[RATE ANNOUNCEMENT] Britpop Rate - Blur vs Oasis vs Pulp vs Suede

Put on an oversized parka on and get some cans of lager ready, we're doing a Britpop rate. Welcome to the Fun House!

Setting the Scene

It's the 90's in the United Kingdom! The Conservative party were soon be replaced by Tony Blair's New Labour. A talented England football team would be hosting the European championships in 1996, the hopes of a nation resting on their shoulders. Heated debates were being had on playgrounds across the land over which Spice Girl was the best (I am and always have been Team Baby). Freddo chocolate bars were being sold for the reasonable price of 10p. For whatever reason this fucking sleep paralysis demon was a much beloved figure in evening television entertainment. Amidst all of this, British alternative bands were collectively experiencing a renaissance, enough so that you could see your favourite indie acts gracing Top of the Pops next to the likes of Boyzone and, err, Robson & Jerome.

What even IS Britpop!?!

While Britpop was largely more of a cultural moment/marketing tool than a distinct genre, for the purposes of this rate Britpop can very loosely be defined as “90's British guitar music with an emphasis on catchiness and light themes”. When grunge blew up in America the UK's response to this was to look back at it's many incredible artists from the past such as The Beatles, The Kinks, David Bowie, The Specials and XTC and use their pop sensibilities for inspiration. The baggy/Madchester bands of the late 80's/early 90's such as The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays were also fundamental in laying down the groundwork with their emphasis on good times and escapism. While many of the main Britpop artists differ from each other thematically you will still generally find guitars and big choruses at the forefront here.

You might find that some of the bands we'll be rating here don't fit your criteria for Britpop, and that's fine! One particular artist in the bonus rate is VERY dubious but has largely been added for the discourse. It was a very fun time for alternative music cracking the mainstream but there were also some more niche artists getting exposure around the same time as well, this rate seeks to show off some of those artists as well as the big hitters.

The albums:

Blur – Parklife

"When our third album comes out, our place as the quintessential English band of the '90s will be assured. That is a simple statement of fact. I intend to write it in 1994." - Damon Albarn in 1990. And you thought those Gallagher's were cocky.

Blur had been pretty busy so far this decade. Parklife is their third career album in in the space of 4 years, swiftly following their second album Modern Life is Rubbish, a fan favourite which didn't sell as well as their debut. This album was written and recorded in a matter of months which makes it's scope and genre-skipping all the more impressive. In regards to the music this is easily the most eclectic of the rate, covering everything from 2 minute Damned-like punk blasts, Pet Shop Boys-inspired synth-pop and Pink Floyd melancholia. Lyrically the album is essentially a concept album, a love letter (and critique) to Britain and all of the odd characters that inhabit it. Expect depressed middle-managers, lad culture, mid-life crises and drugged-up ravers. The album is sympathetic to those on the edge of society and scathing to those deemed a detriment to it.

The album went straight to number 1 on the charts and would stay there for a whopping 90 weeks, it has currently sold a million overall in the UK. The band would go on to capitalise on this album's success with The Great Escape in 1995, it's single Country House going up against Oasis's Roll With It in the infamous Britpop battle for number 1 in the charts. Spoilers, Blur won.

Girls & Boys
Tracy Jacks
End of a Century
Parklife
Bank Holiday
Badhead
The Debt Collector
Far Out
To the End
London Loves
Trouble in the Message Centre
Clover Over Dover
Magic America
Jubilee
This Is a Low
Lot 105

Oasis – What's The Story, Morning Glory?

It's difficult to overstate the impact this album had when it released in late 1995. If you're a British person you will know the lyrics to most of these songs by heart whether you want to or not. The likes of Wonderwall, Don't Look Back in Anger and Champagne Supernova have been the soundtracks for music festivals, England football games and drunken wedding receptions since this album released.

Oasis were already popular after their critically acclaimed album Definitely Maybe, with this second album they turned down the rawer guitar sound but double-downed on the giant choruses. The album is anthemic from front to back, you could make an argument that most of the tracklist could have been made singles. Whereas Blur and Pulp were writing songs about the dull reality of modern life in Britain, the lyrics here are mostly Beatles-esque escapism and optimism, very apt for a group of working class lads who were about to become the biggest band in the country. Notable as well is the added instrumentation. Strings and keyboards bolster the songwriting and make the album feel much bolder compared to their contemporaries.

Off the back of this Oasis went on to play the Knebworth shows to 250,000 people, at the time the largest gigs to have happened in the UK. Two-and-a-half million people (more than 2% of the UK population at the time) applied for tickets. The album itself sold 350,000 in it's first week, didn't leave the top 3 of the albums charts for 7 months and as it stands has gone 16 times platinum. It's fair to say not many artists have reached the same levels of hype that Beatlesmania did but for a moment during 1996 Oasis were right there.

(Please note: Due to their length/impact we will not be rating the Swamp Song interludes. Apologies if you had passionate comments to make on these!)

Hello
Roll With It
Wonderwall
Don't Look Back in Anger
Hey Now!
Some Might Say
Cast No Shadow
She's Electric
Morning Glory
Champagne Supernova

Pulp – Different Class

Pulp were definitely the underdogs in the British indie scene and their rise to fame is a prime example of a dog having their day. The band had been knocking about since their debut in 1983, Jarvis Cocker being the only surviving member from that era. Over 10 years later they broke out with their major label debut His N' Hers and Different Class followed, cementing their unmistakably English sound. The album is similar to Parklife in that it's telling stories for those that wouldn't usually have their story told, though here the theme of sex is rampant throughout. The record is jam packed with sultry instrumentals while Cocker describes the seedy, the voyeuristic and sometimes the pathetic sides to sex in the way only he could pull off. GD commenters rejoice!

With Different Class they would go to number 1 on the album charts, but not before being a last minute replacement headliner for The Stone Roses at Glastonbury. To this day the performance, especially the final song Common People, is seen as one of the best the festival has seen and is also seen by some as the true moment Britpop hit the zeitgeist.

I'd imagine the Indieheads will like this one. The album itself is sat in the Indieheads essentials list for the 90's while Common People was voted number 2 in last year's vote for the top 104 songs of the 90's. One would assume that Common People is the clear favourite to win the rate, however raters from last year will remember God Only Knows winning the 60's song vote then going on lose to Wouldn't It Be Nice in the rate. Anything can happen!

Mis-Shapes
Pencil Skirt
Common People
I Spy
Disco 2000
Live Bed Show
Something Changed
Sorted for E's & Wizz
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E
Underwear
Monday Morning
Bar Italia

Suede – Suede

Released all the way back in 1993 and seen by many to be the first true Britpop album. In fact, the term Britpop was first coined when Suede's The Drowners single was released around the same time as Blur's Popscene. Lead singer Brett Anderson posing suggestively in front of a Union Jack on a Select magazine cover was enough to get the industry pushing a brand new scene.

Suede's influences are immediately evident from the first track, Bernard Butler's instrumentals are reminiscent of glam rock pioneers David Bowie and T-Rex whereas Brett Anderson's theatrical delivery and lyrics sit comfortably next to Morrissey's. The two mesh perfectly and have resulted in them being touted as one of the UK's best songwriting duos (of which there are many). Teenage romanticism and melodrama is heavy throughout the lyrics and, similar to fellow brits the Manic Street Preachers, resulted in them acquiring a dedicated cult fanbase attracted to their androgynous image. The album cover is incredibly apt considering the content within!

Suede would become the fastest selling debut album in the UK, later eclipsed by Oasis' Definitely Maybe. In regards to the rate they might be seen as 4th favourites, but with singles as beloved as Animal Nitrate and The Drowners in its ranks maybe it'll be a dark horse? If I had to guess I think out of the 4 this one will gain the most new fans.

(Please note: I've been made aware that in the USA/other non-UK countries Suede may show as The London Suede on certain streaming sites.)

So Young
Animal Nitrate
She's Not Dead
Moving
Pantomime Horse
The Drowners
Sleeping Pills
Breakdown
Metal Mickey
Animal Lover
The Next Life

Bonus Rate – Pick 'n' Mix (Optional)

Fair to say this bonus rate is a mixed bag! We've got some of the biggest hits from the time period, some lesser known favourites and a few big guitar tracks that weren't out and out Britpop. Indeed the Indieheads elder god's will is strong and as such, yes, we're rating Creep. Three Lions was all me though! I'm incredibly excited to see what people think of these songs and hope you consider the bonus rate as well!

Reminder: Please do not use your 0 or 11 in the bonus rate!

Ash - Girl from Mars
Cornershop - Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)
Dodgy - Good Enough
Elastica - Connection
Kula Shakur – Hey Dude
Lush - Ladykillers
Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life
Ocean Colour Scene – The Day We Caught the Train
Placebo - Nancy Boy
Radiohead - Creep
Republica - Ready to Go
Super Furry Animals - The Man Don't Give a Fuck
Supergrass - Alright
The Lightning Seeds - Three Lions ('96 Version)
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony

Playlists

Rules - READ ALL OF THESE BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR SCORES

Listen to each song and assign each a score between 1 and 10. decimals are fine, but please refrain from giving decimal scores that have two decimal spots: giving a 7.2 is okay, but giving a 7.25 will give me a headache. This is because I'm using a computer program to parse the votes and print everything out (more on that later).
Yes, you have to listen to every song. We're all in this together. I will not accept your ballot if you have a score missing, because it will crash the program (more on that later).
Your scores should NOT be considered confidential. They aren’t. Feel free to shitpost about them in the general discussion threads whenever you feel like it - users over at r/popheads usually just talk about their averages of the albums and what 11 and 0 they gave (which I will explain on the next bullet point!)
You may give ONE song a 0 and ONE song an 11. This is ONE song TOTAL. Please reserve these for your least favorite and most favorite tracks; excessive sabotage ruins rate results and generally makes things less fun.
You can change your scores at any time! Feel free to PM me at any point after submission and I'll be happy to revise them for you.
I am using a computer program that the great and wonderful u/letsallpoo designed in order to parse these votes! While this will make things a lot more efficient and reduces errors on my part, this does mean that scores need to be sent in a very specific way. The easiest way to make sure your scores follow the necessary format is to use the pre-prepared link at the bottom of this post. PLEASE USE THAT. You can copy and paste it to a notepad file or something and fill in your scores there, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use that format to send in your scores.
If you don't follow the format, I'll probably still accept your ballot, but I will call you out in the next issue of my zine.

Did a lot of copy and pasting here, so thank you thank you to all the raters of old, ily: u/roseisonlineagain; u/DolphLundgrensArms; u/R_E_S_I_G_N_E_D; u/stansymash; u/ClocktowerMaria; u/aerocom; u/themilkeyedmender; u/greencaptain; u/Crankeedoo; u/dirdbub; u/ThatParanoidPenguin; u/tedcruzcontrol; u/kappyko; u/FuckUpSomeCommasYeah; u/LazyDayLullaby; u/SRTViper; u/Whatsanillinois; u/NFLFreak98; u/freav; u/seaofblasphemy; u/RatesNorman; u/aPenumbra; u/idontreallycare4; u/p-u-n-k_girl; u/luigijon3; u/WaneLietoc; u/2dina3dworld; u/darjeelingdarkroast and tons of people on r/popheads.

Formatting

This is correct:

Champagne Supernova: 8 Neil deGrass Tyson reading the lyrics and getting increasingly more livid

These are incorrect:

Champagne Supernova: 8: Neil deGrass Tyson reading the lyrics and getting increasingly more livid

Champagne Supernova:8 Neil deGrass Tyson reading the lyrics and getting increasingly more livid

Champagne Supernova: Neil deGrass Tyson reading the lyrics and getting increasingly more livid 8

Champagne Supernova - 8 Neil deGrass Tyson reading the lyrics and getting increasingly more livid

Champagne Supernova: 8 (Neil deGrass Tyson reading the lyrics and getting increasingly more livid)

You can also comment on the albums as a whole by adding a colon after the album name and then your comment, like so:

Parklife: One of the best things to come out of the county of Essex. That list isn't particularly long, but still.

SUBMIT YOUR SCORES HERE

Scores will be due on May 15th, but you can turn them at any time before that as well. The reveal is tentatively pencilled in for 20th-22nd May.

All previous rates and the hall of fame can be viewed here!

Finally, the Blur v Oasis debate will FINALLY be put to rest, live, here on r/indieheads! I hope you can all take part!

Posted Apr 4, 2022, 4:46 PM UTC · edited

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