In 1995, US airwaves were suffocating from lethal doses of Grunge, tuneless Alternative and Gangsta Rap. Then, late in the year, something wonderful happened-- another British Invasion!! Suddenly, airwaves rang with the friendly British accents of Oasis, Blur, Cast and Pulp who, unlike their Grunge/Alternative counterparts, could actually sing and play their instruments well. More importantly, these guys wrote killer songs with unforgetable hooks. In an eerie coincidence, at the very same time, yet another wave of Beatlemania swept America in wake of the Anthology TV series and the single "Free as a Bird". Seemingly every Fall issue of every music magazine featured the Fab Four on its cover. Inevitably, those same magazines all ran the obligatory story touting Oasis, Blur, etc. as heir-aparents to the Beatles throne. Of course, no one dethroned the Beatles, but what did happen was that "Morning Glory" dominated US radio like no album had in recent years. You couldn't go anywhere in Fall 1995 without hearing Liam's wonderfully nasal drone on mega hits "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova".

Oasis' songs are straight out of the classic British Rock mold. While Liam and Noel always cite the Beatles as influence numero uno, one can easily hear echoes of Mott the Hoople, the Stones and T-Rex. Oasis isn't afraid to make their influences obvious. "Wonderwall", the album's most grandiose and arguably best song, is the title of George Harrison's first solo album. The haunting "Don't Look Back in Anger" opens with a piano bit which is eerily reminiscent of John Lennon's "Imagine". The intro of the bouncy "She's Electric" unashamedly quotes the Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic". (The catchiest song on the CD, "She's Electric" should've been released as a single.) While many have criticized Oasis for borrowing from classic songs, I believe they, more than any other band, understand the importance of preserving the artform of pure rock-n-roll. Oasis is not attempting to break new ground. They are merely carrying on in the tradition of their rockin' forefathers. On "Morning Glory" Oasis nailed it perfectly. The songs are a tuneful marriage of styles both old and new-- a style which emerges, ironically, as Oasis' own. I doubt that Oasis will ever top "Morning Glory". That's not a putdown, it's merely confirmation of this album's greatness. Very few bands have ever released a bonafide classic which will live on eternally. When all is said and done, "Morning Glory" will earn its proper resting place among the likes of "Revolver", "Pet Sounds", "Who's Next", "What's Goin' On", "Parklife" and a select few others residing in the rarified air of Rock's Kingdom.


Tasty Britpop   May 9, 2004
 57 out of 69 found this review helpful

Despite Oasis' big claim to be a much better band than The Beatles (lead singer Liam Gallagher even went as far to verbally attack George Harrison in an interview), as well as proclaiming to be the best band in the world, they have made some excellent, tasty music that's hard not to love. If you can ignore most of the embarrassing (and often laugh-out-loud hilarious) behavior attached to the band's mystique, you may just enjoy their music, too.

_(What's The Story) Morning Glory?_ is a non-stop train of tasty, ear-pleasing rock candy, with that, add in a little bit of swaggering attitude, and you have Oasis' niche. Songwriter (and sometimes, singer) Noel Gallagher has an excellent ear for melody.. even if most of his musings seem to be, more or less, stolen from The Beatles and their British Invasion contemporaries. If you're a music lover who is lamenting the lack of Britpop/British Invasion spin-offs in the popular music pantheon these days, or if you just want some loud, good-old fashioned rock n' roll, look into this album, and some of Oasis' other offerings. That's basically it for this review.


Oasis = unapologetic Beatles rip offs   October 7, 2005
 15 out of 39 found this review helpful

and poor ones at that.

With Oasis albums, all one has to do is just hum a Beatles tune and guarantee it matches the melody of Oasis's "songs."

It's one thing to pay tribute to a band but it's quite another to blatantly rip them off, and then have the gall to badmouth one of the greatest guitar players in music history! (The late George Harrison had more talent in his pubic hair than Liam or Noel Gallagher have in their entire bodies combined...and then some.)

The brothers Gallagher obviously never heard of the saying that "you can imitate but never duplicate." If it were legally possible for them to just put their name to the Beatles catalogue, they would have done it long ago without thinking about it.

These little boys apparently have zero concept of the word "originality."

But the saddest part of all is that people actually gush over these losers as if they're original or something special. Maybe it would be too much work to listen to the people who gave Oasis their careers - that would be The Beatles.

Liam Gallagher in his wildest dreams will NEVER reach the height of creativity - drugged up or straight - that Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr did. He can make the asinine claim that Oasis are greater than The Beatles but time always gets the last laugh (let's see if Oasis has the vast cultural influence the Fab Four did back in the 60's - an influence that continues to this day. As it stands now, they have TONS of catching up to do).

If it weren't for the constant tabloid reports on Liam's latest fight with his brother Noel (and everyone else) or his sexual exploits, people would have forgotten them (like they should have been) long ago.

Keep smoking whatever it is you're toting, Liam, because your little group is nothing but yet another glorified, overexposed garage band.


Totally Unacceptable   March 17, 2004
 14 out of 32 found this review helpful

It must be really easy to land a major label record deal if you have a British band. The rock critics can never get enough of British Invasion pop rock. The good reviews a British band gets is bound to boost record sales. That seems to be the case with Oasis.
Oasis is another band in a long line of Brit-pop corporate rock bands. There is nothing special or original about their imitation of the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
"(What's the story) Morning Glory" sounds like a phrase that comes straight from the sixties. It's also an incredibly cheesy sounding phrase.
The album is filled with terrible ballads. The singer's voice is easily the worst part of the music. It's one of those annoying voices that you would be able to hear over a talking crowd in a restaurant. When he whines it becomes unbearable. The lyrics have been done a thousand times before.
In some songs they copy riffs off other artist like T. Rex and Wham. They mask it with a little alternative style distortion so it's not so obvious.
Oasis was big on rock radio when alternative reached its peak in 1995. Oasis was where alternative rock bottomed out. It's really hard to believe this album was acceptable, even in the mainstream.


I used to hate Oasis. But I was wrong. (a rare concession)   September 5, 2004
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I used to hate Oasis. Back in '95, I despised them. They were posers, they were ripping off the Beatles, they were snot rock. I found a copy of "What's the Story (Morning Glory)?" in one of my friend's cars, shook my head at it and, to parrot what I thought was an utterly brain-damaged rhyme sighed, "Pretty shi**y (little kitty)."

About a month later I was hanging out watching TV at that same friend's apartment. We had the sound turned down on MTV and the closed captions were on and "Champagne Supernova" came on. I watched the lyrics ("How many special people change? How many lives are living strange?") and began to cackle. "We have to hear this crap," I said, and turned it up.

But what I heard when I cranked up the volume was not just a damn good song, but also a song I already knew from the radio, a song I'd heard and liked and was actually trying to figure out the name of. I had, without my own knowledge, become an Oasis fan. Before I left, I ended up copying the entire album.

Of course, now, nearly 10 years later, "Morning Glory" is a rightfully established classic album. Oasis went on and kind of became something else and it's too bad they couldn't sustain this level of quality and energy, but at least they produced one of those rare albums on which practically every song is a perfect, rock-radio gem. "Morning Glory" is yet another one of those I listen to for long stretches of time and put away but eventually come back to. Sometimes I only want to hear "Wonderwall," sometimes "Roll with It," sometimes "Don't Look Back" or "Cast No Shadow." Currrently, I'm re-grooving on the whole record because I recently watched the excellent Brit-pop documentary "Live Forever" and it got me back into it.

Another friend recently revisited me yesterday afternoon while I was cranking the title track and said, "Damn, remember when you used to hate these guys?" I do, but it was a long time ago.