Editing Definitely Maybe (section)

== Critical reception ==
{{Music ratings
| subtitle  = Contemporary reviews
| rev1      = ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4277360.html |title=Oasis, 'Definitely Maybe' (Creation; Epic) |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=8 January 1995 |access-date=6 March 2017 |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |author-link=Jim DeRogatis |url-access=subscription |via=[[HighBeam Research]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306210245/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4277360.html |archive-date=6 March 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev2      = ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Capsule Reviews |newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |date=30 September 1994 |last=Ferman |first=Dave}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[NME]]''
| rev3score = 9/10<ref name="NME19940827" />
| rev4      = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="QOct1994" />
| rev5      = ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]''
| rev5score = 5/5<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Smoke beer, drink tabs! |magazine=[[Select (magazine)|Select]] |issue=51 |pages=90–91 |date=September 1994 |last=Perry |first=Andrew}}</ref>
| rev6      = ''[[Smash Hits]]''
| rev6score = 5/5<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Pete|last=Stanton|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/54026999471/in/album-72177720320652612/|title=New Albums: Best New Album|work=[[Smash Hits]]|date=31 August 1994|page=49|access-date=4 October 2024}}</ref>
| rev7      = ''[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]]''
| rev7score = 8/10<ref name="VoxOct1994" />
}}

''Definitely Maybe'' received widespread critical acclaim and was a commercial success, with many critics and listeners welcoming the album's fearless optimism, particularly in an era of rock which was dominated by American [[grunge]] which seemed at odds with the album.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7852-the-top-200-tracks-of-the-1990s-50-21/ |title=The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 50–21 |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=2 September 2010 |access-date=27 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523172227/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7852-the-top-200-tracks-of-the-1990s-50-21/ |archive-date=23 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Noel's songwriting and melodic skills, along with Liam's vocals, received particular praise. Keith Cameron of ''[[NME]]'' called Noel "a pop craftsman in the classic tradition and a master of his trade" and believed that "the only equivocal thing about ''Definitely Maybe'' is its title&nbsp;... everything else screams certainty ... the fact is that too much heartfelt emotion, ingenious belief and patent songwriting savvy rushes through the debut Oasis album for it to be the work of a bunch of wind-up merchants&nbsp;... it's like opening your bedroom curtains one morning and discovering that some f—er's built the [[Taj Mahal]] in your back garden and then filled it with your favourite flavour of [[Angel Delight]]".<ref name="NME19940827">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com:80/reviews/reviews/19980101000319reviews.html |title=Family Duels |magazine=[[NME]] |page=35 |date=27 August 1994 |access-date=27 May 2014 |last=Cameron |first=Keith |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817190452/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000319reviews.html |archive-date=17 August 2000 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Melody Maker]]'' gave the album its star rating signifying a "bloody essential" purchase, and its critic [[Paul Lester]] said, "Of all the great new British pop groups, Oasis are the least playful, the least concerned with post-modern sleights of influence&nbsp;... ''Definitely Maybe'' is 'What the World's Been Waiting For', a record full of songs to live to, made by a gang of reckless northern reprobates who you can easily dream of joining&nbsp;... If you don't agree it offers a dozen opportunities to believe that 1994 is the best year ever for pop/rock music, then you're wrong".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Certainly Probably |magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |page=37 |date=27 August 1994 |last=Lester |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Lester}}</ref>

[[Stuart Maconie]] of ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' described ''Definitely Maybe'' as "an outrageously exciting rock/pop album&nbsp;... a rutting mess of glam, punk, and psychedelia, you've heard it all before of course, but not since [[the Stone Roses]] debut have a young [[Lancashire|Lancastrian]] group carried themselves with such vigour and insouciance".<ref name="QOct1994">{{cite magazine |title=Oasis: Definitely Maybe |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=97 |page=122 |date=October 1994 |last=Maconie |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart Maconie}}</ref> ''[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]]''{{'}}s Mike Pattenden stated that "occasionally – and in this voracious, selfish, faddish industry it is only occasionally – something materialises that justifies the endless bullshit that represents its daily diet... the 11 songs that make up ''Definitely Maybe'' ... lie shining like so much crystal-cut glass among the debris of the nation's hotel rooms".<ref name="VoxOct1994">{{cite magazine |title=Oasis: Definitely Maybe |magazine=[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]] |issue=49 |page=93 |date=October 1994 |last=Pattenden |first=Mike}}</ref> Writing in ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' in 1994, Jim Irvin felt the record was "bloody close" to the "punch-yer-lights-out debut they'd intended. Certainly when put next to the flimsy, uncommitted music of most new British bands, ''Definitely Maybe'' spits feathers&nbsp;... Spunky, adolescent rock, vivifying and addictive".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Oasis: Definitely Maybe |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |issue=10 |page=110 |date=September 1994 |last=Irvin |first=Jim}}</ref>

In the US, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' included the album in its end-of-year round-up of 1994's most important records, with Paul Evans saying, "Liam Gallagher has God-given cool. And with his brother Noel supplying him with sumptuous rockers, it's easy to see why this quintet is next year's model. Heavier on guitar than [[Blur (band)|Blur]] or [[Suede (band)|Suede]], they're the simpler, catchier outfit."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Year in Recordings |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=698 |pages=185, 190 |date=29 December 1994 |last=Evans |first=Paul}}</ref> [[Neil Strauss]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote of the songs; "On its own, each one sounds like a classic, rippling with hard guitar hooks, strong dance beats and memorable choruses."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/23/arts/in-performance-pop-new-music-seminar-752240.html |title=British Alternative Rock Leans Back to the 60's Wetlands |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=23 July 1994 |access-date=28 March 2015 |last=Strauss |first=Neil |author-link=Neil Strauss |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402193557/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/23/arts/in-performance-pop-new-music-seminar-752240.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>