Your way in
Britpop 1993
Britain answers grunge with Beatles-and-Kinks melody and lyrics about ordinary English life.
- Heaviness
- 3
- Speed
- 5
- Melody
- 10
- Where from
- United Kingdom
- Tempo
- 110-150 bpm
- Song length
- 3-4.5 min
- Written about
- English class, Suburbia and the city, Nostalgia, Ordinary lives, observed
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Britpop | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| No words at all When someone is singing, what should come out? | clean | 80% | ×3 |
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 3 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| A steady walk What pace? | 5 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1993 | 100% | ×1 |
| Anger at something real What should the words be about? | English class, Suburbia and the city, Nostalgia, Ordinary lives, observed | 50% | ×1 |
| Normal How long should a song be? | up to 4.5 min | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 87% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 6 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, about 1, length 1 out of 10. Britpop leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Pixies, Doolittle 1989
Pixies - Doolittle. Cobain admitted he was simply trying to write a Pixies song.
- 2The one to put on first
Pulp, Different Class 1995
Pulp - Different Class. The decade's best lyrics, and it isn't close.
- 3Then
Blur, Parklife 1994
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Alternative rock, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Britpop's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Post-punk revival 86%
The same basslines and the same chill, revived every ten years with contemporary production.
5 steps from Britpop, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Post-punk revival -
Math rock 82%
Odd meters and interlocking riffs assembled like a puzzle, usually without vocals. Post-rock's cerebral cousin.
4 steps from Britpop, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Math rock
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- No words at all put 33 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Grindcore. Worth 3 of 10.
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 10.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 10.
- Anger at something real put 108 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Alternative rock, Black metal, Blues rock. Worth 1 of 10.
- Normal put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Progressive rock, Krautrock, Acid rock. Worth 1 of 10.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.