Wine and Cheese: Blur and Oasis

Blur’s experimental edge and Oasis’ alt-rock, guitar-heavy tracks would have complimented each other’s sounds perfectly… if the two Britpop bands could ever stop fighting. 

It’s your dream collab. The artists you add back-to-back to the queue. The pairing you can’t get enough of. You know they sound good together, but why? Welcome to Wine and Cheese, a series investigating the why and telling you all about it.

Written by Miranda Garza 

Photos courtesy of Luxury London and Steve Double

It’s hard to believe that there was a time when Blur and Oasis got along, but what started as a mutual respect between the two Britpop bands soon turned into one of the fiercest feuds in music history. The worst part about this rivalry, however, is that it robbed listeners of a monumental collaboration. 

Britpop emerged into the UK’s music scene in the mid-1990s, countering the angsty American grunge scene with catchy, upbeat alternative tracks that emphasized British pride with intentionally thick accents and references to local landmarks. With Oasis hailing from working-class Manchester and Blur from upper-class London, the class difference added even more tension to the bickering that no amount of union jack flags could fix.

After winning best British group at the 1995 BRIT Awards, Blur earnestly closed their acceptance speech by exclaiming that the award should’ve been shared with Oasis, adding that they had much love and respect for them. They quickly found that the feeling wasn’t mutual when lead singer Damon Albarn attended a party celebrating Oasis’ first number one hit “Some Might Say,” and was greeted by the band’s lead singer Liam Gallagher, who yelled “We’re number one, you’re not, you’re not” in his face.

The playground fight of petty comments and snarky remarks continued until reaching its climax in the fall of 1995. Both bands were set to drop albums later that year and the release of their promotional singles clashed. Oasis deliberately scheduled their single “Roll With It” a week before Blur’s “Country House,” knowing that if their single reached number one, it would most likely remain there through Blur's release and eliminate their chances of topping the charts. In retaliation, Blur moved the release of their single to the same day as Oasis’, adding fuel to the fiery feud between two bands. The notorious fight has since been coined the “Battle of Britpop.” 

Photo Courtesy of NME 

At the 1996 BRIT Awards, Oasis took home the award for best British album of the year for (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and tauntingly sang the lyrics to Blur’s ”Parklife” during their  acceptance speech. The two groups could barely stand to be in the same room together, which inevitably shattered all hope that they would ever share a recording booth. Had the imaginary collaboration taken place, the potential for the track would have been infinite considering the similarities between the sonic and lyrical range of both groups. 

It was remarkably easy for both Oasis and Blur to create discographies that were equally energetic and mellow. Though the better half of Oasis’ lyrics dealt with debauchery, hedonism and general rock n’ roll glamor, there was the occasional sentimental gem. “Live Forever” is a tender track written about Liam and lead guitarist Noel Gallagher’s mother, which makes the lyrics all the more heartfelt: “Maybe you’re the same as me / We’ll see things they’ll never see / You and I are gonna live forever.” 

Blur's biggest hit was “Song 2,” and its vibrant spirit and upbeat instrumentals has made it an unlikely sports anthem. However, Blur too had their fair share of slow, melodic songs, like the 1997 track “Beetlebum.” Albarn wrote the gloomy track about a drug experience with his then girlfriend Justine Frishmann. His vocals are strained and remorseful as he sings about the occurrence: “And when she lets me slip away / She turns me on and all my violence is gone / Nothing is wrong / I just slip away and I am gone.”

The only common ground that Oasis and Blur ever found was in mastering the art of ballads.  Widely considered the most popular among Oasis’ tracks, “Wonderwall” is a relatable love song with lyrics fueled by honesty and vulnerability: “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t know how / Because maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me / And after all, you’re my wonderwall.” Plucky instrumentals are accompanied by an ardent arrangement of strings that are often heard throughout the band’s other tracks, adding a flare that is sure to give listeners goosebumps.

A breakup ballad is nonetheless still a ballad, and Blur’s “To the End” is their counterpart to Oasis’, embodying the reluctant acceptance of the end of a relationship. The poignant track wavers with synth-heavy strings as lead singer Damon Albarn sings regretfully: “Well you and I collapsed in love / And it looks like we might have made it / Yes, it looks like we’ve made it to the end.” The track is everything a breakup song should be and had the two bands joined forces, they could have created a super ballad that perfectly chronicled both the highs and lows of love. 

Melodic guitar solos are a large aspect of the sound that both bands have cultivated. Gallagher has a distinct style of playing made up of repetitive chord sequences, heard in songs like “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” where distinct electric hooks and similar variations loop for a large duration of the track. This never stopped him from the occasional improvisation, best showcased in the band’s live performances of “Champagne Supernova,” where Gallagher would spring into an explosion of riffs and sharp licks that made every show a spectacle. 

No stranger to intricate guitar solos was Blur’s guitarist Graham Coxon, who Gallagher once begrudgingly described as “one of the most talented guitarists of his generation.” While always seemingly unphased, Coxon plays elusive arrangements that gain momentum towards the end of each song. Full of sharp takeoffs and moody riffs, his playing style can especially be heard in the band’s 1994 track “This is a Low.” 

Both bands began their careers on the same foundation of these rhythmic, guitar-heavy beats and seemed to grow in different directions as their fame progressed. Oasis always stayed chained to their solid alternative rock ways, while Blur branched out into experimentation. Their 1994 track “Girls & Boys” features an unmistakable electronic influence from start to finish, a clear standout from their previous discography. The band’s fifth studio album, Blur, was heavily influenced by the lo-fi American indie scene and added a fresh layer to their sound. The group’s relentless courage to explore different sounds and genres could have added an innovative edge to the Oasis’ beloved, yet stationary, Britpop based sound. 

About two decades after the fiery feud simmered out, a white flag was raised between the two bickering bands. Albarn worked alongside his former bandmate Coxon and Noel Gallagher on music for his current genre-bending electronic group, Gorillaz. Gallagher’s vocals are embedded within the cheerful, electro- melodies of  “We Got the Power,” in addition to the voice of French musician Jehnny Beth. The former Oasis member also brought his looping guitar chords to the fast-paced arrangement. The track ironically touches on the potential for positive change if people work together through hopeful lyrics: “We got the power to be loving each other / No matter what happens / We got the power to do that.” 

Today though, the issue is no longer whether fans will get a collaboration between the two bands, but if the two bands will ever reunite themselves. In 2009, Oasis split due to the everlasting conflict between the Gallagher brothers. The members of Blur have also gone their separate ways since the release of their last album The Magic Whip in 2015. However, it wasn’t long ago that the two bands working together seemed impossible, so all hope might not be lost.