Blur

With the help of a trilogy of albums released in the mid '90s, Blur single-handedly revolutionised British pop music. That said, it would take them several years, one lukewarm album and a disastrous tour of the US before they would ascend to music royalty.

The London four-piece (Damon Albarn, Alex James, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree) first got together in 1989. Taking their cues from shoe-gaze and the Madchester scene, they released their debut album, 'Leisure', in 1991.

Although the LP produced a couple of hit singles, the group found themselves lost amidst a sea of identical bands and floppy haircuts. Deciding to overhaul their sound and look for the follow-up, the group adopted a more British sound on 1993's, 'Modern Life is Rubbish'. Singing about contemporary suburban life in the UK, the band found a second wind and a new fan base.

Still, it was the next album, 'Parklife', that would really kick in the door for British pop music. Led by the chart-topping, 'Boys and Girls', it would usher in the Brit-Pop era - sidelining grunge in the process. By year’s end, the album was four-times platinum in the UK, had produced four hit singles and seen an increasingly drunk Blur up to the podium four times at the Brit Awards.

A year later, Blur were involved in a very public slanging match with archrival, Oasis. The two bands both had new albums on the horizon and their respective singles due out on the same day. In the end, Blur's 'Country House' debuted at number one and their subsequent album, 'The Great Escape', not only cemented their reputation, it marked the end of their Brit-pop trilogy of albums.

Taking a two-year hiatus to listen to US indie bands (Pavement were favourites), the band's next album was a complete departure. Released in 1997, the self-titled LP couldn't match the success of previous efforts at home, but it became a surprise hit in the US when 'Song 2' (“Woo-hoooo!”) took off at radio.

The band undertook another stylistic about-turn with 1999's, '13'. Produced by William Orbit and led by the single, 'Coffee and TV'. A greatest hits collection and world tour later, the band went on hiatus with everyone perusing their own projects. Most notably, Albarn created Gorillaz with illustrator, Jamie Hewlett.

When they did get back together to record 'Think Tank' in 2002, it became apparent that guitarist, Graham Coxon, wasn't happy. Apparently it had to do with their use of Fatboy Slim as producer and Coxon's drinking. Either way, he ended up leaving the group, 'Think Tank' was released and the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2003. It would be another six years before Coxon and Albarn would patch up their differences, resulting in a series of massive comeback shows in 2009.

By Mikolai