This accompanying playlist features music from the bands and albums mentioned in chronological order. It’s much easier to hear the progression of the genre than to read about it!

Introduction

“Britpop” refers to a movement in the mid-90’s that produced a musical style of upbeat, optimistic pop or alternative rock music. Drawing heavily from the glam rock acts of the 70’s such as David Bowie and T. Rex, as well as other major British pop bands such as The Beatles and The Smiths, Britpop became a dominant market force and ultimately shaped much of the worldwide scene in the late-90’s.

Roots

At the turn of the decade, grunge was starting to take hold in America while shoegaze had become a strong force across the pond. Neither were particularly pop-friendly, and both featured characteristically gloomy lyrics. An alternative to these was the Madchester scene, a uniquely British genre which fused alt-rock and acid house (a popular form of dance music, especially in the U.K.). The movement was led by The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, the former releasing their self-titled debut as a counterpart the Nirvana’s debut Bleach in 1989 and the latter releasing Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches in 1990 to compete with the shoegaze albums Nowhere and Heaven or Las Vegas by Ride and Cocteau Twins, respectively. Madchester music, since it was a form of club music, was generally faster, lighter, and more accessible than its rival genres. This is a trend that directly influenced Britpop.

Early Releases

In 1991, grunge exploded worldwide with Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s Ten. Both were critically acclaimed and instant smash hits in America and the U.K., paving the way for alternative music to become mainstream (and causing the genre’s name to become something of a misnomer). However, British artists and music fans were unhappy with the dominance of American music on their home turf and began looking for a response. Shoegaze, despite having its definitive release in My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless the same year, could never achieve the same level of pop relevance as grunge even if it matched grunge’s critical success.

The answer came in 1993 when Suede (known as The London Suede in the U.S.) released their self-titled first album. The hype leading up the debut was immense, with press coverage beginning a full year before the release. It was a massive commercial success; the album oozed Britishness in a way reminiscent of The Smiths and was performed with the confident swagger of glam rock acts of the seventies. However, it still sounded fresh: taking cues from shoegaze, the guitars were heavily produced and layered in a way that created a heavy atmosphere but avoided the dreamy vibe with distinctly rock drums and bass.

Other British acts were quick on the uptake. Blur, a mildly successful shoegaze band at the time, had already decided to put more of a focus on their English heritage following an unsuccessful American tour. Upon seeing Suede’s success, they further embraced the style and released Modern Life Is Rubbish. It featured more traditional instrumentation than Suede, taking notes from mod bands like The Kinks and The Who, but was no less dramatically British as the vocals are intentionally nearly identical to Bowie’s. Despite a warm reception by the music press, though, the album only achieved moderate commercial success.

Greater Success

1994 proved to be a big year for Britpop. Blur released Parklife, which debuted at number one on the U.K. charts and was so successful that Blur was positioned at the forefront of the British music scene. Supported by five successful singles, the album incorporated many styles such as synth-pop and punk without diminishing the British sound for which they had become known. Since its release, Parklife has been viewed as one of the seminal releases of Britpop and is certainly the most British thematically if not necessarily sonically.

Newcomers to the scene also saw considerable success in ’94. Pulp, a band that had been around for about a decade by that point, shifted from the acid house style on their previous release towards Britpop with His ‘N’ Hers, which finally earned them a breakthrough. Another new act debuted that immediately became a contender for Britpop’s–and therefore the nation’s as a whole–biggest band. Oasis shattered the record set by Suede with their own debut, Definitely Maybe, which was the fastest-selling debut album in U.K. history at the time of its release. Oasis was also more appealing to American audiences, who were still enamored with grunge, due to their heavier sound than their Britpop contemporaries.

Suede, on the other hand, had distanced themselves from Britpop with their second album Dog Man Star. Darker in tone and more challenging in its songwriting, the album received excellent reviews (at least in the U.K.) but largely ignored by the mainstream. To date, it is the band’s least successful album commercially but remains its most acclaimed by critics.

Battle of Britpop

Britpop finally won out over grunge in 1995. The major grunge acts–Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots–all had successful releases the year before, but the genre fizzled out shortly afterward. On the other hand, Britpop was at its apex of popularity. The most prominent acts planned to release albums in ’95, and the genre had grown with new acts starting to flood the market.

Elastica, formed by members of Suede who left even before the latter’s debut, released an album after only putting out singles for a few years. Some other bands emerged early in the year, but the most notable newcomer was Radiohead. After releasing the grunge-tinged Pablo Honey in 1992, the group scored a hit in the U.S. with the single “Creep” but were not well known in their home country. The reverse was true of their second album–The Bends received fervorous acclaim in the U.K. but did not fare as well across the pond. Although at the time the music was praised for deviating from the Britpop norm, its influence was still inescapable and in retrospect, the first half of the album is somewhat in line with the scene at the time.

Pulp was propelled to stardom and the highest echelon of Britpop bands with their number one album Different Class, and became considered one of the “Big 4” along with Blur, Oasis, and Suede. There was no denying the Blur and Oasis were the most successful, though, and in the fall of 1995 the media pitted them against each other among growing animosity between the two groups. Dubbed “The Battle of Britpop,” the singles from each band’s upcoming albums were released on the same day as fans took sides with Oasis seen as representing the north of England and Blur the south. Blur barely edged out the win–“Country House placed number one on the charts, while “Roll With It” placed just behind. Their album, The Great Escape, was initially met with acclaim, while Oasis’ album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? had a lukewarm reception.

Reactions soon reversed, however, as Morning Glory sustained success well into the following year scoring two number one hits on the U.K. charts and two more on U.S. charts. Opinions on Blur’s album soured, and it did not sell nearly as well. Although they won the battle of the bands, it was Oasis that was dubbed the kings of Britpop.

Decline

1996 was relatively quiet for Britpop. Suede released their most successful single to date, and their third album Coming Up saw them returning to a pop sound. It received good reviews but was not nearly as landmark as the albums the other members of the Big 4 put out the previous year. Smaller Britpop bands, such as Ocean Colour Scene, scored chart hits in the U.K. but were criticized for drawing from Oasis far too heavily. Thus, there was a lot of anticipation for the upcoming year.

However, it was in 1997 that Britpop began a steep decline in popularity. Oasis, whose album was most eagerly awaited, released it to acclaim and record-breaking sales. The sales didn’t last, though, as opinions on the album quickly turned towards considering it overindulgent. On the other hand, Blur, having lost the Britpop war, shifted stylistically towards a more American sound and earned their most successful U.S. single with “Song 2.” With Oasis failing to follow up artistically on Morning Glory and Blur abandoning the genre, an opportunity was made for other bands to distinguish themselves.

The Verve, a shoegaze band who turned to Britpop a late in the game, released Urban Hymns to much acclaim and enormous commercial success. The music was distinctly different from other Britpop bands, most notably the Oasis “Noelrock” sound (named for Noel Gallagher, the principal songwriter for Oasis). It featured melancholic lyrics instead of the unstoppable optimism characteristic of the genre and more delicate instrumentation in place of the usual anthemic guitars, showing that even among Britpop bands a shift away from the sound had already began.. Despite The Verve’s success, it was Radiohead who filled the power vacuum.

OK Computer is not Britpop. Intentionally distancing themselves from the sound on The Bends, which was already considered adverse to Britpop, Radiohead’s third album was something entirely new. It featured inspiration from a wide variety of genres, varied and challenging instrumentation, abstract lyrics, and altogether an anxiety-inducing atmosphere. Upon release, it was immediately hailed as a landmark achievement.

Radiohead managed to shift the direction of British music with a single album. Its timing couldn’t have been more perfect, with all eyes on them “save” rock music from its increasingly homogenized nature. Bands quickly began cropping up, not necessarily trying to imitate Radiohead’s success but nonetheless embracing the new sound they had created.

The following years showed Britpop effectively disappearing. Pulp’s 1998 follow up to their breakthrough, while well received, sounded very little like their previous work; the music was darker and slower overall. Blur’s next album, released in 1999, shows them experimenting further and drifting even farther from Britpop. Only Radiohead was left to return Britpop to its former glory, but anyone who expected that would’ve been sorely disappointed–Kid A, from its first notes, was a statement that music in the new millennium would be completely different.

Closing

Britpop is an interesting genre to study. A historical flash in the pan, it exploded out of nowhere and lasted only a handful of years before disappearing altogether. It produced some of the best albums of the 90’s, of all time even, but also produced an overwhelming amount of mediocrity. However, its easy to say that the high water marks for Britpop is some of the best music that pop has to offer.