01: D'You Know What I Mean?
02: My Big Mouth
03: Magic Pie
04: Stand By Me
05: I Hope, I Think, I Know
06: The Girl in the Dirty Shirt
07: Fade In-Out
08: Don't Go Away
09: Be Here Now
10: All Around The World
11: It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)
12: All Around the World (Reprise)
Release Date: August 21st 1997
Highest Chart Position: Number 1 in the UK
02: My Big Mouth
03: Magic Pie
04: Stand By Me
05: I Hope, I Think, I Know
06: The Girl in the Dirty Shirt
07: Fade In-Out
08: Don't Go Away
09: Be Here Now
10: All Around The World
11: It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)
12: All Around the World (Reprise)
Release Date: August 21st 1997
Highest Chart Position: Number 1 in the UK
Oasis
Liam Gallagher – vocals (1–2, 4–11)
Noel Gallagher – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals and Mellotron (3), string arrangements, production
Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs – rhythm guitar
Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan – bass guitar
Alan White – drums, percussion
Additional musicians and production
Mike Rowe – keyboards
Mark Coyle – backwards guitar (track 1)
Johnny Depp – slide guitar (track 7)
Mark Feltham – harmonica (track 10)
Richard Ashcroft – backing vocals (track 10)
Nick Ingman – string and brass arrangements
Owen Morris – production
Mike Marsh – mastering
Design
Brian Cannon – art direction, design
Martin Catherall – design assistance
Matthew Sankey – design assistance
Michael Spencer Jones – photography
Jill Furmanovsky – photography collage
Be Here Now is the third studio album by Oasis. Released on August 21st 1997, the album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe, and its 1995 follow up (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. The album's pre-release build up led to considerable hype within both the music and mainstream press. At that point, Oasis were at the height of their fame, and Be Here Now became the UK's fastest selling album to date, selling over 420,000 units on the first day of release alone, and over one million in seventeen days in the UK.
Oasis' management company Ignition were aware of the danger of overexposure, and before its release they sought to control the media's access to the album. Ignition's campaign included limiting pre-release radio airplay, and requesting that journalists sign gag agreements. These tactics resulted in the alienation of members of both the music and mainstream media, as well as many industry members connected with the band. Ignition's attempts to limit pre-release access to the album only served to fuel large scale speculation and publicity within the British music scene.
Artistically
Be Here Now failed to live up to the expectations that preceded its release. Although initial reviews were positive, retrospectively the album is viewed by much of the music press and by most members of the band as over-indulgent and bloated. In 2007, Q magazine described Be Here Now as "a disastrous, overblown folly—the moment when Oasis, their judgement clouded by drugs and blanket adulation, ran aground on their own sky-high self-belief." The album's producer Owen Morris said of the recording sessions: "The only reason anyone was there was the money. Noel had decided Liam was a shit singer. Liam had decided he hated Noel's songs. Massive amounts of drugs. Big fights. Bad vibes. Shit recordings." None of its songs were included on the band's 2006 compilation album Stop The Clocks.
Album cover
The cover image to Be Here Now was shot at the Stock Hotel in Hertfordshire in April 1997. It features the band standing outside the hotel surrounded by assorted props. At the centre of the image is a Rolls Royce floating in a swimming pool. The photographer Michael Spencer Jones said the original concept involved shooting each band member in various locations around the world, but when the cost proved prohibitive, the shoot was relocated to the Stock Hotel. Michael Spencer Jones remarked that the shoot "degenerated into chaos", adding that "by 8pm, everyone was in the bar, there were schoolkids all over the set, and the lighting crew couldn't start the generator".
It was Alice In Wonderland meets Apocalypse Now. Despite various meanings people have tried to read into the selection of the various props used on the cover.
Brian Cannon said in 2013 "All the props around the pool have no meaning whatsoever, I just took Liam and Noel down to a BBC props warehouse in White City and they picked loads of random stuff, it was total nonsense".
Two of the props that had considered thought in their inclusion were the inflatable globe (intended as a homage to the sleeve of Definitely Maybe and the Rolls Royce, which was suggested by Bonehead.
The release date in each region was commemorated on the calendar pictured on the sleeve. It was thought that dating the album would encourage fans to buy a copy on the day of it's release, like they thought they were participating in some kind of historical event."
Liam Gallagher – vocals (1–2, 4–11)
Noel Gallagher – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals and Mellotron (3), string arrangements, production
Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs – rhythm guitar
Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan – bass guitar
Alan White – drums, percussion
Additional musicians and production
Mike Rowe – keyboards
Mark Coyle – backwards guitar (track 1)
Johnny Depp – slide guitar (track 7)
Mark Feltham – harmonica (track 10)
Richard Ashcroft – backing vocals (track 10)
Nick Ingman – string and brass arrangements
Owen Morris – production
Mike Marsh – mastering
Design
Brian Cannon – art direction, design
Martin Catherall – design assistance
Matthew Sankey – design assistance
Michael Spencer Jones – photography
Jill Furmanovsky – photography collage
Be Here Now is the third studio album by Oasis. Released on August 21st 1997, the album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe, and its 1995 follow up (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. The album's pre-release build up led to considerable hype within both the music and mainstream press. At that point, Oasis were at the height of their fame, and Be Here Now became the UK's fastest selling album to date, selling over 420,000 units on the first day of release alone, and over one million in seventeen days in the UK.
Oasis' management company Ignition were aware of the danger of overexposure, and before its release they sought to control the media's access to the album. Ignition's campaign included limiting pre-release radio airplay, and requesting that journalists sign gag agreements. These tactics resulted in the alienation of members of both the music and mainstream media, as well as many industry members connected with the band. Ignition's attempts to limit pre-release access to the album only served to fuel large scale speculation and publicity within the British music scene.
Artistically
Be Here Now failed to live up to the expectations that preceded its release. Although initial reviews were positive, retrospectively the album is viewed by much of the music press and by most members of the band as over-indulgent and bloated. In 2007, Q magazine described Be Here Now as "a disastrous, overblown folly—the moment when Oasis, their judgement clouded by drugs and blanket adulation, ran aground on their own sky-high self-belief." The album's producer Owen Morris said of the recording sessions: "The only reason anyone was there was the money. Noel had decided Liam was a shit singer. Liam had decided he hated Noel's songs. Massive amounts of drugs. Big fights. Bad vibes. Shit recordings." None of its songs were included on the band's 2006 compilation album Stop The Clocks.
Album cover
The cover image to Be Here Now was shot at the Stock Hotel in Hertfordshire in April 1997. It features the band standing outside the hotel surrounded by assorted props. At the centre of the image is a Rolls Royce floating in a swimming pool. The photographer Michael Spencer Jones said the original concept involved shooting each band member in various locations around the world, but when the cost proved prohibitive, the shoot was relocated to the Stock Hotel. Michael Spencer Jones remarked that the shoot "degenerated into chaos", adding that "by 8pm, everyone was in the bar, there were schoolkids all over the set, and the lighting crew couldn't start the generator".
It was Alice In Wonderland meets Apocalypse Now. Despite various meanings people have tried to read into the selection of the various props used on the cover.
Brian Cannon said in 2013 "All the props around the pool have no meaning whatsoever, I just took Liam and Noel down to a BBC props warehouse in White City and they picked loads of random stuff, it was total nonsense".
Two of the props that had considered thought in their inclusion were the inflatable globe (intended as a homage to the sleeve of Definitely Maybe and the Rolls Royce, which was suggested by Bonehead.
The release date in each region was commemorated on the calendar pictured on the sleeve. It was thought that dating the album would encourage fans to buy a copy on the day of it's release, like they thought they were participating in some kind of historical event."