How about Cable, weren't they around at the time of Britpop, while not being Britpop?
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Friday, 28 June 2013 23:59 (ten years ago) link
I remember them. You read Kerrang too?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:00 (ten years ago) link
Did anyone dig 60ft Dolls?.
i love the 60 ft doll album. tis ace.
― mark e, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:03 (ten years ago) link
verve and manics certainly benefited commercially from it but they couldn't be called Britpop really.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Friday, June 28, 2013 11:57 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I agree with this... guitar bands selling and getting lots of airplay undoubtedly helped both bands, but I suspect other factors came into play too. With The Verve, it was the fact that they'd already split up and re-formed once (thus generating hype in the music press), as well as the focus on more accessible Richard Ashcroft-penned (as opposed to group-penned) compositions and Ashcroft himself being hailed as some kind of genius by Noel Gallagher (back in the days when kids were hanging upon his every word) which helped things along. With The Manics, it was their first release after the disappearance of Richey (which generated quite a lot of publicity for them in itself), coupled with the fact that they'd made their most accessible batch of songs yet. I certainly don't think the Manics were aiming to hitch a lift on the 'Britpop bandwagon'. There's a smack of Oasis to some of the Ashcroft-penned tracks on Urban Hymns, but the group compositions on that record like 'Catching The Butterfly' aren't really what I'd personally call Britpop. They certainly weren't Britpop prior to that, and neither were the Manics for that matter.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:09 (ten years ago) link
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, June 29, 2013 12:00 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Nah. I never had Cable down as a Kerrang-type of band, to be honest. Especially considering what was going on in metal during the mid '90s, with Korn and Deftones etc.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:11 (ten years ago) link
― mark e, Saturday, June 29, 2013 12:03 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Didn't they put out two albums? I recall 60ft. Dolls being one fucking frantic live band, that's for sure.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:12 (ten years ago) link
voted Blur, Pulp, Suede, SFA, Boo Radleys and of course Mansun, the band that took Britpop in a wonderful new direction only to discover that someone had chopped the rope bridge behind them
all of those bands were capable of stellar experimentation as well as great songwriting. all had restless imaginations.
― rockety communism (imago), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:14 (ten years ago) link
re 60 ft dolls ..
pretty sure they only managed to release the one album ..
i seem to recall that the second album was promo'd and reviewed, but never released ...
― mark e, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:16 (ten years ago) link
they didnt get called Britrock either (Kerrangs answer to Britpop ie terrorvision,feeder, A, Skunk Anansie etc)
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Friday, June 28, 2013 11:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I forgot Reef LOL
Dear god...
Terrorvision's career trajectory is certainly something, isn't it? Make one painfully piss-weak rock album with a single ('My House') that sounds like it could be by Ugly Kid Joe (Formaldehyde), make a more poppier follow-up record but remember to actually write some half-decent songs (How To Make Friends & Influence People), try and do the same again but with lesser results and establish themselves as a perennial festival band with a sense of humour (Regular Urban Survivors), make a record that nobody gives a shit about (Shaving Peaches) until someone remixes 'Tequila' and it becomes a surprise hit, then think "oh god, this is the direction we should be following guys!" (Good To Go)...
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:21 (ten years ago) link
you sure you didn't read Kerrang?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:24 (ten years ago) link
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, June 29, 2013 12:24 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Absolutely positive! Certainly not while Britpop was in full flight, anyway. I don't think I even read an issue of Kerrang until 1999 or 2000! I don't think you particularly needed to read Kerrang to be exposed to Skunk Anansie, Terrorvision or Reef, anyway. Very hard to watch any music channel at the time without hearing a track from Paranoid & Sunburnt or Stoosh on there... and 'Place Your Hands' was as ubiquitous as ANY track from Blur or Oasis at the time, if not more, not to mention 'Naked' was on the Minidisc advert if you remember!?
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:30 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDCwCtZPpUw
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:34 (ten years ago) link
The second 60ft Dolls album came out (I have it...) but was on what appears to be their own label rather than BMG like was originally intended.
― michaellambert, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:38 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O9vBHOGDjc
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:39 (ten years ago) link
I remember The Wannadies and The Cardigans were around at the time, too. I wouldn't call either of those Britpop either (neither band were British, for a start), but I still remember them being around and appealing to people who were 'into' Britpop. I think songs by both ended up on what were meant to be Britpop compilations too, weirdly.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:42 (ten years ago) link
xpost:
What the fuck, AG, I can't remember that! Mustn't have seen that episode!
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:43 (ten years ago) link
i saw the wannadies before teenage fanclub at t in the park 96? They were a lot heavier live. Was quite impressed by them. TFC were awesome.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:44 (ten years ago) link
Despite them being a lot heavier live I kinda link stuff like wannadies and cardigans in with TFC jingly jangly indie type stuff rather than britpop.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:45 (ten years ago) link
I really should dig out that poster I have from Phoenix Festival '96, which shows every band which was on every stage over the four days, it gives a broad picture of what was going on at the time. Headliners were David Bowie, Neil Young, The Sex Pistols (who'd reformed for that Filthy Lucre tour) and Bjork.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:47 (ten years ago) link
Teenage Fanclub were a strange one for me, they were a band I started checking out and listening to after the Britpop thing was long dead. I definitely know I wasn't into them at the time.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:49 (ten years ago) link
in 96 even afghan whigs, screaming trees, soundgarden,pearl jam , smashing pumpkins were doing well here. So all in all music was still pretty great for me in that period if not britpop itself (tho i did like a few of the bands obviously) it was the late 90s that was pretty dire and I was pretty much only buying older music(funk,jazz classic 80s indie/hardcore/punk/60s/70s canon and lesser known) or albums by bands i already liked or trying to get more leftfield stuff. Was pretty much done with dance music too. Tho once I got the internet I discovered all the IDM/post-rock/math rock/alt-country/black metal type stuff i missed out on and rediscovered a love for doom metal and metal in general and got into even weirder stuff. I felt people in 94-96 were a lot more diverse in tastes than 98- 2000.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 00:53 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins were definitely still both doing very well here in '96... I remember pretty much all the singles released from Down On The Upside got regular airings on the music channels here, and Smashing Pumpkins were at the very peak of their popularity here too ('Tonight Tonight' was a Top 10 hit single here, I think?). R.E.M. weren't doing too badly either, to say that Monster got a bad reception - New Adventures In Hi-Fi went to #1 on the album chart.
I totally agree with you that the late '90s weren't so hot, though. 1998 and 1999 especially didn't feel all that great to me. Some of the Britpop lot were putting out more interesting records by that point (This Is Hardcore, Six, 13), but there didn't seem to be decent NEW bands around. I don't think it truly started to pick up again until maybe 2001/2002... it definitely had by 2003.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:05 (ten years ago) link
Spiritualized ,Mercury Rev, Qotsa were making the better music at the end of the decade but like you said, qotsa apart, new bands werent doing so great (and of course some older fans hated Spz and Mercury Revs output at this time because it was selling!)
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:08 (ten years ago) link
didnt muse and coldplay start around 99/2000? thats when it got really bad
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:10 (ten years ago) link
Until landfill came along making that seem like good times
I'm just trying to think of what the more anticipated/acclaimed releases were at the turn of the century... there was At The Drive-In and Kid A (which was coolly received by some initially)... and a lot of nu-metal. That's what I remember the most about the fucking late '90s: nu-metal.
Yup, Muse and Coldplay made their debuts around that time too. It was the whole Radiohead thing... OK Computer had sold a fucking shitload and had had bucketloads of critical acclaim, so the 'old' Radiohead sound was seen as the "next thing". So what we ended up with was Muse, Coldplay and Travis... then, of course, Radiohead took a different path with Kid A, leaving Muse and Coldplay to steal the fans of 'old' Radiohead that weren't thrilled with their new direction.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:14 (ten years ago) link
Cant have the US-ilxors missing outNu-Metal re-assesed?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:18 (ten years ago) link
I remember really bad rock bandwagon jumpers Headswim abandoning grunge then britrock for an ok computer goes rock sound.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Saturday, 29 June 2013 01:30 (ten years ago) link
To be honest I don't really get the Pulp thing - for a lot of people saying they transcended or were at least the good part of the mid 90s thing, I think they're completely synonymous with Britpop, to the extent that Oasis and Blur were able to be successful either before or after that particular bubble - but surely the point of Pulp was that they were supposed to as well, lording it above the likes of Menswear, Northern Uproar, and god knows who else. But no, once the Britpop thing dried up so did Pulp, at least commercially. I've never really got this. I think they're incredibly dated for the reasons stated.
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 29 June 2013 04:54 (ten years ago) link
I never got Pulp until I heard and really liked Jarvis Cocker's first solo album. I still can't say I love 'em, though.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 29 June 2013 04:58 (ten years ago) link
Britpop destroyed whatever was interesting about the Manics IMO...they weren't 'of' it but the climate didn't really help them (artistically etc etc)
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 29 June 2013 05:00 (ten years ago) link
If in doubt - turn the guitars down and fill it up with strings
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 29 June 2013 05:01 (ten years ago) link
Has there been an ATP style Britpop festival yet? Bound to be money in that, sadly.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, 1 July 2013 15:27 (ten years ago) link
A Britpop stage at T In The Park with Ocean Colour Scene headlining would go down a storm *sighs at scotland*
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, 1 July 2013 15:28 (ten years ago) link
This forum introduced me to the horror that is Reef. My last trip to the UK, I heard "PLACE YER HANDS ON MY 'OLE" in almost every bar/club I went to. I have no idea how I avoided that monstrosity for so long. I'm sad I didn't keep avoiding it.
― afriendlypioneer, Monday, 1 July 2013 16:14 (ten years ago) link
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, June 29, 2013 5:00 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I wouldn't say Britpop destroyed what was interesting about the Manics, I'd say there was enough that was interesting about them to enable them to stand out somewhat in 1996 circa Everything Must Go. Oasis and the rest of the Britpop lot weren't really tackling subjects such as Kevin Carter, Willem De Kooning etc. Plus, the fact that Everything Must Go was a big seller helped people get exposed to their earlier work.
What ruined the Manics artistically (although not commercially), but only for a short while, was success. Suddenly they became this commercial proposition and the feeling was that they were trying to sustain that a little bit with This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours, which I found quite bland and disappointing when it came out. I think they were flailing about searching for a direction circa Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood, but I personally think they got back to what they did best with Send Away The Tigers and Journal For Plague Lovers. Of course, it wasn't the same, but so many years had elapsed by that point it would have been stupid to think they could have made Generation Terrorists or The Holy Bible again.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 12:14 (ten years ago) link
A Britpop stage at T In The Park with Ocean Colour Scene headlining would go down a storm*sighs at scotland*
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Monday, July 1, 2013 3:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
With Travis as support? :P
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 12:19 (ten years ago) link
As posted on Post pics of the best/worst Battle Jackets and ILM will mark them out of 10
http://www.caughtinthecrossfire.com/uploads/2013/09/URBANOUTFIITERS_LEATHERJACKET_PUNK.jpg
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:12 (ten years ago) link
i had a weird dream recently with no significant or memorable imagery, but it was sort of soundtracked by the opening bars of Reef's 'Put Your Hands Up', except played on a tuba instead of guitar.
i struggled to derive any meaning from the dream
― + +, Thursday, 26 September 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
First time as tragedy, second time as fizzy drinks.
http://www.nme.com/news/blur--2/74863
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 13 January 2014 17:48 (ten years ago) link
I thought this would be about Embrace reforming
― pfunkboy (Algerian Goalkeeper), Monday, 13 January 2014 17:50 (ten years ago) link
If we ignore him, he might go away (Alex not Ned, that would be harsh).
― djh, Monday, 13 January 2014 17:51 (ten years ago) link
Oh, Alex. You're richer than fucking god. You don't need the money; you are literally just doing this to be an utter irredeemable tit.
You only exist, just to punish me for youthful crushes, don't you? Like the embarrassing high school boyfriend that will never quite go away.
Please go away, Alex. Just go away. I have no more attention for you.
― Branwell Bell, Monday, 13 January 2014 21:09 (ten years ago) link
Poll: Alex's fizzy drink vs Dave's music and 'tales from his career' radio show vs Damon's solo album.
(winner will probably be Graham)
― Mark G, Monday, 13 January 2014 21:41 (ten years ago) link
The store I work in sells *my little pony* pop so I for one welcome Britpop - especially since pop is the true word for fizzy sweet drinks. We never got any of his cheeses over here so I won't hold my breath for any Britpop though :(
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Monday, 13 January 2014 21:46 (ten years ago) link
Nah, it's some drunkened "Enough I just had an idea!" idea.
― Mark G, Monday, 13 January 2014 22:30 (ten years ago) link
this juxtaposition amused me greatly
http://i.imgur.com/HyozHtb.jpg
― coward punches (electricsound), Tuesday, 14 January 2014 01:44 (ten years ago) link
They should call it "Josef K" then.
― Mark G, Tuesday, 14 January 2014 06:06 (ten years ago) link
You know what we don't hear enough of on BBC Radio? Britpop, that's what.
http://www.clashmusic.com/news/bbc-to-toast-20-years-of-britpop
― Angkor Waht (Neil S), Monday, 17 March 2014 11:23 (ten years ago) link
and so it begins
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/apr/03/britpop-kurt-cobain-20-years-nirvana
oh, and menswe@r have reformed ..
― mark e, Thursday, 3 April 2014 16:46 (ten years ago) link