The 100 Greatest Albums Ever

68: In It For The Money
Supergrass PARLOPHONE, 1997

UK Top 20 peak: Number 2; estimated sales: 100,000 (UK); 400,000 (worldwide)

Shaking off the chirpy image of the hit single Alright, Supergrass delivered a drily titled second album, demonstrating that although mainman Gaz Coombes was in heavy denial of the music biz, his grip on the quintessential qualities of pop songwriting was ever firmer. Richard III displays a shrewd understanding of everything a classic pop hit needs in the space of three minutes, but elsewhere the trio tackled slow acoustic material and anthemic thumpers with equal aplomb. "The fact that it has sold more worldwide than I Should Coco (their debut album)," says Coombes. "means we can sleep at night."

Magic moment The switch from the throbbing electric climax of Going Out to the warm acoustic strum of It's Not Me.

A reader writes "A bit like an ice cream van, it's always a welcome sound." Richard Scott, Weston-Super-Mare

Q - February 1998