17-year-old Dan Silvert isn't exactly going to be rushing out to buy the soon-to-be-released Oasis album Be Here Now. "I think it's OK, not great," he said.
It's a good thing Oasis devotee Heather Puholzer didn't overhear him. She, no doubt, has already begun planning her strategy for the Aug. 26 release date. As the 16-year-old fan stood listening to the whirling Gallagher guitars and that all-too-familiar Liam Gallagher snarl blasting over the Rasputin Records store speakers, she seemed totally swept away. She had waited long to hear the new tunes. And now that she was hearing them, she was soaking them in, anticipating every note, feeling the pull.
Her moment had come.
"I had high expectations before listening to this album, and I still have high expectations," she said. Clutching a promotional poster close to her chest, Puholzer proclaimed that Oasis' third album would be a big hit. Among her favorite tracks are "The Girl In The Dirty Shirt," "Be Here Now" and "All Around The World."
In a bigger than expected turn out, about 50 remarkably well-behaved teens crowded into the corner of Rasputin Records' World Beat section on Telegraph Avenue Monday night to get a sneak-preview of the highly anticipated Oasis album, which hits record store shelves next Tuesday.
The listening party was sponsored by Bay Area modern rock station Live 105 FM (KITS) and attracted an even mix of young men and women, both die-hard fans and the truly curious. The teens, many of whom dressed in T-shirts bearing the Brit-pop band's name, stood or shopped in total silence as they soaked in their first listen to of guitar rockers such as "My Big Mouth" and the peaceful Beatlesque psychedelic ballad "All Around The World."
And while many at the party were obviously thrilled to be there then for Be Here Now, the crowd's reaction to the 12-track CD was notably mixed. During a break to give away T-shirts, Sam Hunt, a Rasputin sales associate, said, "I've only heard the first single ["D'You Know What I Mean?" (RealAudio excerpt)] three times and I'm already sick of it. The next two tracks ("My Big Mouth" and "Magic Pie") are second rate, even for Oasis, and that's bad."
Still, Tim Thompson, Rasputin Records' promotions manager, said that
the crowd's overall reaction to the album led him to believe it would be a strong seller. "I was surprised when Definitely Maybe was doing great on the British charts but doing nothing in the U.S. I really like the sound on this album a lot better than on the last one ((What's The Story) Morning Glory?)."
But that doesn't mean Rasputin is going to buy into the hype surrounding this LP. While Sony had authorized midnight sales on the release date, Rasputin Records would not be participating, Thompson said.
Silvert, 17, who wasn't really an Oasis fan to begin with but did make off with a wall-sized promotional poster, said, "I'll probably wait until I can get it from BMG (Bertelsman Music Group) or Columbia House."
His reaction was not unusual among the young men gathered that evening. In fact, as the sounds of the dueling Gallagher Brothers filled the cavernous store,
it became more and more apparent that the boys didn't know, but the girls
understood what the Gallaghers were up to this time around.
Toward the end of the listening party, Alice Freda, 17, simply exclaimed, "I love it! It's harder than (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, much closer to Definitely Maybe. But that's OK. I like it a lot!"
