He won't, he's not going to like James being such a geek. Also, I bet Noel isn't going to appreciate how much secret stuff James has figured out, like The Masterplan analysis.
Oasis is the classic example of a band that became massive but could have and probably should become more massive. But the things that prevented them from become even more massive could also be the things that set them off in the first place.
They squandered their legacy by being more interested in coke and drinking than writing great songs for "Be Here Now". They had HALF songs and then compensated for it by trying to just make them sound huge. It's a real shame, as I think if Noel had taken a year off and concentrated on his songwriting, they could have made a great third album.
Yes, and it's interesting comparing the studio version that is calm and slow, but mesmerizing nonetheless to the last song ever released (Don't Stop); I wonder what it would have sounded like more aggressive and raw like the '97 tour. We'll never hear it but if AI could give us a glimpse that'd be great haha
I know this is a "what if" video, but if you consider that the BHN tour ended in March 1998 and they were doing warm ups for the next tour in December 1999, plus they likely needed a break after touring and recording consistently since 1994, it's doubtful that another album could have been put out in the 90s unless SOTSOG was moved to the end of '99 (maybe this was the original intention). I may be wrong but Noel had also exhausted his backlog of songs by this time. So all things considered it makes sense that a break was needed and a musical change of direction. Btw, I think it's madness that Let's All Make Believe was only a b-side.
@@GavinMorris1 I was referring to his early batch of songs. A lot of the music on the first three albums was written pre-fame, all around the world being an example of an older song held back. As we know with Noel, most of his best work was written in the first half of the 90s, occassionally since then he's slipped an older song onto a new album.
It's why Noel adding a bit of Whole Lotta Love and Heartbreaker to the end of the 2000 live versions of Cigarettes & Alcohol always fascinated me. As a big Zep head myself, its great
The weird pedal in the studio is a Mutron Bi-Phase. It was a twin phasor with two independent circuits - featured more in The SOTSOG sessions, particularly on Let’s All Make Believe. I was offered the chance to purchase the pedal when Wheeler End studios shut down. Couldn’t afford the £800 at the time. The weird sound Noel did live was twisting the delay time on the Boss DD-3 delay in conjunction with a Boss PH-2 Phaser.
Yeah and with a DD3 and a PH2 you can get really close to get those dope DYWIM overdubs like the one in the bridge that once reversed is the loop at the end of the song. PH2 has a feature that gets really close to that signature guitar on the left channel on Let's all make believe as well.
This is just truly eductional, fascinating and insightful. A Real appreciation for the upload. Thank you to Kyle for the mix kindly uploaded. Swamp Song is fab on that tape :-)
If I'm honest I had given up on oasis after be here now, I like be here now, great pub tunes for the summer, yes we were all doing the white lines too and drinking lots and lots. Those days were insane. Work hard play hard, had some of the best years of my life from 1992-1999 great music great times
@@matthewjdouglas6471 Naturally after a period of time, when there's no longer any new Oasis songs produced it's easier to select and place in order your fave albums. I would have gone for the 'B' Sides like Acquiesce, Fade Away, The Swamp Song, Round Are Way, and Listen Up. The Early years too before definitely maybe is one of my personal faves that I would love for them to be re-released on CD and Vinyl.
The mad pedal Noel used to do those pitch shift effects is a Boss DD5. He also uses it to transition into Columbia on Live By The Sea. I had one back in the day, they're awesome.
DD5? I don't doubt it, but Digital Delay pedals don't typically spazz out like that, they just start to drop out in volume at weird places when you change the speed knob. (They still self-oscillate) Alalog Delay pedals are known for the degradation effect James is talking about, but I own a DD-5, I should try it out.
I have an old Boss DD3 I can get similar effects with. Wind up the level and feedback, increase the delay time a bit then change the mode between the short, medium and long settings. Then start messing with the delay time again.
Great video. I love the BHN era and it’s B sides and this got me intrigued as to where Oasis would go next in the 90’s. You haven’t touched upon Helter Skelter which I believe was the last track recorded during this era. The track didn’t get released until SOTSOG b sides but it is the last time the 90s era band recorded together, including Owen Morris.
I actually remember realising in 97 that Noel didn't stray from standard pentatonic shapes. If you can play the Don't Look Back In Anger solo, you're good for pretty much all of Be Here Now. I still love the first 3 albums, but by this point in time I realised Johnny Greenwood and Graham Coxon were doing much more interesting things.
Isn't it called wall of sound? Have you heard Wah Wah from George Harrison? Or REM's What's The Frequency Kenneth? You can barely hear the vocals but that's the point, and if done correctly its amazing
@@shopo6847 There is a difference between wall of sound and the whatever was done on street fighting man. "If it is done correctly" is the operative phrase.
My studio contacts didn't have the machine to convert that tape. However, it's most likely just the final released version. I will check that when I find a place to convert it to be certain
I'd love to do more on SOTSOG, but to do so I need access to stems... it's a real 'needle in the haystack' thing because the owner might not be active online - or may have no wish to share their collectors piece online... It's always great when things like SFM show up though!
Thank you James, I really enjoyed that, as I have all the other Oasis stuff you have done on youre YT channel. I have learnt so much about Oasis, that I didnt know, from you, Thankyou again.
Whitey had great feel. I know he’s not an original member but I like the slightly funky sensibility he gave the band. He was a solid pro too. I love TM and Definitely Maybe is unrivalled, but when you’re touring and playing huge gigs, you need a solid musician on the drums. I can see why they had to make the change
I agree with you sure Alan had the drumming skills the band wanted but sound wise tony had the best drum sound and had they kept him wouod we have had a different sounding oasis? Who knows
james for me this is where the hindu times eventually came from.. noel always said he was missing the lick in it for years that gem came up with.. many of the parts are clearly taken from SFM
I believe the 'weird pedal' that Noel uses is just a delay that he adds too much repeats and changes the speed of the delay so it just creates this big whooshing sound. I may be wrong.
About 15 years ago I came across an upload to RU-vid which was titled All Around the World Remastered, it was a much cleaner version, a bit like the clip of them recording it at the boardwalk I think it was but the full song and clean. Never found it since as it got removed before I got home from work or I’d have ripped it.
Watching that video after SFMan is like sleeping with a model then stepping down to someone's Aunty. It's rubbish, haha. Good to archive online at least
James im confused, I watched a video before and you said they b sides where underwhelming for this release- 1998 - on your video regarding why Noel hates be here now. But here you praise them? I think the b sides of all around the world are up there with the best Have I got this wrong I’m intrigued Absolutely love the content, it’s amazing
On the Stones version of SFM the rhythm guitar is an acoustic recorded onto a small cassette recorder and then fed back into the desk at max volume resulting in a distorted tone. Possibly this ‘trick’ was recreated. The tiny amp theory is probably true though
The b-sides for Be Here Now are good enough to have made up their own album. My Sister Lover and I got the Fever in particular are out of their own unique new Oasis genre.
@19:55 The sound from the live show is possibly Boss DD3, if you dive ralidly with the timing knob it'll create this sound. I think the Wah track on the song just has some gritty fuzz, Big Muff pedals were big in the 90s, I've also seen online that Noel used a Boss FZ5 during the BHN era.
I like them, or at least that one album, which has many superb tracks on it. It’s of it’s time, 20 years old+ now? “Who knows where the time goes?”, as Sandy Denny sang. I only know that lots of it has fled under the bridge….
@@GT380man I agree. It really was ahead of its time, recently Danny McNamara was speaking about the recording process of it on a radio show. Very cool to hear that. It still sounds amazing to this day. And when it came out I just listened a couple of tracks thinking it was nice. Now I see how well produced it was.
If Be Here Now had the following as it's tracklisting and was mixed like Noels 2016 rethink of D'You Know What I Mean? then it would rival Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory. 1. D'You Know What I Mean? (Shortened) 2. My Big Mouth 3. Stand by Me (Shortened) 4. I Hope, I Think, I Know 5. The Girl In the Dirty Shirt (Shortened) 6. Stay Young 7. Don't Go Away 8. Be Here Now 9. It's Gettin' Better (Man!!) (Shortened) 10. All Around the World (Shortened)
Love the deep dive mate, really impressive investigational skills to support the theories. As for the mystery loop, sounds too melodic to me to be a drum skin. To me, sounds like a detuned electric guitar, which would give it that loose, flappy sound. Alternatively could be played on a baritone guitar or simply a distorted bass with a low pass filter, picked very heavily, which would give it a thinner, more metalic sound, while having that flappy, aggresiveness
Pretty certain the noisy sound he used live around 20:10 is just an analog delay self oscillating. If you dime the repeats & twist the time it does that laser gun sound.
Well done, James. But also the B-sides for the "Stand by me" single were more or less in that style. And they're very interesting too, even if I've read they were recorded really fast. The songs were there, anyway. What a time to be a listener!
96 tracks on each song! James, do you mean 96 tracks off of the mixing desk? Too much of a good thing. 90's excess? I don't know about producing and mixing but Keith Richards said in an interview around 1978 that Rock 'n' Roll went down hill when they moved off of using only 4 tracks (from RU-vid Documentary by FlipSideCT on either the album Some Girls or Emotional Rescue). I think What's the Story is one of the great albums of all time. Definitely in the class of the great 60's and 70's albums. I've been mostly into 60's 70's stuff since 1979 and had given up on modern music except U2 and Dire Straits. A guy lent me that Oasis Album when it came out and i was blown away I hadn't even heard of 'em. Their version of Street Fighting man is great, i didn't know they'd done a cover of it. Along with Siouxsie and the Banshee's "Dear Prudence", they are the only band to do a worthy cover of a Beatles song, in "I am the Walrus", and live too. Thanks for the show James Hargreaves.
I disagree, Noel said he would only do 3, it's more the end of All Around The World closing the door, reaffirms it, he always wanted to do Standing... as 4th or maybe it would have been heavier...
The loop does sound like a loose drum head, but not run through a guitar amplifier…could have been run through an outboard distortion unit and radically equalized to get that particular sound.
Great work as usual James. For me, the “fourth album in the (Oasis) classic 90’s style” is Aisis’ “ The Lost Tapes.” Breezer’s 2023 imaginative creation supersedes “Be Here Now” lyrically and musically, from start to finish. It’s what the folllow-on to WTSMG should have been. That’s heresy to most, and I’m not knocking BHN because I still enjoy listening to most of it. However BHN was a weak, mailed-in follow up to WTSMG. Thankfully we all got SOTSOG in 2000 to right the Oasis legacy.
It feels like it would have been another "Second Coming". I think they eventually went with some of it in Heathen Chemistry, but without the invincibility
Yes Noel considers himself a songwriter and not a guitar player However his Guitar tone was tremendous at times Noel's a much better player than he and everyone thinks
SOTSOG for me is massively underestimated. I must hear it completely differently to everyone else because it gets slated universally. I would even say I think it would have been a better third album than Be Here Now.
Great video as always! There's only one thing not clear to me. Why would this session be their last piece of music of the 90s if it is stated to have been recorded in October 96 when the Be here now sessions lasted until april may 97. They were still into the wall of sound guitars in early 97. It only happens that these besides were released with the last single in 98. Or maybe these bunch of b sides were recorded at the end of the session? Anyway I'm really happy about how the actual 4th album came out and the direction they took. I was pretty disappointed at the time when it was released cos of the new logo, the loss of Morris touch and the new direction (apart tracks like go let it out, let's all make believe, gas panic and where did it all go wrong? That were instant classic to me) but I do think that it is one of their most underrated album and maybe one of those that is aging better. Listening to it now it's a stunning record with great sound and experimentations on it. I only would have opted for a different track list. There are way better b sides in that session than songs like put your money where her mouth is, little James and I can see a liar. Change those with let's all make believe, one way road and cigs in hell or carry us all and full on and it would have been a way better album imho and it would be great to see some deep dive into those 99 sessions.
Even at the time I remember being a bit confused about the track listing for BHN. The B-sides were so much better. Even from the first single (before the album was released) Angel Child and Stay Young (if I remember correctly). I'd argue that both of those songs were better than anything on the album. Why on earth was "I Think I Hope I Know" on the album when Stay Young could have been in its place?
Another incredibly interesting analysis - well done. I wonder if Noel commented at the time about the recording of the track and whether it was seen as a new direction? I remember NME at the time mentioning the decision to cover a Stones track but more than that I don't recall.
An absolute crime that some of those b sides were never played live : Paul Weller wanted Noel to play “The Fame” live , yet he never did . Flashbax, ( I Got ) The Fever and My Sister Lover would have been absolutely amazing in concert , not to mention the crowd and die hard fans would have gone absolutely mental hearing those!! To my knowledge, the only live song Noel has ever played from the Be Here Now b-sides is Angel Child
That drum is just like supersonic and there there by Radiohead, not a bad thing. Loves liams vocals on this tune , he was made to sing street fighting man
(I got)the Fever is arguably my favourite song. Stay Young isn’t far behind. Can’t believe they never made the album ahead of the girl in the dirty shirt and magic pie.
Hi James, I have wondered for a long time if the originals recordings from the SOTSOG sessions with Bonehead’s guitar tracks exist. Do you have any idea? Thanks
On the last leg of the Be Here Now Tour, before the band hit the stage, they used to play "Rock'n'roll" by Led Zeppelin on the PA. I remember reading a news about the recording of the new album on the band's official website (oasisinet) between 1998 and 1999, where Noel mentioned listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin and playing with a double neck SG in the recordings. This was before Guigsy and Bonehead left.
Morning, I created a Spotify playlist this morning off the back of this video for the 4th album. My tracklist is this. What would everyone else be? 1.street fighting man 2.stay young 3. Setting sun acoustic 4.flashbax 5.the fame 6.my sister love 7.going nowhere 8.help live 9heros 10.step out 11. helter-skelter Wow what an album this would have been ❤ Any title suggestions for what would have been...
Mate that track 12 white noise sound your in about Definetly sounds like an analogue delay going into oscillation I use one myself live for that effect
I'd have liked to have heard a Be Here Now that had more in common with Noel's recent DYou Know What I Mean? rethink, or maybe a Chemical Brothers direction after Noel's two collabs with them. But all music talk aside, I really do think that Ian Huntley fully deserves to be in prison for murdering those two girls.
