[Severian]

Keep drinking Hatorate comrades.

13 is amazing and you bloody well know it if you’ve bloody well heard it.

Self-titled is good too, though not quite brilliant like 13, and Think Tank (almost wrote “Think Stank” hahaha) has some of those elements but not as expertly crafted.

I’m not a big Brit-pop guy, but Blur > almost all of it and a lot of non-Brit-pop from the late ‘90s.

(Still Spiritualized > Good Blur > Pulp > Not as Good Blur > rest of that shit.)

[choc e-Claire]

I really need to calm down.

As an example of a declarative sentence, my English Language teacher said "Mr. [name]'s favourite band is Oasis" and I yelled "Blur or GTFO!" from the back of the class.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

I really need to calm down.

As an example of a declarative sentence, my English Language teacher said "Mr. [name]'s favourite band is Oasis" and I yelled "Blur or GTFO!" from the back of the class.

No, you need to start sitting in the front of your classroom.

Also, I think Blur is only even comparable to Oasis in the sense that they’re from roughly the same time. Blur is more like a Pulp and/or Spiritualized thing, depending on the era of Blur you’re referring to.

Oasis fuckin sucks.
I can’t believe I come from a generation that was complicit in comparing them to — *sighbigfuckingsigh* — the goddamn Beatles, with whom they share nothing but a mother country and an inability to get along.

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by Severian

No, you need to start sitting in the front of your classroom.

Also, I think Blur is only even comparable to Oasis in the sense that they’re from roughly the same time. Blur is more like a Pulp and/or Spiritualized thing, depending on the era of Blur you’re referring to.

Oasis fuckin sucks.
I can’t believe I come from a generation that was complicit in comparing them to — *sighbigfuckingsigh* — the goddamn Beatles, with whom they share nothing but a mother country and an inability to get along.

Only a few Blur songs are really similar to Oasis IMO - 'End of a Century' comes to mind. The big advantages one had over the other were a sense of humour, a willingness to experiment, and genuinely being great friends (part of the reunion was so Damon and Graham could make amends).

Unfortunately, when it comes to the songs that you hear nowadays, Oasis have won out. I mean, everyone knows Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger, but nobody even knew bloody Beetlebum, and that's an outrage.

[Kuhb]

If you want to talk about a battle of great 1990s British rock/guitar albums, it's Blur's Modern Life Is Rubbish VS The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps VS Radiohead's The Bends.

Oasis sounds like nursery rhymes by comparison, even if there are a lot of pleasant tunes.

[Kuhb]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

Only a few Blur songs are really similar to Oasis IMO - 'End of a Century' comes to mind. The big advantages one had over the other were a sense of humour, a willingness to experiment, and genuinely being great friends (part of the reunion was so Damon and Graham could make amends).

Unfortunately, when it comes to the songs that you hear nowadays, Oasis have won out. I mean, everyone knows Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger, but nobody even knew bloody Beetlebum, and that's an outrage.

I'd argue people know Song 2 more than all of those tunes

[_slavo_]

Originally Posted by Kuhb

If you want to talk about a battle of great 1990s British rock/guitar albums, it's Blur's Modern Life Is Rubbish VS The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps VS Radiohead's The Bends.

The Bends, hands down. Brilliant album, probably my favourite by Radiohead alongside Kid A.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Kuhb

If you want to talk about a battle of great 1990s British rock/guitar albums, it's Blur's Modern Life Is Rubbish VS The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps VS Radiohead's The Bends.

Oasis sounds like nursery rhymes by comparison, even if there are a lot of pleasant tunes.

Agree about Oasis, but I actually think Modern Life is overrated.

For me, peak Blur is self-title, *definitrly* “13” and to a lesser extent “Think Tank.”

Those albums can stand alongside the best of Pulp (which is “This is Hardcore,” sorry “Different Class” peeps, but Hardcore is the winner), and the best of Spiritualized (obvioisly everything up to and including “Ladies and Gentlemen...”).

Don’t remember as much about the Boo Radleys, but I think those Blur albums can hold their own against the best of not only British rock, but any alternative rock music from that era.

“The Bends” feels a bit removed from it all. Sure, the britpoppy songs are great, but it has never really felt like a comparable album to other britpop whatsits. Probably because it’s just a hint at greater things.

Why am I talking about britpop though? Spiritualized is not and never was britpop.

Whatever.

[choc e-Claire]

Blur really only picks up around Parklife for me, and even then The Great Escape can be a little mediocre at times.

Have not listened to Pulp or the Boo Radleys. Or Spiritualized (Ladies and Gentlemen excepted, which I thought was pretty cool. Should relisten.)

The Bends is underrated in modern times. It just gets overshadowed because the band who made it went and created some of the best albums ever right after it.
And what can you say about an album where 'High & Dry' isn't in the top three songs?

[LifeDistortion]

If nothing else The Bends has Street Spirit(Fade Out) which will always be a top Radiohead song, and one of the most beautiful Radiohead songs.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

Blur really only picks up around Parklife for me, and even then The Great Escape can be a little mediocre at times.

Have not listened to Pulp or the Boo Radleys. Or Spiritualized (Ladies and Gentlemen excepted, which I thought was pretty cool. Should relisten.)

The Bends is underrated in modern times. It just gets overshadowed because the band who made it went and created some of the best albums ever right after it.
And what can you say about an album where 'High & Dry' isn't in the top three songs?

I think “High and Dry” is definitely in the top 3 Bends songs.

I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE that album. When it came out, I listened to it and thought about girls.

Now it sounds ... yah, quote dated. But “High and Dry” still has some kick. I can feel those chords in my chest, no matter how many times I hear it. Quite classic, really.

Album ends on a note that looked forward and anticipated the band’s future sound, so that — “Street Spirit” — should be the best song, but I’ll take “High and Dry” over it any day.

[Kuhb]

I'd put 13 in alongside a range of turn-of-the-century albums by guitar-oriented bands which have direct or indirect themes of disintegration and atomisation.

13
Kid A
NYC Ghosts and Flowers
Machina
To Record Only Water For Ten Days
Echolalia

Not saying they're all of comparable quality, but they are all tapping into that same mood in the zeitgeist. The same one that produced a huge number of disaster/apocalypse films, even before Sept 11

[Kuhb]

I really like the trio of albums I mentioned earlier because you can hear the confluence of influences in British guitar music at that time perfectly

Modern Life Is Rubbish ... Kinks, Bowie
Giant Steps ... MBV, folk music, especially the melodies
The Bends ... REM, Pixies, 70s Floyd and co

You get a real window in the breadth of the sounds floating around in 1993-5. They weren't viewed that way at the time, but still.

I like Modern Life Is Rubbish because the tunes are stronger, feel more immediate, and the band hadn't fully embraced the Britpop lad thing they were doing that make The Great Escape especially a little cringeworthy

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by Severian

I think “High and Dry” is definitely in the top 3 Bends songs.

Street Spirit > Fake Plastic Trees > Just > High & Dry > My Iron Lung > Bones > The Bends > (Nice Dream) > Planet Telex > Bullet Proof > Black Star > Sulk
The last three mostly because I can't remember much about each of them.
And the My Iron Lung EP has a few highlights too.

I also like that the lyrics are very gloomy, but the music is actually pretty uplifting.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Kuhb

I'd put 13 in alongside a range of turn-of-the-century albums by guitar-oriented bands which have direct or indirect themes of disintegration and atomisation.

13
Kid A
NYC Ghosts and Flowers
Machina
To Record Only Water For Ten Days
Echolalia

Not saying they're all of comparable quality, but they are all tapping into that same mood in the zeitgeist. The same one that produced a huge number of disaster/apocalypse films, even before Sept 11

I dig what you’re saying, if not all the albums you’re mentioning.
Also, Soft Bulletin in there maybe? Lots of humanity/technology themes in that one, and it’s cracking good too.

13 is really goddamn great. The band’s best, really.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

Street Spirit > Fake Plastic Trees > Just > High & Dry > My Iron Lung > Bones > The Bends > (Nice Dream) > Planet Telex > Bullet Proof > Black Star > Sulk
The last three mostly because I can't remember much about each of them.
And the My Iron Lung EP has a few highlights too.

I also like that the lyrics are very gloomy, but the music is actually pretty uplifting.

Meh. I was really into the first five or so tracks back in the day. Now, only really fuck with “High and Dry” and “Street Spirit.”

“Black Star” is one of the worst ficking songs by a very good band ever. Truly just terrible. As cringey as Pablo honey. The lyrics and melody could fit comfortably and inconspicuously in a trash Goo Goo Dolls or Counting Crows song and I wouldn’t bat an eye. It would sound like standard fare from either band.

[choc e-Claire]

Isn't this supposed to be a Blur thread? We already have about twenty Radiohead ones.

Take: Graham > Damon

[Kuhb]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

Isn't this supposed to be a Blur thread? We already have about twenty Radiohead ones.

Take: Graham > Damon

It's Graham's interpretations of Damon's tunes that make Blur so brilliant. Graham's solo albums are fun but are clearly missing that base-level inspiration that Damon brings. Graham's albums are mostly super enjoyable exercises in punk guitar pyrotechnics... which is awesome! But yeah

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by Kuhb

It's Graham's interpretations of Damon's tunes that make Blur so brilliant. Graham's solo albums are fun but are clearly missing that base-level inspiration that Damon brings. Graham's albums are mostly super enjoyable exercises in punk guitar pyrotechnics... which is awesome! But yeah

It's really interesting to see what the two of them were working on at the same time - Graham creating hyped-up noise punk and Damon working on the ultimate MTV-bait.

I saw one article that quoted Graham as saying he wanted to make an album nobody would listen to. And you get some cool results when you combine that and the exact opposite - see 13.

[Kuhb]

Awww come on, Clint Eastwood rules. In an era where mainstream radio was Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, Eminem and Nelly, having that Gorrilaz album in high rotation was a godsend