It was 14 years ago today....

On August 30, 1994, the music world and my own personal musical tastes were changed with the release of an album called "Definitely Maybe" by a then-small band called Oasis from Manchester, England. A year later, the band released "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" an album, as I recall, that was overflowing with one hit single after another.

The songs from those two albums flooded my head and floated me through university. This was the British Invasion for my generation marked by a sound that mixed Britpop with wall-to-wall guitars and anthemic-lyrics.

In North America in the early nineties, the music landscape was shaped by grunge music, an alternative style of music that surfaced in Seattle, Washington, and focused on shifting music dynamics (quiet then loud, quiet then loud) and angst-filled, apathetic lyrics.

Britpop in general and Oasis in particular, however, were different. It was celebratory, cocksure, full of swagger. It was a momentary breath of fresh air in a grunge atmosphere.

In 2004, Noel Gallagher, discussing his band's first album and its impact ten years later, explained that the the music he wrote tapped into "what was missing in a lot of people’s lives."

The band is about to release its seventh album, "Dig Out You Soul" in October 2008.

We live in a fast-food band era. Bands come and go; they are marketed to death, reach saturation, and then gladly fade away.

The mark of a good band is its longevity or more specifically the longevity of its music. We all have bands and songs like that, stirring in our heads and, hopefully, playing in our iPods.

Is the musical scene fertile once again for longevity or are we seeding short-term musical sprouts?