Oasis

Be Here Now

Epic Proportions

Review Score:

(8/10)
This is a good album, although certainly not up to the band's masterpiece, Morning Glory. There are plenty of memorable tunes on here and big fans will find plenty to their liking. Unfortunately, the same can be said for some of the lesser material. Just about everyone will find at least a few tracks they don't like, as well. The hit singles are all fine musician craftsmanship. "D'you Know What I Mean?", though seven minutes long, is good enough to make is seem like it flows straight through in four. "Stand By Me" and "Don't Go Away" are the ballads, both beautiful and the latter almost stands up to "Don't Look Back In Anger" on their prior album. The epic "All Around the World" does drag on for a few minutes too long, but I do appreciate the vocals and the overall build-up quality. Bands just don't use that kind of instrumentation anymore. Not to any commendable degree, anyway. Couple these great tunes with some really great, straight-forward rock tunes, "My Big Mouth" and "I Hope I Think I Know" (these songs have been slammed a lot in past reviews, which I don't understand because I think they're awesome!) and you've got something resembling a decent album. The title track is also a good tune, although being thrown between two of the band's best singles it often gets overlooked. And the reprise at the end would have sounded a lot more refreshing if "All Around the World" had appeared much closer to the beginning of the CD. Be Here Now may not be a masterpiece, but sometimes you just have to take something for what it is. Personally, I think the good material far outweighs the bad and if you really have to you can just program your player to skip over the few misteps. Recommended.

More Reviews: