Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (180 Gram) (2 LP)
The state of English popular music in the mid-'90s will be looked back upon as a time when groups like Blur, Supergrass and Oasis rode the UK charts with a style (nicknamed Brit-Pop by that country's press) that fused the 1960s pop aesthetic of the Beatles, Kinks and Small Faces with the flamboyance and cocksuredness of T. Rex and the Buzzcocks. But (WHAT'S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY? is a more tempered follow-up to Oasis' 1994 debut, DEFINITELY MAYBE, the band having gone from enfant terrible to dreamy romantic this time round. Oasis has also crossed the Atlantic this time; (WHAT'S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY has made the band a major U.S. success. Toning down the brattiness, Oasis guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher brings minimal orchestration into the mix, while still mining for inspiration in the past. A buzzing amp cues up the opening cut, "Hello," before giving way to a thunderous rocker that credits Gary Glitter as a co-writer by way of a line lifted from his "Hello, Hello, I'm Back