People..please, no more telling me I misunderstood the Football Factory, if one more person even thi...
People..please, no more telling me I misunderstood the Football Factory, if one more person even thinks about saying it..I'm 32, I've got GCSE's in pottery..I understand sh*t British films just fine <flounces off in flurry of petticoats>
Member since:27.07.2000
Reviews:170
Members who trust:78
Well, what to say? Weighing in at a brain numbing 71 minutes, this is one big exercise in excess. Fuelled by cocaine and alcohol, it's heavy going, an overproduced wall of sound, certainly not a worthy successor to 'What's the Story...'.
Naturally, there are good moments, bits where your hair stands on end and you know that there is still hope, but even Noel refers to this album as the 'Great Rock and Roll Swindle'. It nearly finished off Creation, and the criticiscm from the press on finally hearing the album should really have finished off Oasis. They swaggered on though and in hindsight the album probably isn't quite as bad as we all thought way back when, but it's certainly a stodgy concoction.
we kick off with the admittedly good 'D'You Know What I Mean?', a thundering monster of a track, lots of guitar, lots of noise...but it sets an unbreakable rule for the album and every track from here on plays by the same guidelines.
'My Big Mouth', another adrenalin pumping track, upbeat, fast, good fun, with Liam is sounding in good voice - in amongst all the guitars of course.
'Magic Pie' is Noel on lead vocals, with some neat lyrics, a nice track with an uplifting chorus, and the crashing drums and roaring guitars aren't becoming too weary yet. As albums go, it hasn't been a bad start, and next up we get 'Stand by Me', a little too reminiscent of 'Don't look Back in Anger' but still a a favourite of mine from their back catalogue. Nice string arrangement, good harmonies from Noel and Liam on the soaring chorus.
So, another 5 good tracks and we've got a great album on our hands. What we get is something entirely different.
Track 5 is the irritating 'I Hope, I Think, I Know', a noisy pub circuit band number with a grating chorus and lacklustre melody. 'The Girl in the Dirty Shirt' is another disappointing number, with nothing to distinguish it from a thousand other b-sides that you might hear. Okay, it has some slide guitar, but really is nothing special....and much like most of the other tracks on here outstays it's welcome by at least 2 minutes.
'Fade In-Out' starts promisingly enough but fails to deliver ultimately, still far better than tracks 5 and 6. Nice to hear Oasis meddle with a different sound, but it's one that the Stone Roses dealt with far better on the 'Second Coming'.
'Don't Go Away' is the bright spot from the latter half of the album. A lovely track , for want of a better adjective. An all round winner, Liam sounds good, nice arrangement, a bit bacharach sounding...a track that deserved to be a single, I think it received an outing in Australia.
'Be Here Now' is another plain irritating track that you might as well be listening to down the Dog and Duck on a Saturday night. Pub rock crap, for the sake of a 50 minute album just look at what could have been jettisoned from this album. That brings us to the execrable 'All Around the World'. This novelty Beatles rip-off is an insult to the fab four, really plucking the basest elements from their sound, stringing it out into one overly long cringe making track. A real contender for the skip track button, but then that only brings us to 'It's Getting Better (Man!!) a track we've heard in different guises far too many times before from Oasis, it has some nice moments, but it's just far too familiar sounding to be of any note.
The album ends unwisely on a reprise of 'All Around the World', which kinds of sums the album up...Bloated. It feels very tired and complacent in places and just far too pompous in others, a mixed bag alright. Too loud by half, no real changes in emphasis or feel.
Even the sleeve design is a hackneyed pastiche.
A potentially good 40 minute album, but instead a 72 minute yawn fest.
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It's a really good review, excellently set out but I don't agree with your opinion on the latter half of the album. I also think AATW is a top tune, but fair play, each to their own.
Keep up the good work my good man.
Spike_ 18.02.2005 01:34
Bloody hell Cat, how old is this one? Look at the date on that! 2001!!!!! Have we really been here that long? And like I said first time round, I STILL like Be Here Now: - "You're shit jokes remind me of Digsy's....."
kepler3001 14.10.2004 14:50
Great job with this review, summed up my feelings about this album perfectly. Wayne
In retrospect, it's hard to see how Oasis could have possibly equalled the hype ... more
surrounding the release of this, their third album. Arriving as their popularity was at its peak, it's a confusing, faintly self-indulgent collection. The first single, the...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In retrospect, it's hard to see how Oasis could have possibly equalled the hype ... more
surrounding the release of this, their third album. Arriving as their popularity was at its peak, it'sa confusing, faintly self-indulgent collection. The first single, the ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In retrospect, it's hard to see how Oasis could have possibly equalled the hype ... more
surrounding the release of this, their third album. Arriving as their popularity was at its peak, it's a confusing, faintly self-indulgent collection. The first single, the...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
![Be Here Now [CASSETTE] - **Oasis](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/icons/no_pic_generic_S1.gif "Be Here Now [CASSETTE] - **Oasis"){kind=icon}
Apr 14th, 2001
(Apr 15th, 2001)
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