Blur vs Oasis, we all know Blur beat Oasis with the dreadful Country House, over the equally awful Roll With It. Both bands were at their least interesting on those two tracks.
Far more Interesting is Blur’s fifth album and again, in my opinion, their best.
Previous album The Great Escape signalled an end in their Britpop phase for the band. They had a rethink and came back as Pavement devotees with Graham Coxon getting to be the pop star he always wanted to be.
Beetlebum went to number one, a strange choice as a first single built around a single riff, but it worms its way into your head and stays there. Second single Song 2 was the one that seemed to renew real enthusiasm in the band and established them in the USA whilst the ballad Country Sad Ballad Man has laid back carefree feel which they also explore on Death of a Party. The backing music just as interesting as Albarn’s lyrics.
Coxon is all over M.O.R and On Your Own, feedback is king, and although You’re So Great sounds like a demo it’s a welcome shift and Coxon was showing he was not just Albarn’s guitarist but an artist in his own right.
Chinese Bombs is a thrash along and I’m Just a Killer for Your Love Albarn shows he is just as adapt at changing styles, maybe Gorillaz were already forming in the back of his mind.
Movin’ On hits us with more riffs and shows us Coxon was right to assert himself.
Sometimes when bands reinvent themselves it spells the end. Blur saved themselves with this record.
8/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Death of a Party