Fans of the soon-to-be touring rock band Oasis are suggesting one album from Noel and Liam Gallagher is “overhated” by passing listeners.
While the band may have made it big with Definitely Maybe and What’s the Story (Morning Glory), the albums to follow seem to be only for the hardcore listeners. Those who have tickets to the reunion shows, which are set to kick off on July 4 after a controversial dynamic pricing sales method, may be hoping for songs from the likes of Dig Out Your Soul and Heathen Chemistry, but there is no way of knowing the setlist until the first show in Cardiff, Wales. Until then, fans are discussing the “overhated” sound of Be Here Now, an album they believe gets too much vitriol directed at it. A post to the r/Oasis subreddit suggested not only is it not deserving of hate, but is their “second best” album.
The post reads: “I don’t get the hate for Be Here Now. In my opinion, it is their second best record, behind What’s the Story (Morning Glory). It’s such a fun and energetic album. I know Noel isn’t a fan of it and the timing of the release, but I think you almost had to release it then. Britpop was nearing its end, and I feel if they waited longer, it might’ve seemed outdated. The songs are great too. Look at GMEX 1997, the songs off of Be Here Now at that show rocked.”
Fans of the album have since piled into the thread to share their memories of listening to Be Here Now for the first time. One user wrote: “This album is the third in their holy trinity. If Noel wasn’t so negative about it in the press afterwards, and had the band played more from the album after the Be Here Now tour, Be Here Now’s general reputation would be much higher.”
Another user added: “It sounds gargantuan, like it’s being performed to the whole world. It’s also got some of the best tunes, too, and Liam’s vocals are way better than the first two records.”
A third user suggested context of the times through watching performances from the band would help assess Be Here Now more positively. They wrote: “Be Here Now is a way better album when you’ve watched them play gigs from the era it came out. It just brings those songs to life in a way the album on its own doesn’t quite manage. I bet seeing them live back then would have been colossal!”
Some have even compared Oasis to Nirvana when it comes to the quality of their third records, and how both groups’ third releases were overshadowed by the preceding album. The user wrote: “Such a great album, great songwriting.
“It always sucks when a band’s sophomore album is considered their magnum opus, such as with Nirvana. Both bands had really strong third records with spectacular songwriting.” Not everyone was a fan of Be Here Now, though, with one user pointing out that while some of the songs are some of the band’s very best, there are parts which are “borderline unintelligible”.
They wrote: “As someone who’s always loved Be Here Now and thought it to be criminally underrated, this is my takeaway: In certain aspects they were at the absolute top of their game (Liam’s voice, the huge-sounding drums and soundscapes, some aspects of the production), but the songs were too long, the mix (particularly some of the layered, distorted guitars) sounded borderline unintelligible at times, and the songwriting wasn’t as abstractly relatable as the first two albums.
“Also, the song selection wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been, thanks to Noel’s ‘generous’ B-side selections— Be Here Now could’ve been a masterpiece with a few relatively minor adjustments.”
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