Oasis

Be Here Now

a great and powerfull cd

Review Score:

(10/10)
After two albums of finely-crafted (so might say, too-finely) vintage pop & rock based on the Beatles' classic template, Oasis were on top of the world. Even with their highly-publicized infighting & antics, there was no denying the talent the band (in particular, the Gallagher brothers) had. But if they could be accused of having a giant-size ego, albums like their follow-up to 1995's multi-platinum [WHAT'S THE STORY] MORNING GLORY?, BE HERE NOW (1997) are ample proof of a band using their newfound success to do whatever they pleased & damned be the results.

Ironically, this was the album that turned me into an Oasis enthusiast, but it was on the strength of the first single, "D'Ya Know What I Mean". With the abundance of tape loops & backwards guitars, Oasis' legendary love of the Beatles was in full bloom on this song & despite its 7-minute plus length was an excellent choice for the introductory single. Of course, references to rock history were to be found (everything from BLOOD ON THE TRACKS to "Bring It On Home To Me"), but it shows that maybe Oasis' influences aren't all based in Liverpool.

The epic length of that song is exploited to the fullest on BE HERE NOW, with songs being taken to the breaking point with extended solos & fade-outs, especially on songs that needed some work in the first place. "My Big Mouth", "Magic Pie" (an inexcusable dig at Paul McCartney, who had released his new album FLAMING PIE at around the same time), "Girl In The Dirty Shirt" & the title track all suffer from either underdeveloped lyrics or ones that were probably just written to offend as many people as possible (the Gallaghers might consider that a compliment). "Stand By Me" works a little better, but the weak link in this song is that it sounds a little too angry to be the kind of "true friendship" song its title professes it to be.

But BE HERE NOW does have some raisons d'etres & they somehow make up for the rough spots those above-mentioned songs create. While not released as an official single (but a video was played on MTV in the U.S.), "Don't Go Away" actually sounds sincere & heartfelt, enough that my mom (not a very big fan of modern music) loved the song & was looking for a single for it, to no avail. Just maybe beneath those cold stares there's a heart of gold beating inside the Gallaghers. "I Hope, I Think, I Know" & "It's Gettin' Better [Man!!]" are upbeat rockers that hint at a little less of a Beatles influence & more towards the Stones (it may have been self-proclaimed, but their profession of being the greatest band in the world was closer to the truth than Oasis) sound they would explore a little bit in 2000's STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS. "Fade In-Out" takes a little while to register, but it's still a promising song that could have been made better with a more understandable lyric (the slide guitar by Johnny Depp is pretty cool though).

Finally, we get to the album's crown jewel (in my opinion, at least), "All Around The World". The 3rd single in the U.S., this 9-minute epic had the distinction of being one of the best songs Oasis has ever made on an album that was far from it. The string arrangements cry "A Day In The Life" & Liam Gallagher's vocal screams John Lennon (as it often would), but I'm sure the Beatles would have been proud to create something as great as "All Around The World", which also made for an inventive video (you gotta wonder what would have happened had the Beatles lasted long enough to make them for MTV). For once, the length of this song doesn't drag it down, as is the fate of most of BE HERE NOW.

I got BE HERE NOW for Christmas in 1997 & liked it on the first listen, but in retrospect I've come to see its faults. Not only does it have songs that needed some trimming & polishing, but the whole affair smacked of "we've just sold millions of albums, now let's do what the hell we want" attitude. There's such a thing as self-confidence, but when it turns into an ego trip, you're not gonna have many people travelling with you, as evidenced by the rather small sales of this album (still favorable, but not MORNING GLORY level).

When Oasis returned the following year with THE MASTERPLAN, a collection of their highly-vaunted B-sides, maybe they were discovering that good songs are more important than how ones dresses them up. Their subsequent albums have had them return to those smaller ambitions, but the chances of them returning to the rarefied greatness of MORNING GLORY seem nil with only personnel changes by the bowlful (only Noel & Liam Gallagher are left from the original line-up) & a legion of bad press to keep them in the headlines.

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