What is Be Here Now?
Short Answer:
Oasis’ third album. Fuelled by Class A's.
Long Answer:
What is it?
Be Here Now is the third Oasis album, released on 21 August 1997. It sold nearly half a million copies in its first three days. At that point, Oasis weren’t releasing records. They were issuing declarations.
Twelve tracks. Everything turned up. Nothing cut down. It didn’t care if you were ready. It assumed you already knew every word.
Tracklist
D’You Know What I Mean?
My Big Mouth
Magic Pie
Stand by Me
I Hope, I Think, I Know
The Girl in the Dirty Shirt
Fade In-Out
Don’t Go Away
Be Here Now
All Around the World
It’s Gettin’ Better (Man!!)
All Around the World (Reprise)
Not one track under five minutes. Some go on so long they start again by accident. There’s no filter. But there’s no hesitation either.
Beneath the volume and the excess, there are still songs. Good ones. But they’ve been buried alive under solos, layers, and everything Noel could find in the studio.
Where was it recorded?
Abbey Road Studios, London
Air Studios, London
Ridge Farm Studios, Surrey
Produced by Owen Morris and Noel Gallagher
Mixed with complete disregard for subtlety
Same crew as Morning Glory. Only this time, everything got soaked in confidence and chemicals. And no one said stop.
Who played on it?
Liam Gallagher – vocals
Noel Gallagher – guitar, backing vocals, songs
Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs – rhythm guitar
Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan – bass
Alan White – drums
Johnny Depp played slide guitar on “Fade In-Out”. A full orchestra was brought in for “All Around the World”. The band was still technically intact, but you can hear the seams pulling under the gloss.
Sound and Style
Everything is louder, longer and heavier. The guitars don’t punch. They trample. The production fills every space whether it needs filling or not. Choruses repeat until they echo off themselves.
Liam sounds untouchable. That’s the pull and the warning. Noel throws everything at every track. Every idea. Every overdub. Every chance to outdo himself. It’s not lazy. It’s panicked. Genius on the edge of self-parody.
This isn’t a sequel to Definitely Maybe. It’s Morning Glory’s reflection in a funhouse mirror. Familiar. Inflated. And just off enough to unsettle you.
Reception
The press called it a masterpiece. Then quietly backed away. The fans bought it anyway. That was the point.
This wasn’t an album. It was a cultural event. You didn’t play it. You survived it.
By the time the backlash arrived, the band had already moved on. They weren’t interested in opinions. They were counting sales and dodging introspection.
Legacy
This is where the wheels started to shake. Not fall off. But shake. Britpop was already staggering. Be Here Now didn’t finish it. Just gave it a push.
Too long. Too smug. Too pleased with itself. But beneath the excess, there’s still belief.
You can hear the hunger turning into habit. The confidence becoming weight. The songs still work. But now they’re hiding under the noise.
That’s the legacy. Not perfection. Persistence. Even in collapse.
You Should Listen to Be Here Now Right Now
You should listen to Be Here Now right now because it still sounds like the last time a band could be this excessive and not apologise for it.
The guitars are everywhere. The drums crash into choruses without warning. The lyrics walk a line between brilliance and nonsense and don’t look down.
Liam sings like he already owns the world. Noel writes like he’s trying to build another one from scratch. Nothing is held back. Nothing is fixed.
There’s no caution. No editing. Just five lads, a blank cheque, and no one sober enough to stop them.
It captured a moment when too much was the goal. And that moment never came back.
