Britpop era follow up to successful albums poll

Pulp must own this!

this seems like the right place to state that 'Peas, Ants, Pigs and Astronauts' was a really underrated dn by whoever that was

"This Is Hardcore" was the first Pulp song I ever heard. The entire time I kept waiting for a sexy French assassin to crawl out of the radio and kill me with her breast-garotte.

Obviously I am voting Pulp.

the anglophiles have spoken!

i'm so glad i grew up in england's worst decade

so did i it was called the '80s'

come on. look. this was the worst music ever.

someone was busking playing 'walk away' the other day and i wanted to grab him and yell DON'T PLAY THAT SONG, GOD, WHY EVEN DEVOTE THE ENERGY TO REMEMBERING THAT SONG EXISTS, LET ALONE PLAYING IT AND MAKING OTHER PEOPLE REMEMBER IT EXISTED

oh yeah the music sucks, but the 80s had thatcher = worst decade ever

I saw John Power in the pub the other day.

exciting times!

and yeah all scottish buskers play britpop or 60s stuff, why?

i met john power once. nice guy actually.

you know it's a good crowd of records when you look at it and think, actually, maybe that suede album is kind of underrated

that suede album is the pits. loved them up til that album

i wonder how bad the unreleased second Seahorses album is?

voted The Great Escape to help it fight all the bad press it gets

In it for the money
although i have a soft spot for c'mon kids

Went for C'Mon Kids, but really should've been Great Escape. 1996 was a weird echo-boom time for British pop - lots of bands hurrying to follow up their 94/95 successes as the Britpop craze slackened off.

as dadrock took off in its place

In It For The Money wipes the FLOOR with the debut; probably one of the best rock albums of that whole era, it's an amazing record!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXi6xPL52qU

no it isn't.

Dadrock? I see '96 as a strange, self contained post-Britpop era full of androgynous rockers and tongue-in-cheek poppers who blew up very quickly, got a big fanbase but were doomed to inhabit this segment of time - Skunk Anansie, Placebo, Space, Kula Shaker, Mansun y'know. I guess it's just how I compartmentalise that era. After that, Britpop went all space age and formica white - OK Computer, Urban Hymns, Ladies & Gentlemen.... and after that?

tongue-in-cheek poppers

yr doing it wrong

was waiting for that joke tbf

pulp is the best record here but i have a soft spot for the bluetones one. i suspect the supergrass one probably aged better than the rest of their records. most of these records are genuinely terrible

pulp in a walk

For me this is "how is this even a poll?"

There are only a handful of other albums on this list I even like, and none come close to This is Hardcore.

supergrass

Us And Us Only is actually a really good album IIRC

I donated my vote to a co-worker who was a huge brit pop guy, he voted for Ocean Colour Scene as a trv kvlt brit pop slept on classic, he estimated he'd heard about 90 percent of these records

he also said supergrass, paul weller, shed seven and pulp were good choices

'co-worker'

your coworker's talking out his bum tbf...

algerian - he's someone i work with, i don't even know what you're "on about"

dog latin - i have no opinion about brit pop i don't care

it was a joke

Have honestly never heard any of these albums, guessing I could probably tolerate Pulp or Supergrass but gtf with the rest of that stuff.

One omission that I could genuinely get behind: the Auteurs - After Murder Park

yeah the auteurs are fucking great

A quick, closer look at some of these...

Blur - The Great Escape isn't actually all that bad - the main complaint that I have about the record is that it's too long, and about roughly a third or so of it is filler. It's best stuff is great, though.

Oasis - Be Here Now is pretty much the sonic equivalent of excrement. Under-written and over-inflated. The mixes are too loud, and everyone concerned sounds like they can't be arsed.

The Boo Radleys - C'mon Kids is a far more interesting record than its predecessor, but the band were completely kidding themselves if they thought they were going to be able to take all of the fans that fell in love with Wake Up! with them. It's definitely not a record for everyone.

Ocean Colour Scene - Marchin' Already - basically a facsimile of their previous record, but with slightly more of a folky feel and more of an emphasis on ballads. Also, the songs aren't as good as those on Moseley Shoals.

Paul Weller - Heavy Soul is the worst solo album Weller had put out at this point in his career. Sounds very underproduced and half-written in places. 'Driving Nowhere' and 'Friday Street' are the very definition of coasting.

Pulp - This Is Hardcore is absolutely fucking excellent, and has held up extremely well. If I'm ever going to listen to Pulp, this is the album I'll dig out.

Suede - Head Music - Brett Anderson discovers crack and smack, Richard Oakes discovers cider and pies and Neil Codling takes too much drugs and can't get out of bed. A lot was made of this album at the time being a departure from the 'usual' Suede sound, but really it just sounds like a bunch of heavily produced Suede-by-numbers tracks with synthesizers on them. And don't get me started on the half-arsed lyrics...

Kula Shaker - Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts - bit of a curious one this. 'Great Hosannah' and 'S.O.S.' stand out as great over the top moments, but there's loads of strange filler on this one. 'Radhe Radhe', 'I'm Still Here', 'Timeworm', 'Last Farewell'... 'Mystical Machine Gun' was a terrible single, and they could have written stuff like '108 Battles' and 'Golden Avatar' in their sleep. But fucking hell, it's very well produced. Bob Ezrin, I do believe.

Ash - Nu-Clear Sounds - Never had a problem with this record. 'Projects' and 'Wildsurf' being particular highlights. I find 'Folk Song' really beautiful also. I'd actually rather listen to this than 1977 or Free All Angels, thinking about it.

Supergrass - In It for the Money - The best record Supergrass ever made. Yes, even better than I Should Coco, in my opinion, which I've always found to be a touch overrated.

Manic Street Preachers - This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours - zzzzZZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzZZZZzzz...

The Bluetones - Return to the Last Chance Saloon - If it wasn't for the filler placed on the later half of the album, I'd actually consider this their best album. There's more variety on this record than on Expecting To Fly, and the material is better than what they did afterwards. Love the way 'Tone Blooze' segues into 'Unpainted Arizona', the Star Trek Red Alert sien on 'U.T.A.'... 'The Jub-Jub Bird' = great... '4-Day Weekend'... 'If...'. Very underrated record.

Gomez - Liquid Skin - I've always liked this one more than the overrated Bring It On. 'California', 'Devil Will Ride', 'Las Vegas Dealer'...

Shed Seven - Let It Ride - Dear god...

Catatonia - Equally Cursed & Blessed - the thing about this record is that it was an eagerly-awaited follow-up to a record that wasn't even that good. This band never improved on their debut, Way Beyond Blue, in my opinion. 'Londinium' is a 'Road Rage' re-write, 'Karaoke Queen' is embarrassing... 'Dead From The Waist Down' is corny as hell. I have a soft spot for 'Storm The Palace' and 'Bulimic Beats', mind.

Cast - Mother Nature Calls - Sorry, no. I'd rather have my teeth pulled or have a vasectomy with no anaesthetic than ever have to endure listening to 'Soul Tied' again. Some real crud on this disc. 'Guiding Star' is probably the highlight, with 'The Mad Hatter'/'Never Gonna Tell You What To Do'/'Dance Of The Stars' being okay, I guess. But, god, the hippie titles: 'Live The Dream', 'Free Me', 'She Sun Shines'...

This was a two-horse race for me between This Is Hardcore and In It For The Money, and after careful consideration I've went with This Is Hardcore.

Runners-up: The Great Escape, C'mon Kids, Nu-Clear Sounds, Return To The Last Chance Saloon, Liquid Skin.

Glumdalclitch: I still like plenty of individual songs, I just don't think any of their albums ever managed to be consistent or nail the sound that would make the most of them. A lot of bad, short-sighted decisions and over-thinking have blighted them since day one.

One omission that I could genuinely get behind: the Auteurs - After Murder Park

"successful albums" tho

like the one before maybe did OKish but most of the ppl above charted at number 1 or v close before whatever they have in this poll

voted Black Grape because lol

(though I do like "Marbles" more than anything on any of those other albums)

"The Great Escape" is the only example here of an album that was actually better than anything else they did.

The Supergrass one was also better than the one before it, but I also believe "In If For The Money" sold very well, didn't it? They would release two albums after that one that were even better and sold considerably less.

like the one before maybe did OKish but most of the ppl above charted at number 1 or v close before whatever they have in this poll

Yeah, you're quite right, I had forgotten those platinum sales figures for 3 Colours Red.

I like all of these but Supergrass gets my vote, it's one of my favourite albums of all time.

Elastica - The Menace
Blur - The Great Escape
The Boo Radleys - C'mon Kids
Pulp - This Is Hardcore

Voted Pulp.
The only thing worse that Brett on smack'n'crack was Brett cleaning up. 'Head Music' ("great big crack" indeed) is bad in places but 'A New Morning' is terrible.

And most of the other bands here were just wheeling out the same tired old shit. Oasis/OCS/Weller/Ash/MSP/Space/Reef/Lightning Seeds/Catatonia/Cast especially.

Charlatans' entry is the only one I like out of this list

im pretty sure 3 colours red outsold the Auteurs

It's true, they did have a smash hit #15 album at one point.

nice work ILX

whoah

>:(

bummer, I thought The Great Escape was gonna gather, well, much more votes than this

i knew i was right.

did not expect any albums to get 40+ votes

The fact that In It For The Money and This Is Hardcore were the top two doesn't surprise me at all. What surprises me is the MASSIVE spike in votes between 3rd place and 2nd.

This was a two-horse race for me between This Is Hardcore and In It For The Money, and after careful consideration I've went with This Is Hardcore.

Runners-up: The Great Escape, C'mon Kids...(snip)

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Friday, May 4, 2012 5:11 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

C'mon Kids is a very good album you guys!

It's got some brilliant stuff on it, but it's definitely not an album for everyone.

can't really complain about these results

lol @ vote for reef

who voted for sleeper

That top five is spot on. C'mon Kids is a great album, maybe my second favourite of theirs after Giant Steps.

i put it slightly after ichabod & i

i actually own Ichabod & I on vinyl, the Boo Radleys worst album. even something not yet fully realized as Everything's Alright Forever is miles better than their debut.

I am listening to Giant Steps right this very moment(!) ... 'Upon 9th And Fairchild' is feedbacktastic.

I voted for Sleeper as it's the only one on the list I own! Not a good album, though.

131 voters?!

I had no idea ILM loved Supergrass. That kinda rules.

Suede got the most discussion and no votes! Must be bad...

Upon 9th and Fairchild is also dubtastic - makes me think of a cold blue-lit kitchen floor at 3am.

C'Mon Kids beat the Great Escape! Nice one ILX (not that I don't like GE)

Wow. I love half of This Is Hardcore but it's very weak in places. Even Owen Hatherley, who's a total Pulp stan, is critical of it in his Uncommon book. A lot rests on the title track and The Fear. But then there isn't a truly great album on the list and this is ILX so…

Don't tell that to the pulp fanatics on ilm!

TV Movie and I'm a Man are the only songs on This Is Hardcore that I don't really rate that much.

I wonder how well Mansun's Six would have done if it had been included.

I doubt very much it would have taken votes from Pulp but it may have split the Supergrass vote but we will never know.

I still cant be arsed doing the 90s dance/trip-hop version of the poll mainly because of all the dance polls lately that everyone moaned about. But if anyones brave enough go for it

You should get in line for a britpop tracks ballot poll instead, there's clearly demand for it. 'Special/Blown It (delete as appropriate)' ftw, put right some injustice.

not a chance

I have that second Marion album, Algerian Goalkeeper, got it for a couple of quid (at a record fair I think). Not listened to it for ages but liked it enough when I got it.

I own 15 of those albums and have previously owned one or two more. I'm getting tempted to make a playlist.

Was just the right age to be really into these bands, was 11 when I started reading the NME in 1994, so was timed perfectly for Britpop to be a big thing to me.

My vote went to 'Nu-Clear Sounds' because Ash where my favourite band pretty much the whole way through secondary school, and if I was to listen to an Ash album right now I'd gravitate towards that. Some really lovely "ballads" on there. I remember "Jesus Says" knocking me back a bit when I first heard it though.

i feel bad now for not voting but i thought pulp was going to win by such a landslide my vote didn't matter! i can't believe some of these got more than one vote (black grape?!)

i didn't know marion had a second album, but i loved the first

I remember being puzzled why it never got any publicity when it seemed like all their contemporaries made it big on that trajectory. I only saw them do one interview on MTV, where Jaime was really muted and even sat down while everyone else was standing.

It wasn't 'til much later that I found out about the swan-stealing &c.

This was the single from the second album ('The Program'):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_8Kh48_AVs

There may have been another single after that, can't remember.

The second Marion album wasn't bad. It was actually released in the UK in late 98 but with no fanfare. It was Menswe@r's second album that only came out in Japan. Miyako Hideaway is a great single, should have been a hit. They've actually just reformed, Jamie has been a really bad way for a long time by the sounds of it. I remember seeing them on that Britpop Now show thinking they were the coolest band on there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bvLDHWYy_E

Man, I had albums or singles by many of these artists but one by one they were sold. Very few had much staying power past their debut album or single. Of all these bands I'll still go to bat for the first Cast album (which was such a breath of fresh air at the time) and the early Sleeper singles and their second album, "The It Girl". Elastica's best moments were when Mark E Smith was collaborating with them!

sorry to hear you were chained to a radiator in Beirut

disappointed DG didn't post here, it's his fave era of music.