Blur vs. Oasis vs. My Feelings

Welcome back to Milk Crate Records, your one-stop-shop for tunes from all over the sonic universe. This is Max’s weekly column where he’ll ramble about music history and suggest songs you hopefully don’t know. Headphones recommended for proper digestion of this section.

Good evening. Well, it was, until I kept seeing Oasis merch everywhere.

Oasis, the British alternative band, was a key player in Britain’s 1990s “Brit-pop” scene. Britpop was a mixed revival of the 60’s and 70’s British punk scene, but with a sprinkle of American grunge and alternative influence, and a bit more of a commercialized identity.

‘Brit-pop’ wasn’t really a genre with a particular sound, more just the label for alternative British songs that had marketable mass appeal. Britpop.

Britpop bands produced massive chart-topping tunes that you definetly know. For one, there is “Wonderwall by Oasis. “Song 2” by Blur. “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve. “Alright” by Supergrass. And so on.

Oasis––composed of brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher––dramatically broke up back in 2009. After years of bittersweet bickering, Oasis has finally returned. The boys are finally back in town. They have been touring around the globe since this summer.

Two weeks ago they played in New Jersey/New York. Since then I think I see an “Oasis Live ‘25” shirt at least once a day. They are everywhere. Each shirt enrages me more than the next––not because Oasis exists and has fans in 2025––but because I do not think I have ever seen a t-shirt for Blur. Ever.

Let me see the record straight.

Blur is another British alternative rock rand. The group is made up of 4 art school kids from the South in England. Oasis is from the North in England. There’s also a class divide between Northerners and Southerners in the UK.

So in the mid 1990’s the UK press realized it could take advantage of two upcoming bands’ opposing class identities. Blur vs. Oasis was born.

The media began to tell the whole world about the bands.

Oasis was birthed at a bedroom in the gritty working-class North (Manchester), whereas Blur started at a private art school in the middle-class South (London). Or at least that’s how the press framed it at the time.

I recently read a couple interviews between both bands and their managers––they all mentioned how the 90’s Oasis vs. Blur rivalry wasn’t about their different backgrounds, rather who could get have a number single top the charts longer. Shocker.

But during the peak Britpop years––specifically August 1995––the Blur vs. Oasis rivalry went from a small civil battle to all out global war.

Blur vs. Oasis was always an inevitable feud to be milked by the media. Both bands wanted to be number one in the world. Who wouldn’t?

1994 was an important year for both groups. Oasis’ first ever album, Definetly Maybe, was released and distinctly put them on the radar. Fresh Gen X fans were itching for more. On the other hand, Blur has already been putting out albums since 1991. But their 1994 album Parklife was a huge critical success for them at the time.

Parklife established Blur as a British rock band that’s gonna stick around. Definetly Maybe set up Oasis to be something more than another beloved British rock band.

Now it is 1995. Both bands interact with each other, usually in a respectable ‘seperate but equal’ type of way. For months, both bands were (initially unintentionally) planning on releasing singles right around the same time. Just a few weeks before, Oasis suddenly put a different single on the schedule to drop instead of the next album they had been hyping up.

Initially, Blur was going to drop their single on August 7, 1995 one week before Oasis. But after Liam Gallagher rowdily laughed in Damon Albarn’s face for having a number one single, Blur decided to release their new single to the masses the exact same day as Oasis.

Here’s a quote from Damon (Blur’s lead singer) on what caused him to push the single forward, “I went to their celebration party, y’know, just to say ‘well done’. And Liam came over and, like he is, he goes, ‘Number fuckin’ One!’ right in my face. So I thought, ‘OK, we’ll see…’”

We’re still in the 90s too. The internet was not the internet it is now. CDs ruled the world. There was a tangible stake in selling your single to compete with your rival band. The last thing you want is the media talking about one band having empty shelves while the other is still fully stocked.

So the bands informed the media they were both going to be dropping new music on August 14, 1995. Blur is releasing “Country House” while Oasis is releasing “Roll With It”.

When the outlets heard about two upcoming British bands deriving from different regions of the country, they milked the hell out of the Northerner (Oasis) vs Southerner (Blur) clash. They milked it so much they called it the “Battle of Britpop”. So milked I’m writing about it 30 years later.

August 20, 1995. A Sunday night. Radio stations and media outlets decide to end the chart race after the end of the evening’s Top 40 countdown.

Blur sold 274,000 copies. Oasis sold 216,000. Blur technically won the Battle of Britpop.

But did they really?

For starters, I do not care about the amount of copies sold attributing to success. This was a different time regarding the music industry and its distribution strategies. Back then there were actual stakes beyond pixels on a screen.

Long story short: The Blur vs. Oasis was a fabricated battle from the beginning.

I do think Blur won the war though.

It all started with Liam Gallagher being a bit of a cocky rockstar to Damon Albarn. Now it’s time for my feelings to enter the arena. I fully believe Liam Gallagher and his ‘rockstar-obsessed’ personality are what broke Oasis up in the first place.

People argue Noel was being too cowardly, and yeah sure whatever I’m sure he is, but really Liam was just a dick to people: including his own bandmates. I’m sure he’s a nice guy at times. At least pretty much throughout the 2000s, Liam was publicly the unhinged party animal while Noel was the hinged quiet scornful one. So though the band’s breakup was probably both of their faults, Liam was always the instigator. I said what I said. Sue me.

I also think these were just two brothers who got hit with fame and fortune too fast. I think it got to the both of them for the worst before they realized it.

Oasis kept releasing great records with critical acclaim until 2008, so my theory is that just going on constant tours as brothers, musicians, and business partners became too much for the Gallaghers to handle. But now they casually praise each other on this Oasis Live ‘25 tour, so I guess they’re friends again? Whatever man, just put the song in the bag.

So while Oasis broke up in 2009 and wouldn’t stop crying about it, Blur has still been dropping great consistent albums. Their 2015 album Magic Whip in 2015 which has this really mellow, almost psychedelic, song called “Ghost Ship” that’s really beautiful. Their 2023 album The Ballad of Darren isn’t anything too crazy, but I’m personally obsessed with their songs “Barbaric” and “The Narcissist”. Both songs sound like if Bakar and Real Estate decided to make a song together.

In my opinion, neither Blur nor Oasis won the Battle of Britpop. Because it was the Battle of Bullshit. When was asked about the chart battles in 2019, Noel Gallagher described both songs as “shit”. He’s not that wrong (at least when compared to the other tracks they were releasing at the time).

While the Blur vs. Oasis rivalry was initially built to sell records, magazines, and hype, I think the bands’ competitive nature is what transformed their childish feud into a defining legacy for both groups. I mean, for one, Noel and Damon are friends today. Oasis is back on tour. Blur never left. Nobody got hurt too (except hopefully Liam’s ego).

But if we are comparing Blur vs. Oasis on a quality to quantity music ratio, Blur sweeps. That’s my biased take. I know Oasis has hella classics. “Live Forever” and “Supersonic” are timeless. I just enjoy more of Blur’s songs and sounds. They change with the times too. They’re not all cocky about it either.

Man, guess I have to get a Blur t-shirt now.

I forgot to mention some fun music lore before I go. Damon Albarn, the lead singer of Blur, is also the guy who started Gorillaz. Neat, right?

That’s all for this week on Bum Sums! If you enjoyed reading and think a friend would too, forward them this email. Beg them to sign up. Hunt them down if necessary. If you want your own weekly column, or any other fun ideas, contact us. We want to make this the best community building newsletter out there. Stay tuned for more stories next week.

Written by Max Van Hosen.