Britpop. Who was the most impressive guitarist in your eyes.

What's Hot
124

Comments

  • blobbblobb Frets: 2914
    octatonic said:
    Dominic Chad from Mansun.
    Mansun had the best drummer
    Feelin' Reelin' & Squeelin'
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    Bernard Butler

    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

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBM said:
    Bernard Butler

    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.
    I saw him a couple of times on his solo tours in the very late 90s.  Voice not great but guitar great
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBM said:
    Britpop was the era of guitar bands that got me into dance music...


    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.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • To be fair, with only so many hours in the day for interviews, would you have chosen NME and Q magazine or Guitarist?
    well Guitarist would have probably asked about their blues influences so tricky call

    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.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11680
    You couldn't say Generation Terrorists or Holy Bible was britpop!
    I think the reduction of "Britpop" to the narrowest definition doesn't help much when looking at 90s guitar rock (though I'm aware journalists love to do it).

    While the Manics and Radiohead would actively object to being called "Britpop" they were all part of an early-late 90s British guitar bands scene that is mostly notable when taken as a whole, it dominated the charts (it hasn't done so since) and it was full of superb music, and it was distinctly British.

    There was a time in the late 90s when so many bands were out that you couldn't walk into a music shop without seeing a dozen albums you wanted.  It was when I was in my late-teens so I'm very biased, but it was a great time for music that will never be topped for me.
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • menamestommenamestom Frets: 4641
    edited January 2019

    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.   
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • menamestommenamestom Frets: 4641

    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.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • I thought Britpop was generally shit, so I'd go for Coxon & Butler in that arena.
    If you expand it outwards then there was Jonny Greenwood and Adrian Utley in much more interesting bands.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256

    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.


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • To be fair, with only so many hours in the day for interviews, would you have chosen NME and Q magazine or Guitarist?
    well Guitarist would have probably asked about their blues influences so tricky call

    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.
    Joke dude! I am well aware of Craddock's influences. Dont get so serious all the time
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    Snap said:

    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.


    I was 18 in 93 spent the 90s seeing nearly all the main contenders, radiohead, oasis, blur, pulp, seahorses, cast, gene, echobelly, charlatans, inspiral carpets, ride, wonder stuff, wedding present, bennett, salad, james etc, etc only afterwards do you realise what an astonishing time for music it was, especially factoring in grunge at similar time. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • horsehorse Frets: 1563
    It's interesting how people see things differently. I'd class Reef as a rock band with no stylistic connection to britpop. Skunk annansie may have been nme darlings during the same period, but they were a hard rock band to me. Manics helped to pave the way but I wouldn't call them britpop.

    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...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    edited January 2019
    As I just googled to see if they qualify as 'Britpop' and seemingly they do...

    Jonny Buckland- Coldplay.

    Supremely under-rated, the master of a hook, totally prepared to nail the song before the solo and puts in flawless performances time and time again in a band pretty much considered amongst the best live acts in the world.

    A real shining light for me. Plus he loves thinlines....

    And a really nice bloke who sold off a load of his touring gear for charity.

    Here's the most 'indulgent' JB solo I can find! 3.20 onwards



    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • Gassage said:
    As I just googled to see if they qualify as 'Britpop' and seemingly they do...

    Jonny Buckland- Coldplay.


    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.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    Gassage said:
    As I just googled to see if they qualify as 'Britpop' and seemingly they do...

    Jonny Buckland- Coldplay.


    Absolutely. Whatever your opinion of the band might be, he absolutely nails what he sets out to do.

    I really didn't like Coldplay until I saw them live. Then, I can honestly say without doubt, my jaw hit the floor. No band in the world connects with a stadium audience like they do.

    And Buckland can shred with the best when he chooses to.

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Matt_McGMatt_McG Frets: 321
    Coxon, Gaz Coombes, and Bernard Butler for me. Coxon's a fantastically inventive musician on so many levels. If we are including Radiohead in the genre, then J. Greenwood, too.

    McCabe, I can't really assess, since I hate the Verve. Deeply deeply hate them in a way that's not entirely rational.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Not really a fan bjt i always liked the dude in Skunk Anansie's playing.
    Yeah, Ace is great, he played some great rhythm parts too.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TeleMasterTeleMaster Frets: 10103
    I know what you’re saying but it just doesn’t correlate with the sound and the attitude of the genre. It’s also unfair to lump them together unfairly. It’s not a snobbish thing from me. I love Pulp and Oasis. Blur are one of my favourite bands. I just feel they predates it and were more relevant to another genre. They were more glam, gothic, alternative in the case of the Manics.

    You couldn't say Generation Terrorists or Holy Bible was britpop!
    I think the reduction of "Britpop" to the narrowest definition doesn't help much when looking at 90s guitar rock (though I'm aware journalists love to do it).

    While the Manics and Radiohead would actively object to being called "Britpop" they were all part of an early-late 90s British guitar bands scene that is mostly notable when taken as a whole, it dominated the charts (it hasn't done so since) and it was full of superb music, and it was distinctly British.

    There was a time in the late 90s when so many bands were out that you couldn't walk into a music shop without seeing a dozen albums you wanted.  It was when I was in my late-teens so I'm very biased, but it was a great time for music that will never be topped for me.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I had stopped listening to music in the late 1980's and it wasn't till the middle of the 90's I started to listen to music again. For me it was Noel's Don't look back in anger guitar solo that made me pick up the guitar again. For some reason the solo makes me think of Let it be (maybe he pinched a few ideas from George)
    “Ken sent me.”
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.