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Blur
Britain Versus America (Reconstruction)
Soundboard Recordings
Encoded: 320 Kbps MP3
Track List:
Side A:
1. PopScene
2. Advert
3. Colin Zeal
4. Pressure On Julian
5. Oily Water
6. Beachcoma
Side B:
7. Never Clever
8. Star Shaped
9. Into Another
10. Miss America
11. Turn It Up
12. Resigned
Following the initial rush of British stardom upon the release of their single “There’s No Other Way” in 1991, their debut album Leisure was seen as an anticlimax, using the indie aesthetic of the Madchester sound—a mix of dance-grooves juxtaposed with shoegaze guitars—with a more pop-friendly face. Despite this, Blur soldiered on and by 1992 the band was in debt, embarking on an American tour to recoup and fronted by a new single for the occasion: “PopScene”. At the time, the song was thought of as their crown achievement by the band, with its punk influenced charisma juxtaposed by a particularly British horn section and vocal melody; unfortunately the Americans disagreed and the single flopped. As the tour continued, band morale diminished and Blur became resentful of the Americas, creating an “us vs. them” mentality. This planted the seeds for their next album, which would be decidedly British, combating what they felt was overly American music popular at the time: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc. Throughout 1992, Blur recorded new material and road-tested the songs for the Americans but received less-than stellar responses, especially when compared to the positive feedback garnished on their British contemporaries. The planned follow-up single “Never Clever” was scrapped and the band was left with about 20 new, finished studio recordings tracked between November 1991 and August 1992 at Matrix Studios with John Smith, with the tentative title Britain Versus America. Featuring an aggressive mix of Baggy and British references meant to compete with the American grunge scene, the recordings remained a sonic continuation of the band’s debut… at least for the time being. (...More)
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