#3 OASIS - (WHAT'S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY? (1995)
It was just one of those odd moments. A beautiful day, and I was walking down the street listening to this album for the first time on my CD player, when I heard them sing: "Another sunny afternoon / walkin' to the sound of my favorite tune..." - and, in that final multiplication of weirdness, that song, Morning Glory, did soon after become one of my favorites as I fell hard for this incredible album.
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? is an expression of raw musical talent. The songs are loud, direct and unapologetic; the lyrics are ambiguous, but sung with real feeling. The tone shifts from the sunny Hey Now! and hard-driving, almost fierce Morning Glory to the more introspective Don't Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova, but even in its introspection, (What's the Story) is loud, direct and unapologetic. She's Electric, the only comical song (and pretty darn funny too), somehow doesn't break the mood.
Wonderwall, of course, is - Wonderwall. You could buy the album just for that song alone. When I think about it, though, I sometimes forget Wonderwall is even on here, the same way the rest of Talking Heads' Remain in Light shines seperately from Once in a Lifetime. Wonderwall in (What's the Story) is like the star on top of a Christmas Tree.
It's hard to compare Oasis with any other band from their era - at least, any other good one. Blur was more cerebral and affected, Suede was more sensual, and Morrissey's solo career was in transition. Whether or not Oasis was better than any of those acts is a matter of opinion, but their broad appeal certainly doesn't make them any worse, either. Personally I think they had something many of those other acts lacked, a kind of sincerity. There's something about that old-fashioned brand of rock - songs that just wear well, that bear listening over and over, chorus after ecstatic chorus. A soon to be classic, if it's not already.