Be Here Now (album)

Be Here Now is the third studio album by the English rock band Oasis, released in August 1997 on Creation Records. Oasis had achieved worldwide success with their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe and 1995 follow up (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. The third album was highly anticipated by both fans and music critics. Oasis' management company, Ignition, were aware of the dangers of overexposure, and before release sought to control the media's access to the album. The campaign included limiting pre-release radio airplay and forcing journalists to sign gag orders. The tactics resulted in alienating both the press and many industry personnel connected with the band, and fueled large-scale speculation and wide publicity within the British music scene.

On the first day of release, Be Here Now sold over 424,000 copies, becoming the fastest-selling album in British chart history, while initial reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Retrospectively however, the album is viewed by much of the music press, fans, and by most members of the band as over-indulgent and bloated.Q magazine, which gave the album a five-star rave review on its release, admitted in 2007 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." As of 2008, the album had sold eight million copies worldwide.