At the height of the 90s, Blur were locked in a battle of the bands with Oasis that would last a whole decade without coming to a fruitful conclusion. Yet while the Essex quartet snagged four gold records during this era, their chirpy indie pop was always considered lightweight, songs like Girls And Boys and Parklife having an unfortunate novelty quality that few thought would stand the test of time. As Cool Britannia rolled to a close, arch enemies Oasis plunged headlong into mediocrity while Blur went off the radar for two years. When they returned they were clutching fifth album Blur, a record that forced everyone to reconsider a band who should have burned up with the Britpop dream. Gone were the Mockney knees-up anthems, in their place a savvy new sound that took the alternative rock of Pavement and The Pixies and threw in a dash of Elvis Costello for measure. Overnight Blur were wrenched free from their reputation as nice but dim pretenders. They quickly became the darlings of the music press who recast them an as intelligent, experimental band of monolithic importance, a position of respect they continue to occupy to this day.
