Liked both Blur and Oasis but Blur edges it for me.
Blur
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
- Start date
In Liam's defence, for every Blur and Ocean Colour Scene in the 90's there was a Third Eye Blind or 4 Non Blondes.
Ocean Colour Scene's 4 good songs were probably all in the top 10 rock tracks of that decade. Ahead of their time with a lot of the sound mixing too. Shame they never kept it up. They were much better than Oasis.
Verve, love a handful of songs, don't care for the rest. Oasis did one and a half excellent albums. Don't like Radiohead at all and I'm not the only one. Again, like a handful of OCS's songs. Same with Blur. It's not that it's a shit decade, I just don't think it's that good. 80s had the Roses and the Smiths and probably someone else I'm forgetting, plus a load of ace hits on the pop side. Spice Girls represent 90s pop for me but I'd be happy for you to name some others.
Damon Albarn is a pretentious poseur although he does write a catchy tune.
Ocean Colour Scene>Kula Shakur>Oasis>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Blur
Ocean Colour Scene>Kula Shakur>Oasis>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Blur
I like this caveat. "I don't like one of the most critically acclaimed bands of all time. But if I mention that other people don't either, my point will still stand.,"
Roses are massively overrated by everyone up north. One good album, half of which has dated. Smiths were seminal, but again, Mancs overrate them.
What utter crap!
Definitely Maybe---all time classic album, easily in the best 20 albums ever 10/10
Whats The story---See above 10/10
Be here now--Vastly underrated, don't read to much into it and don't compare it to the first two albums and it stands well as a kick ass rock album. 8/10
The Masterplan---Shows how Noels b-sides are songs other artists would build a career out of, excellent album. 9/10
Standing on the shoulders of giants---Contains Gas panic, roll it over, I can see a liar and where did it all go wrong, 4 of oasis best tunes, making this a solid 8/10 album.
Heathen Chemistry---Again a solid 8/10 with more than a few classic oasis numbers.
Don't believe the truth---Fair enough a poor 5/10 at best
Dig out your soul---granted this album sucks big floppy donkey dicks and is at best 4/10
Familiar to millions---an excellent live album and proves why Oasis are one of the best live acts of the last 40 years. 10/10
Oasis
blur
the verve
radiohead
echobelly
kula shakur
Ocean colour scene
garbage
catatonia
paul weller
supergrass
suede
the charlatans
the bluetones
pulp
cast
The manics
dubstar
elastica
menswear
ash
the boo radleys
the divine comedy
dodgy
Super furry animals
shed 7
mansun
Space
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
In conclusion---The 90s ruled.
Don't know whether Sparky is wumming with his appraisal of Oasis's albums?
Why? Im absolutely on the money
I was thinking about saying that.
I really liked Be Here Now, the thing that drags it down is it was a lot of bravado and pomp of a band in their prime. If only Noel ever got the chance to do what he said he would and strip it of all the shit overdubbing and crap.
As for Blur, I disliked them back then. Time has let me appreciate them more though, and I do agree with those that say as musicians and song crafters they were always much better. Then again, weren't they educated that way? Overall though, I just think Oasis had the better and more ballsy rock tunes, and having seen both live back in the day, were a better gig too. Though the latter years Oasis were shite live IMHO.
Exactly, its a good album that would have been even better had they not all been coked off their tits the entire time
I don't really agree with it, I think you're overrating Be Here Now, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (which is pretty poor) and Heathen Chemistry (which was a failed attempt and contains some of their worst stuff) whilst criminally underrating their last two. Don't believe the truth is a huge improvement on what they'd done in their three previous albums and Dig out your soul is basically a well constructed, well written and more mature Heathen Chemistry in parts.
Agree with the rest though, I absolutely love Familiar to Millions, one of the rare concerts I have on DVD.
Exactly, its a good album that would have been even better had they not all been coked off their tits the entire time
As a pure rock album it's better than WTSMG for me, and that's saying something. It's just a shame after that he toned the guitar down and started letting any old idiot write songs
I suppose this is one of the great things about music, how two people can listen to exactly the same thing and have such varied opinions
I agree with the assessments there, apart from Be Here Now. As I said above if Noel ever does strip it, it'll show how good a lot of those songs were.
Though the main problem with it won't go away, it was the first album of theirs with 'filler' songs.
I'm not saying that that's the reason my point stands, I'm pointing out that Radiohead are probably the most polemic band of all time, and you will be aware I'm sure that for their many fans, there are as many people who absolutely hate their music.
You can say it's one good album, but for me it's above Definitely, Maybe and on a par with What's The Story. Excellent album start to finish. Their second album, although it was in the 90s was still good in parts, but nowhere near as good. I'll also point out that I'm not a Manc, though it doesn't necessarily make you wrong. As you say, they were seminal.
I should also point out that the fact that half their tunes are nicked doesn't work in their favour. Glitter, T-Rex, even Coca fecking Cola. Lot of samey chords and solos. But I've said all this before. Great albums, but for me it took a sharp downhill after there. I think it was after here that, in the studio, Noel described Liam as a knobhead at best, and a cnut on meth at worst.
You just named a fecking lot of bands I've never heard of. I can't be alone on that (though perhaps in this thread I would be).
Totally forgot about Pulp. Quite like Pulp. Different Class was a good album. Babies and Cocaine Socialism were top songs before it. Don't know much of their later 90s stuff though.
Manics I also forgot about. Quite like(d) Manics, but again, they're not a band I'd rate in my top 10. Just something I quite enjoyed listening to with my parents in the car when I was younger.
Trivia: I won a karaoke competition aged around 10 to one of their songs.
Paul Weller I'm not keen on either. Then again, I wasn't keen on Jam/Clash/Who. I associate them with each other (despite one playing a different genre I think?). My mate worships him though.
Since this originally was a britpop thread, is it taken for granted that we're only talking about British music when making statements such as these?
And maybe it's just me, but while all the other bands mentioned in this thread are fairly wellknown (well, some obviously hugely famous), OCS I've never heard about. Is it a band who never made any sort of splash outside of Britain? At least much less so than all the bands listed by sparky. (And let's be honest, most of those bands listed are very forgettable bands that now only holds sentimental value for those who listened to them in their youths.)
Were they any of:
The Circle
Day We Caught The Train
Riverboat Song (who doesn't know this tune?)
Hundred Mile High City (Three Lions theme tune, belter)
Free My Name
?
They would be the five I've liked enough at some point to download.
By the way Sparky, I was asking you to name pop groups/songs from the 90s.
I don't think Be Here Now is a bad album, just to clarify, I like it a lot. I'd have given more like a 7/10 though, I just felt Sparky kind of went over the top as I think it does have some problems.
Definitely, it was just to exchange opinions. But that's why I asked whether you were wumming beforehand, I didn't want to give my opinion just to be answered that you were on the wind-up!
I suppose this is one of the great things about music, how two people can listen to exactly the same thing and have such varied opinions
Definitely, it was just to exchange opinions. But that's why I asked whether you were wumming beforehand, I didn't want to give my opinion just to be answered that you were on the wind-up!
So were Led Zepplins and they still rocked.
Out of curiosity how old are you? (not in order to mock, I do have what I think is a valid point
) For those who would have been anywhere between 14 ish to 33 ish through the whole Britpop thing, it was more than just music, for the first time in a longtime it was cool to be british, the 80s were over along with Thatcherism, we suddenly had a new wave of british music and filmmakers and artists after being force fed American crap like grunge and hair metal for years, it was just generally a great time, and Ill admit that in part is why I probably overrate anything to come from Britain between 93-99.........Again, I probably overrate it slightly due to the fact it was the first album Id ever queued up before the store opened to buy, the same day I left for one of the greatest holidays of my life, and it was the soundtrack to those 10 daysI don't think Be Here Now is a bad album, just to clarify, I like it a lot. I'd have given more like a 7/10 though, I just felt Sparky kind of went over the top as I think it does have some problems.
Definitely, it was just to exchange opinions. But that's why I asked whether you were wumming beforehand, I didn't want to give my opinion just to be answered that you were on the wind-up!
A similar thing happened with Alanis Morrisettes jagged little pill They were all pop groups from the 90s
Yes, imho they are one of those bands that fall into the category of "deserved to be bigger than they were"
Again, I probably overrate it slightly due to the fact it was the first album Id ever queued up before the store opened to buy, the same day I left for one of the greatest holidays of my life, and it was the soundtrack to those 10 days
Understanble, it's nice when an album is connected to a specific souvenir though!
Yeah I've only just gone 20, so I wasn't really hearing this music til a few years after it was released. My mum still tells me how I did Jarvis Cocker's 'I Spy' thing with my fingers, I'll only have been about 4So were Led Zepplins and they still rocked.
Out of curiosity how old are you? (not in order to mock, I do have what I think is a valid point
Also that I became transfixed after seeing 'him' on stars in their eyes. Oasis came around the late 90s too I'd imagine. But we didn't really have much else by Oasis in the car (this was pretty much my only access to music at the time), so I didn't really stumble upon much else until I was about 16. Same with loads of other bands actually - Roses, Smiths etc.I think there's a similar thing with 80s music. Roses weren't about the music, it was about the attitude. This is Madchester. It didn't matter that Ian Brown couldn't sing, it was about the attitude. I think that carried down to my generation, who happened to actually like the music. So their popularity was retained.
Annoyingly, some go way over the top. When they got back together, there's people from that era going mad, and rightly so; they'd waited two decades for this reunion. Then there's my age who've heard them for two years pretending they've been through it all themselves.
Didn't Be Here Now prematurely get ***** from Q and like 9/10 NME.......before both ended up consistently calling it a letdown issues later....basically like the complete opposite than WTSMG got pretty mixed reviews.
Echobellys King of the Kerb prob the best song of the britpop era. GOAT
Echobellys King of the Kerb prob the best song of the britpop era. GOAT
Yeah very much the same sort of thing I would sayYeah I've only just gone 20, so I wasn't really hearing this music til a few years after it was released. My mum still tells me how I did Jarvis Cocker's 'I Spy' thing with my fingers, I'll only have been about 4
I think there's a similar thing with 80s music. Roses weren't about the music, it was about the attitude. This is Madchester. It didn't matter that Ian Brown couldn't sing, it was about the attitude. I think that carried down to my generation, who happened to actually like the music. So their popularity was retained.
Annoyingly, some go way over the top. When they got back together, there's people from that era going mad, and rightly so; they'd waited two decades for this reunion. Then there's my age who've heard them for two years pretending they've been through it all themselves.
Awwww bless, Im never going to read your posts now without seeing you as Jarvis Cocker
Also she was so fecking hot!
I agree with the polemicism. I hate Kid A, despite their fans insisting it's a work of genius. I genuinely think it's hard work to get through. I still acknowledge they're a great band though. And one, like Blur, that have adapted and experimented and done so with great success. In Rainbows is a masterpiece IMO.
The Smiths were a great band. Their classics have stood the test of time and Morrissey, as much as I think he's a giant inflatable wanker, was a perfect mouthpiece for a certain type of disillusioned 80s kid, and Marr & him complimented each other very well. But only Brits, and largely northern Brits, will ever rate them as among the biggies. The Roses were before my time slightly, and - as someone who didn't experience their scene (as I did Blur & Oasis's for example) I don't get the reverence. There are only a handful of songs I think stand up well now. Fools Gold being the obvious one. Both were more original than Oasis it must be said.
It's hard to do a comparison without disparaging Oasis, but I assure you I loved them as a 14 year old (but then I did also love Garage at that age!) But as a lot of people have said, with age and a greater exposure to and appreciation of music comes the opinion that they were the right band at the right time, whereas Blur (and I'm sounding like a superfan, I'm really not. I probably have about 5 blur songs on my iTunes) were a far more talented and lasting group.
I've also noticed, on a slight tangent, that a few people have brought up the myth of Blur being mockney wannabe posers. Aside from this not making any difference to the music they made - unless you judge music on that basis - it's a falsehood. Albarn's parents were liberals and hippyish, but they weren't faux working class. He grew up in Leytonstone & Whitechapel so he's perfectly allowed to be a bit cock-en-ey. This was a thing that went around during the 90s Blur vs Oasis battle to fit in with the northern monkeys/southern fairy bullshit of their rivalry. Again, I've no idea why this should matter anyway, but it's not really true.
Just as an addition to what I've already said, it's uncanny how popular Oasis were on the back of very similar material.
Slide Away and Supersonic have identical drum beats.
Cast No Shadow uses the exact same chords as Wonderwall, just without the capo on, so two semitones down. I saw a youtube comment saying CNS is 'the little sister' of Wonderwall. Is that how to pass that off?
Roll With it definitely sounds familiar.
Obviously Shakermaker is just Coca Cola.
And this is from someone who's only really listened to the first two albums in any detail. While I preferred Oasis, Blur definitely had more strings to their bow.
I guess reading the tabs for their songs it all gets highlighted that the creativity was never really groundbreaking. Not to say they didn't know how to sell a popular rock song.
Also, I've read the wikis on their albums, and it's exactly how I've always perceived them; that the standard dramatically dropped after Morning Glory. They'd made it big, got rich, and snorted their way through an album, and that was the beginning of the end. They'd definitely be held in higher regard had they packed in after two albums.
I didn't know that they lost half their band after Be Here Now (an album which was as poorly received as I'd always viewed it). Reading through the thread I thought I'd missed a trick but it seems the country and the critics had thought they'd lost their way too. This is why I said the 90s were an overrated decade for music. Oasis are still widely regarded as one of the best rock bands ever, despite having two good albums, and releasing (at times by their own admission) a load of dross. Songbird's also a bit shit too. That seems to be considered a fairly iconic Oasis song (right?) and I don't know why.
And finally, Liam Gallagher is a bellend of the highest order.
Slide Away and Supersonic have identical drum beats.
Cast No Shadow uses the exact same chords as Wonderwall, just without the capo on, so two semitones down. I saw a youtube comment saying CNS is 'the little sister' of Wonderwall. Is that how to pass that off?
Roll With it definitely sounds familiar.
Obviously Shakermaker is just Coca Cola.
And this is from someone who's only really listened to the first two albums in any detail. While I preferred Oasis, Blur definitely had more strings to their bow.
I guess reading the tabs for their songs it all gets highlighted that the creativity was never really groundbreaking. Not to say they didn't know how to sell a popular rock song.
Also, I've read the wikis on their albums, and it's exactly how I've always perceived them; that the standard dramatically dropped after Morning Glory. They'd made it big, got rich, and snorted their way through an album, and that was the beginning of the end. They'd definitely be held in higher regard had they packed in after two albums.
I didn't know that they lost half their band after Be Here Now (an album which was as poorly received as I'd always viewed it). Reading through the thread I thought I'd missed a trick but it seems the country and the critics had thought they'd lost their way too. This is why I said the 90s were an overrated decade for music. Oasis are still widely regarded as one of the best rock bands ever, despite having two good albums, and releasing (at times by their own admission) a load of dross. Songbird's also a bit shit too. That seems to be considered a fairly iconic Oasis song (right?) and I don't know why.
And finally, Liam Gallagher is a bellend of the highest order.
Joy Division were the best northern band and I won't stop saying it until someone agrees with me.
I did like best of Ocean Colour Scene but let's be honest, they were as retro and derivative as you can get.
This thread has morphed from Blur to 90's Brit Pop. Title change?
Couldn't agree more about The Stone Roses, less about The Smiths. Talk Talk were far superior to both (obviously very different music, but superior nonetheless.)
I agree with you, genuinely. No telling what they could have done if Ian didn't get clinically fed-up.
Back to the 90's...
SPACE !
Scouse cnuts, top band.
Oasis related to the people on the street a lot more then Blur.
Prime example, Oasis had songs about been in your 20's, getting drunk, stoned, falling in love, having your heart broken etc etc
Blur wrote Parklife which is about American culture coming into British society.
You can't complain about people robbing other people's music. It's always happened. Led Zeppelin made a career out of it after all.
Look at some of the most successful British bands ever. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Status Quo, The Who...Only two of them can be said to be original...The rest had massive success based on American rock blues from the 30's,40's and 50's. Music has always been "robbed"...There is only twelve notes you can use after all
Prime example, Oasis had songs about been in your 20's, getting drunk, stoned, falling in love, having your heart broken etc etc
Blur wrote Parklife which is about American culture coming into British society.
You can't complain about people robbing other people's music. It's always happened. Led Zeppelin made a career out of it after all.
Look at some of the most successful British bands ever. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Status Quo, The Who...Only two of them can be said to be original...The rest had massive success based on American rock blues from the 30's,40's and 50's. Music has always been "robbed"...There is only twelve notes you can use after all
Except Led Zeppelin actually just entirely stole songs from other bands.
And were completely shameless about it
But they were fecking great though....