Oasis

Where else to begin my Britpop odyssey than with the biggest Britpop band of them all?

Definitely Maybe (1994)

Oasis's first, and best, album is a veritable classic of Britpop and the 1990s. A heady and uplifting album with tales of rock 'n' roll dreams, youthful positivity, friendship and hedonism, this album is such a joy that you turn a blind eye to the many rip-offs and references to other songs and artists (especially The Beatles) throughout. This is proper rock'n' roll and was the moment when Britpop and British "indie" music crossed over fully into the mainstream, for better or worse.

Rating: 5/5

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

Eschewing the swirling rock sounds and guitar riffs of "Definitely Maybe" in favour of sing-a-long choruses, ballads and poppier and melodic songs, "Morning Glory" is a very good follow up, though let down by a couple of stinkers; 'Wonderwall' is an especially annoying song and still haunts me to this day due to its seemingly universal playing on TV/radio throughout the second half of the 1990s. The release of this album would make Oasis superstars and its more radio-friendly gentle indie rock sounds would become the template that many other Britpop bands would aspire to copy over the following years.

Rating: 4/5

Be Here Now (1997)

The hype ahead of this album was probably as big as I can remember for any album in my life; after lead single 'D'You Know What I Mean' was premiered, I remember Jo Whiley playing the song and its b-sides for most of an hour of her Radio 1 show that day. Sadly, the album didn't live up to the hype and Oasis's reputation and album sales in the UK would never really recover after the disappointment of this release.

The album itself is an overlong, self-indulgent mess, attempting (I assume) some sort of bigger, Led Zeppelin-esque sound. The songs however are not that great and the album seems terribly produced; the drumming is especially bad and watered down in the mix, not something you want on a "big" sounding album. Most of the songs also last way too long. This is also the moment at which the band's "dadrock" tendencies overtook the youthful exuberance and positivity of the previous two albums.

Rating: 2/5

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000)

After the attempted bombast of "Be Here Now", Oasis toned things down a bit on their fourth album. Back are the more anthemic songs, and even some attempts at experimentation; the trippy 'Who Feels Love' and industrial-sounding 'Gas Panic!' hint at attempts at trying something new. Sadly, the band wouldn't try anything out of their comfort zone again until their last album. The album also features 'Little James', Liam's first Oasis song, and a rather terrible one at that. It is essentially just a big, bad rip-off of 'Hey Jude'.

Rating: 3/5

Heathen Chemistry (2002)

Going back to a more straightforward rock sound, and featuring only six out of eleven songs written by Noel, Oasis's fifth album is something of a return to the dadrock of "Be Here Now", though it is enlivened by a couple of cracking singles, 'The Hindu Times' and 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' and one or two other decent songs. The rest is all fairly forgettable stuff, though it never gets as bad or overlong as most of "Be Here Now" was.

Rating: 2.5/5

Don't Believe the Truth (2005)

Oasis hit a new low on their sixth album, which features almost no good songs and snores along like the most mediocre dadrock imaginable; this is what "phoning it in" sounds like. The whole album is filled with all the worst things about Oasis; Liam's singing is terribly strained and unfocused, the sound is muddy retro rubbish and there's a whole bunch of plodding, mid-tempo, tuneless dirge which served the band as filler in the past, but here, is the main focus of the album. This is truly dreadful and is actually quite painful to listen to when you remember that this was the same band that made "Definitely Maybe".

Rating: 0.5/5

Dig Out Your Soul (2008)

On their last album, Oasis throw in a big mix of psychedelia, Indian sounds and, as had become their norm, some rather terrible dadrock. The album doesn't really flow that well, typical of the latter Oasis albums that weren't written entirely by Noel. Despite the return-to-form lead single 'The Shock of The Lightning', the album can be described as "patchy" at best. Still, at least they tried something a bit different on some of the songs and it's better than the woeful "Don't Believe The Truth". They at least went out on something of an upward curve.

Rating: 2/5