Taking Sides: "There's No Other Way" by Blur vs. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana

Amen, Dan!!

I never thought much of "There's No Other Way". It was a fun song that I enjoyed hearing when it came on the radio but otherwise had (and still have) no desire to hear it. Why listen to Blur ripping off baggy when you can listen to Blur ripping off MBV (e.g. "Sing")?

I'm siding with Nirvana here.

I've got a little less familiarity-bred contempt for the Blur song, but they're both perfect in their own way.

As for the T/S, while TNOW is not my favourite Blur song, I have absolutely no desire to hear "...Teen Spirit" again any time soon (although I objectively like it, I guess).

listening to leisure about a year ago i was really stunned by the quality of graham's guitar playing.

http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/articles/16352597?source=TiL&ct=5

Blur's stuff has always struck me as overly cold and clinical. And anything Spiritualized has ever done >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Tender"

I just wanted to say that as a teenager in the 90's, I always thought it would be cool to go to a bar on a Sunday night and have 120 Minutes playing on the TVs, but unfortunately by the time I was 21 it was off the air, and alternative music got less exciting anyway.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was always very disappointing to me. I had liked "Sliver", and when this single came out it just seemed joyless and forced. Almost any other Nirvana song is better than this one.

I was on the way there when our driver's car broke down! Arrgh. Saw them in England, though, so all was not lost.

Blur wins, of course. They were shit-hot live in those days, Damon crawling all over speaker stacks - you really did think he'd injure himself, you were always kindof in that state of suspense "oh god what is he going to do now?" Of course, now that they're older it's a far more subdued affair. I remember coming out of a particular gig in London (?) in '91 and just being breathless with euphoria, really, and b-sides torturing my brain all the way home.

Ummm, when were Blur ever EVER called the "hot new" anything???

I do believe Alex really has the time nailed down well - it seems to me I did indeed come back home from my big England/Belgium trip in September '91. And the first thing I realized was wow, Nirvana had suddenly hit it big. It just felt like the death of a lot of great things then. Never again would the divide be so great between what was going on musically in the States vs. the UK. As I have looked back on those years, I almost miss how very easy it was for me to get caught up in the UK music scene without worrying I'd miss much of anything going on at home. I abhorred grunge, but at least it was underground until Nirvana hit. Today, the similarities make it a lot harder to know where exactly to look for good music. It's just not so conveniently clear cut. And there were still valid UK INDIE CHARTS THEN!

I'll be the first to admit I knew NOT how lucky I really was in those days. After a few years, some folks in D.C. began to emulate the sound of shoegazing. But as far as I was concerned, it was too little too late.