10 Perfect Rock Albums That No One Saw Coming

The entire first half of the '90s rock scene always seemed to be defined by misery in some way. As much as a band like Pearl Jam may have had knock out choruses, more often than not you would find yourself singing along to songs that had a much more cynical streak, from bitter breakups to songs about people on the darker side of the tracks. All of the optimism seemed to be sucked out of the scene, and it took some bickering brothers for everything to sound brighter again.

Although Oasis were drawing from the inspirations of other bands in the Manchester scene like the La's and The Stone Roses, what turned up on Definitely Maybe was some of the most no BS rock and roll to come out of the '90s, taking the tropes that came with the golden age of rock and roll from the '60s and putting a modern twist on it. Going through each song, you can hear traces of rock history in the speakers, from the T Rex swagger of Cigarettes and Alcohol to the punk rock attitude of Bring It On Down.

Noel Gallagher wasn't in a band like this just for the trend though. This was the kind of music that helped him get through his own problems as a kid, and this was the new renaissance that the rock world had needed since the very start of grunge. Kurt Cobain may have had music that made you feel dreary, but one listen to Rock and Roll Star is enough to make you feel like you can take on the world.