C/D: Oasis - Be Here Now

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I think I know / but I don't know why.

"D'You Know What I Mean" = Unstoppable Pop Juggaknot?

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm in the middle on this one.
i don't like it enough to call it classic but than i don't hate it that much to call it a dud.
From 1 to 10 I would give this album a 7 it's not great but still good. i don't think i'm making any sense here.

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Funny, I was thinking about this today. Though I'd hardly consider myself a "fan" of either, at least Blur were a more interesting band over the length of their career.

"Be Here Now" is shit... Oasis are horrendously overrated. One decent album ("...Morning Glory"), but the rest are laughably bad: the lyrics are serious crap and melody/arrangements derivative.

They're not the Beatles, they're Status Quo.

― Hector Savage, Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Been a long while indeed since I listened to it but I liked it more every time I heard it, probably because it was essentially the first record plus the best cocaine money could buy.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:49 (twenty-two years ago)

A bit more than a dud, but hardly a classic either. Contains some nice track, but also a lot that should have been edited. "(What's The Story) Morning Glory" is the only Oasis album worthy of the classic term.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:50 (twenty-two years ago)

the fool on the hill and I feel fine

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my attachment stems pretty much entirely from "D'You Know What I Mean".

They drag most every other song way too long. If they had put a little more craftsmenship into things it could have been littered with great radio tunes. Tho, on the other hand, I suppose some people really like how they just stretch things out bar band style.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 01:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the shameless nothingness of "D'Ya Know What I Mean" a good bit, but hearing that they drag out the other songs too long by comparison reaffirms that I'm not going to be revisiting these guys' catalog anytime soon (though I could possibly see myself buying a best-of - all their American hits were pretty good, I think we bagged all the must-haves).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:01 (twenty-two years ago)

The lack of long solos (by somebody who clearly doesn't have the virtuosity to fill those) is one of the reasons why "Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants" was indeed not too bad. The second best Oasis album IMO. Along with the shorter songs, the somewhat less extremely treble/feedback dominated production was a breath of fresh air too.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I've always liked the treble/feedback sound. It's a warm wash. My Bloody Valentine for the pub.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Never liked the treble/feedback sound of MBV (or J&MC for that matter) either. :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay, I'm listening to it now. I must confess that I like "All Around The World". All 9:20 worth.

I've never understood the boilerplate Beatles rehash Oasis slam. I guess there are some similarities but, really, what Beatles songs are they copping exactly?

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:15 (twenty-two years ago)

'Stand By Me' made a good single. The album is poor.
I still remember the crushing disappointment of hearing 'D'You Know What I Mean' for the first time on the radio. It's still execrable and i'm pretty flabbergasted to see anyone say a good word about it.
It's just a rip-off of 'Morning Glory' (the track) anyway right down to the helicopters in the video. Being the first single it killed my interest stone dead.

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the album's flaws are really a lot of what I like about it. (If that makes any sense)

I like the tossed-off, drugged-up, feel of it.

But, then again, here's a guy who'll defend Chaos & Disorder on a bad day.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:22 (twenty-two years ago)

And, fuck, "D'You.." literally swaggers. That AC/DC - "Walk All Over Me" bass drum! It's like Liam and Noel's personalities morphed into sonic form.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:23 (twenty-two years ago)

errr... I meant "Walk All Over You."

Side 1 of Highway to Hell for life.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:24 (twenty-two years ago)

ben there's a handful of beatles tracks they've recycled continuosly since '94. IMO these would be 'And Your Bird Can Sing', 'She Said, She Said', 'Ticket to Ride', 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.

'All You Need is Love' = 'Whatever'.
'Strawberry Fields Forever' = 'Go Let It Out'

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:25 (twenty-two years ago)

i dunno ben; being a brit who'd seen them live twice before the second album i felt like i was involved with the whole thing....'definitely maybe' was a godsend at that time. i think it started to fall apart for me around the time of wonderwall's huge success, i mean for the first time i could not understand why everyone was going nuts about this dull, flat snorefest.

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:29 (twenty-two years ago)

How could i forgot 'Rain'?! My god that's probably the one they've recycled the most!!

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Ridiculous question: Are Coldplay the post-Radiohead Oasis?

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

What I've never gotten about Oasis is why their songs are so fucking slow and turgid. They're not the only ones, of course; Hootie and the Blowfish and Matchbox 20 (two bands I consider to be on a par, artistically, with Oasis) are like that, too. They don't rock; they just sort of shift from foot to foot, staring into the middle distance. Total sleepwalker crap.

I did like the helicopters in the "D'You Know..." video, though.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm guess I'm just thinking "bland band with spotty albums charts multiple mega-hits."

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:36 (twenty-two years ago)

This is just to list their Beatles influences tho. Slade, The Faces, the Pistols, the Stones, Stone Roses, Neil Young + Crazy Horse, Mott the Hoople etc. have always been in there too.

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I've got "Got Let It Out" on right now. What exactly makes it a rip-off of SFF? The goofy little caliope over the verses?

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

as i said phil they're copying the beatles' (specifically lennon's ) mid 60s stoner-rock; the latter were influenced by the drone of sitars and tablas and appropriated that heaviness, giving literal weight to good pop songs. the gallaghers like getting caned and experiencing everything in quarter speed

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:43 (twenty-two years ago)

apart from the mellotron it's a witless rewrite. liam tries to sound as menacing as lennon, but where lennon is turning his beady on the listener to sing 'nothing is real' (enunciating every syllable extra clearly so you can feel the horror of what he's saying) all liam's got to tell us is'go let it ot/go let it it/go let it out......'
er yeah ok. 'sister psychosis/don't got a lot to say' indeed....

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:50 (twenty-two years ago)

'go let it out/go let it in/go let it out...'

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

i like dumb rock btw. but this is retarded rock.

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Definitely Maybe is the only true classic Oasis album. Whats the story is very spotty. Half of a good album. Be Here Now is about the same quality as Whats The Story. The rest are DUD.

― Christopher McGarry, Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:54 (twenty-two years ago)

terrible terrible, and i tried to convince myself it was good for a while back in '97 (see also 'this is my truth tell me yours' a year later) - the general grandiose bluster and feedback/psyche guitars on D'Yer Know What I Mean are still kinda okay with me tho

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 15 February 2004 02:56 (twenty-two years ago)

y'know the one thing i'd say about the album in its defence is the title is a giveaway, this was/is music for 1997, for lads to go out and get pissed to on the jukebox/at a mate's house, sing 'D'You Know..' together arms on eachother's shoulders in a line, sing 'Stand By Me' on the phone to their girlfriends later (nobody kno-wows the way it's gonna be), and then use it as a frisbee two weeks later when it's outlived it's use. be here for this now, cos by 1998 it's out of date. they somehow knew we would hate it after a ittle while.

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 03:05 (twenty-two years ago)

'little while'

― pete s, Sunday, 15 February 2004 03:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Be Here Now was the first Oasis album I'd heard - it was long and unoriginal, but it felt comforting, and that's all that mattered at the time. I had it on cassette, so I didn't know exactly how long the songs were until that tape broke and I copied a CD of it. I was really surprised, mostly from realizing how prejudiced I was/am - there's no way I would have knowingly played songs of that length (and ordinariness) more than once... if I'd KNOWN their length, but it was just a tape on an endless spool and now it doesn't matter anymore, in fact I even take more comfort from their continuity. Definitely Maybe's my favourite, I hated What's The Story, but Be Here Now is the one I listen to most often.

― Poppy (poppy), Sunday, 15 February 2004 04:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Definitely Maybe is quite an amazing album, but I only like a few songs from the other albums. I heard their singles on the radio (US) when I was in high school, and really liked Champagne Supernova, but never enough that I was really aware of who the band was. I was a Blur fan, but being over here, I never heard more than a smidge about their rivalry. So I finally bought Definitely Maybe for $3.00 after I graduated college, and was rather impressed with how excellent it is-- it's one of my favorite albums to listen to on a run.
(What's the Story) just sounds scattered an weak, and the rest of the albums, besides a few great songs, are kind of the same. When they find a good sound for a song, it can be excellent, but a lot of their more recent stuff is too blah to listen much to.

― lyra (lyra), Sunday, 15 February 2004 05:33 (twenty-two years ago)

ben there's a handful of beatles tracks they've recycled continuosly since '94. IMO these would be 'And Your Bird Can Sing', 'She Said, She Said', 'Ticket to Ride', 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.

Being influenced isn't the same as a rip-off. Ripping off a melody is a rip-off. Ripping off a groove is just using stuff creatively in a new way.

The melody should never be ripped off. Other stuff may be used again, as it isn't as important as the melody anyway.

"Don't Look Back In Anger" is not similar to "Imagine" at all. Just because the intro is similar means nothing at all because the intro isn't part of the actual song (read: notated melody) anyway.

Oasis have ripped off a few tunes too though, most notably "Step Off" ("Uptight"), "Whatever" ("How Sweet To Be An Idiot") and "Shakermaker" ("I Want To Teach The World To Sing"). Never The Beatles though.

The most obvious Beatles reference in their music is Liam Gallagher's vocal style, which is sort of a cross-in-between John Lennon and John Lydon. But that's completely OK and no problem as long as they don't rip off actual parts of melodies

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 15 February 2004 22:16 (twenty-two years ago)

"Definitely Maybe" is terribly overrated. Just annoying guitar noise most of it. A couple of the singles are great, as are a couple other tracks too, but "Morning Glory" remains their classic.

Oasis are at their best when they turn off the guitar feedback and play acoustic ballads. That when you actually get to hear those great tunes.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 15 February 2004 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Geir, "DM" was their least noisy album, the guitar tracks have gotten thicker and more numberous since then.
You do get to hear the great tunes when they play acoustic ballads, but you also get to hear that horses' neigh that Liam calls a voice. If I must hear it, I want it buried under 24 tracks of guitar, like on "D'You Know What I mean?"
Otherwise, BHN is pretty much a Dud.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 16 February 2004 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

~~numberous~~ numerous

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 16 February 2004 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

numberous/numbrous is cool

― pete s, Monday, 16 February 2004 00:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not trusting any non-UK posters here. This album, though I have never heard it, is beyond shit. Look at the cover. Listen to the singles. It's so obviously beyond dud!

― ENREK (Enrique), Monday, 16 February 2004 11:25 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

D'ya know what I mean is my favorite Oasis song. As far as the album, BHN was long and layered with guitars, but that is what makes it great in my opinion. I think Majic Pie should have been a single. I really like the psychedelic feel on this album. Besides think back to 1997 and name any band that had a record with a song equal to D'ya know what I mean...Bitter Sweet Symphony and Why does it always rain on me...maybe. But the video is awesome, again this video started the whole camoflauge trend that carries through to today. Helicopters are awesome too...guess backing new labour has its privileges. I think Standing on the shoulder of giants was the shit record mainly because Noel listened to tbe music press(a bunch of failed musicians who can't make it on their own talent) and tried to get all experimental and take Pink Floyd over the edge. The reason I like most of Oasis' songs is precisely the reason the idiots at Rolling Stone don't, Noel builds off of great influences. One last point or question...why is that only the Brits seem to use the string section backgrounds on their rock albums? I think its great and reminds me of the beatles, but American rock bands (at least the ones that aren't trying to do the rap-rock shit) stick to the boring bass/lead/rhythm/drum set.

― walt s, Thursday, 11 May 2006 01:59 (nineteen years ago)

I could swear "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" didn't come out till like 2000, so it looks like "D'Ya Know What I Mean" is nearly the undisputed master of 1997!

As for Be Here Now, at one point I had fully written it off as samey, noisy junk, but I have fond associations with a lot of the tracks and I would love to see at least half of them covered and tightened up a little bit. Love that goony slide whistle hook in the song "Be Here Now," the general shape and tune of "It's Getting Better (Man!!!)"

"All Around The World," I actually wouldn't edit, as the whole point is how long it is. I mean, this song actually has two different na-na-na sections!

"Don't Go Away" isn't bad although not quite as memorable as the ballads on Morning Glory. "Dirty Shirt" and "Magic Pie" definitely need some more work, and "Stand By Me" is a flat-out dud.

I'm going to have to say that the album as a listening experience is a dud, but it's a gold mine of little bits and pieces to get stuck in your head forever. The only songs on here, as recorded, that I'd mark among Oasis's essential are "I Hope I Think I Know" and "All Around The World." Mark my words, though, some band will eventually score a minor hit off some soundtrack album with a cover of something off this record.

One thing I don't recommend at all is singing "D'Ya Know What I Mean?" at karaoke. Good God, it just never ends.

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 11 May 2006 03:16 (nineteen years ago)

ten years pass...

So, I've been listening to this a lot over the last few days, after I found myself enjoying Noel's 2016 re-think of 'D'You Know What I Mean?', and I guess I should just come out and say that I enjoy this album now. Their last great record, IMO. Only took me 19 years, but I guess what's swayed it for me is that I've finally started to realise just how much is going on in these tracks. Once the density of the mixes clicks, the album makes perfect sense.

― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 August 2016 04:02 (nine years ago)

Also, the realisation that long songs weren't exactly a new thing for Oasis and 5 and a half minutes was about the average length for a Noel Gallagher song in the '90s.

'I Hope I Think I Know' and 'It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)' should have been singles.

― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 August 2016 04:07 (nine years ago)

Has there ever been another album which includes its release date as part of the cover art?

― Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 2 August 2016 08:57 (nine years ago)

http://www.united-mutations.com/s/franksidebottom_5988.jpg

― Mark G, Tuesday, 2 August 2016 11:42 (nine years ago)

Ha! Brilliant.

― Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 2 August 2016 12:00 (nine years ago)

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