Compare and Contrast Oasis' Be Here Now and Coldplay's X & Y

[intedomine]

Let's have some intelligent discussion here regarding Oasis, Coldplay and each band's 3rd Album.

X&Y has been avaliable for 6 months now, and for many that is long enough to digest the album as a whole and whether Coldplay's 3rd album has lived up to the masive hype.

Many believe that 1997's Be Here Now, Oasis' 3rd album, was an overhyped, overwrought and self-indulgent LP, and that the end result failed to live up to the massive anticipation for it's release.

Taking into consideration: the hype leading up to the albums and the nature of each band's previous albums, the "progressive" or "regressive" nature of the albums, the content on the albums, and what will be the ultimate legacy of each album, let's compare and contrast the albums and the circumstances surrounding the band at the time.

I can see many similarities in both the approach of the band to their 3rd album and the critical reception, although the media was much more lenient towards Coldplay than to Oasis.

Here's the key contention for you to ponder and analyse:

" 'X&Y' IS TO COLDPLAY AS 'BE HERE NOW' WAS TO OASIS."

DISCUSS

 

[Popmartijn]

No it isn't.
Even at the release of the record I read the following in a review (and I'm paraphrasing from memory here):
X&Y is no OK Computer, but it's no Be Here Now either.

Yes, I believe X&Y was overhyped too. No,it does not live up to the hype. But it isn't a horrible album either. I've heard it a few times and it's pretty good. Just not as good (by a long shot) as their first two albums.
Be Here Now was Oasis being completely self-indulgent. They thought they could get away with an album full of overblown guitar solos, extended endings, etc. They couldn't.
Coldplay thought that their songs would be as good as the ones on their first two albums. Apart from a couple of exceptions, they aren't. But I don't think they went to the self-indulgent route.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

To be fair loads of people have pointed out that X&Y is disappointing (and it is).

Be Here Now on the other hand was massively taken up by a music press swept away (deservedly so, I think) by Morning Glory.

It got five stars in Q, for feck's sake!

 

[pepokiss]

what's on BE HERE NOW?

can someone post the track list?


still, X&Y is great album.. Fix You, Talk, Swallowed in the sea, Kingdome Come, The Hardest part.. those are great songs

at least better than In My Place

 

[LMP]

'Be Here Now' - Oasis (1997)

1. D'You Know What I Mean?
2. My Big Mouth
3. Magic Pie
4. Stand By Me
5. I Hope, I Think, I Know
6. The Girl In The Dirty Shirt
7. Fade In-Out Listen
8. Don't Go Away
9. Be Here Now
10. All Around The World
11. It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)
12. All Around The World (Reprise)

'X&Y' - Coldplay (2005)

1. Square One
2. What If?
3. White Shadows
4. Fix You
5. Talk
6. X&Y
7. Speed of Sound
8. A Message
9. Low
10. The Hardest Part
11. Swallowed in the Sea
12. Twisted Logic
*Bonus Track* - Kingdom Come

hmmm...they both were overhyped, disappointing and arrogant to me upon listening because their last 2 albums were so good. I also thought Chris Martin and The Gallagher Bros. were self-indulgent wankers after their respective releases. The Gallagher Bros. trying to rock more than everyone else, and Chris Martin trying to be the sad, sensitive guy (goes well when you have a beautiful wife and baby girl )

Draw for me

 

[TheQuiet1]

You know how everyone talks about "the difficult second album"? Well, I think that nowadays it's increasingly becoming a case of "the difficult third album".

Anyway back on topic. I think whether X&Y is Coldplay's Be Here Now really depends on one thing: The next album. Personally I like Be Here Now but to many people it was the turning point for Oasis- a huge confidence crisis followed (ironic, I know) where Oasis released mediocre albums and struggled to find an identity (years between albums, scrapped albums, psychedelic SOTSOG, formulamatic HC, finally the return-to-form-with-mixture-of-styles DBTT). If Coldplay release a weak fourth album then perhaps X&Y will be their BHN, but I don't think that we can call it that at the moment IMHO.

 

[impy13]

at least better than In My Place

 

[LMP]

If Coldplay can build upon their strengths and try to work on their weaknesses, they could become a seriously great band

but on this current course, they will go the way of Oasis

 

[TheQuiet1]

at least better than In My Place

I don't like that song either (though I must have done at one point 'cos I bought the single )

Though I hear loadsa people love it though... *ahem*

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

No it isn't.
Even at the release of the record I read the following in a review (and I'm paraphrasing from memory here):
X&Y is no OK Computer, but it's no Be Here Now either.

Yes, I believe X&Y was overhyped too. No,it does not live up to the hype. But it isn't a horrible album either. I've heard it a few times and it's pretty good. Just not as good (by a long shot) as their first two albums.
Be Here Now was Oasis being completely self-indulgent. They thought they could get away with an album full of overblown guitar solos, extended endings, etc. They couldn't.
Coldplay thought that their songs would be as good as the ones on their first two albums. Apart from a couple of exceptions, they aren't. But I don't think they went to the self-indulgent route.

what that guy said

 

[tarquinsuperb]

I think you are way off base personally. Before X & Y it seemed very fashionable to build Coldplay up but for no apparent reason it now seems the done thing is to knock them. I wasn't a huge fan and I saw them a couple of weeks ago for a third time and they have moved forward enormously the songs are much stronger and they are much more confident and solid on stage. They received to much praise for the first two albums and not received enough praise for this one.

The main way in which your comparison falls down is the effort involved in the albums. We all know how hard Coldplay worked at X & Y but Noel Gallagher is now honest about how arrogant and lazy Oasis were in recording Be Here Now. He's honest about how crap it is and he attributes it to no one being able to say "actually mate that sounds a bit shit." It's forgivable because WTSMG was just huge in a way everyone would have struggled to come to terms with. Be Here Now is the most exchanged album ever, this fate will not befall X & Y.

 

[the rockin edge]

i prefer x&y

 

[blueyedpoet]

Be Here Now suffers from not enough production, while X&Y suffers from too much production.

 

[typhoon]

Be Here Now is great. Overwrought and self-indulgent, yes, but still fun. Noel doesn't like it (even though their next two albums were worse), but I think Liam defends it from time to time. Not that he's the smart one, exactly.

X&Y was good too. It was disappointing because of the hype? What I don't get is: if people here hate Coldplay so much, why do they read their hype? I didn't read any hype about X&Y except the "OMG Chris Martin called Coldplay the best band in the world, BUT THAT'S U2, LYNCH HIM!" threads around here. Sometimes I think people here go looking for reasons to hate Coldplay, and in that case, it's no wonder that you find them.

The only hype I read is U2's, and even then, I realize it's mostly bullshit and wait for the album so I can decide for myself. It just comes down to the tunes, and both Be Here Now and X&Y had 'em. Neither was really life-changing stuff, but they're pretty much exactly what I expected from each band, so I wasn't disappointed with either.

 

[namkcuR]

I think Stand By Me is better than anything on X&Y.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I thought 'X&Y' was a disappointment because I thought they wrote some fantastic songs on the first two albums (and some choice B-sides) but the material that came out was extremely uninspired.

Coldplay-lite, almost.

 

[U2Man]

Be Here Now is great. Overwrought and self-indulgent, yes, but still fun. Noel doesn't like it (even though their next two albums were worse), but I think Liam defends it from time to time. Not that he's the smart one, exactly.

X&Y was good too. It was disappointing because of the hype? What I don't get is: if people here hate Coldplay so much, why do they read their hype? I didn't read any hype about X&Y except the "OMG Chris Martin called Coldplay the best band in the world, BUT THAT'S U2, LYNCH HIM!" threads around here. Sometimes I think people here go looking for reasons to hate Coldplay, and in that case, it's no wonder that you find them.

The only hype I read is U2's, and even then, I realize it's mostly bullshit and wait for the album so I can decide for myself. It just comes down to the tunes, and both Be Here Now and X&Y had 'em. Neither was really life-changing stuff, but they're pretty much exactly what I expected from each band, so I wasn't disappointed with either.

What that guy said

Be Here Now self-indulgent? Yes, but that's how Oasis are at their very best and very worst. I you don't like self-indulgent bands, don't listen to Oasis in the first place. Saying you don't like a new Oasis album because it is self-indulgent is like saying you don't like the new U2 album because Bono sings on it.

And regarding Coldplay - when I stopped listening to the hype and the "Chris Martin is an idiot"- and listened to the music instead, I started liking them. I bought their three albums within the last year, and I actually regard X&Y as my favourite by now. Come on, you guys can do this too!

 

[U2One]

I think Stand By Me is better than anything on X&Y.

I think Don't Go Away is better than anything on X&Y

 

[POP-ROMANCER]

I think they're both 2 great albums. After Be Here Now , the turning point, came 2 middle-class albums. Be Here Now I think isn't as good as the first 2 from Oasis but it's different: many guitars, the weird sounds, the 7-minute songs. So I don't compare this album to an other album from Oasis. And, the expectations were very high after the succes of WTSMG. Once you made the best album you can't make a better one.

X&Y is I think also a great album. The whole album I think is better than AROBTTH but that has better songs on it: Politik, A rush of blood, the scientist and Amsterdam. Of course after such a huge succes the expectations are high and there is a hype. I think X&Y don't live up to that hype that they are the biggest band in the world etc A couple of weeks ago I read that Coldplay will be changing their sound so this is the turning point for Coldplay.

 

[Popmartijn]

Once you made the best album you can't make a better one.

Erm, not to completely hijack this thread, but: The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby?
(or Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks, to steer away from any U2 content. )

 

[TheQuiet1]

X&Y is I think also a great album. The whole album I think is better than AROBTTH but that has better songs on it

I agree totally. IMHO both the bands had second albums that had both killer and filler tracks whilst both their third albums contained hardly any filler tracks but fewer songs that were as good as the amazing killer tracks on their second. That said both X&Y and BHN do have some fantastic songs on them, just not quite reaching the perfection of, for me say, Don't Look Back in Anger or The Scientist.

 

[elevation2u]

Erm, not to completely hijack this thread, but: The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby?
(or Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks, to steer away from any U2 content. )

very true

and in my opinion Kid A is better than OK Computer....and Darkness on the Edge of Town is better than Born to Run

 

[intedomine]

I reckon Be Here Now is more fulfilling due to the exhillarating nature of some of the tracks. The only real blemish on the album is it's length. It appears to achieve all Oasis' goals, even if it was lazily put to together.

Exclude Girl in the Dirty Shirt and Fade In/Out from the album, and you've got a pretty coherent record. There are also some fabulous B sides.


Problem with X & Y for me is that for a band that claimed that they were gonna do something really progressive, the album features a LOT of ye olde Coldplay (hardest part, what if, a message). They are good songs, yet they just sound out of place on an album that features talk, white shadows and square one.

Maybe if World Turned Upside Down, and Things I Don't Understand were on the album, it would work in it's favour.


What Coldplay must do however, is to be careful that they don't become a laughing stock like Oasis pretty much became undeservedly after their 3rd album...