Support from the music press soon tapered off, however, and "The Great Escape" gained many detractors. It has been suggested that the commercial success of rival band Oasis played a role in this revaluation; BBC Music writer James McMahon recalled how the "critical euphoria" surrounding the album lasted "about as long as it took publishers to realise Oasis would probably shift more magazines for them". "Q" would issue an apologia for their five-star review of the record, while Graeme McMillan in "Time" remarked that it lacks the "breadth and heart" of "Parklife", feeling "cynical and uninspired in comparison". "Drowned in Sound" reporter Marc Burrows felt the LP had been overrated and then underrated, writing: "Reality is somewhere in between... "The Great Escape" reveals itself as flawed, melancholy, occasionally stunning and utterly bonkers." Other journalists retained an unapologetically favourable stance: the album was described by AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "a vibrant, invigorating record" that "bristles with invention", while Brian Doan of "PopMatters" dubbed it a "masterpiece" whose content examines the costs of "trusting in stasis".