My faith in the magazine evaporated at that moment.

You make an interesting point, Jeff, which, whilst a tad hyperbolic, isn't that far of the mark.

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I can't see YouTube content at work, so didn't know what band/album you were talking about until I clicked through. Wasn't hard to guess though!

They may have killed Britpop, but I'd say there have been more than a few notable exceptions to the rubbish since then. I would also posit that far more damage has been done to radio, singles, LPs and charts by Pop Idol, X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent etc.

stripped down, some of the naffer lyrics replaced (sample: "blood on the tracks and it must be mine, fool on the hill and I feel fine", not to mention that drivel about an assassin) and a time limit of 4 1/2 minutes per track slapped on it, but I still rather like it.

Something's just flown over my head.
I've really, really tried with Oasis, but to no avail. I just can't hate their music.
That's not to say I like the Brothers Grimm, or would ever go and see them, or that I have bought their CDs (OK, one exception). And I agree with Mr Crowther's well-made point. But, sorry, I still like the music.

I still love the first two albums, and The Masterplan. They may have gone downhill rapidly after that, but those three records are still terrific.

What's all this about, eh? Is it that Oasis group? I'm 51, me.

...not everybody goes along with waves like the one that carried Oasis. The difference is they don't get asked to express their views.

I remember, at the height of Britpop, having lunch with Mark Cooper of the BBC in Soho. We discussed the seditious thought that Oasis were nothing like as good as Slade, let alone the Beatles. We made sure we did it in hushed tones. At the time the idea that Oasis were anything less than the second coming was an idea about as likely to get a platform as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade in Tel Aviv.

And when the overwhelming majority of the public are happy believing something that is clearly not true (other examples include the Premier League being the best football in the world, Susan Boyle being the greatest interpretative singer since Frank Sinatra and the late Princess of Wales being a saint) most media tends to go along with it. You're a lot more likely to be successful that way than muttering in a corner like Mark and I were doing. That's what they say about leading popular taste. Find a parade and then march in front of it. That's what those reviews were doing, consciously or not.

And in the end what good does it do to run up to people and say that the thing they love is rubbish? You're not going to change their minds and you might just ruin their day. A lot of people had a lot of fun during Oasis fever and now they've got a load of good memories and a bunch of records that they hardly ever play. There are worse results in life.

it's a record that illicts such a strong reaction, and someone even noticing that it was twelve years ago today that it came out.

You wouldn't get that with whatever shite Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young or Richard Thompson had out in 1997.

My love of Oasis has been well documented on this site, and I would easily give Be Here Now a 7 or 8 out of 10.

However, on the day it came out, I queued with everyone else and won a Liam Gallagher lookalike competition run by ITV in HMV in Birmingham and got the album free, so I spent my pocket money on 'Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space' by Spiritualized. It was clear even to me in the grip of 'Oasis fever' that the latter was better, but Be Here Now still rocks.

Ahem. I'll leave now.

There's a very good record in there struggling to get out over the layers and layers of guitars and snow...

Still believe "It's Getting Better, Man" is a great lost single had the squalling 4 minute cocaine guitar noise been lost from the end.

Magic Pie however..............

..I'd argue it was the inevitable conclusion. Britpop was an over-inflated balloon ready to burst by 1997.

...bizarre as it may sound....

some of us who *whisper* like "Be Here Now". I like the fact that "All Around The World" changes key 3 times and goes on for 6 days. I like "Stand By Me" in its portrayal of drunken bloke in a pub telling everyone their "mar besht mayt, yoo arr". I like the fact Johnny Depp plays on it. And I like "The Girl In The Dirty Shirt".

It takes all sorts I suppose.

Don't Go Away is particularly affecting

my big mouth. mainly for liam. awful words, crazy screeeeeee of production but if u fiddle with th bass its great.

a number of people in the thread so far have stood up for various tracks on the album. Yes, OK, it was an comedically overblown gakkfest that had everything turned up to 11. Fact is though, there are some bloody memorable songs on it, aren't there?

Tell me you don't remember D'You Know What I Mean's ludicrous Apocalypse Now-y helicopters in its video, not to mention the gargantunan hook in the chorus. Come to that, Stand By Me is actually pretty bloody good (once again, killer chorus). And personally, if ever I feel down, a play of All Around The World is absolutely guaranteed to put a big dumb grin on my face.

It was not the greatest album ever made, which makes the reviews of the time lok a touch silly. Nor, indeed, was it the worst. No, I think the execrable effort from Menswe@r fills that hole and, in addition, may have been the credibility-defying turd that singalled the true end of Britpop

The one and only time I heard BHN in its entirety. A friend had bought it, we sat in his living room having a drink and a conversation with an unremarkable and unmemorable noise going on around us. Not bad, certainly not great, just ordinary and pedestrian. Then something happens which piques my interest, the sound of a rather well played slide guitar emerges (Fade In/Out). I'm intrigued as I wasn't aware Noel played slide and it seemed unlikely he could have reached that level of proficiency in the time since WTSMG. I get up, pick up the liner notes and discover - somewhat unexpectedly to say the least - that the highlight of this massive juggernaut of an album with, I don't know, 5000 separate guitar tracks on it, is provided by... Johnny Depp. What's going on here, when the supposed saviours of music are upstaged on their own album by Edward Scissorhands.
Still like the track, never listened to the album since. It left almost no impression on me whatsoever.