Oasis
Definitely Maybe: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
★★★★★
BIG BROTHER RECORDINGS.
Definitely Maybe was the album that nearly never was. The generational touchstone – that’s two generations now thanks to Liam Gallagher’s army of Gen Z fans – was recorded twice unsuccessfully, before Johnny Marr’s engineer Owen Morris rescued the ailing project with a spectacular set of new mixes.
The 16 bonus tracks here tell the whole-ish story officially for the first time, through eight tracks from the ditched Monnow Valley sessions produced by David Batchelor (bright, clean but missing emotional heft and important guitar detail) and another seven from Sawmills studio, overseen by Noel and Oasis sound engineer Mark Coyle (raggedy-arsed, with multi-layered guitars that sound like a hornet stuck in a jam jar). Morris skilfully edited the latter tapes with much clever trickery, somehow enhancing the record’s peculiar melancholy – and, hey presto, a classic. A Coyle home demo of Sad Song, with Liam on vocals, completes a fascinating package.
Definitely Maybe: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is out now on Big Brother Recordings
LISTEN/BUY: Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon | Rough Trade | HMV
Tracklist:
CD1
Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (Remastered)
Shakermaker (Remastered)
Live Forever (Remastered)
Up In The Sky (Remastered)
Columbia (Remastered)
Supersonic (Remastered)
Bring It On Down (Remastered)
Cigarettes & Alcohol (Remastered)
Digsy’s Dinner (Remastered)
Slide Away (Remastered)
Married With Children (Remastered)
CD2
Rock 'n' Roll Star (Monnow Valley Version)
Shakermaker (Monnow Valley Version)
Live Forever (Monnow Valley Version)
Up In The Sky (Monnow Valley Version)
Columbia (Monnow Valley Version)
Bring It On Down (Monnow Valley Version)
Cigarettes & Alcohol (Monnow Valley Version)
Digsy's Dinner (Monnow Valley Version)
Rock 'n' Roll Star (Sawmills Outtake)
Up In The Sky (Sawmills Outtake)
Columbia (Sawmills Outtake)
Bring It On Down (Sawmills Outtake)
Cigarettes & Alcohol (Sawmills Outtake)
Digsy's Dinner (Sawmills Outtake)
Slide Away (Sawmills Outtake)
Sad Song (Mauldeth Road West Demo, Nov’ 92)
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Photo: Michel Linssen/Redferns