CMJ The four lads in Blur seem to approach almost every album with a new, short set of rules. As one of the instigators of the recent wave of Brit-pop during the mid-'90s, the band has constantly dashed expectations and explored new sonic territories with each successive release.While 1995's The Great Escape was a fitting sequel to 1994's Parklife, the William Orbit-produced 13 shares little with 1997's Blur, which produced the band's biggest radio hit, "Song 2" (the "Woo-hoo!" song). On 13, Blur works with entirely new textures -- highlighted by the single "Tender" and its gospel-meets-Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" undertones -- and with spacey, lo-fi collages ("Bugman"). As you plod through the album's 13 disjointed tracks, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with the band's unorthodox musical shifts. The hazy, experimental songs swirl around Damon Albarn's painfully honest, introspective lyrics, which find him sorting through his failed relationship with Elastica's Justine Frischmann. 13 is not the type of album that can be fully appreciated in one listen, but if you look beyond its imposing wall of sound, the view is quite beautiful.