Oasis

Be Here Now

Oasis defines themselves

Review Score:

(10/10)
It's all well and good to be a Brit-pop band known for 4-minute radio songs, but that's not the way to challenge for the title of "Greatest rock and roll band in the world". Oasis's 1997 record Be Here Now was nearly as long as their first two albums COMBINED- despite only 12 tracks. The reason is a total abandonment of the pop sound for a sudden tendency- and talent- for rock epics, littered with noisy guitar solos, pounding drum-fills, and lighters-in-the-air hooks. The lead single, "D'You Know What I Mean?", clocks in at over 7 minutes. So do about half of the other tracks. Sometimes, the songs don't really go anywhere, and become annoying- like "Magic Pie". More often, however, Be Here Now is stunning, absorbing, enchanting, and powerful. "Fade In/Out", "Don't Go Away", and "All Around the World" are representative of that. Even when the songs are on the short side, the band rocks harder than they had before or have since, like "I Hope I Think I Know."

Thanks to some of the songs off Be Here Now, Oasis became one of the best live acts of the late 1990's. This is one studio album that actually captures that feel: the grandiose energy that's become the band's trademark.

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