"Country House" was Blur's first number one hit in the UK, beating Oasis' "Roll with It", in a chart rivalry dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".

With Blur's 1997 self-titled album, the band would change direction and move away from Britpop in favour of a more lo-fi and alternative rock sound.

[10] The title of the latter was taken from the original advertising slogan of the United Kingdom's multimillion-pound-prize National Lottery, which had drawn much public interest after its inception the previous year.

During the making of The Great Escape the song was resurrected by James, who notes in his autobiography, Bit of a Blur, that the band had almost given up on getting it to work when Albarn came up with the string section.

"Stereotypes" made its debut at a secret gig at the Dublin Castle in London and was considered as the album's lead single, but "Country House" got a bigger reaction from fans.

[25][26][27] David Cavanagh in Select called it "a funny, brave and heartbroken record" that "has everything you could want",[19] while NME reporter Johnny Cigarettes wrote: "The Great Escape is so rammed with tunes, ideas, emotions, humour, tragedy, farce, and edgy beauty that it's utterly beyond contemporary compare.

"[17] Melody Maker's Paul Lester awarded the album an unconventional 12/10 and deemed it superior to celebrated predecessor Parklife, while noting that "Blur understand the geometry of the song, and the basic principles of pop, better than anyone today".

[16] In response to "album of the decade" claims from Melody Maker, J. D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun said: "The Great Escape may not be the defining work of the '90s, but it is the best Brit-rock release this year.

"[28] Less enthused was Spin journalist Chuck Eddy, who felt the LP ranged from "wonderful" to "detached and emotionally stiff".

[25] Q would issue an apologia for its five-star review of the record,[35] while Graeme McMillan in Time remarked that it lacks the "breadth and heart" of Parklife, feeling "cynical and uninspired in comparison".

"[26] Other journalists retained an unapologetically favourable stance: the album was described by AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "a vibrant, invigorating record" that "bristles with invention",[22] while Brian Doan of PopMatters dubbed it a "masterpiece" whose content examines the costs of "trusting in stasis".

[41] In October 2023, the Official Charts Company revealed that The Great Escape was the twenty-first most streamed album from the 1990s in the United Kingdom.