Oasis

Be Here Now

Oasis Be Here in 1967

Review Score:

(4/10)
Brand Here Now

The older pop gets, the more constrained to age groups its appeal becomes. Young people have own youth cultures just like we had (and still do) had ours. Perhaps this explains why you'd have to put me in a straitjacket and tie to a chair t o m ake me listen to Be Here Now again. For me it is unfathomable how a record as substanceless as Be Here Now can have such a broad appeal. I thought Definitely Maybe had some punky appeal and real attitiude but the bigger Oasis became, the hollower the i r mu sic sounded. Be Here Now is the sound of a band that could do what they wanted - Carte Blanche - and what do they choose to do? They become 1967-era Beatles Mk. II. Paul McCartney once said how sad he was about all these bands trying so hard to sound like the Beatles. Surely the point is to try and accomplish something new and exciting (like Beck, Tortoise, Labradford and Jim O'Rourke). The songwriting-by-numbers approach of Noel Gallagher sometimes comes up trumps, but how a whole generation can embrace this as one of the best albums of all time is indicative of one of two things: either standards have fallen woefully low or the music industry has managed to turn pop into a global brand-oriented commodity. And by the way, if you think I'm the only one who thinks Be Here Now is poor, think again. Noel Gallagher himself in an interview disowns Morning Glory, Be Here Now and Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. Fact.

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