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But only with hindsight. Britpop was the era of guitar bands that got me into dance music...
I didn’t like Suede at the time and only discovered how good he was later, then went back to them.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
Ha. That was nu-metal and contemporaneous pop-punk for me. Those dark, dark pre-millennial days.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
After you start a thread singling out the most obviously blues-influenced guitarist of the whole Britpop bunch.
Tell me Steve Cradock hadn't listened to the Bluesbreakers "Beano" album a lot.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Gomez, whilst not really Britpop, were of the approximate era, and were a great band. They had 3 guitarists who were really good.
Personally I wasn’t too interested in britpop, it all seemed rather bland. However it was a good period for the guitar in general in that so many people got playing. I tended to favour american bands at the time, like the Black Crowes but at least the charts were awash with guitars and memorable tunes.
The Happy Mondays probably deserve an honerable mention also. Although they predate britpop they had some killer guitar riffs and bridged the gap between pop/rock and dance music.
Also Reef, great playing on Replenish. Place your hands up was an anthem of the time and closer to britpop.
If you expand it outwards then there was Jonny Greenwood and Adrian Utley in much more interesting bands.
I was in my mid 20s during Britpop, and it was a great time. I don't think it is defined as much by specific type of music, but more by a load of bands and an era. To my mind, Britpop was any band playing any sort of music with guitars in (plus any other instrument), from Britain, in the mid 90s. They were all part of the zeitgeist, whether it was Reef rocking, or Pulp popping.
Along with TFI Friday, Chris Evans on the radio, and maybe Zoe Ball too, it was more of a trend/scene than a genre of music. I'm sure plenty would argue otherwise, and say it was a particular type of music, with 60s leanings perhaps. However, having been there, done it, for me it was not that strictly defined. I went to that Glastonbury, in 95, slap in the middle of Britpop: some good bands on. Oasis were rubbish, Pulp were immense.
There were a lot of almost bit part bands too, who did great stuff around the time too. Skunk Anansie's first album for example. Now they could play, and perform for sure.
Looking back, it was a good time for guitar based music, and live bands. Went to some blinding gigs.
As for my choice of guitarist from back then, too many to choose from really. Nick McCabe was possibly the most interesting.
Soundwise I'd say it was the slightly alternative indie rock British sound of the era, from blur and suede down through elastica etc to the dregs of menswear. Oasis had a different sound to my ears, so a bit of an exception to my mind.
In my head 90s UK indie rock is broader than britpop.
Coxon was prob most impressive in hindsight to me, but I prefer butler's playing. At the time I would have listened to Ash's Goldfinger before either of them though...
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
Absolutely. Whatever your opinion of the band might be, he absolutely nails what he sets out to do.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
McCabe, I can't really assess, since I hate the Verve. Deeply deeply hate them in a way that's not entirely rational.