Oasis - Be Here Now (1997)

SOLD! $23.00

Auction Link (ended November 23rd)

Very Good+ Original UK 1st Pressing

Creation Records: CRELP 219
"MIKE'S - THE EXCHANGE" written in the dead wax on all four sides
Format: 2X12" Double LP, Heavy Audiophile Pressing, Black Vinyl
Includes: Both Custom Lyrics/Photo/Liner Notes Inner Sleeves - NM!
Cover Condition: NM, No ring wear, splits, creases, holes, or saw-cuts. Great collectible condition. Always stored vertically in a protective poly sleeve.
Vinyl Condition: VG++! Only a few of the very faintest of marks, plays great! Lables are NM!

Release Info:  Be Here Now is the third studio album by English rock band Oasis. Released in August 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 United Kingdom's fastest selling album to date, selling over 420,000 units on the first day of release, and over one million within two weeks. As of 2008, the album has sold eight million copies worldwide.

Oasis' management company Ignition were aware of the dangers of overexposure, and before its release 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 personnel connected with the band. Ignition's attempts to limit pre-release access served to fuel large scale speculation and publicity within the British music scene.

Although initial reviews were positive, retrospectively the album is viewed by much of the music press, the public, and by most members of the band as over-indulgent and bloated. In 2007, Q magazine, having given the album a five-star rave review on its release, described the fact that Be Here Now is often thought of 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.
The cover image to Be Here Now was shot in April 1997 at Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the former home of Victor Lownes, the head of the Playboy Clubs in the UK until 1981. 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 Johns 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 Stocks House.
 
Spencer remarked that the shoot "degenerated into chaos", adding that "by 8 pm, 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 cover props, Johns said Gallagher simply selected items from the BBC props store he thought would look good in the picture.
 
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 Arthurs. The release date in each region was commemorated on the calendar pictured on the sleeve; Harris said the dating "[encouraged] fans to believe that to buy a copy on the day it appeared was to participate in some kind of historical event."
 
Track Listing
 
All songs written by Noel Gallagher
 
1. "D'You Know What I Mean?" - 7:44
2."My Big Mouth" – 5:02
3."Magic Pie" – 7:19
4."Stand by Me" – 5:56
5."I Hope, I Think, I Know" – 4:22
6."The Girl in the Dirty Shirt" – 5:49
7."Fade In-Out" – 6:52
8."Don't Go Away" – 4:48
9."Be Here Now" – 5:13
10."All Around the World" – 9:20
11."It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)" – 7:00
12."All Around the World (Reprise)" – 2:08