[darkanddivine]

Britpop is one of those things that meant more at the time than it does now. Of course, it's a nice box to put things in. But the reality is, Britpop itself was more of a (admittedly powerful) marketing tool to export British music, rather than a cultural movement. The far bigger movement was the shift of the alternative into the mainstream. Go and ask someone in 1994 what their mates and colleagues would say about going to a festival. It was seen as something for hippies who just eat lentils all day. Then, all of a sudden, those same people found themselves at Knebworth. Then Glasto was televised and the rest, as they say...

I seem to remember an interview where one of the chaps said something about seeing Some Might Say on Top of the Pops, with Noel lifting his union jack guitar up, and wanting a piece of that action. So while they were worlds apart in 1994, in 95 and 96 they were briefly much closer. There's a big difference between Revol and Live Forever, but there's less of a big difference between say Supersonic and Enola/Alone. And I don't think there's anything too surprising there. Since they bagged themselves the main support slot on a bunch of Oasis gigs across the world, they had the box seat to the rise of a phenomenon. Not everyone liked or loved Oasis, but they influenced a huge amount of what was going on at the time.

The thing that interests me most about Britpop is actually the reaction to it. By 1998, MSP and bands like Massive Attack, Radiohead and Pulp had all either moved on, or had started to ditch the cuddly jumpers and jangly chords that were the order of the day in the mid-90's. Although it got a bit dark at times for some of those bands, once the identikit shed-indie bands fell away, there were some seriously interesting albums coming out then.