The Great Escape vs (What's the Story) Morning Glory - Part 1

<p>Just like the changing of the actual seasons is a seamless transition from the balmy days of Summer into the rich Autumnal hues, so the end of one Album Clash season and the beginning of another occurs without you even noticing. Except that I'm telling you about it here.</p> <p>Yes folks, to celebrate the end of our 'beef' season, while at the same time welcoming in the season of Britpop, we are doing the Granddaddy of them all. A rivalry so intense that it made headline news on both sides of the Atlantic. So colossal that it had John Humphrys awkwardly trying to sound hip on the BBC 9 o'clock news. So gargantuan that it led to playground battles up and down the UK, leaving behind in its wake unhealable rifts in previously close-knit families and friendship groups alike. And it also made a lot of people an awful lot of money.</p> <p>It's Blur vs. Oasis.</p> <p>Over the next two shows we take a trip down memory lane back to 1995, at the height of the 'cool Britannia' scene, when the two bands at the forefront of the second British invasion went head-to-head in the pop charts.</p> <p>We kick things off this week by going through Blur's 'The Great Escape', the follow up to the album which finally brought them critical and commercial acclaim, 1994's 'Parklife'. But could they capitalise on that success and elevate their creative output to another level? (Spoiler: Nope.)</p> <p>Even before we get to the album, there's loads to get into about the rivalry between Blur and Oasis, including:</p> <p>- What instigated the rivalry between the two bands? No, but what <em>really</em> instigated it?</p> <p>- What did Noel Gallagher say about Damon Albarn that was so reprehensible he was forced into a public apology?</p> <p>- Why did Graham Coxon attempt to jump out of a 6th story window when Blur got to number one?</p> <p>- What is Liam Gallagher's (frankly brilliant) nickname for Blur's lead singer?</p> <p>- How did Tim Burgess perfectly sum up both 'Country House' and 'Roll With It'? And what did Noel Gallagher think of th