after the release of their second LP (What's The Story) Morning Glory. No band since The Beatles had hit that big, and copies sold as quickly as they could be printed. When everything calmed down it was the third-best-selling album in the history of England, bested only by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band and Queen's Greatest Hits. They were also pretty popular in America, scoring huge radio hits with "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova." Unsurprisingly, the whole thing went to their heads and their follow-up LP, Be Here Now, was a disaster.

5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' (1991)

Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the fifth studio album by Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Rick Rubin, it was the band's first record released on Warner Bros. Records. Peaking at number three on the Billboard 200, the album has sold over seventeen million copies worldwide and was the Red Hot Chili Peppers' introduction into worldwide popularity and critical acclaim. Blood Sugar Sex Magik produced an array of hit singles including the hugely successful "Under the Bridge", "Give It Away", "Suck My Kiss" and "Breaking the Girl"

4. Alice In Chains - 'Dirt' (1992)

Dirt is the second studio album by Alice in Chains and was released on September 29, 1992, through Columbia Records. Peaking at number six on the Billboard 200, the album was well received by music critics and has since been certified four-times platinum by the RIAA, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole". The songs on the album focused on depression, anger, drug use, war, death, and other emotionally heavy topics.

3. Pearl Jam - 'Ten' (1991)

Weeks before Nevermind hit shelves in September 1991 Pearl Jam released Ten. Videos for "Jeremy," "Even Flow" and "Alive" were soon in constant rotation on MTV, and Kurt Cobain wasn't thrilled about the competition. In 1992 he said that Pearl Jam were "pioneering a corporate, alternative and cock-rock fusion." The two camps eventually made peace. "I don't think he ever really figured out the band," Vedder told Rolling Stone in 2006. "However, I think that if he had survived, I think he would have gotten it. Now, mind me, those are big words, but I really think it's true."

2. Radiohead - 'OK Computer'(1997)

It's almost impossible to imagine now, but before Radiohead released OK Computer in June of 1997 the band was seen by many as a one-hit wonder. Their second LP The Bends didn't have a hit anywhere near the size of "Creep," off their 1992 debut Pablo Honey, and the American tour behind it featured many dates opening up for Alanis Morissette. OK Computer changed all that, though it did take a few months to find a mass audience. Fourteen years later Radiohead remains one of the biggest names in music, even if a vocal minority of fans feel that they peaked with OK Computer.

1. Nirvana - 'Nevermind' (1991)

Nobody should be surprised that Nirvana's Nevermind was the clear winner. Released in September of 1991, it famously knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the charts and sent shockwaves through the industry. Its effect has been slightly exaggerated over the years, but it did send label executives scurrying to sign soundalikes. Nirvana would only release one more studio album, 1993's In Utero, before Kurt Cobain's suicide ended the group.

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