Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) - Oasis

 Unless you have been hiding under a rock the past few days it will not have escaped your attention that Oasis have annouced they will be touring in 2025 (dates are at the bottom of this post). News of this has had wall to wall coverage on all Social Media platforms, TV & Radio, Newspapers and of course the Music Press. 

This announcement came three days before the 30th Anniversary reissue of their Debut Album 'Definitely Maybe' (which is released today) and a couple of days after Liam Gallagher had completed his tour celebrating the album. Coincidence? Possibly. 😏

The album has been reissued a number of times since first coming out on 30th August 1994 and it's probably worth mentioning a few of them before getting stuck into this latest version:

1994 Vinyl had the added track "Sad Song" to make it a 12 track album, the CD, MiniDisc & Cassette had only 11 Tracks.

2005 American DualDisc contained  all 11 songs found on normal CD releases but on the DVD side they were in Enhanced Stereo. Also included were the 'Definitely Maybe Documentary' plus "Live Forever (Live at Glastonbury 1994)" and "Columbia (Live From Hammersmith Palais, London 13th December 1994)".

2006 Japanese Limited Edition CD Vinyl Replica included "Sad Song" and "Cloudburst".

2014 CD under the title  "Definitely Maybe: Chasing The Sun Edition". This was a 3CD set that included the album Remastered on CD1. CD2 included B-sides and Extra Tracks and CD3 was made up of Unreleased Demos, Outtakes & Live Recordings. The Vinyl version included a Download Code for all the Bonus Material. The Japanese Edition of the CD included "Shakermaker (Slide Up Mix)" and "Bring It On Down (Monnow Valley)".

2015 There were Yellow, Red, and Silver Vinyl versions released on Creation. 

2019 Limited Edition 25th Anniversary 2LP Picture Disc exclusive to the Oasis Official Store.

2020 Vinyl Reissue (it was basically the 2014 Remastered Edition)

2020 Japanese Reissue Limited Edition (2000 copies) Ivory Coloured Vinyl

Now we come to the most up to date reissue of the album,  'Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)':

2024 The Vinyl is just the 2014 Remastered Edition and the 4LP set also includes the Monnow Valley Studio version of the album on LP 3 recorded in late 1993 in Wales that was rejected by both the band and label. Back into the studio, Sawmills Studio in Cornwall, in February 1994 where seven of the eight tracks on LP 4 are Outtakes from these sessions recorded between February - April 1994. Links to all the songs on this new reissue are included below. The 2CD set brings the Monnow Valley and Sawmills Studio sessions on the second CD and the 2014 Remastered album on CD1 doesn't include "Sad Song" as part of the album (as the Vinyl version always has done) rather than as an extra track (only the 2006 Japanese version had done this previously) and on this set only a 1992 demo version of the song is included as the final track.

From a personal perspective I think Oasis could have done better on the CD set by including a complete live show from 1994. It's not as if none exist because they have used songs from various live performances on a couple of the previous reissues (2005 American DualDisc and the 2014 CD set for example). That would have piqued my interest into possibly buying a copy.

 My overall impression of 'Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)' is that it is aimed at those who are "the completists", who must have everything ever released by the band. To add to their collection with this new reissue they are also going to have a healthy bank balance (and that's not even thinking about the cash needed to grab a ticket for one of the reunion shows, which are pretty pricey as well)! 😉 I have included below some of the prices I've found for the various formats down below also just incase you are counting the pennies and pounds and fancy grabbing a copy.

 

Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Edition)

Big Brother
Released 30th August 2024

 Formats:
4LP Boxset (£64.99 HMV & Amazon UK, £62.99 Rough Trade UK)

2LP £35.00 Blue & White Marble (Oasis Webstore Only) 

2LP £35.00 Exclusive Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl Numbered 15,000 from Blood Records
 

2LP £37.99 Strawberries & Cream (Rough Trade UK, Amazon UK and HMV) 

 

2CD (£17.99 Rough Trade UK, £19.99 Amazon UK & HMV)

Cassette £12 (Oasis Webstore Only)

  Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Edition)
Tracklist
LP1
A1 Rock 'n' Roll Star
A2 Shakermaker
A3 Live Forever

B1 Up In The Sky
B2 Columbia
B3 Sad Song
LP2
C1 Supersonic
C2 Bring It On Down
C3 Cigarettes & Alcohol

D1 Digsy's Dinner
D2 Slide Away
D3 Married With Children

LP3 - Definitely Maybe Monnow Valley Version
E1 Rock 'n' Roll Star (Monnow Valley Version)
E2 Shakermaker (Monnow Valley Version)
E3 Live Forever (Monnow Valley Version)
E4 Up In The Sky (Monnow Valley Version)

F1 Columbia (Monnow Valley Version)
F2 Bring It On Down (Monnow Valley Version)
F3 Cigarettes & Alcohol (Monnow Valley Version)
F4 Digsy's Dinner (Monnow Valley Version)

LP4 Definitely Maybe - Sawmills Outtakes
G1 Rock 'n' Roll Star (Sawmills Outtakes)
G2 Up In The Sky (Sawmills Outtakes)
G3 Columbia (Sawmills Outtakes)
G4 Bring It On Down (Sawmills Outtakes)

H1 Cigarettes & Alcohol (Sawmills Outtakes)
H2 Digsy's Dinner (Sawmills Outtakes)
H3 Slide Away (Sawmills Outtakes)
H4 Sad Song (Mauldeth Road West Demo, Nov '92)

*********

(Liam & Noel Gallagher Photo by Simon Emmett)

In a joint statement, the band said: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”

The dates for the 2025 UK and Ireland tour are:
4, 5 July, Principality Stadium, Cardiff
11, 12, 19 and 20 July, Heaton Park, Manchester
25, 26 July, 2, 3 August, Wembley Stadium, London
8, 9 August, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
16, 17 August, Croke Park, Dublin.

Tickets Go Sale 9am Saturday 31st August

Hello, I Never Left, I Only Went Away!

 Hello. It's been awhile. I'm back, but  I Never Left, I Only Went Away...Bang! there's two musical references (and links) and we've only just begun! It's true, as The Mighty Wah! once sang, it's "The Return of Rock and Roll".

I know a good few years ago I said I was wrapping this all up but things change, heck even ABBA came back, the Eagles are on their 60th "Farewell Tour" (slight exaggeration but it does seem like it), and even The Rolling Stones made a brand new album last year, so maybe there's a place for Soundtrack4Life in 2024.

I only started this blog to amuse myself, never thinking that there would be anyone out there in the world who would be interested in my ramblings, but I was wrong about that wasn't I?

Even in my absence people have still been checking the blog out, and for that I am truly grateful. There's been well over a Million page views! There's no doubt a lot of dead links and pictures here that are long lost due to my not being around and if requested I will sort some of them out.

I'm not planning to do a daily post as I had previously done as I don't have the concentration to prepare like that these days but I will try and do something at least once a week. Basically this a test run, it's not Soundtrack4Life 2.0 or anything so grand or life altering. It's a short run to see if it's something worth doing and whether or not folks will still drop by for a visit and have a read.

I'm not totally sure how I should go about this, but in the slightly altered words of The Rolling Stones, "Please allow me to reintroduce myself"...I'm Doug (yes, that's me in the picture above). I'm in my sixties now (I was still in my fifties when I last posted!) and I still love music (not as much as I love my wife, because that would be darn silly!), and since the start of April 2019 when I last posted I've listened to a lot of it. I have found new artists/bands, old music that has been new to my ears, music from all sorts of genres (apart from Techno because I've never been able to come to grips with that), kept on listening to many of the artists/bands that I've written about in these blogpages and have found a lot of joy in hearing artists/bands that have been recommended by friends and that's opened a mulitude of avenues of further exploration.

As to what appears on the Soundtrack4Life, it's a case of if I like it and think it's worth writing about then I'll post about it. I've always tried not to be too negative about the the things I am not overly keen on and unlike places like Pitchfork, for example, I will not absolutely slay an artist/band just because they have released something that might be deemed "uncool". I don't do this for money and I certainly don't do it for any rewards from the artists/bands, though down through the years a few of them have been kind enough to send me a CD or two. I will try to maintain that standard if this wee test run takes off. 

As I end let me post a few links of things I'm currently enjoying listening to and watching:

Cobwebs And Strange Radio Show presented by a friend of this blog, Ronnie Carnwath. The link will take you to the Facebook Page where you can find all the information about broadcast times, mixcloud links and a mammoth Spotify Playlist of pretty much most of the music played on the show over the years.

A Matter of Time - Shed Seven. Released at the start of January and a first ever #1 Album for the band.

I Won't Bow Down - P.O.D. latest single from the chaps from The Southtown and a forerunner for their new album 'Veritas' which is expected in May.

Soul Force - Dion with Susan Tedeschi. Latest single from The King of the New York Streets featuring The Queen of The Blues Guitar. This will be on the new album, 'Girl Friends' that's due out in March. Like his last couple of albums, 'Blues With Friends' (2020) and 'Stomping Ground' (2021) it's bound to be a real cracker if the guest list is anything to go by.

That should keep you busy for short while. Until next time.

 

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 166 - Oasis

Time Flies... 1994-2009 - Oasis

Big Brother

Produced by Oasis, Owen Morris, Dave Sardy, Mark Coyle, Dave Batchelor and Mark Stent

Released 14th June 2010

UK Chart #1

US Chart #131

Japanese Chart #2

I have to confess to having a bit of a love/hate relationship when it comes to Oasis. I have an honest affection for some of their music but I could never quite stand the ego of the Gallagher Brothers. I cannot actually think of another band that I listen to where I love some of their the music but actually dislike the band!

Time Flies... 1994-2009 was the final compilation (though I would expect at some point there might be others that make an appearence) that was released after the band had broken up and the various members went their own way on a new journey.

Now, looking at the tracklist it is apparent that there's a few songs that maybe should be on it that are strangely absent like Rock 'n' Roll Star, Champagne Supernova, and Don't Go Away (which would have completed all the singles brought together in the once place). The album is not quite in chronological order either and that makes it sound a bit odd at times and is a bit like watching an episode of one of your favourite TV shows that has constant flashbacks and flashforwards so that you end up losing the plot of the story altogether!

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!