Blur vs. Oasis: 2k8 - The Battle Rages On

[readytoignite]

i don't buy the smiths as the proto britpop band, outside of being the commercial face of mid 80s indie. that mantle should go to the stone roses, who laid out the template pretty clearly. artistically, the band that oasis and mid-period (and onward) blur was harkening back to was the beatles, in various ways.

the whole britpop war was pretty much a tabloid fueled class war so outside of the uk it's a bit of a false dichotomy. there was a classic journo piece where both bands were asked what they would be doing if they weren't in a band - damon albarn said poet/writer, one of the gallaghers said stealing cars. that pretty much sums it all up right there.

the upshot is they both had their moments and can fill up a greatest hits cd pretty handily so not sure why this isn't an option in the poll.

suede were considered to be complete glam/ t. rex ripoffs. for my money, drowners was one of the great early 90s anthems.

also i don't think anyone remembers how callow blur were in 1991, they were one step up from emf. pulp were just laughable but somehow gained legitimacy in retrospect.

[jeepster]

i don't buy the smiths as the proto britpop band, outside of being the commercial face of mid 80s indie. that mantle should go to the stone roses, who laid out the template pretty clearly. artistically, the band that oasis and mid-period (and onward) blur was harkening back to was the beatles, in various ways.

the whole britpop war was pretty much a tabloid fueled class war so outside of the uk it's a bit of a false dichotomy. there was a classic journo piece where both bands were asked what they would be doing if they weren't in a band - damon albarn said poet/writer, one of the gallaghers said stealing cars. that pretty much sums it all up right there.

the upshot is they both had their moments and can fill up a greatest hits cd pretty handily so not sure why this isn't an option in the poll.

suede were considered to be complete glam/ t. rex ripoffs. for my money, drowners was one of the great early 90s anthems.

also i don't think anyone remembers how callow blur were in 1991, they were one step up from emf. pulp were just laughable but somehow gained legitimacy in retrospect.

I see your argument, but honestly, all the shades of the Smiths can be found in british bands after... there isn't much in the way of denying it. The Stones Roses did contribute a lot to the burgeoning of the british indie scene and what would later become britpop, but when you look at the first self-titled album and then look at Second Coming, they are polar opposites in terms of stylistic choices. the S/T took the emerging concept of dance music as a viable commercial and British style and applied it with guitars and drums and obtuse lyrics. But then they went completely against their own formula, just before the peak of Britpop and chose to do something more in the vein of classic American rock music. Blur only chose to do this later when they saw that British music and in particular the Cool Britannia image wasn't what they wanted. Blur's early work reflects an immature take on the Roses formula, but you can tell that within that copy, there is something very original. Oasis effectively just copied and did so with such spectacular effect that they left behind the concept of britpop when they became commercial viable in the United States. Everything after the first two albums sounds like a rip off of every good top 40 rock albums from 1966 onwards, and that doesn't mean Oasis's albums were any good anymore.

The whole hype of britpop was a tabloid fueled class war, but it did spawn an interesting juxtaposition of music and history at that time. And if anything, Blur are far closer to the Kinks than the Beatles.

Also: Oasis could have never done a "Popscene" kind of track like Blur did. Despite how badly it bombed at the time, that was a complete changing of the guard.

[jl3969]

i dont know about you guys, but i not only view musicians as 'artists' but as entertainers also. noel gallagher interviews have consistently entertained the shit out of me even when i didnt want to listen to them anymore. i also appreciate them for being brash and arrogant when rock bands try so hard to fake humility these days.

as ironic as it is: for their background, id say oasis is one of the most hip hop bands ever.

and definitely better than blur. but i still never get sick of hearing song 2 during sports highlight reels.

[kiya]

You guys are all fucking nuts.

Suede was better than all these bands...

If i had to pick one it'd be Blur though.

One of the best shows i've ever seen was 12 years ago in San Francisco.. Pulp with Suede as the opening act. I was in heaven.

[snafu]

both were good oasis had more ups and downs but when they were good they were good ,blur were more consistant and modern life is rubbish is an outstanding album such a hard one i still listen to blur hardley ever to oasis these days other than nostalgic reasons,

plup are great also jarvis's solo album is great very much worth a listen "cunts are still running the world"

this whole time era for this genre is probally my fav but hardley listen to it these days

[the_state]

there was a classic journo piece where both bands were asked what they would be doing if they weren't in a band - damon albarn said poet/writer, one of the gallaghers said stealing cars. that pretty much sums it all up right there.

this is why i fucks with oasis. fucking thugs. they've got that great cocksure attitude, and can back it up with some classic songs. plus noel gives amazing interviews.

[landho]

The Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays, both progenitors of Britpop, were done in by their own excesses. Nothing after The Stone Roses or Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches should be counted as part of their proper body of work. No one brings up Emotional Rescue when talking about the Stones because it's irrelevant.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

i love "emotional rescue"

[dismalfuture]

I bought a black telecaster because of that beezy in Elastica. I now want another black tele.

[landho]

i love "emotional rescue"

I mean, I love Chef Boyardee, but that doesn't mean it's any good:(

[16steps]

blur has more songs than Song #2?

I choose oasis even though i will not participate in such a lame discussion because my knowledge of either band is about just as great as my knowledge on the large influx of Japanese-Brazilians.

[kiya]

blur has more songs than Song #2?

I choose oasis even though i will not participate in such a lame discussion because my knowledge of either band is about just as great as my knowledge on the large influx of Japanese-Brazilians.

You just made me feel extremely old.

[KyleFall]

I like Oasis more, but the video for Coffee and Tv ruled.

[16steps]

You just made me feel extremely old.

how so?????

[Magsåvningsreserven]

blur all day baby, all day

[denimdestroyedmylife]

Zubin

song 2 marked the end of blur as they have been known up to that point

from smart brit-poppers to dumbed down detroit style rockers

though they have put out records since then, blur stopped being blur with their eponymous album (though there are some gems on that one)

[16steps]

ahhh, gotcha

tbh, i was only a kid when song #2 came out and it was the jam. I heard it on the radio last week and i found that it still was kinda cool. I purchased the Blur album way back when it was released, and at the time, my tastes werent refined enough for it. I truthfully thought it was their first cd!

now that im more cultured (??) id be interested in having another go-round as i do remember liking some of the other tracks on that disk. Obviously song #2 was the sound i was searching for on that cd which i did not find. Hmm

[landho]

Blur's eponymous album is actually my favorite of theirs, and 13 probably my second.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

you can't account for taste, i guess

modern life is rubbish is my favorite

[jeepster]

Zubin

song 2 marked the end of blur as they have been known up to that point

from smart brit-poppers to dumbed down detroit style rockers

though they have put out records since then, blur stopped being blur with their eponymous album (though there are some gems on that one)

I disagree with this - song 2 marked Blur trying to do something that they shouldn't. While its a great and catchy song and really their only "hit" in the US, it wasn't indicative of the S/T album at all. Also, it did mark the end of britpop Blur, but not the end of Blur as a powerful creative force. Blur still kicked out the jams on 13, and despite the lack of Graham Coxon save for "Battery in Your Leg", Think Tank was one of the most cohesive efforts they had put out. Saying they dumbed down their sound is too easy cause essentially they had gotten too smart for themselves on The Great Escape, which was a soulless album (despite some great tracks). My favorite is probably Modern Life is Rubbish as well ddml, but all of them are infinitely listenable.

do you have the 10th Anniversary Box set? Their B-sides are amazing. "Tame" should've been on an album.

[dismalfuture]

jeepster, how old were you when Song #2 came out?

[jeepster]

jeepster, how old were you when Song #2 came out?

8

I remember very well hearing it in the preview for Starship Troopers.

edit: Corbin, I figured you'd appreciate Blur's music. I figured wrong apparently.

[Brienneoftarth]

I think the whole debate has to be framed within the Oasis vs Blur britpop feud because that's how it was handed to you when you were young, and that's where you got your opinion. I went with Oasis. According to their presentation, they had more soul than Blur. They were working class and made no claims to nuance or intelligence. Blur is a more refined band, and listening through them now, I'd say Blur came up with something far more creative, but I'm always with Oasis. Really because Stone Roses are my favorite band of all time and Oasis took the torch from them in the mid 90's as they let the world slip through their fingers. Oasis did what the Roses failed to, they took over the world, and I love em for that. One interesting thing to look at is the whole connection between Damon Albarn and Shaun Ryder nowadays. The Happy Mondays were really working class, more so than the Roses, but Ryder collaborates with Blur and the Roses Collaborate with Oasis. Ian brown is King.

[the_state]

happy mondays are overrated, bloated trash. few good tuns, that's IT.

[kiya]

Modern Life is Rubbish.

I lived my life by that album and the early Suede releases for years..

For the record, i was 20 years old when Song #2 came out.

[Tom is dead.]

Blur is a good band, Oasis is a good album

[andewhall]

What down with ianbrown said...but its a tough one, love both bands. Oasis did indeed take the arrogance swagger torch from the Rose's. Saw the new song/video from the upcoming album last night...sounds mighty. Shaun Ryder is the man...The Charlatans ftw!

[16steps]

since there was discussion about the Smiths earlier in this thread, id thought id mention that for any Comcast Digital TV subscribers, if you go to:

Music> COncerttv> all shows there is a smiths concert from Rockpalast on there.

Its really sweet and gives you a feeling of what a smiths show wouldve been like if you were about 25 years younger.

and seriously, moz's voicals and his lyrics juxtaposed to the mostly upbeat guitar riffs are what clouds are made of. Brilliance

[kiya]

Now that we're talking about Moz/Smiths..

Tomorrow night in SF there's a Moz/Smiths dedication night called Strangeways at the Dragon Bar in North Beach.

The guy that just wrote that definitive book on Morrisey and the Smiths will be there, there'll be djs playing all the hits, and a fashion show based on mod culture, 4 of the 6 models will be dressed only in clothes from Self Edge. How weird is that? Quite.

[jeepster]

Now that we're talking about Moz/Smiths..

Tomorrow night in SF there's a Moz/Smiths dedication night called Strangeways at the Dragon Bar in North Beach.

The guy that just wrote that definitive book on Morrisey and the Smiths will be there, there'll be djs playing all the hits, and a fashion show based on mod culture, 4 of the 6 models will be dressed only in clothes from Self Edge. How weird is that? Quite.

kiya always good for the shameless plug haha

I'm listening to "Charmless Man" right now.. talk about Smiths posturing