Crash Course: Blur

Part I: The Britpop years.

First, a little story:
When I was a little kid, a song got stuck in my head, and it never went away. I tried to make sense of it, but couldn't. I heard it only once. When I downloaded Blur's first album, I decided to put one of the songs on my (then) newest video, without even hearing it.
When I watched the finished video, I was shocked to discover it was that very song.

There are certain musical artists and bands that we all hold to a certain esteem, above the myriad tranks, lobos, and zipheads. Of all these bands in the twentieth century, Blur was the last. They built upon decades of rock music and created something new; and when music at large seemed to be going in a new direction, Blur took it in stride and changed with the times. It's no wonder, then, that they helped inspire bands as diverse as Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, and The Hives.
But it would be impossible to go through Blur's history in a single article, so I've divided this into two parts: the first three albums, or the Britpop era; and the last four, or the Garage era. And yes, I know The Great Escape should be in this article, but I haven't gotten there yet.
1. Leisure
August 26, 1991

In 1991, grunge was the new hot thing. American bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains were burning up the charts in the UK, and four upstart musicians absolutely hated it. Cribbing from lo-fi rockers of the late '80s, college friends Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree former the band Seymour. Under the direction of Food Records, however, they decided to change their name to the more commercially viable "Blur."
While Damon Albarn has since disowned their debut album, Leisure, it was well received and stands pretty well on its own, and established Blur as "The new wave of new wave." Despite the terminology, it would be a couple of years before '80s new wave made its way into Blur's sound.

2. Modern Life is Rubbish
May 10, 1993

Again pressured by Food Records, Albarn and company began reinventing their sound by incorporating signature styles and themes from Bowie, the Kinks, Syd Barrett, and assorted New Wave groups. The result, Modern Life is Rubbish, is an album that is vastly more textured and layered than Leisure, what some have called the first Britpop album, but it was only the beginning...

3. Parklife
April 25, 1994

Recovering quickly from poor sales of their previous album, Albarn and company began writing and recording at breakneck speed. Less than a year after Modern Life, Blur released what is considered by many to be one of the greatest albums ever made, Parklife. Rather than go in a new direction, Parklife was really a more elaborate version of what they were already doing. Several songs allude to genres like space rock, classic rock, hardcore punk, '60s europop, and weird little instrumentals.
Unfortunately, Blur's status as the spearheads of britpop was being challenged by a small group of mentally challenged Mancunians.
Will the brothers Gallagher defeat our heroes? Or will they make fools of themselves? Will they get repeatedly attacked at shows, while Blur resurges to prominence?
To be continued...