‘All Around The World’: The first attempt by Oasis at a big “rock opera”
At the end of the 1990s, it was clear that the Oasis, who had burst onto the scene with their Definitely Maybe in 1994, were undergoing a metamorphosis. After capturing Britain’s attention with the refreshing anthems of their debut and providing their refined second offering (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, the group were on top of the world.
However, in a turn of events so often seen in the music industry, the trappings of fame and the group’s widely-publicised hellraising would start to impact the creative process. This meant that creatively, they had free reign to do as they pleased when it came to the follow-up, with the full backing of their record label, Creation.
There is no better musical embodiment of the 1990s getting out of hand than the story of Oasis. As is well known, their highly anticipated third album, 1997’s Be Here Now, was an instant commercial success. Yet, despite containing several highlights, it was undoubtedly the start of their creative downfall as their lifestyles and egos took hold.
Be Here Now saw the band break away from the blueprint of their first two albums. Their obsession with the Sgt. Pepper’s era of The Beatles was one aspect of this change, but it didn’t exactly produce gold. Regardless of this reality, and in a reflection of the quartet’s skewed perception of themselves, it was an element that would become more prominent as the years went on.
On Be Here Now, the song that was explicitly intended to be an expansive “rock opera” à la Sgt. Pepper’s is ‘All Around the World’. Speaking to Q in 2008, songwriter Noel Gallagher revealed that a version of the track had been in Oasis’ set in 1992, but he waited until a big enough budget matched his extravagant ambitions to bring it to life properly. He said: “I just wanted to write a big, massive, orchestral, sprawling, rock opera.”
Famously, the trippy video for the single is a homage to The Beatles’ animated movie Yellow Submarine. In a reflection of the power Oasis wielded at the time, it took 24 computer animators six months to complete it. Guitarist Bonhead told Q in 2014: “I thought the video was okay, a bit Monty Python. I only went off it when I got my next royalty cheque. It was something like ‘minus ten quid’ because the video had cost half a million. That really pissed me off.”
Listen to ‘All Around The World’ below.
