History Main / BritPop

There were also several, smaller groups of varying popularity (and quality) that rode the Britpop wave to a handful of chart singles. Among them were Spacehog, Music/TheLightningSeeds, Music/{{Mansun}}, Adorable, Sleeper, Music/MyLifeStory, Black Grape (formed by Shaun Ryder following the first breakup of Music/HappyMondays), Rialto, Shampoo, These Animal Men, Longpigs (featuring future solo star Richard Hawley), Music/{{Placebo}}, 60 Ft. Dolls, Catatonia, Marion, Geneva, Music/{{Kenickie}}, S*M*A*S*H, Echobelly, and [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Gay Dad]]. Many of these groups were considered to be FollowTheLeader acts to the bigger names, and most of the bands here never even managed a blip on the radar outside of the UK, but they all have their own devoted followings to this day, especially as several of them turned up towards the end of the scene and thus stayed popular after the scene ended, usually with a GenreShift to no-nonsense alternative rock. For example, Placebo appeared towards the end of the scene's run as part of the Neo-Glam Britpop scene (i.e. The Auteurs, Suede, Menswear), but pulled a genre shift to a unique glammy brand of PopPunk once Britpop was over. The scene was vast enough that even artists not usually associated with the scene gave their hands a try at it, with alternative dancers Music/SaintEtienne diving into the genre with their 1993 track "You're in a Bad Way".

They weren't all bands, either. Several solo artists emerged from the scene and played the style as well. Ian Brown and Bernard Butler, formerly of The Stone Roses and Suede respectively, would go on to have their own respected solo careers that they continue to this very day, though Butler would become better known for his production work. Meanwhile, Boo Radleys vocalist Sice would have his own solo project under the name "Eggman". The Britpop solo artist that's most well-known, however, would be Music/RobbieWilliams. Formerly of the boy band [[Music/TakeThatBand Take That]] (they kicked him out in 1995 ... and broke up a few months later), he reinvented himself with the genre and became one of the main superstars not just of Britpop, but for late-90s/early-2000s British music, after delivering 1997's ''Life Thru a Lens''. This is still considered one of the last defining albums of the genre and made iconic hits such as "Let Me Entertain You", "Old Before I Die", and his signature song "Angels".

There was admittedly somewhat of a problem. The fact that Britpop was very hard to define led several sources around that time to not really understand what it was and so lumped various British Alternative Rock bands and artists with the movement no matter how tenuous the similarities were, such as Music/TheDivineComedy, Music/TeenageFanclub, Music/{{Stereolab}}, Music/TheBeautifulSouth, [[Music/TheJam Paul Weller]], Music/PrimalScream, Music/PJHarvey, and even '''''Music/{{Garbage}}''''' (who weren't even British apart from Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson). Music/TheCardigans and Music/TheWannadies also found themselves associated with the movement due to their sonic similiarities to Britpop, despite both groups being from Sweden.

One of the scene's oddities was Denim, fronted by Lawrence of pioneering indie band Music/{{Felt}}. Though they influenced many bands in the scene, particularly the glammy ones like Pulp and The Auteurs, their music was perhaps even less Britpop than Radiohead, going for an unusual sound described as a half earnest/half tongue-in-cheek homage to the bubblegum and electro-pop of the early seventies. Arguably the BlackSheep of the whole scene were Music/{{Space}}, a band from Liverpool who shared the Super Furries' irreverent humor and eclecticism, but received none of the critical adulation and were largely accepted in indie circles as a mere novelty act, despite the massive commercial success of both their first two albums, as well as the GrowingTheBeard they experienced in their later, less commercially successful releases.

Finally, Music/TheVerve (whom had existed for several years, but were originally recognised simply as "that Shoegazing act") seemed to be picking up the Britpop crown with their album ''Urban Hymns'' which included the worldwide hit "Bitter Sweet Symphony". Alongside ''Life Thru a Lens'', it at first seemed to keep the Britpop scene alive, and the fact that "Bitter Sweet" wound up becoming the second ever non-Oasis Britpop single to crack the Billboard Top 40 in America (the first of which was, of all songs, Spacehog's "In the Meantime") suggested that the genre was finally about to break through into America as a whole. However, these chances were shot down in an instant when "Bitter Sweet" became the subject of a lawsuit from ABKCO and its manager, Allen Klein, due to it using a sample from an orchestral version of Music/{{the Rolling Stones|Band}}' "The Last Time" (it's better to watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_s90-Hi2ZY this video]] to get the full details). The lawsuit was so heavy that, alongside the band's internal bickering, it was enough to cause the band's career to stop dead.

Oasis chugged along, releasing well selling albums that got alright reviews until the band ended in 2009 – it had been very well known amongst the public that leaders/brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher had a [[SiblingRivalry very contentious relationship]], so it was fitting that the band's end was the result of one altercation too far between the brothers. Blur, unlike Oasis, quit while they were ahead and still at the top of their game in 2003 (albeit two years after guitarist Graham Coxon departed), which freed Damon Albarn to focus full-time on Music/{{Gorillaz}}. Pulp continued to release critically adored albums for a few years before completely disappearing. However, both Blur and Pulp have since made comebacks (in 2015 and 2013, respectively). Suede, the last of the four leading Britpop acts, fizzled out in 2003 following a couple of mediocre releases, but came back rejuvenated in 2011 and have been going ever since. Ash, the Manics, the Super Furries, Supergrass, and Travis all somehow managed to outlive most of their Britpop competition, becoming a major player in the British alternative scene, though Supergrass would split in April 2010 and reform (as a live act only) in late 2019. Meanwhile, several of the smaller bands would also reform during this period, though mostly catering towards the nostalgia/90s revival circuit.

By 1998, the term post-Britpop was occasionally traded about, though this was an even less well-defined category that continued to focus on guitar music but leaned more towards alt rock and the melancholic sound laid out by Radiohead. Bands that were often grouped into this term included Music/{{Coldplay}}, Music/{{Elbow}}, Music/{{Keane}}, Starsailor and Doves. This term was never taken seriously, however, and many of those bands personally wouldn't identify as Britpop at all. These bands' popularity with journalists started to phase out by 2003, who began focusing on the emerging post-punk revival,[[note]]Although, a few journalists that didn't phase it out applied this term to bands that were categorised in said post-punk revival at the time, such as the Music/ArcticMonkeys.[[/note]] which too eventually faded out-- and alongside a myriad of other factors (including the decline of PostGrunge) took mainstream rock with it.

The 2010s and early 2020s saw the emergence of artists inspired by Britpop, often having grown up listening to the genre; this has been commonly referred to as Britpop revival.

* Music/{{Space}}
** 1996 - ''Music/{{Spiders|Album}}''

There was admittedly somewhat of a problem. The fact that Britpop was very hard to define led several sources around that time to not really understand what it was and so lumped various British Alternative Rock bands and artists with the movement no matter how tenuous the similarities were, such as Music/TheDivineComedy, Music/TeenageFanclub, Music/{{Stereolab}}, Music/TheBeautifulSouth, [[Music/TheJam Paul Weller]], Music/PrimalScream, Music/PJHarvey, and even '''''Music/{{Garbage}}''''' (who weren't even British apart from Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson). Music/TheCardigans and Music/TheWannadies also found themselves associated with the movement due to their sonic similiarities to Britpop, despite both groups being from Sweden. One of the biggest offenders in this case was Denim, fronted by Lawrence of pioneering indie band Music/{{Felt}}. Though they influenced many bands in the scene, particularly the glammy ones like Pulp and The Auteurs, their music was perhaps even less Britpop than Radiohead, going for an unusual sound described as a half earnest/half tongue-in-cheek homage to the bubblegum and electro-pop of the early seventies. Arguably the BlackSheep of the whole scene were Music/{{Space}}, a band from Liverpool who shared the Super Furries' irreverent humor and eclecticism, but received none of the critical adulation and were largely accepted in indie circles as a mere novelty act, despite the massive commercial success of both their first two albums, as well as the GrowingTheBeard they experienced in their later, less commercially successful releases.

There was admittedly somewhat of a problem. The fact that Britpop was very hard to define led several sources around that time to not really understand what it was and so lumped various British Alternative Rock bands and artists with the movement no matter how tenuous the similarities were, such as Music/TheDivineComedy, Music/TeenageFanclub, Music/{{Stereolab}}, Music/TheBeautifulSouth, [[Music/TheJam Paul Weller]], Music/PrimalScream, '''Music/PJHarvey''', and even '''''Music/{{Garbage}}''''' (who weren't even British apart from Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson). One of the biggest offenders in this case was Denim, fronted by Lawrence of pioneering indie band Music/{{Felt}}. Though they influenced many bands in the scene, particularly the glammy ones like Pulp and The Auteurs, their music was perhaps even less Britpop than Radiohead, going for an unusual sound described as a half earnest/half tongue-in-cheek homage to the bubblegum and electro-pop of the early seventies. Arguably the BlackSheep of the whole scene were Music/{{Space}}, a band from Liverpool who shared the Super Furries' irreverent humor and eclecticism, but received none of the critical adulation and were largely accepted in indie circles as a mere novelty act, despite the massive commercial success of both their first two albums, as well as the GrowingTheBeard they experienced in their later, less commercially successful releases.

** 2004 - ''Music/SuburbanRockNRoll''

It was after this that everything for the genre slowly started to fall apart. As mentioned above, many of the smaller names were following on from the coattails of the bigger names, but after the Battle of Britpop, the music industry failed to recognise how traditional rock-influenced bands like Oasis and The Charlatans had come up organically due to authenticity and unique sounds, and so from then on almost all new Britpop bands were interchangeable and inauthentic Oasis-a-likes thrown together either by alternative rockers of yesteryear now past their prime, such as the Seahorses (led by [[Music/TheStoneRoses John Squire]]) and Hurricane #1 (led by [[Music/{{Ride}} Andy Bell]]), or by inexperienced musicians that were generally mediocre in musical talent, such as Northern Uproar, the Diggers, Reef, 18 Wheeler, Heavy Stereo, 3 Colours Red, Shed Seven, Music/KulaShaker, Superstar, Embrace, Dodgy, Music/TheBluetones, and Gomez. Though some bands here, like Embrace and Gomez, would reinvent themselves and become popular, the rest didn't, and slowly, the Britpop scene became shunned and reviled.

'''Britpop''' was a somewhat ill-defined scene in British AlternativeRock that first had its origins within [[TheEighties the late-1980s]], and generally flourished in [[TheNineties the mid-1990s]].

* Music/{{Placebo}}

Various other bands that had been around for more than five years, such as Music/{{Pulp}} (a former post-punk band formed by a few teenage friends in [[OlderThanTheyThink 1978]] and personal favourites of radio legend Creator/JohnPeel), Music/TheBooRadleys (who were initially more part of the {{Shoegazing}} and DreamPop scenes) and The Charlatans (who, like The Stone Roses, were part of the Madchester scene and delivered the hit album ''Some Friendly'' a few years beforehand), began to embrace Britpop and gain commercial success as a result, with Pulp's ''Different Class'' and The Charlatans' ''Tellin' Stories'' cited as two of the genres' most important albums. One of the first bands to form out of this new boom was Supergrass, a band of teenagers formed out of the ashes of their earlier band The Jennifers. They played a significantly pop punky brand of Britpop and would deliver one of the genre's most iconic songs, "Alright".

There was admittedly somewhat of a problem. The fact that Britpop was very hard to define led several sources around that time to not really understand what it was and so lumped various British Alternative Rock bands and artists with the movement no matter how tenuous the similarities were, such as Music/TheDivineComedy, Music/TeenageFanclub, Music/{{Stereolab}}, Music/TheBeautifulSouth, [[Music/TheJam Paul Weller]], Music/PrimalScream, '''Music/PJHarvey''', and even '''''Music/{{Garbage}}''''' (who weren't even British apart from Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson). One of the biggest offenders in this case was Denim, fronted by Lawrence of pioneering indie band Music/{{Felt}}. Though they influenced many bands in the scene, particularly the glammy ones like Pulp and The Auteurs, their music was perhaps even less Britpop than Radiohead, going for an unusual sound described as a half earnest/half tongue-in-cheek homage to the bubblegum and electro-pop of the early seventies. Arguably the BlackSheep of the whole scene were Music/{{Space}}, a band from Liverpool who shared the Super Furries' irreverent humor and eclecticism, but received none of the critical adulation and were largely accepted in indie circles as a mere novelty act, despite the massive commercial success of both their first two albums.

They weren't all bands, either. Several solo artists emerged from the scene and played the style as well. Ian Brown and Bernard Butler, formerly of The Stone Roses and Suede respectively, would go on to have their own respected solo careers that they continue to this very day. Meanwhile Boo Radleys vocalist Sice would have his own solo project under the name "Eggman". The Britpop solo artist that's most well-known, however, would be Music/RobbieWilliams. Formerly of the boy band [[Music/TakeThatBand Take That]] (they kicked him out in 1995 … and broke up a few months later), he reinvented himself with the genre and became one of the main superstars not just of Britpop, but for late-90s/early-2000s British music, after delivering 1997's ''Life Thru a Lens''. This is still considered one of the last defining albums of the genre and made iconic hits such as "Let Me Entertain You", "Old Before I Die", and his signature song "Angels".

There was admittedly somewhat of a problem. The fact that Britpop was very hard to define led several sources around that time to not really understand what it was and so lumped various British Alternative Rock bands and artists with the movement no matter how tenuous the similarities were, such as Music/TheDivineComedy, Music/TeenageFanclub, Music/{{Stereolab}}, Music/TheBeautifulSouth, [[Music/TheJam Paul Weller]], Music/PrimalScream, '''Music/PJHarvey''', and even '''''Music/{{Garbage}}''''' (who weren't even British apart from Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson). One of the biggest offenders in this case was Denim, fronted by Lawrence of pioneering indie band Music/{{Felt}}. Though they influenced many bands in the scene, particularly the glammy ones like Pulp and The Auteurs, their music was perhaps even less Britpop than Radiohead, going for an unusual sound described as a half earnest/half tongue-in-cheek homage to the bubblegum pop of the early seventies. Arguably the BlackSheep of the whole scene were Music/{{Space}}, a band from Liverpool who shared the Super Furries' irreverent humor and eclecticism, but received none of the critical adulation and were largely accepted in indie circles as a mere novelty act, despite the massive commercial success of both their first two albums.

There was admittedly somewhat of a problem. The fact that Britpop was very hard to define led several sources around that time to not really understand what it was and so lumped various British Alternative Rock bands and artists with the movement no matter how tenuous the similarities were, such as Music/TheDivineComedy, Music/TeenageFanclub, Music/{{Stereolab}}, Music/TheBeautifulSouth, [[Music/TheJam Paul Weller]], Music/PrimalScream, '''Music/PJHarvey''', and even '''''Music/{{Garbage}}''''' (who weren't even British apart from Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson). One of the biggest offenders in this case was Denim, fronted by Lawrence of pioneering indie band Music/{{Felt}}. Though they influenced many bands in the scene, particularly the glammy ones like Slade and The Auteurs, their music was perhaps even less Britpop than Radiohead, going for an unusual sound described as a half earnest/half tongue-in-cheek homage to the bubblegum pop of the early seventies. Arguably the BlackSheep of the whole scene were Music/{{Space}}, a band from Liverpool who shared the Super Furries' irreverent humor and eclecticism, but received none of the critical adulation and were largely accepted in indie circles as a mere novelty act, despite the massive commercial success of both their first two albums.