Oasis - Be Here Now

Year Released: 1997

Genre: Britpop, Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Alternative Rock

Description:

Be Here Now is the third studio album by the English rock band Oasis, released on August 21, 1997. The album was released during a period of peak fame for the band, and it was perhaps the most anticipated British rock album of all time, following the massive global success of Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. The intense media hype and public frenzy surrounding its release were unprecedented, leading to a record-breaking first-week sales in the UK.

Musically, the album is a colossal and sonically dense work. A clear departure from the more concise songwriting of their earlier work, Be Here Now is characterized by its long song lengths, excessive guitar overdubs, and an overall "wall of sound" production. The songs are loud, layered, and often repetitive, a result of the band's creative process being marred by drug use and internal conflicts. As producer Owen Morris later admitted, the recording sessions were difficult, with the band's aim being to sound as "colossal" as possible, which they achieved by layering over 30 guitar tracks on a single song.

Despite an initially positive critical reception, retrospective reviews have been far more negative. Critics and the band members themselves, particularly Noel Gallagher, have retrospectively deemed the album bloated, over-produced, and self-indulgent. The album's commercial performance, while initially massive, was front-loaded, and it ultimately fell well short of the sales of its predecessor. Many music critics and fans now see Be Here Now as the symbolic end of the Britpop era, a victim of its own excess and the pressures of fame. The album's most famous tracks include the hard-rocking lead single "D'You Know What I Mean?", the ballad "Stand by Me," and the nine-minute epic "All Around the World." The iconic album cover features the band members at the Rolls-Royce-in-the-swimming-pool scene, a visual metaphor for the extravagance and excess that defined the album's creation