This should probably be in the general music forum, but this forum is clearly more active. Started the conversation on the Slane thread, but be interested to hear people's opinions on him more specifically.
Id regard him as arguably the greatest songwriter of all time, if not, definitely the greatest of his generation. He chose to take himself from the limelight and the publics consciousness in the late 90s, which resulted in many forgetting his genius.
I couldn't name you another man who covered so many genres, and all to critical acclaim. When the first Gorillaz album was released, he made a point of it not being revealed it was him, in other words, he "made it" twice. Since then, he refused to write a "hit", as he hates the commercial side of the industry, yet his band the Good and the Bad and the Queen charted at number 2, despite no promotion or airplay, or the general knowledge he was involved.
He continues to evolve, and even when people aren't aware, their listening to songs he's wrote and singing, and despite attempts to leave the limelight, his talent is such, that he continues to get thrown back into it.
His biggest adversaries, the Gallagher's, have both conceded he's the greatest songwriter of his generation, and pretty much every peer he's had has stated the same. I don't think there's a man who has had so many strings to his bow, but unlike other multi talented musicians, everything he's touched has garnered critical and commercial acclaim.
The sad thing is his persistence to pull himself out of the limelight and the publics glare, which by default means many will forget and pass over him. But he wants that and his work to stand the test of time itself.
And thinking of that, I ask myself how many young people "know" Blur. Not many. But you show them their hits, and everyone knows them, infact their all household songs. The guy is a genius, and I don't think we appreciate as a generation how fortunate we are to have him!
