MusicBox - Blur - How They Blew Up Britpop

Feb, 7 2024

In the mid – 90’s English rock band Blur were riding on the crest of a wave. Having already released their 1991 debut album ‘Leisure’ and fusing guitar pop sounds of The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC, Blur were at the height of their powers.

The following three albums –

• Modern Life is Rubbish –(1993)
• Parklife ( 1994)
• The Great Escape ( 1995)

Cemented them as pop royalty and they even had an all -out war with Britpop rivals Oasis.

However, they grew tired of the moniker that made their genre. They wanted to remove any shred of their Britpop label to absolute smithereens.

Having listened to a series of lo-fi styles of American indie rock groups, this helped to carve out what became their self -titled fifth album, 1997’s ‘Blur’.

The second track on the album ‘Song 2’ indicated a broad move from their original sound and a clear frustration of the label they were seen as. It was nominated for several awards at the 1998 Brit Awards and as we see, the band created a 2 minute classic rock masterpiece -

Over the next 27 years the band –

• Experimented in electronic and art rock styles
• Went on two hiatuses
• Explored solo careers and an animation concept band
• Received Outstanding Contribution to Music
• Played reunion festivals

Last year the band were back with their ninth studio album ‘The Ballad of Darren’. It was an affectionate nod to their long-time bodyguard and was a fantastic return to form. The band are nominated for best group and album of the year at the forthcoming Brit Awards 2024.

Song 2 remains the go-to track for an all -out rock party as Blur happily blew up Britpop in their own unique way.

To find out the latest information in the Blur universe simply log on to the following website link - https://www.blur.co.uk/?frontpage=true

^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger