Oasis "D'ya Know What I Mean?" / "Be Here Now" Promo Mailouts

"As you may have heard, Oasis are back." There read the tag line on the latest Oasis mailing list promotional card, and in the mid-summer of 1997, you couldn't avoid them. A now legendary ridiculous publicity campaign would begin here with the first single "D'You Know What I Mean?" and then the accompanying third album "Be Here Now". Overblown isn't the word. And really, although nothing could live up to the hype generated by Creation and the media (most of whom slagged "Morning Glory" and got caught out of step with the public taste by it's massive success), the record wasn't that good. Not bad by any means, but in need of someone during the making of it to take the band aside and say "no". No to seven minute songs with interminable feedback intros and outros, no to overdone guitar solos, no to Johnny Depp, no to songs that two years earlier wouldn't have made an extra track on a cassette single.

"Be Here Now" was and remains a bit of an own goal. It could have been brilliant, had Noel saved some of his better songs for the album and not tossed them off as extra tracks on singles. Or if someone had decided to edit the bloody thing down to a reasonable length. As Noel admits now, it was a creation of the rock and roll lifestyle in which band had now found themselves immersed - open the CD box and you expect a couple of grammes of coke to fall out of the booklet. It was a product of indulgence and everybody got swept up in giddy excitement. I was as guilty, having been there since day one when "Supersonic" was released one gloomy Monday in 1994. I couldn't wait to hear the new stuff - would they up their game in the same way Blur did earlier in the year with "Beetlebum" and the "Blur" album? It was promising... "D'Ya Know What I Mean?", overlong as it was, was a classic Oasis chugging anthem, and sounded great LOUD. The signs of something amiss were apparent listening to the rest of the CD single... "Stay Young" had a great Liam vocal but treaded old ground musically and lyrically, "Angel Child" stayed a demo for good reason and the cover of Bowie's "Heroes" was abysmal. Where's the quality control?

And the album was no better really. Six good tracks, the rest poor. I won't state what they are, it's obvious. Never write a song with "Pie" in the title. Honestly I can say I've never played the CD all the way through since I bought it. Actually I can say that for all their following albums as well.

So that was Oasis then. As big as they would ever be, but from here it would be a slow, slow bumpy ride to the inevitable split.

I wish I'd ordered that boxset though.