Rocktober First Tracks Song #3: "Rock 'n' Roll Star" by Oasis

As you may have heard, the Gallagher brothers have made nice with each other (for now), and Oasis has reunited for a tour in 2025.  At first, only UK and Ireland dates were announced, but earlier this week, the band announced some limited North American dates in August and September next year.  Thankfully, Chicago is one of those dates.  I've never seen Oasis live before, and I was lucky enough to "win" the presale lottery and then luckier enough to be relatively low in the presale virtual waiting room this afternoon.  All of this is to say that I'll be seeing Oasis at Soldier Field next August on the floor, so I'm pretty excited, even if it's just under eleven months away.

In 1994, Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe, which went straight to #1 on the UK album chart and became the UK's fastest-selling debut album of all-time (a record the Arctic Monkeys since broke).  Definitely Maybe was one of the defining albums of the '90s, kickstarting the Britpop movement, which rejected the gloom of grunge and found more positive and optimistic themes, like cigarettes and alcohol.  Four songs from the album reached the Top 40 on the UK pop chart, including two Top 10 songs:  "Cigarettes & Alcohol" (#7), "Live Forever" (#10), "Shakermaker" (#11), and "Supersonic" (#31).  It has since maintained its status as one of the most beloved British albums ever, even beating out Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as the greatest album of all-time in a 2006 NME readers poll.

The first track off of the album is the prescient "Rock 'n' Roll Star."  It's almost as if Noel Gallagher could sense the trajectory of the band and wanted to put it out there front and center, so it was the first thing you heard when you popped that CD in.  The song is upbeat and uptempo, representative of the hooky rock that would define the Britpop genre.  I also love the chorus.  It's simple, but universal:  "Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star."  Whether or not we are actual rock and roll stars, we should all feel that way every now and then.  If you haven't, I recommend getting a couple friends together, dressing up as KISS on Halloween, and going out to bars.  Sure, you might accidentally drink your wife's contact lenses, but dammit, that night, you'll be a rock and roll star.