The Rise of Oasis
The rise of Oasis on the British scene was part nostalgia, part tabloid, and – as is usually the case with album’s that take on iconic status – part timing. They are accused of ripping off the Beatles. The Gallagher brothers (singer Liam and guitarist Noel) were called “tossers, wankers” TL because they “spent the ‘90s getting arrested, yelling at each other and warring with Blur’s Damon Albarn over the very important matter of which band was Britain’s best.” TL
Detractors argue that it wasn’t talent that made the band big, but their luck in being at the right place at the right time. Regarding the album’s lyrics, Q magazine said, “They say nothing much about anything.” IN Melody Maker called them “a limited band” who sounded “labored and lazy.” IN FasterLouder’s Max Easton says (What’s the Story) Morning Glory’s “lasting place in ‘90s folklore is less about the quality of the album and more about the celebrity status and faux imagery attached to it.” WK It is an album “full of anthems for the sake of anthems” and that “they’re all variations on only a couple of good ideas.” WK
This is all part of the story behind what ranks as one of the most celebrated albums of all time.
The Pinnacle of Britpop
In the late ‘80s, the UK experienced a “retro-rock renaissance” PF with more guitar-driven bands like the Stone Roses and the La’s. The “Britpop movement” also fit nicely into the American transition from more indie-oriented college rock to the wider audience of ‘90s alternative. At the same time, Britpop separated itself from grunge. When Oasis arrived in 1994 with Definitely Maybe it was a mix of “60s psychedelia, ‘70s glam and punk, Madchester groove.” PF “They cut through the self-loathing that grunge had brought to rock. They were not ironic, they were not trying to reinvent rock & roll.” CM It became the UK’s fastest-selling debut ever. SG
By the time of sophomore effort, Morning Glory, Oasis had become the major player of the Britpop movement. Despite all the expectations, the album has come to be regarded as the “quintessential Britpop masterpiece,” RS “the epicenter of Britpop.” RD
It was a “significant record in the timeline of British indie music,” WK selling a record-breaking 347,000 copies in its debut sales week. WK The day after the album’s release, central London HMV stores were selling copies at a rate of two albums per minute, WK making it the second fastest-selling album in British history, only behind Michael Jackson’s Bad. IN The album was in the top three on the UK charts for “an astonishing seven months.” WK It went on to become the UK’s best-selling album of the 1990s WK and the third best-selling album in British history WK (behind the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Queen’s Greatest Hits). RS On a global scale, it “propelled Oasis from being a crossover indie act to a worldwide rock phenomenon.” WK The album is “one of the most important British records since A Hard Day’s Night,” CM “defining a time and place more absolutely than any other UK album released since.” RD
Beatles Ripoffs?
Oasis have been plagued by accusations of “ripping off The Beatles (ok, excellent stealing).” ZS They may be “guilty of some borrowing, or even plagiarism, but [Noel] uses the familiar riffs as building blocks. This is where his genius lies: He’s a thief and doesn’t have many original thoughts, but as a pop/rock melodicist he’s pretty much without peer.” AM “The nagging familiarity of the material and the group’s stroppy self-confidence made criticism redundant.” PR
“Oasis are hardly innovators” AM but “this powerhouse sophomore album rocks, end of story.” ZS “They have a majestic grandeur in their sound that makes ballads…or rockers…positively transcendent.” AM Their “songs are flat-out infectious with melodies that capture their passion, sneering arrogance and good chops.” ZS Liam’s “voice is a no-frills vessel for carrying a tune;” TL he shows a knack for “turn[ing] each song into a sing-a-long.” TL Oasis “came as close as anyone to combining the tunefulness of the Beatles with the attitude of the Stones.” TL
Sibling Rivalry
While the band is musically compared to the Beatles, the relationship of brothers Liam and Noel is more akin to the sibling rivalry of Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks. The “paparazzi-level famous” RS nature of their “bickering and in-fighting would grab most of the subsequent headlines foreshadowed the group’s eventual demise.” RS Less than six months after the album’s release, Liam told The Sunday Times “I’ve been up for leaving for the last couple of months… I reckon I can write better music, a lot better, about 100 times better, than what [Noel] can.” RS
Scroll down to comments about the song “Don’t Look Back in Anger” for a more detailed account of one of the brother’s infamous battles.
The Recording
“Producers Owen Morris and Noel Gallagher created a huge, compressed guitar sound that was more forceful than any of their contemporaries. On some tracks it’s like the roar of a jet plane. The group proved itself on its ability to deliver live and the sessions for the album were preceded by two weeks of intense rehearsal. Once in the studio the albums was cut almost live – a track a day for most songs. ‘Roll with It,’ ‘Hello,’ and ‘Morning Glory’ were done in one take each. Only the seven-minute epic ‘Champagne Supernova’ took ‘some thinking’ and stretched to two days.” CM
Morning Glory vs. Definitely Maybe
Noel said “the first album is about dreaming of being a pop star in a band. The second album is about actually being a pop star in a band,” RS or as AllMusic.com’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine says, “what happens after the dreams come true.” AM
Morning Glory had “all the same intense immediacy,” SG “the same swagger, the same self-mythologizing in process, the same take-no-prisoners songwriting,” SG but “more expansiveness and…arguably more longevity.” SG It “feels like the Britpop release that was truly as massive as the movement itself in England.” SG With “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” becoming chart-topping modern rock hits in the U.S., the band also achieved “the kind of in-the-air ubiquity that makes them undying staples at coffee-shop gigs or in dorm hallways.” SG
While it is “a more pop-friendly effort than its predecessor” RS, the second album is also “relatively introspective…filled with big, gorgeous ballads instead of ripping rockers.” AM The tone is “decidedly darker and more reflective.” PF
“Unlike Definitely Maybe, the production on Morning Glory is varied enough to handle the range in emotions; instead of drowning everything with amplifiers turned up to 12, there are strings, keyboards, and harmonicas. This expanded production helps give Noel Gallagher’s sweeping melodies an emotional resonance.” AM
Noel’s songwriting now had “an expanded palette – more lush, more intricate, even vulnerable in places.” SG Steve Sutherland, the former chief editor of New Musical Express, said Noel “began to take seriously the notion of being the voice of a generation.” WK Meanwhile, “Liam’s sneer had already bloomed into a far-more-assured rock howl. He always had a hell of a voice and was always a consummate frontman, but this is probably the moment where he was at his best as an actual rock singer.” SG
Notes
A 2014 reissue added a second disc of B-sides and a third disc of demos and live material.
The Songs
This is an album “with four hit singles that attested to the strength and consistent high quality of the material.” PR However, “the real triumph of Morning Glory is measured not by the tracks that have since become karaoke classics, first-dance wedding standards, and go-to bathtub sing-alongs, but the exceptional album tracks that never got a shot at certain chart supremacy.” PM
Here are specific insights into the individual tracks.
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