Album #97 : Oasis - Be Here Now

Oasis

Be Here Now (1997)

Times were glorious for Oasis heading into 1997. After the success of their debut Definitely Maybe, they'd followed up with the smashing Morning Glory. The sky truly was the limit for these fiery Mancunians.

With fame and fortune though came all the other trappings of rock stardom; namely, drugs and self-indulgence. Additionally, the hype surrounding the band had gone through the roof. So when the band's third album, Be Here Now, was announced to the world, the world activated the MEGA HYPE MACHINE and decided it was going to be everything from the greatest album ever made to the crowning glory of the Britpop movement. The group's management themselves didn't help, coming up with possibly the wankiest, most convoluted and ridiculous promotional campaign in history.

The album, upon its release, was the fastest selling in British history. Unfortunately, it was also a major disappointment, as the 'crowning glory of Britpop' turned out to be, as Q Magazine accurately opined at the time, "cocaine set to music". Those trappings of rock stardom combined to produce something extraordinarily bloated (its twelve songs run for 71 minutes...and one of those is only two minutes long!) It was (and still is) derided as extraordinarily self-indulgent, and far from crowning Britpop, it probably helped destroy it.

Is it really that bad, though, and how does it compare to Blur's self-titled album, released in the same year and reviewed by me yesterday? Let's find out.

The Album

Well.

Self-indulgent, overlong and overblown is a remarkably accurate description.

In my listening notes, I have written the phrase, "this song is too long" (or some variation of it) far too often to be healthy. Almost every song on Be Here Now suffers from getting lost somewhere up its own arse, dragging on and long outstaying its welcome. Additionally, the whole thing is just too bloody loud - guitars on top of guitars on top of guitars on top of strings on top of keyboards on top of guitars, and then you've got Liam Gallagher toiling away somewhere in there, and when he stops in comes Noel Gallagher with a pointless wanky lead break....and then the cycle begins anew and NEVER. EVER. STOPS.

The worst part is that somewhere in the mess are some cracking Oasis tunes that would equal, or better, a great deal of their other material. Had producer Owen Morris not been candying his own nose, and shown the same level of control over overdubs and lavish excesses, this album could very well have been the one that everyone was hoping for. Many of the songs on Be Here Now are pumping anthems, the kind that Noel Gallagher writes in his sleep, but even pumping anthems can't afford to run for nine minutes.

With three key changes.

Examples of songs that could have been good if they hadn't gone for centuries are:

• D'You Know What I Mean (the chorus especially is another one of those Live Forever/Wonderwall/Don't Look Back In Anger type rousing singalongs; it sounds MASSIVE with a wall of guitars, and the last two minutes are pointless Noel guitar wank...but it's one of the better tracks on the album);
• My Big Mouth (allegedly has THIRTY guitar overdubs, and it shows. Somewhere in the mess though, again, is a rock-solid Oasis album track that would not have been out of place on Definitely Maybe);
• The Girl In The Dirty Shirt (a fairly sentimental lyric, a thick multi-tracked slide guitar section and some typical Oasis chord progressions); and
• Magic Pie (Noel takes a good lead vocal, there's some more trademark nods to The Beatles with the vocal harmonies, and the choruses are again anthemic....but it's way too long, and features a pointless Mellotron section.

Then, there's two songs that ARE actually really good despite going for centuries. At nine minutes (not counting the FUCKING REPRISE AT THE END....seriously, the notion of a nine minute long song needing a two minute reprise is proof positive that COCAINE = BAD, kids), All Around The World is this album's Champagne Supernova. Sprawling, grandiose and epic in scale and execution, the song features a monstrous orchestra section, including horns, and makes the whole thing explode with energy and life. It's a brilliant song that would have been even better without the three key changes and probably the last three minutes. Stand By Me is, again, classic Oasis anthemery (not a real word, but I've made it up and IT WORKS). Liam's lead vocal is terrific, Noel supports him well in the choruses, and it's a reminder that Oasis do singalong rock as well as anyone.....but the guitars are, yet again, far too loud.

There is one song that manages to remain relatively free of lavish excess - the superb Don't Go Away, written by Noel at a point where his mother was having health scares. It deals rather tenderly with the pain and fear felt when someone close to you is near death. However, I did say 'relatively free' - it still has layers of horns, strings and keyboards - which is a shame, because the tune would have been so much better if it had been stripped back to just basic instruments.

Special mention must also go to Fade In-Out, which features the only moment of musical restraint - the rather smooth, bluesy slide guitar played by, of all people, actor Johnny Depp.

If, however, you wanted two songs that symbolise everything wrong with Be Here Now, they would be the title track and It's Gettin Better (Man!!). Utterly deplorable wankfests, they verge on the pointless (though the latter's driving, cool riff is, at least, good to listen to). They're also ruined by their very excesses; with Be Here Now, it's the ridiculous use of flutes (or are they recorders?), while with It's Gettin Better (Man!!), it's Noel's stupid two and a half minute lead guitar wank at the song's end, calling to mind the pointless ramblings of Pete Townshend's lead guitar during his cocaine binges with The Who.

The Verdict

As a casual enjoyer of Oasis' work, but having never heard this album before (probably because of its negative press), Be Here Now is not only a major disappointment but an opportunity wasted. With restraint, care and a bit of love, the album could have been so much more. There are great songs here that have been ruined (some might say destroyed) by cocaine-fuelled musical excess.

The quote of Noel Gallagher, made in the brilliant doco Live Forever, about the album being "the sound of a bunch of guys, on coke, in the studio, not giving a fuck" is completely and utterly true. While it's not the horror Noel thinks it is, it's also not the great work Liam thinks it is either. It's somewhere in the middle.

It also serves to highlight how prescient Blur's decision was to move away from Britpop with their own album release in the same year. They ended up creating something with more artistic merit and creativity than this bloated mess.

Grab a few tracks from this, but otherwise, stick with Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe (or, alternatively, just buy Stop the Clocks and the band's B-Side compilation The Masterplan.)

My rating: ** and a half

Standout Tracks

Don't Go Away

Stand By Me

All Around The World

Therefore, after Part 1 of BLUR V OASIS, it's Blur 1 Oasis 0.

Tomorrow's album is yet another request - it features the second appearance of metal maestro Devin Townsend.