17) Supergrass 'Road to Rouen'

Britpop, a product of the early 90s, was led by pioneering bands Blur and Oasis. What followed in the aftermath was a plethora of bands all regenerating a similar formula to great effect; with Pulp, the Verve, and Suede being the best of the bunch. Bursting onto the scene in 1995 with their great debut ‘I Should Coco’ Supergrass demonstrated a young and exciting sound, a cheeky image, and catchy rock-pop tunes to match. Throughout the 90’s they released some great albums yet they never really received the admiration they deserved. Britpop’s dominance, however, inevitably came to an end and along with it, the majority of bands associated with it. By the turn of the century, most of the bands had disbanded. Supergrass, although underrated, outlasted their contemporaries and prevailed into the new century sticking to their rock-pop hybrid formula. There was not any real exception with their 2005 release ‘Road to Rouen’ and it was by no means a major commercial success; the singles released from the album failed to make any considerable impact. This album, however, is quite something. Gone was the pop friendly commercialism and even their ventures into heavy guitar-driven rock were put to rest. Road to Rouen is a restrained, complex, and mature effort from the band. It’s a departure from their previous sound, adventurous, experimental yet they don’t lose the essence of the Supergrass sound.

They start with intent on the opener, Tales of Endurance the slow acoustic piece builds slowly into a jazz number before morphing into full blown blues, the guitar riff is great. Next comes the sweeping ballad St. Petersburg which, again, is an acoustic number both infectious and catchy. We are then treated to the Beatlesesque Sad Girl which is a pop masterpiece and slightly psychedelic without being corny or ironic. Roxy is an epic number with interesting time changes and moods, turn it up loud and enjoy! The Latin flavored Coffee in the Pot interspersed with ‘Oi’ from the band, could be straight out of a Tarantino movie and proves the band hasn’t lost its sense of fun. My only criticism is that it ends too soon.
Road to Rouen and Kick in the Teeth is where we can really start to rock out, both are absolute killers! Then we are brought safely back to earth with the catchy Low C before coming to an end with the sweet sounding Fin. Prior to this album Supergrass were already one of my favorite Britpop bands and one of the best live bands I have seen. After this album, they were elevated to one of my favorite bands of all time. Here at number 17 is Road to Rouen.