Maps of Music

Be Here Now (1997)

Where the lyrics of Be Here Now take you, and where it was really made.

The cover shows a Rolls-Royce half-sunk in a hotel swimming pool, and the shoot began as a plan to photograph each band member in a different city around the world.

Key places

Where the sessions began (1996)

Recording site Abbey Road Studios — Recording of the album began here on 7 October 1996. Co-producer Owen Morris later described the first week of sessions as very difficult. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Jubilee line to St John's Wood station, then about a 5-minute walk.

One of the London studios (1997)

Recording site AIR Studios — AIR Studios is listed among the London studios where the album was recorded, alongside Abbey Road Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Another London studio (1997)

Recording site Orinoco Studios — Orinoco is listed among the London studios used for the album, but no dates are given for its sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The rural studio in Surrey (1996)

Recording site Ridge Farm Studio — Oasis moved to this rural studio on 11 November 1996, after management chose a site less accessible to paparazzi. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover shoot location (1997)

Album cover Stocks House — The album cover was shot here in April 1997, with a white 1972 Rolls-Royce lowered into the swimming pool. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Be Here Now: third studio album by the English rock band Oasis
• Released 21 August 1997 by Creation Records
• Recorded at several London studios and at Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey
• Most tracks keep the anthemic quality of earlier releases, but the songs are longer and carry many guitar overdubs
• Noel Gallagher said the layering was meant to make the album sound as "colossal" as possible
• Last Oasis studio album with founding members Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan, who both left in 1999
• First Oasis album to feature Alan "Whitey" White on drums throughout, after he joined two years earlier

Background

• Followed the worldwide success of Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), so the album was highly anticipated
• Management company Ignition feared overexposure and tried to control media access before release
• Pre-release tactics limited radio airplay and forced journalists to sign gag orders
• These tactics alienated the press and many industry people and fuelled speculation in the British music scene
• By summer 1996 Oasis were widely considered the biggest band in the world, according to Noel Gallagher
• Band members holidayed with Johnny Depp and Kate Moss at Mick Jagger's villa in Mustique, where Noel wrote most of the album's songs
• Infighting grew in 1996: Liam Gallagher refused to sing at an MTV Unplugged show and skipped the first leg of a US tour
• Noel announced he was leaving the band in Charlotte, North Carolina, and rejoined a few weeks later

Recording

• Recording began on 7 October 1996 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London
• Liam was arrested and cautioned for cocaine possession at the Q Awards on 9 November 1996
• After the arrest, management chose a studio less accessible to paparazzi
• On 11 November 1996 the band relocated to the rural Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey
• Co-producer Owen Morris later wrote that not recording in summer 1996 was a mistake
• Several songs carry multiple guitar tracks; Morris's 8-track mixer forced him to bounce tracks, which kept the drum machine in the recordings
• "D'You Know What I Mean?" contains a slowed-down loop from N.W.A's "Straight Outta Compton"

Cover

• Shot in April 1997 at Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the former home of Victor Lownes
• A white 1972 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was lowered into the swimming pool and half submerged
• Photographer Michael Spencer Jones said the original plan of shooting each member in different locations around the world became too costly

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Oasis are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991.
• The original line-up was Liam Gallagher, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll; Noel Gallagher joined a few months later as the fifth member.
• Noel became the de facto leader and wrote the songs for the band's first four albums.

Members

• Current members are Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Bonehead, Gem Archer and Andy Bell.
• Former members include McGuigan, McCarroll and Alan "Whitey" White.

Career

• The band signed to Creation Records in 1993 and debuted with Definitely Maybe (1994), which topped the UK Albums Chart.
• (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) became the UK's best-selling album of the 1990s.
• Be Here Now (1997) became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history.
• The band disbanded in 2009 after Noel left, and reformed in 2024.
• They have sold over 100 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• John Harris wrote that initial reviews were unanimous, with "truly amazing praise"
• Q described the album as "cocaine set to music"
• Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote the album was "music built for impact, not explanation"
• Entertainment Weekly's David Browne called much of the album "a messy, mucky keg o' sound"
• NME's Simon Williams called it "one of the daftest records ever made"
• Planet Sound readers voted it their "most loathed" album of 1997

Reappraisal

• Retrospective reception has been more negative, with critics calling the album bloated and over-produced
• The A.V. Club's Stephen Thompson found good tracks but "cumbersome overlength" in most songs
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it a "triumphant" record
• Pitchfork's Laura Snapes called it "one of the most agonizing listening experiences in pop music" on the 2016 reissue
• The Quietus's Angus Batey called it "the best Oasis album" on the 2016 reissue
• The Guardian's Luke Holland called it a "flawed masterpiece" in 2020

Records

• Became the fastest-selling album in British chart history and topped album charts in 15 countries
• Biggest-selling album of 1997 in the UK, with 1.47 million units sold that year
• Eight million copies sold worldwide as of 2022
• Certified 7× Platinum in the UK and Platinum in the US, Oasis's third and final Platinum album there
• Debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, the band's highest US chart position
• Four singles released; "D'You Know What I Mean?" and "All Around the World" topped the UK singles chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ignition forced retailers to sign contracts promising not to sell the record before 8:00 am, but TV cameras arrived anyway and sales only picked up after lunchtime
• Owen Morris had wanted to transfer the Mustique demos, but his 8-track mixer forced him to bounce tracks, which left the drum machine in the recordings
• An inflatable globe was considered as a cover prop, intended as a homage to the Definitely Maybe sleeve
• First-week sales of 152,000 fell short of the expected 400,000 copies, which the press called a disappointment
• "All Around the World" runs nearly ten minutes and became the longest song to chart at number one in the UK
• The court in Creation Records Ltd v. News Group Newspapers Ltd ruled that the cover's collection of objects was not enough to be protected by copyright

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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