Britpop
Britpop first came about in the early 1990's, in the UK. The movement started out mainly in the London area with bands like Blur and Suede creating a new scene. However, as the decade went on bands began to emerge from many areas in Britain such as Manchester and Sheffield. The genre mainly Incorporated instruments such as; electric guitar, bass guitar, drum kit and keys.
In the early 1990's, 'Grunge' music from America started to become popular in the UK. As a reaction London based bands like Blur and Suede started creating their own music appealing primarily to a young British audience, which, is partly why the genre struggled to gain popularity in the US. Also on numerous occasions Damon Albarn from Blur, openly admitted his hate for Grunge music and became part of an opposing music force against Grunge.
However this wasn't the case in every Britpop band.
Once the foundations of Britpop had been set, bands not only from the London area, but from across the UK started emerging. Once such band were Oasis. Oasis were a five piece band from Manchester, at the time consisting of brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, Tony McCarroll, Paul McGuigan and Paul Arthurs signed to the big record label of the time 'Creation'. Like many bands at the time, Oasis were massively influenced by the 1960's/70's bands like The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who. This was evident Oasis' sound and songwriting.
By 1994 Britpop was beginning to have a huge impact in Britain with many bands starting to 'breakthrough'. However 1994 would become known musically for the 'Battle of Britpop'. In the summer of 1994 Oasis released their debut album 'Definitely Maybe'. At the same time Blur released their third album 'Parklife'. Both the press and the public had hugely anticipated both albums. I believe one of the most significant factors, which caused the rivalry, was the area the bands came from. Most fans of Oasis' would generally be from the Manchester region, whilst most Blur fans came from the London area. Also differences in the music between the bands had a huge effect. In the end Blur came out on top selling more copies of there album at the time. However 'Definitely Maybe' would sell far more in the long run.
In the same year as the 'Battle of Britpop', The Stone Roses released their new album, 'The Second Coming'. In my opinion this was massively significant in the Britpop development as The Stone Roses had been involved in the late 1980's movement known as 'The Madchester Scene' along with bands like the Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets. This illustrated a 'follow on' from the late 80's into the 1990's Britpop for The Stone Roses.
The 'Madchester' scene, and the bands involved had a great influence on the Britpop groups. One such influence was the lyrical content of songs. Bands like Pulp and Blur were using similar lyrical content, song titles and album names. For example Pulp's single, 'Common People' describes a normal, working class life of a young person at the time. Another example would be a Blur album titled 'Modern Life is Rubbish'. This title clearly represents the bands thoughts of the modern era. This representation of an average life became typical in the Britpop scene (although many Britpop bands came from wealthy middle class families). When compared to many lyrics and song titles of the Madchester period the influences are evident. Also an 80's band 'The Smiths had a huge influence of the sound and lyrics of Britpop bands.
By 1995 Britpop was in its prime. Many bands had established themselves within the music industry. Bands like Sleeper and Supergrass and became well recognised groups within Britpop. Another band Emerging were Elastica. The band had a more 'punky' sound and style to them and were therefore influenced by punk artists of the past. The lead singer Justine Frichshmann was also famous for being with Blur's lead singer Damon Albarn.
In 1997 Oasis released there hugely anticipated third album 'Be here Now'. Although the album has sold a huge number of copies, the album received bad press and criticism. Around this time many other Britpop bands started to falter and split up. Due to this many people started to distance themselves from Britpop. After this period Britpop started to decline in popularity across the UK and people began to buy into a new genre, 'Girl Power'. I believe this was a major factor in the Britpop decline.
Although Britpop's mainstream ended in the 1990's, the genre and the bands of the time have had a huge influence on many artists today such as Coldplay, Stereophonics, Keane and many more.
