25 years on - The Battle of Britpop

[DiBiase is Good]

It’s now a quarter of a century since Blur and Oasis went head to head in the battle of Britpop. Blur released Country House and Oasis released Roll With It.
Blur would win the battle as Country House went to #1. But there is the argument that Oasis won the war as Morning Glory was the biggest selling album of the decade (and the fifth biggest selling album ever here).
Which side were you on?
I liked both bands but I preferred Oasis and their previous two single release were two of their best ever (Whatever and Some Might Say). However I think Roll With It is one of their worst songs ever. Country House wasn’t Blur’s finest but it was better than Roll With It.

[Spider2024]

I bet when Blur won that battle, they hollered with a "WOOHOO!"

[crowley1986]

i love both, but i think Blur have had the better discography - loved the last album....Oasis had 2 brilliant albums and the rest meh....i do like Noel's solo stuff though

[DiBiase is Good]

Aug 14, 2020 16:40:22 GMT -5 crowley1986 said:

i love both, but i think Blur have had the better discography - loved the last album....Oasis had 2 brilliant albums and the rest meh....i do like Noel's solo stuff though

I remember the ridiculous hype for Be Here Now. I bought it on release day after saving my pocket money up ahead of the release date and I remember getting it home and kidding myself that it was a worthy successor to Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe. When in reality, it was an over-hyped, over-produced and over-long disappointment. Then Bonehead and Guigsy left and Oasis were pretty much done. (Although The Masterplan album was, and still is, brilliant).
Blur’s next two albums were both excellent though. I wasn’t as keen on Think Tank though.

[Vampiro138]

Roll With It is a meh song, however the B-Sides being "Rockin' Chair" "Its Better People" and "Talk Tonight" blow Country House out of the water. I do enjoy both bands though, Graham is such an incredibly talented guitarist.

The one Be Here Now story I always get a kick out of, is Noel made it and produced it higher than high, and so it came time to present "D'Yer Know What I Mean" to the record company, so he cleans up for the meeting, bring the tape in for them all to hear, and it starts, and the drums dont kick in until like 45 seconds, and Noel is just sitting there going "oh god, oh god, oh god...what the hell is all of this?!! OH MY GOD THE WHOLE DAMN ALBUM IS LIKE THIS!!!!"

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I am a huge fan of both bands and think it's hilarious that this direct competition ended up being one of the weakest singles from either band during their shared imperial phases.

Morning Glory was at least a great record; Great Escape is one of the worse Blur albums, although their catalogue does not plumb depths as low as Oasis'.

[Jaws the Shark]

I was a bit too young to really appreciate it, but Britpop was a thing when I was first getting interested in music. I always liked Oasis more, I thought they better encapsulated the excitement of that whole era of music and pop culture in Britain. Blur didn't really become that interesting to me until Graham Coxon became more involved creatively and started steering them away from "Britpop". I never liked their whole Mockney persona either, plus Alex James is an absolutely insufferable bellend.

Of course, neither were as good as Teenage Fanclub (although they probably don't count as a proper Britpop band).

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

I slightly preferred Blur overall, though Oasis did have a few tracks I loved like Do You Know What I Mean. Over here stateside, Oasis was the big commercial seller while Blur’s biggest hit was “Song 2”- for a while, some of us Americans called them “the ‘Whoo Hoo’ Band”. Damon Albarn’s probably more known in the US for his Gorillaz material.

[4real]

I liked both bands but I always liked Oasis a little bit more. Blur were more experimental eventually but Oasis had the better songs imo.

Definitely Maybe & What’s the Story are 2 of my favourite albums ever. Both could make my top 10. I don’t think any of Blur’s would break my top 100. Apart from their greatest Hits maybe.

But Country House is better than Roll With It I will give Blur that.

[Hit Girl]

I wanted Blur to win, because Roll With It simply wasn't a good Oasis song.

[Raskovnik]

I'm not really into Oasis at all but Blur is one of my favorite bands, so they won the battle for my heart.

[government mule]

Loved both but Oasis are the superior band for me. Definitely Maybe is one of my favourite albums and Morning Glory is almost there in consideration as well. Also agree on The Masterplan being one of their best 'albums' as well and everything going to shit after Be Here Now, although I really enjoyed the last album Dig Out Your Soul in the end.

Album wise, Blur's stuff was OK but there was a lot of filler crap in order to get to good songs on a lot of their albums. I always end up putting their Greatest Hits album on if I fancy some Blur. Song 2 is one of my favourite songs ever.

I preferred Roll With It over Country House personally, especially with the B-Sides being so much better too.

Been lucky enough to see both live. Oasis at Wembley Stadium and Blur at Glastonbury. Both hugely memorable gigs, although when the crowd was singing Tender after the song had finished, it was a really incredible moment to be involved in.

[DiBiase is Good]

Aug 15, 2020 0:29:46 GMT -5 government mule said:

Loved both but Oasis are the superior band for me. Definitely Maybe is one of my favourite albums and Morning Glory is almost there in consideration as well. Also agree on The Masterplan being one of their best 'albums' as well and everything going to shit after Be Here Now, although I really enjoyed the last album Dig Out Your Soul in the end.

Album wise, Blur's stuff was OK but there was a lot of filler crap in order to get to good songs on a lot of their albums. I always end up putting their Greatest Hits album on if I fancy some Blur. Song 2 is one of my favourite songs ever.

I preferred Roll With It over Country House personally, especially with the B-Sides being so much better too.

Been lucky enough to see both live. Oasis at Wembley Stadium and Blur at Glastonbury. Both hugely memorable gigs, although when the crowd was singing Tender after the song had finished, it was a really incredible moment to be involved in.

Tender is my favourite Blur song.
When you saw them was Graham back in the band or was he still taking time away? Because I know Damon would get the crowd to sing the “oh my baby” lines Graham woild normally sing.

[government mule]

Aug 15, 2020 1:02:24 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

Aug 15, 2020 0:29:46 GMT -5 government mule said:

Loved both but Oasis are the superior band for me. Definitely Maybe is one of my favourite albums and Morning Glory is almost there in consideration as well. Also agree on The Masterplan being one of their best 'albums' as well and everything going to shit after Be Here Now, although I really enjoyed the last album Dig Out Your Soul in the end.

Album wise, Blur's stuff was OK but there was a lot of filler crap in order to get to good songs on a lot of their albums. I always end up putting their Greatest Hits album on if I fancy some Blur. Song 2 is one of my favourite songs ever.

I preferred Roll With It over Country House personally, especially with the B-Sides being so much better too.

Been lucky enough to see both live. Oasis at Wembley Stadium and Blur at Glastonbury. Both hugely memorable gigs, although when the crowd was singing Tender after the song had finished, it was a really incredible moment to be involved in.

Tender is my favourite Blur song.
When you saw them was Graham back in the band or was he still taking time away? Because I know Damon would get the crowd to sing the “oh my baby” lines Graham woild normally sing.

Yeah Graham was there. It was one of their first gigs since all getting back together and they had already done the bit where Damon gets the crowd to sing during the song, which was cool in itself but when they finished it and all went quiet, the crowd kept singing to the point where they started the song back up again. You could tell how much it meant to them after so many years away doing other things (I saw them in 2010).

[Vampiro138]

Aug 15, 2020 1:02:24 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

Aug 15, 2020 0:29:46 GMT -5 government mule said:

Loved both but Oasis are the superior band for me. Definitely Maybe is one of my favourite albums and Morning Glory is almost there in consideration as well. Also agree on The Masterplan being one of their best 'albums' as well and everything going to shit after Be Here Now, although I really enjoyed the last album Dig Out Your Soul in the end.

Album wise, Blur's stuff was OK but there was a lot of filler crap in order to get to good songs on a lot of their albums. I always end up putting their Greatest Hits album on if I fancy some Blur. Song 2 is one of my favourite songs ever.

I preferred Roll With It over Country House personally, especially with the B-Sides being so much better too.

Been lucky enough to see both live. Oasis at Wembley Stadium and Blur at Glastonbury. Both hugely memorable gigs, although when the crowd was singing Tender after the song had finished, it was a really incredible moment to be involved in.

Tender is my favourite Blur song.
When you saw them was Graham back in the band or was he still taking time away? Because I know Damon would get the crowd to sing the “oh my baby” lines Graham woild normally sing.

speaking of Tender, this still blows my mind:



If somebody told me this would happen even in the early 2000's I would have thought you were insane.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Blur won. They became a fantastic band while Oasis became a worse version of themselves.

I preferred Dodgy, Cast, The Super Furry Animals and Ocean Colour Scene.

[FinalGwen]

I was always a bit confused that the Britpop argument became about which was better out of the two, thought Pulp was better than either of them.

[SmashTV]

Aug 16, 2020 13:23:49 GMT -5 FinalGwen said:

I was always a bit confused that the Britpop argument became about which was better out of the two, thought Pulp was better than either of them.

Change Pulp to Suede and you’ve my thoughts on the matter!

Of the two I preferred Blur overall, but both bands had good and bad songs. Blur just seemed to have a bit more versatility in their discography, though.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Aug 16, 2020 14:21:07 GMT -5 SmashTV said:

Aug 16, 2020 13:23:49 GMT -5 FinalGwen said:

I was always a bit confused that the Britpop argument became about which was better out of the two, thought Pulp was better than either of them.

Change Pulp to Suede and you’ve my thoughts on the matter!

Of the two I preferred Blur overall, but both bands had good and bad songs. Blur just seemed to have a bit more versatility in their discography, though.

Pulp v Suede: The Britpop IC title fight.

And with that, here's Wonderwall

[government mule]

Pulp over Suede for me. But really, I'm a bit of a Supergrass mark to be honest.