15 Years to the Day: Oasis – Definitely Maybe Voted Greatest Album of All Time

Words: Dan Smith

Back in 2006 we were treated to Arctic Monkeys debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’, My Chemical Romance’s ‘The Black Parade’, Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ and The Killers’ ‘Sam’s Town’ – it’s safe to say it was a great year for music. But 2006 marked a significant point in music history, it was 50 years of the Official UK Albums Chart. To mark the occasion, a nationwide survey was launched to vote for the best album of the past 50 years – in which both Oasis and The Beatles got two spots, with Radiohead also breaking into the top 5.

But it was ‘Definitely Maybe’ which took the top spot and it is incredibly easy to understand why. With so many great hits on one album, including ‘Rock N’ Roll Star’, ‘Live Forever’, ‘Whatever’, ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Supersonic’, has an album ever had so many defining tracks. Coming in at just under an hour, most Oasis fans would put it top of their list and the British public agreed.

I was discussing Oasis with the in-laws the other day, who are in no-way musically orientated, and even they were surprised at the quantity of Oasis songs they recognised. That just goes to show the cultural impact Oasis had on the UK and dare I say the world.

Coming in second though, was ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ which actually was released on this day 54 years ago. It is one of the best selling records ever recorded, with over 33 million copies sold worldwide, and with tracks such as ‘A Day in the Life’, ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ and ‘Getting Better’ again this comes as no surprise.

I’ll leave it to you in the comments to decide which album is better!