Credit: Far Out

Jordan Potter

Sun 28 May 2023 6:00, UK

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Welcome back to Far Out’s weekly vinyl corner feature, where we look to bring you a tempting selection of records from some of our favourite artists, bargain vinyl deals to look out for, and unmissable limited-edition releases. Today, we’re celebrating Britpop by selecting the ten best albums from the rock revival movement that roared through the 1990s. 

Vinyl sales grew for the 15th consecutive year in 2022, rising to 5.5 million units, the highest level since 1990, when …But Seriously by Phil Collins was the year’s biggest-selling studio album. The return to plastic has steadily climbed since the invasion of streaming services in the late 2000s. While the weightless, highly accessible and practical format is great for discovering and consuming swathes of new music while you’re out and about, there’s nothing like coming home to a bit of vinyl.

Fellow collectors will agree that if there’s an artist or album you love, there’s always a good reason to have the turntable at the ready and a 12″ slot reserved on the shelf for inevitable expansion. The sound quality of vinyl brings something more hearty and vibrant with its analogue warmth and crisp definition that there really isn’t a substitute for.

So if, like me, you have a soft spot for these groovy discs of plastic, allow me to walk you through ten hot picks for this week. The list includes a selection of 1990s classics from Oasis to Blur and Suede to Pulp.

The following selections have been handpicked by Far Out Magazine, and as a result, we may earn from qualifying purchases.

The 10 best vinyl deals available on Amazon this week

Pulp – Different Class

Different Class rejuvenated the once-cherished British tradition of using pop music to find “the sense of the romantic in the everyday” and made history in doing so. The album was a late peak for the band, which formed in the early 1980s and heard Jarvis Cocker at his best.

With all-time classics like ‘Common People’, ‘Bar Italia’ and ‘Sorted For E’s and Wizz’, Pulp reflected Britain’s present – on a moment of guilt-free hedonism – while keeping one eye on age-old eccentricities and societal complexities.

Available for purchase here for £21.15.

Blur – Blur [Limited Edition]

In a more palpable echo of the 1960s’ media-fabricated rivalry between The Beatles and Rolling Stones, Oasis and Blur rose to the manifestation and goading of the tabloids throughout the Britpop era. Fighting on the charts and the football pitch, Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn clashed on several occasions, polarising fans and fuelling the headlines.

While Oasis may have won the popularity and sales battles, it can certainly be argued that Blur offered a broader sound with more enduring artistic qualities. Blur’s eponymous fifth album, released in 1997, marked a band at the peak of their powers with a range of poignant ballads and hit singles, including ‘Song 2’, ‘Beetlebum’, ‘You’re So Great’ and ‘M.O.R.’.

Available for purchase here for £41.05.

Suede – Dog Man Star [Clear Vinyl]

Suede released their masterpiece album Dog Man Star in 1994. With hits like ‘We Are the Pigs’, ‘The Wild Ones’, ‘New Generation’ and ‘Heroine’, the group fused strains of glam-rock and the melodic melancholia synonymous with The Smiths.

Dog Man Star is a classic of the era, even if it was written as a response to the Britpop craze they claim to have started. “As soon as we became aware of [Britpop],” Brett Anderson told The Guardian in 2013, “We went away and wrote Dog Man Star. You could not find a less Britpop record. It’s tortured, epic, extremely sexual and personal. None of those things apply to Britpop.”

Available for purchase here for £21.99.

Supergrass – I Should Coco

Released in 1994, I Should Coco remains one of the most cherished albums of the Britpop era. Frontman Gaz Coombes deftly channelled the unquestionably British tones of The Kinks, The Jam and The Buzzcocks with competent flair.

This essential of the 1990s is home to everyone’s favourite summer holiday advert soundtrack ‘Alright’ as well as ‘Caught By The Fuzz’, ‘Lose It’, ‘Mansize Rooster’, ‘Lenny’ and more.

Available for purchase here for £22.67.

Paul Weller – Stanley Road

Following the split of The Jam, Paul Weller removed himself from traditional guitar music and moved into a new sonic territory courtesy of The Style Council. In 1992, he launched his solo career, and his third album, Stanley Road, tapped into the feel-good spirit of the Britpop era.

Although he might not have been part of the same Britpop clique, most artists on this list grew up listening to his work, and on Stanley Road, Weller proved he still had the Midas touch. ‘The Changingman’ and ‘You Do Something To Me’ are two of the finest moments in his solo canon.

Available for purchase here for £34.98.

The Verve – Urban Hymns

The Verve established themselves over the mid-1990s, beginning with their more esoteric debut, A Storm In Heaven. Over the next few years, their sound developed toward something more chart-worthy and associative with the Britpop banner. If 1995’s A Northern Soul walked, Urban Hymns ran.

The Verve struck a chord in 1997 with Urban Hymns. The music was punchy, anthemic and chorus-orientated, a surefire combination for chart success when seasoned with Richard Ashcroft’s towering vocal presence. Anthems like ‘Lucky Man’, ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ and ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ doubtless left Noel Gallagher green with envy.

Available for purchase here for £31.49.

Oasis – Definitely Maybe

In 1994, Oasis shook a generation with the release of their debut album, Definitely Maybe. The seismic success of the release launched the group into stardom and offered financial repair for Alan McGee’s Creation Records following the debts incurred by My Bloody Valentine’s brilliant but less commercially successful masterpiece, Loveless.

The album encapsulated the zeitgeist of the Madchester blueprint laid out by The Stone Roses et al., brandishing four essential hit singles, ‘Supersonic’, ‘Shakermaker’, ‘Live Forever’, and ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’. Definitely Maybe soared straight to number one on the UK Albums Chart and has since sold over eight million copies worldwide.

Available for purchase here for £28.99.

The Charlatans – Tellin’ Stories

In 1997, The Charlatans released their fifth album, Tellin’ Stories, one of the definitive records of the era. Its DNA is heavily infused with Britpop, having been recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, where Oasis created (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? two years prior.

The album is wall-to-wall hits and features some of the band’s true essentials like ‘One To Another’, ‘How High’, and ‘North Country Boy’ which still raise the roof at Tim Burgess’ solo gigs and Charlatans reunions more than 25 years later.

Available for purchase here for £25.75.

Sleeper – The It Girl [Transparent Red Vinyl]

Britpop stalwarts Sleeper released their masterpiece second album, The It Girl, in May 1996. At the time, the band had just received a spike in popularity after their cover of Blondie’s ‘Atomic’ appeared in the soundtrack for Danny Boyle’s masterpiece movie Trainspotting.

The It Girl was released at the height of Britpop mania and was home to some of the band’s all-time classics, such as ‘What Do I Do Now?’, ‘Sale of the Century’, ‘Nice Guy Eddie’, ‘Statuesque’ and ‘Lie Detector’.

Available for purchase here for £28.98.

Radiohead – The Bends

As much as we might like to include The Bends’ superior follow-up OK Computer on this list, by that point, Radiohead had set sail to experimental and compositionally ambitious shores; hence, Britpop would be an ill-fitting label.

In 1995, The Bends built upon the varied and rather incoherent smorgasbord offered by 1993’s Pablo Honey. Adhering to the moody aura of ‘Creep’, Radiohead brought a new level of sophistication and refinement with essential hits like ‘Fake Plastic Trees’, ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’, ‘Just’ and ‘Planet Telex’.

Available for purchase here for £23.61.

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