Blur

Leisure
Modern Life Is Rubbish
Parklife
The Great Escape
Blur
13
The Best Of Blur
Think Tank


Leisure (Food/SBK ‘93) Rating: B
As everybody points out, at the beginning Blur was influenced by "Madchester" bands like The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, as well as the whole psychedelic shoegazer scene (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, etc.). As such, Leisure seems like less of their own making than the subsequent albums that would come to define "Britpop" in the mid-'90s. Still, the band could play and had an impressive chemistry right from the start, and this isn't the bad starting point I had so often read about. Dreamy pop songs such as "She's So High" and "Wear Me Down," as well as catchy dance tunes like "Bang" and "There's No Other Way," see to that. I'm also partial to "Fool," the band's first successful ballad-like attempt, and "Sing," whose hazily droning melody is so wonderfully atmospheric and dramatic that I can easily forgive its one-dimensional nature and overly long length (it was later featured on the popular Trainspotting soundtrack). Alas, good though these songs are, none of them are great, and many of the songs, particularly on the second half of the album, are unremarkable. What would become longstanding Blur weaknesses (lesser second halves, by and large the singles are the best songs, and overly cluttered and chaotic arrangements) originate here, but Blur also begin to assert their strengths (vocal hooks all over the place, an ability to tackle any style and make it work) as well. Still, the lyrics are less sharp than what I'm accustomed to (having listened to the band's first album last), and the end result makes me think of Leisure as the first semi-successful baby steps towards much better things.

Modern Life Is Rubbish (Food/SBK ‘93) Rating: A-
A significant step up in class, this album is both more rocking and consistent than Parklife, though perhaps its peaks don't rise quite as high as its far more acclaimed successor (thus the A- rating for both albums). Granted, Modern Life Is Rubbish could probably use some of The Kinks’ (their obvious musical role models, albeit updated with a more modern new wave and/or psychedelic sheen) simplicity, but the band’s chaotic and seemingly disjointed chords always seem to coalesce into oddly catchy pop songs. With the help of Smiths/Morrissey producer Stephen Street, Blur embrace their Britishness on this album, as Damon Albarn tells eccentric tales of middle class Englishmen muddling through day after day. Albarn's talent as a lyricist is to create living, breathing characters rather than mere caricatures, and his band backs him up with a varied and inventive musical attack that owes much to Bowie, Bolan, Julian Cope (paid tribute to in "Pressure On Julian"), and Syd Barrett, as well as to the over-emphasized Kinks connection. "For Tomorrow," "Colin Zeal," and "Chemical World" are among the bands very best and catchiest pop songs, while gorgeously affecting ballads come in the form of “Blue Jeans” and “Resigned” (love that funereal church organ). The great chugging groove of "Advert" is also highly recommended, as is the mid-tempo stomp of (the very British) "Sunday Sunday," while "Star Shaped" (dig those fabulous falsettos) and "Turn It Up" again turn up the vocal hooks. A fun instrumental intermission further displays both Blur’s sense of humor and their instrumental virtuosity, but the album is far too long for its own good. Songs 9 through 12 ("Oily Water," "Miss America," "Villa Rosie," and "Coping"), though not exactly filler, are unremarkable and bring the overall quality of the album down several notches. Albarn’s Cockney accent may also take some getting used to, but Modern Life Is Rubbish nevertheless was an awfully impressive album overall, though it's yet another in an endless parade of '90s albums where less certainly would've been more.

Parklife (Food/SBK ‘94) Rating: A-
Whenever I think of Britpop in the mid-'90s, chances are good that the album I’ll think of is Parklife, another impressive combination of synthesizer driven pop, Kinks-styled ballads, and guitar driven rock and pop. Parklife is another distinctly British creation, containing bright and catchy social satires filled with quirky characters, and sing along choruses (“Tracy Jacks,” “Parklife”) that are delivered with distinct Cockney accents. Elsewhere, a bouncy new wave sheen appears on the almost irritatingly infectious “Boys and Girls” (the album’s big U.K. single), the glammy “London Loves,” and the New Order-ish "Trouble In The Message Center." Of course, the latter song's "la la la la" ending is pure Blur, and "Magic America" continues in the same vein, albeit with a snotty, America baiting lyric (small wonder that it wasn't until years later that Blur "broke" in America, and modestly so even then). "Clover Over Dover" is another atmospheric winner, but Blur are at their very best on ballads such as “End Of The Century,” “Badhead,” “To The End,” and especially the epic “This Is A Low.” On these gorgeous songs the band manages to keep things fairly straightforward (the album’s playful production sometimes goes overboard), with truly exceptional results. Alas, whereas some unremarkable material weighed down the previous album, here the lesser tracks are readily apparent, as Parklife features a few filler interludes and chaotic rockers too many. Still, this album is the closest you can come to actually having been in London in the mid-'90s. I should know because I was there, and I can still remember hearing the album being proudly blasted while some locals sang along as I ate a late pub lunch one bright summer day (corny though it sounds, that's a true story). So, for all its flaws Parklife is still the album that comes to mind whenever I think of Blur, and it remains their “quintessential” recording to most people.

The Great Escape (Food/Virgin ’95) Rating: B+
To many people this album will always rekindle memories of Blur’s battle for Britpop supremacy with Oasis (and the ridiculous press barbs traded by members of both bands, who realized that there’s no such thing as bad publicity), since (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? was released at the same time. For the record, Blur started out strong but Oasis eventually emerged as the clear winner by conquering the United States, though personally I’ve always thought that the comparison was a ridiculous one given how different the bands are. Anyway, though the band still tries to do too many things at once, the bottom line is that if you liked their last two albums then you should like this one as well, though I personally think it’s a notch below both Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife, in part due to another fairly pedestrian second half. To excerpt a section from Matt Kalogerakis’ excellent review of the album for Nude As The News: “Whereas Modern Life Is Rubbish was filled with poppy accounts of the British middle class seen through a mod's eyes, and Parklife displayed trashier stories of British city culture, The Great Escape is all about the hidden agendas of upper-class British suburbanites.” Couldn't have said it better myself, and Albarn’s greatest gifts as a lyricist remain his storytelling skills and satirical eye, which are best exemplified on catchy songs such as “Country Home” and “Charmless Man.” Fortunately, these young gents aren’t at all like the charmless man they so vividly bring to life, as Blur continues to adeptly mix and match their chosen ‘60s styles with their own ‘90s touches. The band's merger of old and new sounds works especially well on the bittersweet ballad “Best Days,” the soulful trappings of “Fade Away,” and the subtle horns and delightfully airy chorus of “The Universal.” These songs would sound fine in any era (slicked up though they sometimes are), as would “He Thought Of Cars” and “Yuko + Hiro,” and though none of them made a dent on the U.S. charts, this just made Blur stand out even more as the British band of choice.

Blur (Food/Virgin ’97) Rating: B+
It’s ironic that after making some of the past decade’s most rewardingly refined Britpop, Blur finally achieved their (lone) U.S. hit with the grungy guitars and mindless but undeniable “woo-hoo” vocals of “Song 2.” Actually, I guess it’s not too surprising, considering that this is easily the band’s most Americanized album, with Damon Albarn’s vocals mixed way back and his Cockney accent turned down. But rather than this being a transparent attempt to pander to American audiences, Blur further demonstrates the group’s instrumental ingenuity, particularly guitarist Graham Coxon. It also makes obvious the group’s love of lo-fi American acts like Pavement, Guided By Voices, and Beck, and though this isn’t really the style that best fits Blur, for the most part they pull things off in fine style. Plus, though the band’s playfully experimental nature ensures that even their best albums are inconsistent, Blur rocks more convincingly than ever before, largely because the focus is on Coxon’s trashy guitar playing instead of on Albarn’s often-muddled vocalizing. The album is also musically darker and drearier than on past albums, particularly on dirgey attempts like "Beetlebum," "Death Of A Party," and "I'm Just A Killer For Your Love," but the old Blur also makes token appearances on “On Your Own” and "Look Inside America." What these songs all have in common is simply that they're good, and the album was a surprisingly successful reinvention, one that was probably necessary given that the band had begun to repeat themselves somewhat on The Great Escape. Granted, Blur is more impenetrable and requires repeat listens more so than previous efforts, but this courageous new style unpredictably plays away from previous band strengths, with extremely interesting (if predictably inconsistent - yes, the second half of the album is again not as good as the first) results. Long story short: the band at their best - such as on the charmingly lo-fi "You're So Great," sung by Coxon, the true star of the album - remain a creative force to be reckoned with. Woo-hoo!

13 (Food/Virgin '99) Rating: B-
This album continues in the same dreary direction as the last album, only Blur forgot to write actual songs this time, as 13 is primarily comprised of atmospheric mood pieces and lo-fi Americanized rockers seemingly bashed out on the spot. The album does contain at least three classic Blur tracks, however. "Tender" is a successful epic scale song that's well, tender, but also playful, catchy (love Coxon's "oh my baby" backing vocals), and soulful, with a female gospel choir (shades of Primal Scream's Screamadelica) adding the icing on the cake. "Coffee & T.V.," another in a long line of excellent singles, is a low-key acoustic pop song whose subtle details (piano, distorted guitar) in the background make it such a standout, while "No Distance Left To Run" is a lovesick ballad about Albarn's recent breakup with Justine Frischmann of Elastica. Rarely has Damon revealed so much about himself, and the song is all the better for it. That said, though Albarn addresses this relationship's disintegration on other songs as well, I'll be damned if I can remember too many details about most of them. "Bugman" is a strange song that works well enough, mostly because of some trademark "la la la" vocals and some freakish guitar dabblings from Coxon, while "1992" is an atmospheric earlier song that's grunged up by the modern incarnation of Blur. "Trimm Trabb" is one of the album's better songs, and one of the more experimental ones at that, whereas other atypical Blur songs, particularly in the album's mid-section, coast on atmosphere alone. For example, "Battle" is an unsettling ambient piece that recalls Nine Inch Nails, but man does it draaag, while "Trailerpark" is an indulgent trip-hop track a la Tricky, and "Caramel" is another overly long song that likewise never really springs to life. Then again, at least these songs, which possibly came about due to the presence of new producer William Orbit (replacing Stephen Street), all have their moments, which is more than I can say for "Swamp Song" or "B.L.U.R.E.M.I." Disjointed and indulgent, overly long and inconsistent even for them (which is saying something given that all of their albums are overly long and inconsistent), 13 was a disappointing, unfocused effort from a band capable of better.

The Best Of Blur (Food/Virgin '00) Rating: A
Blur is one of the most interesting bands of the past ten years, and since their entertaining but inconsistent albums have always been highlighted by their singles, it would stand to reason that The Best Of Blur would indeed be just that. Well, I'd quibble strongly about the song selection, in particular their decision to include only one song from Modern Life Is Rubbish, arguably their best album along with Parklife. But by and large I'd have to admit that this album does contain most of Blur's very best songs, and that the non-chronological sequencing works well (despite the poor decision to start the album with the same two songs that began Blur) because intermingling the band's three distinct periods - the not quite sure of itself debut Leisure, the mid-90s "English Life" trilogy that marked the band's "classic" period, and the "Americanized" late-'90s Blur of Blur and 13 - together makes The Best Of Blur flow better than had the band's different periods been presented separately. As for the new song, to quote friend and fellow reviewer Guy Peters: "I like "Music Is My Radar" a lot, though it's different. It's very robotic (hence the video in which all the dancers wear futuristic outfits) with really lazy vocals by Albarn, but it's also catchy as hell and is weirdly danceable." My own personal favorites that were omitted (aside from the already mentioned Modern Life Is Rubbish) include "Sing," "Badhead," and "You're So Great," but I really can't complain too much, because simply looking at the track listing made me realize something: Blur are a damn good band, who are a great singles band.

Think Tank (Food Virgin '03) Rating: B+
Coming off their weakest album since their debut and then losing guitarist Graham Coxon, previously an essential member of the band, things did not bode well for Blur, which makes the consistent quality of Think Tank that much more of a pleasant surprise. Needless to say, now more than ever Blur is Damon Albarn’s band. Perhaps emboldened by his successful recent side projects (his Mali Music album and his "virtual band" Gorillaz, whose self-titled debut outsold any Blur album in the U.S.!), Think Tank successfully recasts Blur, not for the first time, in a new light. By embracing a more danceable, funky, and electronic direction, adding dreamily atmospheric space ballads, and accentuating the rhythm section of bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, Blur are more experimental than ever before, but without abandoning their accessibility. After all, Blur trademarks such as singable “la la la” vocal hooks tie this version of the band to previous ones, and though perhaps its subtle charms require a bit more effort than usual to “get”, the rewards are well worth it. Albarn claims the album to be about “politics and love,” but in reality it’s (thankfully) almost all about the latter. Fittingly, there are some stellar ballads on this album, in particular the ironically titled “Out Of Time,” which is timeless, and “Good Song” and “Sweet Song,” which are more aptly titled. On the more rocking front, “Crazy Beat” (the Fatboy Slim-produced first single) delivers annoying Blur-by-numbers, but “We’ve Got A File On You” is fun for the minute it lasts. Elsewhere, several highly experimental and mostly successful songs include “On The Way To The Club,” which rides a sexy, atmospheric space groove, “Brothers And Sisters,” a slow, funky sing along, “Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club,” a funky rhythm-based track reminiscent of Soul Coughing, and “Jets,” which loops a slinky riff alongside some deep fried bass before veering off into some spirited free jazz. What these and other superior songs such as “Ambulance” (dig those danceable beats and vocal hooks) “Caravan” (love those dreamy "la la las"), “Gene By Gene” (catchy, lightly funky dance pop), and “Battery In Your Leg” (the album’s last song which is the only song here to feature Coxon) have in common is that they are the product of people having fun with their newfound freedom. The album isn’t perfect by any means; there’s little stylistic flow, and their electronic experiments and excessive use of Pro Tools at times seem a sorry substitute for Coxon’s creativity. However, most of these songs offer something to recommend them by, as by and large Think Tank exceeded expectations by being so forward-looking and far ranging. Post Think Tank, Albarn has kept busy, releasing a second extremely successful Gorillaz album, Demon Days, in 2005, and, with a different cast of musicians, The Good, The Bad & The Queen was released to generally positive reviews in 2007. For his part, Coxon has released a steady stream of solo albums, though I haven't heard any of them.

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