Flynndie Reviews: #47 Oasis - Definitely Maybe (Re-mastered)

Written 20th May 2014

Oasis – Definitely Maybe (Re-mastered)

The Band: Liam Gallagher (lead vocals), Noel Gallagher (lead guitar/backing vocals), Paul 'Bonehead' Authurs (rhythm guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass), Tony McCarroll (drums)

“It’s about getting a bottle of cider with your mates, sticking on a Beatles album, talking shite, puking up, meeting strange girls and maybe having sex.  It’s about escaping.” – Noel Gallagher, 1994

This week saw the release of a re-mastered, deluxe edition of the seminal Oasis record ‘Definitely Maybe’ to mark the 20th anniversary of the Manchester band’s debut album.  The deluxe edition features a rather smart, hard-bound booklet with some great early images of the band in their prime younger days and features the 3-disc collection:

Disc 1 – Definitely Maybe (re-mastered)

Disc 2 – Definitely Maybe singles b-sides
Disc 3 – Live tracks and demos

Definitely Maybe

1. Rock ‘n’ Roll Star

2. Shakermaker
3. Live Forever
4. Up in the Sky
5. Columbia
6. Supersonic
7. Bring It On Down
8. Cigarettes & Alcohol
9. Digsy’s Dinner
10. Slide Away
11. Married with Children

As soon as the opening guitar solo of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ hits, you instantly realise that this album still remains a timeless classic and sounds as great now as it did back in ’94.  Liam in the past has suggested that this opening track is “the most arrogant song ever; to be playing that in-front of two people in The Boardwalk, those were the days” and he makes no bones about it as he sneers “Toniiiiight, I’m a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”.  ‘Shakermaker’ was a much more stripped-down, psychedelic number for early Oasis laced with trippy lines “Mr Sifter sells me songs when I was just sixteen/Now he stops at traffic lights but only when they're green”.

However it’s third track and third single ‘Live Forever’ which made people sit up and take notice that there was something special about this cocky, swaggering 5-piece from Manchester as despite being so early in his musical career Noel penned a modern masterpiece with one of Liam’s best early vocals and without question this track remains a timeless classic.  With an upbeat, buzzing riff ‘Up in the Sky’ sees Oasis at their effortless-cool here, calling the shots as they see it while sticking two-fingers up to the authority figures of the establishment “You need assistance with the things that you have never ever seen/It’s just a case of never breathing out before you breath it in” before ‘Columbia’ takes us on Noel’s over-indulgent, acid-trip through guitar-heavy psychedelia and sees Liam remaining on snarling, nasal over-drive with this no-nonsense raw track. 

It’s perhaps midway through the album when Oasis unearthed their jewel in the crown, with a firm live and fan-favourite ‘Supersonic’ still riding high on the crest of a wave of alcohol and drugs and the opening one line that immediately summed up what the band were all about “I need to be myself/I can’t be no-one else!”  Simple but never more directly to the point.  ‘Bring It On Down’ saw the band at their most raw expansive sound on the record with thunderous drumming and driven, duelling guitars from Noel and Bonehead like there was no tomorrow, before we had the cool, free-for-all that was ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ which smartly “borrowed” the main guitar-riff from T-Rex’s ‘Get It On’ and became another famous anthem for the band with many imitating Liam’s infamous “You could wait for a lifetime/To spend your days in the sunshiiiiiine” vocals.

‘Digsy’s Dinner’ was another jolly, upbeat number featuring some of Noel’s more funny and light-hearted lyrics “What a life it would be/If you could come to mine for tea/I’ll pick you up at half-past three/We’ll have lasaaaange”, before we had the brilliant and tender rare early Oasis ballad in the form of ‘Slide Away’ another triumphant moment on the record: “Slide Away/And give it all you’ve got/You’re mine today/Fell in from the top/I dream of you and all the things you say/But I wonder where you are now?”  Beautiful.  ‘Married with Children’ closed the album and was initially considered to be a throw-away tongue-in-cheek track but there is still no question that this is actually a good song and showed the stripped-down more charming-side of Oasis buried under their fierce rock ‘n’ roll armoury.

Disc 2 of this package featuring the b-sides of the Definitely Maybe singles is where this collection unearths some real Oasis gems.  Early demo’s such as ‘I Will Believe’ and ‘Alive’ show the band at their early effortless raw live sound, while acoustic numbers ‘Sad Song’, ‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’ and ‘Half the World Away’ showed subtle hints of what were bigger things to come from Noel while armed with an acoustic guitar.  Throw in tracks such as the baggy ‘Cloudburst’ to the more instant rock ‘n’ roll ‘Fade Away’ and ‘(It’s Good) To Be Free’, then the simply brilliant ‘Listen Up’ and it’s staggering to think Noel was simply pissing-out these tracks with such ease yet only deeming them good enough as b-sides at the time!  Finally throw in a third disc featuring some early rare, no-nonsense live performances when Oasis were truly hungry for it to fully round of this collection and this all adds to a great little nostalgic package of the sound of ‘94 and which in my opinion is still an essential collection for any discerning, die-hard Oasis fan of today.  

Feeling Supersonic

Flynny

Track 1 ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ live from Southend Pavilion 17/04/1995

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G667xH7euIY       

Track 6 ‘Supersonic’ – Oasis TV debut live for The Word 18/03/1994

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Z-WRuQe2w     

Bonus Track ‘Sad Song’ live from Southend Pavilion 17/04/1995

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFTpc57DrCE

Band website:

http://www.oasisinet.com         

Flynndie Reviews: #38 Parlour Flames - Parlour Flames

Written 21st May 2013:

Parlour Flames – Parlour Flames

The Band: Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (guitars, keyboards, organs, e-bow, backing vocals), Alan ‘Vinny Peculiar’ Wilkes (lead & backing vocals, guitars, piano), Ollie Collins (bass), Che Beresford (drums)

So today’s review sees the release of the eponymous debut album from the Manchester-based 2-piece Parlour Flames (@ParlourFlames if you wish to follow the band on Twitter).   Formed primarily of Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (Yes him who used to play guitar in Oasis!) and singer, song-writer, poet Alan Wilkes, who performs under the alias Vinny Peculiar, the band this week release their 10-track debut on Cherry Red records.  So let’s cut to the chase and find out what the band and record are all about. 

Parlour Flames

1.     Manchester Rain
2.     Sunday Afternoon
3.     Get in the Van
4.     Never Heard of You
5.     I’m in a Band
6.     Lonely Girls & Horses
7.     Jump the Brook Ruth
8.     Pop Music, Football & Girls
9.     Broken Hearted Existentialist
10.  Too Soon the Darkness

‘Manchester Rain’ opens the record and sets the album’s tone well with a distinctly psychedelic guitar solo, which runs through the heart of the track before we first hear Vinny’s gentle, softly-sung vocals on the album, with poetic-style lyrics which are a main feature throughout the record, the chorus featuring the line “All the fields are brown/And the buildings are grey/In the North of England/On a winters days”.  The track coasts along nicely and features spoken-word vocals from Bonehead towards the second half it.  ‘Sunday Afternoon’ follows and is a gentle, charming laid-back song for the listener, with acoustic guitars cleverly interspersed with soothing brass sections.  The track is quite subtle overall, with a steady blend of instruments throughout including a nice piece on the flute, to add to the calm, carefree nature of the track that Vinny’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics depict.  

Third track ‘Get in the Van’ initially sees a percussion-driven track backed with swirling acoustic and electric guitars.  This is again quite another psychedelic track with a subtle baggy Manchester feel to it, before Vinny’s repeated, trippy lines of “Get in the Van/Get in the Van” midway through it.  ‘Never Heard of You’ is a slow, downbeat piano ballad the main focus of which are the lyrics depicting the song’s individual’s tale of reflecting on former glories of once being in a successful band “Hey did I tell you I was on Top of the Pops/I met Ruby Flipper and Sam Fox” being just one of a few poignant, cheeky lines featured in a slow yet captivating track, melodically closing with backing e-bow.  ‘I’m in a Band’ continues the piano lead tracks on the album at this point and is almost a ‘part-two’ to the previous track, opening initially with slow individual piano notes played between Vinny’s lyrics, before the track gathers a little more momentum, with a gentle acoustic folk melody helping to build up the track accompanied with gentle electric guitar solos and flute, it’s a very serene track.

‘Lonely Girls & Horses’ is a bit more of an uplifting track and much like earlier track ‘Sunday Afternoon’ shares a cheeky jolly melody again backed with brass trumpets which really adds depth to it, while playfully closing with tinkering piano notes.  ‘Jump the Brook Ruth’ has much more of a scuzzy guitar edge to it.  It’s another track on the record with quite a baggy feel about it, with Vinny occasionally backing with the track’s title “Jump the Brook Ruth” before the repeated psychedelic line midway through the song “What an evil little boy”. Also listen out very carefully for rare vocals from Bonehead on this track!  Next up we have ‘Pop Music, Football and Girls’, which was actually the first track I heard by the band.  What we have here is quite literally a delightful Indie-pop track, again with gentle flowing guitars, understated piano notes and whimsical lines “Pop music, football and girls/Nothing else matters in this world/Decent tunes and the beautiful game/A night on the town with Jenny and Jane”.  It’s another track on the record that captures this cheeky yet charming side of what the band are about.

Penultimate track ‘Broken Hearted Existentialist’ (try saying that after a few beers!), opens with a low-key, gentle electric guitar riff.  The track has a real spaced-out, distant vibe to it and is arguably the most trippy track on the record with even the surreal line “Existentialist, what does that mean?” subtly thrown in there; this track reminds me very much of the sound of The Beatles on Revolver.  The album closes with ‘Too Soon the Darkness’ another calm, tranquil, understated track, lyrically poignant and quite bleak, it appears a very personal track and comes across as such and is somewhat of a ballad to close the album with.

So in closing, this is a very nice debut album from Parlour Flames.  If you are expecting a rocky, early-Oasis sounding album because of the connection with Bonehead, you will be way off the mark!  What we have here are a collection, of gentle, understated melodies with some nice Indie-pop tracks throughout capturing a gentlemanly Englishness to the record as a whole, especially with the cheeky tongue-in-cheek lyrics featured throughout.  This is clearly an album with a lot of thought and care poured into it and as such takes a few listens to fully appreciate.  I’m going to award this one 7 Sunday Afternoon’s out of 10, for what is essentially an easy-listening, chilled-out record from the Manchester duo.

Pop Music, Football and Reviews

Flynny

Track 1 ‘Manchester Rain’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-z00w-v7M   

Track 8 ‘Pop Music, Football and Girls’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdEkXqIsS3c

Band website:

http://www.parlourflames.com/