Blur | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Initially, Blur were one of the multitude of British bands that appeared in the wake of the Stone Roses, mining the same swirling, pseudo-psychedelic guitar pop, only with louder guitars. Following an image makeover in the mid-90s, the group emerged as the most popular band in the U.K., establishing itself as heir to the English guitar pop tradition of the Kinks, the Small Faces, the Who, the Jam, Madness, and the Smiths. In the process, the group broke down the doors for a new generation of guitar bands that became labeled as Brit-pop. With Damon Albarns wry lyrics and the groups mastery of British pop tradition, Blur were the leader of Brit-pop, but they quickly became confined by the movement; since they were its biggest band, they nearly died when the movement itself died. Through some reinvention, Blur reclaimed their position as an art pop band in the late 90s by incorporating indie rock and lo-fi influences, which finally gave them their elusive American success in 1997. But the bands legacy remained in Britain, where they helped revitalize guitar pop by skillfully updating the countrys pop traditions. Originally called Seymour, the group was formed in London in 1989 by vocalist/keyboardist Albarn along with guitarist Graham Coxon and bassist Alex James, with drummer Dave Rowntree joining the lineup shortly afterward. After performing a handful of gigs and recording a demo tape, the band signed to Food Records, a subsidiary of EMI run by journalist Andy Ross and former Teardrop Explodes keyboardist Dave Balfe. Balfe and Ross suggested that the band change its name, submitting a list of alternate names for the groups approval. From that list, the group took the name Blur. "Shes So High," the groups first single, made it into the Top 50 while the follow-up, "Theres No Other Way," went Top Ten. Both singles were included on their 1991 Stephen Street-produced debut album, Leisure. Although it received favorable reviews, the album fit neatly into the dying Manchester pop scene, causing some journalists to dismiss the band as manufactured teen idols. For the next two years, Blur struggled to distance themselves from the scene associated with the sound of their first album. Released in 1992, the snarling "Pop Scene" was Blurs first attempt at changing their musical direction. A brash, spiteful rocker driven by horns, the neo-mod single was punkier than anything the band had previously recorded and its hooks were more immediate and catchy. Despite Blurs clear artistic growth, "Pop Scene" didnt fit into the climate of British pop and American grunge in 1992 and failed to make an impression on the U.K. charts. Following the singles commercial failure, the group began work on its second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, a process that would take nearly a year and a half. XTCs Andy Partridge was originally slated to produce Modern Life Is Rubbish, but the relationship between Blur and Partridge quickly soured, so Street was again brought in to produce the band. After spending nearly a year in the studio, the band delivered the album to Food. The record company rejected it, declaring that it needed a hit single. Blur went back into the studio and recorded Albarns "For Tomorrow," which would turn out to be a British hit. Food was ready to release the record, but the groups U.S. record company, SBK, believed there was no American hit single on the record and asked them to return to the studio. Blur complied and recorded "Chemical World," which pleased SBK for a short while; the song would become a minor alternative hit in the U.S. and charted at number 28 in the U.K. Modern Life Is Rubbish was set for release in the spring of 1993 when SBK asked Blur to re-record the album with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Sonic Youth). The band refused and the record was released in May in Britain; it appeared in the United States that fall. Modern Life Is Rubbish received good reviews in Britain, peaking at number 15 on the charts, yet it failed to make much of an impression in the U.S. Modern Life Is Rubbish turned out to be a dry run for Blurs breakthrough album, Parklife. Released in April 1994, Parklife entered the charts at number one and catapulted the band to stardom in Britain. The stylized new wave dance-pop single "Girls and Boys" entered the charts at number five; the single managed to spend 15 weeks on the U.S. charts, peaking at number 52, but the album never cracked the charts. It was a completely different story in England, as Blur had a string of hit singles, including the ballad "To the End" and the mod anthem "Parklife," which featured narration by Phil Daniels, the star of the film version of the Whos Quadrophenia. With the success of Parklife, Blur opened the door for a flood of British indie guitar bands that dominated British pop culture in the mid-90s. Oasis, Elastica, Pulp, the Boo Radleys, Supergrass, Gene, Echobelly, Menswear, and numerous other bands all benefited from the bands success. By the beginning of 1995, Parklife had gone triple platinum and Blur had become superstars. The group spent the first half of 1995 recording its fourth album and playing various one-off concerts, including a sold-out stadium show. Blur released "Country House," the first single from their new album, in August amidst a flurry of media attention because Albarn had the singles release moved up a week to compete with the release of "Roll with It," a new single from Blurs chief rival, Oasis. The strategy backfired. Although Blur won the battle, with "Country House" becoming the groups first number one single, they ultimately lost the war, as Oasis became Britains biggest band with their second album, (Whats the Story) Morning Glory?, completely overshadowing the follow-up to Parklife, The Great Escape. While The Great Escape entered the U.K. charts at number one and earned overwhelmingly positive reviews, it sold in smaller numbers, and by the beginning of 1996, Blur were seen as has-beens, especially since they once again failed to break the American market, where Oasis had been particularly successful. In the face of negative press and weak public support, Blur nearly broke up in early 1996, but they instead decided to spend the entire year out of the spotlight. By the end of the year, Albarn was declaring that he was no longer interested in British music and was fascinated with American indie rock, a genre that Graham Coxon had been supporting for years. These influences manifested themselves on Blurs fifth album, Blur, which was released in February of 1997 to generally positive reviews. The bands reinvention wasnt greeted warmly in the U.K. -- the album and its first single, "Beetlebum," debuted at number one and quickly fell down the charts -- as Blurs mass audience didnt completely accept their new incarnation. However, the bands revamped sound earned them an audience in the U.S., where Blur received strong reviews and became a moderate hit, thanks largely to the popularity of the single "Song 2." The success in America eventually seeped over to Britain, and by the spring, the album had bounced back up the charts. 13 followed in 1999. Albarn stepped out with the hip-hop/pop cartoon group Gorillaz in 2000, a collaboration with artist Jamie Hewlett that soon eclipsed the popularity of Blur internationally. Coxon departed during the recording of Blurs next album, with Albarn stepping in on guitar. One last album, Think Tank, appeared in 2003 but the bandmembers went their separate ways after its release, with Albarn turning toward Gorillaz and other creative projects. Blur wound up reuniting for a tour of the U.K. in 2009, preceded by the career retrospective Midlife. From there, Blur pursued a halting reunion. They played a number of high-profile gigs in 2009, including headlining Glastonbury, then in 2010 a documentary of the bands history called No Distance Left to Run appeared. Along with it came "Fools Day," a limited-edition single timed to coincide with 2010s Record Store Day. 2011 turned out to be quiet, but 2012 was a bustling year for Blur, with the band delving deep into their past for the exhaustive box set Blur 21, which contained double-disc reissues of all of their seven studio albums plus four discs of unreleased material and three DVDs. Along with this box came "Under the Westway/The Puritan," a single to support the box and the groups headlining spot at the closing Olympic ceremonies in August 2012. That concert at Hyde Park was released digitally the following week as Parklive; it later came out as a physical release that year. Blur continued to play shows into 2013; one of these included a gig in Hong Kong that was cancelled. The band used the downtime to record a bunch of material that lay unused until Coxon started working with producer Stephen Street to turn them into completed tracks in November of 2014. Soon, a full album came into shape. Blur announced the release of this record, now entitled The Magic Whip, for April of 2015. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 19 Title: Leisure Released: 1991-08-27 Tracks: 12 Duration: 50:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 She’s So High (04:44) 2 Bang (03:37) 3 Slow Down (03:11) 4 Repetition (05:25) 5 Bad Day (04:24) 6 Sing (06:00) 7 There’s No Other Way (03:23) 8 Fool (03:15) 9 Come Together (03:52) 10 High Cool (03:37) 11 Birthday (03:50) 12 Wear Me Down (04:49) |
| Leisure : Allmusic album Review : "Shes So High" and "Theres No Other Way" were auspicious debut singles, alternately trancy and melodic, suggesting how shoegazing and baggy beats could be incorporated into pop song structures. Both songs suggested that Blur was capable of a striking debut album, but Leisure wasnt it. Mired by directionless soundscapes and incomplete songwriting, Leisure was nevertheless full of promise. Whenever the group tread close to the warped psychedelia of Syd Barrett, their compositions sprang to life, and "Sing" was an eerie, entrancing minor-key drone reminiscent of the Velvet Undergrounds "Venus in Furs." Those moments, however, were few and far between on Leisure, since much of the record was devoted to either naïve pop like "Bang" or washes of feedback and effects. From Leisure, it appeared that Blur was only capable of a pair of fine singles, which is what made the complete reinvention of Modern Life Is Rubbish such a surprise. [For the American release of Leisure, SBK Records lopped off one of the albums best songs, "Sing," and shuffled the running order for no apparent reason other than having "Shes So High" and "Theres No Other Way" appear first.] | ||
 | Album: 2 of 19 Title: Modern Life Is Rubbish Released: 1993-05-10 Tracks: 14 Duration: 58:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 For Tomorrow (04:20) 2 Advert (03:45) 3 Colin Zeal (03:16) 4 Pressure on Julian (03:31) 5 Star Shaped (03:26) 6 Blue Jeans (03:54) 7 Chemical World / Intermission (06:33) 1 Sunday Sunday (02:38) 2 Oily Water (05:00) 3 Miss America (05:34) 4 Villa Rosie (03:55) 5 Coping (03:24) 6 Turn It Up (03:21) 7 Resigned / Commercial Break (06:11) |
| Modern Life Is Rubbish : Allmusic album Review : As a response to the dominance of grunge in the U.K. and their own decreasing profile in their homeland -- and also as a response to Suedes sudden popularity -- Blur reinvented themselves with their second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, abandoning the shoegazing and baggy influences that dominated Leisure for traditional pop. On the surface, Modern Life may appear to be an homage to the Kinks, David Bowie, the Beatles, and Syd Barrett, yet it isnt a restatement, its a revitalization. Blur use British guitar pop from the Beatles to My Bloody Valentine as a foundation, spinning off tales of contemporary despair. If Damon Albarn werent such a clever songwriter, both lyrically and melodically, Modern Life could have sunk under its own pretensions, and the latter half does drag slightly. However, the record teems with life, since Blur refuse to treat their classicist songs as museum pieces. Graham Coxons guitar tears each song open, either with unpredictable melodic lines or layers of translucent, hypnotic effects, and his work creates great tension with Alex James kinetic bass. And that provides Albarn a vibrant background for his social satires and cutting commentary. But the reason Modern Life Is Rubbish is such a dynamic record and ushered in a new era of British pop is that nearly every song is carefully constructed and boasts a killer melody, from the stately "For Tomorrow" and the punky "Advert" to the vaudeville stomp of "Sunday Sunday" and the neo-psychedelic "Chemical World." Even with its flaws, its a record of considerable vision and excitement. [Most American versions of Modern Life Is Rubbish substitute the demo version of "Chemical World" for the studio version on the British edition. They also add the superb single "Pop Scene" before the final song, "Resigned."] | ||
 | Album: 3 of 19 Title: Parklife Released: 1994-04-25 Tracks: 16 Duration: 52:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Girls & Boys (04:50) 2 Tracy Jacks (04:20) 3 End of a Century (02:46) 4 Parklife (03:05) 5 Bank Holiday (01:42) 6 Badhead (03:25) 7 The Debt Collector (02:10) 8 Far Out (01:41) 1 To the End (04:04) 2 London Loves (04:15) 3 Trouble in the Message Centre (04:09) 4 Clover Over Dover (03:22) 5 Magic America (03:38) 6 Jubilee (02:47) 7 This Is a Low (05:07) 8 Lot 105 (01:18) |
| Parklife : Allmusic album Review : Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam, but its follow-up, Parklife, revealed the depth of that transformation. Relying more heavily on Ray Davies seriocomic social commentary, as well as new wave, Parklife runs through the entire history of post-British Invasion Britpop in the course of 16 songs, touching on psychedelia, synth pop, disco, punk, and music hall along the way. Damon Albarn intended these songs to form a sketch of British life in the mid-90s, and its startling how close he came to his goal; not only did the bouncy, disco-fied "Girls & Boys" and singalong chant "Parklife" become anthems in the U.K., but they inaugurated a new era of Brit-pop and lad culture, where British youth celebrated their country and traditions. The legions of jangly, melodic bands that followed in the wake of Parklife revealed how much more complex Blurs vision was. Not only was their music precisely detailed -- sound effects and brilliant guitar lines pop up all over the record -- but the melodies elegantly interweaved with the chords, as in the graceful, heartbreaking "Badhead." Surprisingly, Albarn, for all of his cold, dispassionate wit, demonstrates compassion that gives these songs three dimensions, as on the pathos-laden "End of a Century," the melancholy Walker Brothers tribute "To the End," and the swirling, epic closer, "This Is a Low." For all of its celebration of tradition, Parklife is a thoroughly modern record in that it bends genres and is self-referential (the mod anthem of the title track is voiced by none other than Phil Daniels, the star of Quadrophenia). And, by tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-90s Zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 19 Title: The Special Collectors Edition Released: 1994-10-26 Tracks: 8 Duration: 34:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Rattlesnake (LOUD) (04:39) 2 Goodbye (Soft) (05:22) 3 Bride Talks! (01:53) 4 Everybody Knows My Name (04:25) 5 Same Old Sinner (04:15) 6 Trouble Times (04:33) 7 Hired Guns (04:32) 8 Bonus #1 (04:47) |
| The Special Collectors Edition : Allmusic album Review : Like most big U.K. bands in the 90s, Blur had a plethora of non-album tracks surface on singles, which remained a much more viable format in Europe than in the U.S. in terms of actual chart activity and placement. Special Collectors Edition, a Japanese-only release, does a fairly good job in collecting many, though by no means all, of those B-sides and extra tracks from the bands first singles through the Parklife era. As a parallel history of Blurs development from semi-Madchester/semi-shoegazer art school rock to Brit-pop flag wavers, its manna for fans as well as being interesting in its own right. A fair number of songs could easily have ended up on the groups albums based on overall quality, while other tunes, if not as strong, often have a certain standalone charm. Among the earliest tracks, "Luminous" is noteworthy for its slightly stoned and zoned flavor, Dave Rowntrees percussion almost echoing early Pink Floyd jams, while "Mace," originally a B-side to "Popscene," shows Blur starting to come to grips with a catchier form of whimsy. The Modern Life B-sides are an interesting mixed bag, ranging from the sweet electric psych/acoustic folk drift of "Peach" to the trebly art-punk blast of "Fried." The Parklife tracks show the increasingly ambitious group fully coming into their own, with everything from the goofy carousel-music romp "Anniversary Waltz" to the sweeping, gently self-mocking "Theme from an Imaginary Film." A lovely final touch is the version of "Bank Holiday" at the very end -- the song itself is an album cut from Parklife, but the rough kazoos-only performance is in fact by seven female fans at Tokyo Airport. Editions humorous packaging also deserves special notice -- prepared by the U.K. design firm Stylorouge, it consists of a series of advertisements for kitsch British products, including a Blur commemorative plate. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 19 Title: Live at the Budokan Released: 1995 Tracks: 25 Duration: 1:36:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Great Escape (01:34) 2 Jubilee (03:11) 3 Popscene (03:09) 4 End of a Century (02:54) 5 Tracy Jacks (04:07) 6 Mr. Robinsons Quango (04:59) 7 To the End (04:16) 8 Fade Away (04:18) 9 It Could Be You (03:11) 10 Stereotypes (03:26) 11 Shes So High (05:24) 12 Boys & Girls (04:50) 13 Advert (03:26) 14 Intermission (01:37) 15 Bank Holiday (01:49) 16 For Tomorrow (06:24) 17 Country House (04:38) 18 This Is a Low (05:10) 19 Supa Shopper (03:23) 1 Yuko and Hiro (04:42) 2 He Thought of Cars (05:03) 3 Coping (03:23) 4 Globe Alone (02:43) 5 Parklife (03:37) 6 The Universal (05:09) |
| Live at the Budokan : Allmusic album Review : In front of a quite appreciative audience -- if they dont generate the same level of hysteria as Cheap Trick did in the same venue some years before, they get close -- Blur recorded this Japanese-only two-disc effort. Its an album hardcore fans will definitely want to find and more casual followers should also keep an eye out for, drawing mostly from Modern Life is Rubbish onward (aside from a somewhat pedestrian run-through of "Shes So High"). Recorded during the groups 1995 tour for The Great Escape -- the set itself starts with a delightful marching band gone art-punk version of the original movies main theme -- Live conclusively demonstrates that in concert Blur is Coxons band, not Albarns. Even at his most economical, Coxon demonstrates a fine ability to spike up a songs energy. When given the opportunity on louder numbers, he blasts out feedback power like nobodys business. James and Rowntrees rhythm section doesnt falter in the slightest either, and together, the three simply go for it in grand style, pumping up calmer studio cuts with vigor and transforming rockers like "Popscene" into thrashy monsters. They know when to play it cool and calm, though, so songs like "To the End" and an affecting, appropriate take on "Yuko and Hiro" benefit from the combination of live bite and arranged drama. Albarn in contrast seems somewhat tired at points and a parody of himself at his most English at others, undercutting what should have been an all-around commanding show. He does have moments to shine, though, including winning renditions of "Girls and Boys" and "This is a Low." Special note should be given to the all-around packaging, based on an airport/flying theme in the style of The Great Escapes design. The live shots inside are all quite fine, including a quite lovely one of pin-up bassist James. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 19 Title: The Great Escape Released: 1995-09-06 Tracks: 15 Duration: 57:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Stereotypes (03:11) 2 Country House (03:57) 3 Best Days (04:49) 4 Charmless Man (03:33) 5 Fade Away (04:19) 6 Top Man (04:00) 7 The Universal (04:00) 8 Mr Robinson’s Quango (04:02) 9 He Thought of Cars (04:16) 10 It Could Be You (03:13) 11 Ernold Same (02:07) 12 Globe Alone (02:23) 13 Dan Abnormal (03:24) 14 Entertain Me (04:19) 15 Yuko & Hiro (05:24) |
| The Great Escape : Allmusic album Review : In the simplest terms, The Great Escape is the flip side of Parklife. Where Blurs breakthrough album was a celebration of the working class, drawing on British pop from the 60s and reaching through the 80s, The Great Escape concentrates on the suburbs, featuring a cast of characters all trying to cope with the numbing pressures of modern life. Consequently, its darker than Parklife, even if the melancholia is hidden underneath the crisp production and catchy melodies. Even the bright, infectious numbers on The Great Escape have gloomy subtexts, whether its the disillusioned millionaire of "Country House" and the sycophant of "Charmless Man" or the bleak loneliness of "Globe Alone" and "Entertain Me." Naturally, the slower numbers are even more despairing, with the acoustic "Best Days," the lush, sweeping strings of "The Universal," and the stark, moving electronic ballad "Yuko & Hiro" ranking as the most affecting work Blur has ever recorded. However, none of this makes The Great Escape a burden or a difficult album. The music bristles with invention throughout, as Blur delves deeper into experimentation with synthesizers, horns, and strings; guitarist Graham Coxon twists out unusual chords and lead lines, and Damon Albarn spits out unexpected lyrical couplets filled with wit and venomous intelligence in each song. But Blurs most remarkable accomplishment is that it can reference the past -- the Scott Walker homage of "The Universal," the Terry Hall/Fun Boy Three cop on "Top Man," the skittish, XTC-flavored pop of "It Could Be You," and Albarns devotion to Ray Davies -- while still moving forward, creating a vibrant, invigorating record. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 19 Title: Blur Released: 1997-01-29 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:07:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Beetlebum (05:05) 2 Song 2 (02:01) 3 Country Sad Ballad Man (04:50) 4 M.O.R. (03:26) 5 On Your Own (04:27) 6 Theme From Retro (03:37) 7 You’re So Great (03:36) 8 Death of a Party (04:33) 9 Chinese Bombs (01:24) 10 I’m Just a Killer for Your Love (04:12) 11 Look Inside America (03:50) 12 Strange News From Another Star (04:03) 13 Movin’ On (03:43) 14 Essex Dogs / Interlude (08:08) 1 Dancehall (03:11) 2 All Your Life (04:11) 3 A Spell for Money (03:30) |
| Blur : Allmusic album Review : The Great Escape, for all of its many virtues, painted Blur into a corner and there was only one way out -- to abandon the Britpop that they had instigated by bringing the weird strands that always floated through their music to the surface. Blur may superficially appear to be a break from tradition, but it is a logical progression, highlighting the bands rich eclecticism and sense of songcraft. Certainly, they are trying for new sonic territory, bringing in shards of white noise, gurgling electronics, raw guitars, and druggy psychedelia, but these are just extensions of previously hidden elements of Blurs music. What makes it exceptional is how hard the band tries to reinvent itself within its own framework, and the level of which it succeeds. "Beetlebum" runs through the White Album in the space of five minutes; "M.O.R." reinterprets Berlin-era Bowie; "Youre So Great," despite the corny title, is affecting lo-fi from Graham Coxon; "Country Sad Ballad Man" is bizarrely affecting, strangled lo-fi psychedelia; "Death of a Party" is an affecting resignation; "On Your Own" is an incredible slice of singalong pop spiked with winding, fluid guitar and synth eruptions; while "Look Inside America" cleverly subverts the traditional Blur song, complete with strings. And "Essex Dogs" is a six-minute slab of free verse and rattling guitar noise. Blur might be self-consciously eclectic, but Blur are at their best when they are trying to live up to their own pretensions, because of Damon Albarns exceptional sense of songcraft and the bands knack for detailed arrangements that flesh out the songs to their fullest. There might be dark overtones to the record, but the band sounds positively joyous, not only in making noise but wreaking havoc with the expectations of its audience and critics. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 19 Title: Live Released: 1997-09-22 Tracks: 6 Duration: 23:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Country Sad Ballad Man (05:28) 2 M.O.R. (03:09) 3 Popscene (03:11) 4 Death of a Party (04:15) 5 Song 2 (01:55) 6 On Your Own (04:59) |
 | Album: 9 of 19 Title: Bustin’ + Dronin’ Released: 1998-02-25 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:24:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Movin’ On (William Orbit mix) (07:59) 2 Death of a Party (Well Blurred remix) (06:46) 3 On Your Own (Crouch End Broadway mix) (04:11) 4 Beetlebum (Moby’s Minimal House mix) (06:42) 5 Essex Dogs (Thurston Moore’s mix) (09:01) 6 Death of a Party (Billy Whiskers mix) (04:47) 7 Theme From Retro (John McEntire’s mix) (05:42) 8 Death of a Party (12″ Death) (07:08) 9 On Your Own (Walter Wall mix) (15:00) 1 Popscene (03:05) 2 Song 2 (01:50) 3 On Your Own (04:47) 4 Chinese Bombs (01:14) 5 Movin’ On (03:20) 6 M.O.R. (02:59) |
 | Album: 10 of 19 Title: 13 Released: 1999-03-15 Tracks: 27 Duration: 2:16:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Tender (07:40) 2 Bugman (04:47) 3 Coffee & TV (05:58) 4 Swamp Song (04:36) 5 1992 (05:29) 6 B.L.U.R.E.M.I. (02:52) 7 Battle (07:43) 8 Mellow Song (03:56) 9 Trailerpark (04:26) 10 Caramel (07:38) 11 Trimm Trabb (05:37) 12 No Distance Left to Run (03:27) 13 Optigan 1 (02:34) 1 French Song (08:19) 2 All We Want (04:32) 3 Mellow Jam (03:56) 4 X-offender (Damon/Control Freaks Bugman remix) (05:40) 5 Coyote (Daves Bugman remix) (03:50) 6 Trade Stylee (Alexs Bugman remix) (05:58) 7 Metal Hip Slop (Grahams Bugman remix) (04:16) 8 So You (04:11) 9 Beagle 2 (02:54) 10 Tender (Cornelius remix) (05:23) 11 Far Out (Beagle 2 version) (03:57) 12 I Got Law (demo version) (02:42) 13 Music Is My Radar (05:29) 14 Black Book (08:30) |
| 13 : Allmusic album Review : Blurs penitence for Brit-pop continues with the aptly named 13, which deals with star-crossed situations like personal and professional breakups with Damon Albarns longtime girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of Elastica, and the groups longtime producer, Stephen Street. Building on Blurs un-pop experiments, the groups ambitions to expand their musical and emotional horizons result in a half-baked bakers dozen of songs, featuring some of their most creative peaks and self-indulgent valleys. Albarn has been criticized for lacking depth in his songwriting, but his ballads remain some of Blurs best moments. When Albarn and crew risk some honesty, 13 shines: on "Tender," Albarn is battered and frail, urged by a lush gospel choir to "get through it." His confiding continues on "1992," which alludes to the beginning -- and ending -- of his relationship with Frischmann. On "No Distance Left to Run," one of 13s most moving moments, Albarn addresses post-breakup ambivalence, sighing, "I hope youre with someone who makes you feel safe while you sleep." While these songs reflect Albarns romantic chaos, "Mellow Song," "Caramel," and "Trimm Trabb" express day-to-day desperation. Musically, the saddest songs on 13 are also the clearest, mixing electronic and acoustic elements in sleek but heartfelt harmony. However, "B.L.U.R.E.M.I." is a by-the-numbers rave-up, and the blustery "Swamp Song" and "Bugman" nick Blurs old punky glam pop style but sound misplaced here. "Trailerpark" veers in yet another direction, a too-trendy trip-hop rip-off that emphasizes the bands musical fog, proving that William Orbits kitchen-sink production doesnt serve the songs -- or the bands -- best interests. 13s strange, frustrating combination of expert musicianship and self-indulgence reveals the sound of a band trying to find itself. With some closer editing, this could have been the emotionally deep, sonically wide album Blur yearns to make. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 19 Title: 10 Year Anniversary Box Set Released: 1999-09-27 Tracks: 126 Duration: 8:22:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 She’s So High (03:49) 2 I Know (03:32) 3 Down (05:58) 4 Sing (06:00) 5 I Know (extended) (06:31) 1 There’s No Other Way (03:13) 2 Inertia (03:49) 3 Mr. Briggs (03:59) 4 I’m All Over (01:59) 5 Theres No Other Way (Blur remix) (05:04) 6 Wont Do It (03:19) 7 Day Upon Day (live) (04:01) 8 Theres No Other Way (extended version) (04:03) 1 Bang (03:37) 2 Explain (02:45) 3 Luminous (03:13) 4 Berserk (06:52) 5 Bang (extended) (04:27) 6 Uncle Love (02:31) 1 Popscene (03:14) 2 Mace (03:25) 3 Badgeman Brown (04:47) 4 Im Fine (03:01) 5 Garden Central (05:58) 1 For Tomorrow (04:20) 2 Into Another (03:55) 3 Hanging Over (04:27) 4 Peach (03:56) 5 Bone Bag (04:03) 6 When the Cows Come Home (03:49) 7 Beachcoma (03:37) 8 For Tomorrow (acoustic version) (04:41) 9 For Tomorrow (Visit to Primrose Hill extended) (06:02) 1 Chemical World (03:53) 2 Young and Lovely (05:03) 3 Es schmecht (03:36) 4 My Ark (05:57) 5 Maggie May (04:06) 6 Chemical World (03:45) 7 Never Clever (live) (02:28) 8 Pressure on Julian (live) (05:00) 9 Come Together (live) (03:29) 1 Sunday Sunday (02:38) 2 Dizzy (03:24) 3 Fried (02:34) 4 Shimmer (04:40) 5 Long Legged (02:23) 6 Mixed Up (03:01) 7 Tell Me Tell Me (03:37) 8 Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Made for Two) (02:48) 9 Lets All Go Down the Strand (03:41) 1 Girls & Boys (04:19) 2 Magpie (04:15) 3 Anniversary Waltz (01:23) 4 People in Europe (03:28) 5 Peter Panic (04:21) 1 To the End (03:51) 2 Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 7″ remix) (04:04) 3 Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 12″ remix) (07:16) 4 Threadneedle Street (03:18) 5 Got Yer! (01:48) 1 Parklife (03:05) 2 Beard (01:45) 3 To the End (French version) (04:05) 4 Supa Shoppa (03:02) 5 Theme From an Imaginary Film (03:34) 1 End of a Century (02:46) 2 Red Necks (02:54) 3 Alexs Song (02:41) 1 Country House (03:57) 2 One Born Every Minute (02:18) 3 To the End (La Comedie) (05:05) 4 Country House (live) (05:01) 5 Girls & Boys (live) (05:05) 6 Parklife (live) (04:13) 7 For Tomorrow (live) (07:35) 1 The Universal (04:00) 2 Ultranol (02:42) 3 No Monsters in Me (03:38) 4 Entertain Me (Live It! remix) (07:17) 5 The Universal (live) (04:11) 6 Mr Robinsons Quango (live) (04:17) 7 It Could Be You (live) (03:17) 8 Stereotypes (live) (03:12) 1 Stereotypes (03:11) 2 The Man Who Left Himself (03:21) 3 Tame (04:47) 4 Ludwig (02:24) 1 Charmless Man (03:33) 2 The Horrors (03:18) 3 A Song (01:45) 4 St. Louis (03:13) 1 Beetlebum (05:05) 2 All Your Life (04:11) 3 A Spell for Money (03:30) 4 Beetlebum (Mario Caldato Jr mix) (05:04) 5 Woodpigeon Song (01:42) 6 Dancehall (03:11) 1 Song 2 (02:01) 2 Bustin + Dronin (06:31) 3 Country Sad Ballad Man (live acoustic version) (04:44) 4 Get Out of Cities (04:02) 5 Polished Stone (02:42) 1 On Your Own (04:27) 2 Chinese Bombs (live at Peel Acres) (01:14) 3 Movin On (live at Peel Acres) (03:20) 4 M.O.R. (live at Peel Acres) (02:59) 5 Popscene (live at Peel Acres) (03:04) 6 Song 2 (live at Peel Acres) (01:50) 7 On Your Own (live at Peel Acres) (04:46) 1 M.O.R. (Alan Moulder Road version) (03:14) 2 Swallows in the Heatwave (02:33) 3 Movin On (William Orbit remix) (08:00) 4 Beetlebum (Moby’s Minimal House mix) (06:16) 1 Tender (07:40) 2 All We Want (04:32) 3 Mellow Jam (03:56) 4 French Song (08:19) 5 Song 2 (02:01) 1 Coffee & TV (05:18) 2 Trade Stylee (Alexs Bugman remix) (05:58) 3 Metal Hip Slop (Grahams Bugman remix) (04:16) 4 X-offender (Damon/Control Freaks Bugman remix) (05:40) 5 Coyote (Daves Bugman remix) (03:50) 1 No Distance Left to Run (03:27) 2 Tender (Cornelius remix) (05:23) |
| 10 Year Anniversary Box Set : Allmusic album Review : Released in the summer of 1999, a few months after 13 came out, Anniversary Box Set rounds up the 22 singles Blur released in the 90s, beginning with "Shes So High" and ending with "No Distance Left to Run," all presented in a zip-up case. (In the case of individual volumes of multi-part singles, two singles are jammed together as a single single.) This is not for practical listening, as it does require swapping out 22 CDs to listen to it in sequence, but its a way to collect the lions share of prime Blur rarities. Best of these is the "Popscene" single, as that genre-defining song appeared on no proper Blur album in the U.K. (it didnt show up on the subsequent The Best of Blur, but it did show up on the U.S. version of Modern Life is Rubbish), but there are also plenty of excellent B-sides that make this worthwhile, such as the covers of "Daisy Bell" and "Lets All Go Down the Strand" from the Sunday Sunday EP, the swirling Euro-disco of "People in Europe," the sprightly "Universal" tie-in "Utranol" and tense "No Monsters in Me," the excellent "Country House" B-side "One Born Every Minute," the weary "Beetlebum" flip "All Your Life," and some superb live Peel sessions. All of this is necessary for hardcore Blur fans, and those who havent been buying the CD singles all along would do nicely to get them all in this box. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 19 Title: The Best Of Released: 2000-10-27 Tracks: 28 Duration: 2:00:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Beetlebum (05:05) 2 Song 2 (02:01) 3 There’s No Other Way (03:13) 4 The Universal (04:00) 5 Coffee & TV (05:18) 6 Parklife (03:05) 7 End of a Century (02:46) 8 No Distance Left to Run (03:27) 9 Tender (07:40) 10 Girls & Boys (04:19) 11 Charmless Man (03:33) 12 She’s So High (03:49) 13 Country House (03:57) 14 To the End (03:51) 15 On Your Own (04:27) 16 This Is a Low (05:07) 17 For Tomorrow (Visit to Primrose Hill extended) (06:02) 18 Music Is My Radar (05:29) 1 She’s So High (05:24) 2 Girls & Boys (04:19) 3 To the End (04:08) 4 End of a Century (03:00) 5 Stereotypes (03:27) 6 Charmless Man (03:33) 7 Beetlebum (06:09) 8 M.O.R. (03:09) 9 Tender (06:20) 10 No Distance Left to Run (04:09) |
| The Best Of : Allmusic album Review : Its boring to point out omissions on hits compilations, especially when a collection is as generous as the 18-track The Best of Blur, but lets do it anyway. The Best of Blur largely bypasses the groups key album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, the record that invented Brit-pop, skewing in favor of the self-consciously "experimental" 13, which, for all of its attributes, wasnt a singles album. Plus, the group continues to punish the British record-buying public by not including the brilliant "Pop Scene" (to beat a dead horse, the single that invented Brit-pop), since nobody bought it at the time. So, without "Pop Scene," "Chemical World," or "Sunday Sunday," a crucial chapter of Blurs history is missing from The Best of Blur -- the chapter where they essentially became Blur. Its to their immense credit that the album doesnt feel like its missing anything, since these singles (plus one album track) are dazzling on their own. Of course, the trick is that the record isnt assembled chronologically. Instead, it flows like a set list, complete with the set closer "This Is a Low" followed by a two-song encore that ends with the new song (the good, not great, "Music Is My Radar"), which not only gives it a momentum of its own, but draws attention to the songs themselves. And "dazzling" isnt hyperbole -- based on these 18 songs, Blur arent just the best pop band of the 90s, with greater range and depth than their peers; they rank among the best pop bands of all time. The Best of Blur illustrates that, even as it misses some of their best moments -- omissions that prevent it from being the flat-out classic it should be. Even so, its pretty damn terrific, particularly for the unconverted. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 19 Title: Think Tank Released: 2003-03 Tracks: 13 Duration: 49:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ambulance (05:08) 2 Out of Time (03:51) 3 Crazy Beat (03:14) 4 Good Song (03:08) 5 On the Way to the Club (03:47) 6 Brothers and Sisters (03:47) 7 Caravan (04:35) 8 We’ve Got a File On You (01:02) 9 Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club (03:02) 10 Sweet Song (04:00) 11 Jets (06:25) 12 Gene by Gene (03:48) 13 Battery in Your Leg (03:19) |
| Think Tank : Allmusic album Review : As Blur commenced recording on Think Tank, their seventh album, things got a little weird. Tensions between vocalist/songwriter Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon reached a boiling point following Albarns success with his dance-oriented side project, Gorillaz, leading him to assert dominance over the band, all of which was at odds with a newly sober and somber Coxon, whose solo records were doggedly designed to appeal to small audiences. According to most press reports, the breaking point was Albarn bringing Fatboy Slim in for production work in Morocco (its hard to write those words without believing them to be parody), leading toward Coxons acrimonious departure and the turgid mess that is Think Tank. Given the Gorillaz and Fatboy Slim (who, after all the brouhaha, only produced two tracks) connections, its easy to assume that Albarn is pushing Blur toward a heavy, heavy dance album, which isnt strictly true, partially because the band always have traded in alternative dance. Still, theres been a shift in approach. Where they used to use disco and house beats as a foundation (see "Girls and Boys" or "Entertain Me"), Blur now borrow modern dances fondness, even reliance, on atmosphere over song and structure -- which is kind of ironic, of course, since the group have always excelled at song and structure in the past. In the post-Coxon era, all thats tossed aside as Albarn turns his attention to electronic art-rock as thin as a dime. Make no mistake, even if bassist Alex James and Dave Rowntree are along for the ride, this is the sound of Albarn run amuck, a (perhaps inevitable) development that even voracious Blur supporters secretly feared could ruin the band -- and it has. Why? Because Albarns talents cry out for a collaborator. He has great ideas but he needs help not just in the execution, but sorting out what ideas are good. The problem is, hes charismatic enough to coast by on his book smarts and good looks, until somebody -- Coxon, Stephen Street, Dan the Automator -- calls him into check, and now that hes had enough success, hes convinced he can do it on his own. So, Think Tank is the Damon Show, and it reveals that the emperor has no clothes or sense. Apart from the fine, deliberate opening gambit of "Ambulance" and "Out of Time" -- the first a perfectly arranged, ominously lush mood piece; the other a hushed, melancholic elegy in the same vein as "To the End" and "Tender," though not as good as either -- Think Tank sounds for all the world exactly like Blur B-sides from Parklife to Blur, complete with the hiccupping analog synths and meandering instrumentals, but without the sense of songcraft and with less imaginative arrangements (remember, elastic codas with a noodling saxophone line do not equal experimental; its lazy focus). Those songs that do sound more substantial than B-sides are severely hurt by Coxons absence: Witness the pleasantly sweet "Good Song," built on a Pro-Tools acoustic guitar loop which drains the song of emotion, when Graham would have let the song breathe, or how the creepy crawl of "Battery in Your Leg" winds up eating its own tail through its hermetically sealed arrangement. These problems all derive from one simple thing -- since Albarn has nobody to challenge him, hes unwittingly pawning off an album of half-baked demos and unfinished B-sides. And this isnt the result of a musical departure, unless you count the departure of songwriting -- this is the sound of Blur without the hooks, smarts, tunes, or even the sense of adventure. Sure, it might be easier to accept if it was called a Damon Albarn solo album, but thats splitting hairs. A lousy album is a lousy album, no matter who gets credit. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 19 Title: Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur Released: 2009-06-15 Tracks: 25 Duration: 1:47:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Beetlebum (05:05) 2 Girls and Boys (04:17) 3 For Tomorrow (Visit to Primrose Hill extended) (06:02) 4 Coffee & TV (05:18) 5 Out of Time (03:51) 6 Blue Jeans (03:54) 7 Song 2 (02:01) 8 Bugman (04:49) 9 He Thought of Cars (04:16) 10 Death of a Party (04:15) 11 The Universal (04:00) 12 Sing (06:00) 13 This Is a Low (05:07) 1 Tender (07:40) 2 She’s So High (03:49) 3 Chemical World (03:53) 4 Good Song (03:08) 5 Parklife (03:05) 6 Advert (03:45) 7 Popscene (03:14) 8 Stereotypes (03:11) 9 Trimm Trabb (05:37) 10 Badhead (03:25) 11 Strange News From Another Star (04:03) 12 Battery in Your Leg (03:19) |
| Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur : Allmusic album Review : Released in conjunction with their 2009 reunion, the double-disc career retrospective Midlife emphasizes Blurs early psychedelic grind -- halfway between Syd Barrett and shoegazing -- along with their post-Brit-pop indie makeover, giving somewhat short shrift to the bands pop prime, cutting out four of the bands big hits ("Theres No Other Way," "Country House," "End of the Century," and "Charmless Man") in favor of album tracks that play into the thesis that Blur were as somber and serious a guitar band as Radiohead. Of course, Blur did rival Radiohead, recording some of the greatest guitar rock of the 90s, but that was only one facet of the band: they were also a bright, artful pop band, cleverly twisting 60s traditions and post-punk styles into the present. Elements of this Blur are evident in "Girls & Boys" and "Parklife," hits so big they couldnt be ignored, and while Midlife could have used a heavier dose of this side of Blur, theres not a bad track here, and the set also brings their glorious, epoch-creating single "Popscene" back into circulation, so Midlife has some considerable value even if it avoids too many highlights to truly be "A Beginners Guide to Blur" as its subtitle claims. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 19 Title: All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park 02 July 2009 Released: 2009-11-23 Tracks: 25 Duration: 2:03:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 She’s So High (05:00) 2 Girls & Boys (05:01) 3 Tracy Jacks (04:31) 4 There’s No Other Way (04:13) 5 Jubilee (03:01) 6 Badhead (03:48) 7 Beetlebum (06:50) 8 Out of Time (03:58) 9 Trimm Trabb (05:24) 10 Coffee & TV (05:30) 11 Tender (09:09) 1 Country House (05:08) 2 Oily Water (04:20) 3 Chemical World (05:07) 4 Sunday Sunday (03:52) 5 Parklife (03:12) 6 End of a Century (03:30) 7 To the End (04:24) 8 This Is a Low (08:37) 9 Popscene (02:57) 10 Advert (03:23) 11 Song 2 (05:53) 12 Death of a Party (05:16) 13 For Tomorrow (06:28) 14 The Universal (04:47) |
 | Album: 16 of 19 Title: All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park 03 July 2009 Released: 2009-11-23 Tracks: 25 Duration: 2:02:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 She’s So High (05:19) 2 Girls & Boys (04:40) 3 Tracy Jacks (04:32) 4 There’s No Other Way (03:55) 5 Jubilee (03:11) 6 Badhead (03:59) 7 Beetlebum (07:00) 8 Out of Time (03:53) 9 Trimm Trabb (05:15) 10 Coffee and TV (05:27) 11 Tender (09:25) 1 Country House (05:18) 2 Oily Water (04:35) 3 Chemical World (04:42) 4 Sunday Sunday (03:01) 5 Parklife (03:37) 6 End of a Century (03:05) 7 To the End (04:24) 8 This Is a Low (08:46) 9 Popscene (02:55) 10 Advert (03:14) 11 Song 2 (05:21) 12 Death of a Party (04:56) 13 For Tomorrow (07:08) 14 The Universal (04:44) |
 | Album: 17 of 19 Title: Blur 21: The Box Released: 2012-07-27 Tracks: 282 Duration: 18:43:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Shes So High (04:46) 2 Bang (03:37) 3 Slow Down (03:11) 4 Repetition (05:25) 5 Bad Day (04:24) 6 Sing (06:00) 7 There’s No Other Way (03:23) 8 Fool (03:15) 9 Come Together (03:52) 10 High Cool (03:37) 11 Birthday (03:49) 12 Wear Me Down (04:51) 1 I Know (extended) (06:31) 2 Down (05:58) 3 Theres No Other Way (extended version) (03:58) 4 Inertia (03:49) 5 Mr. Briggs (03:59) 6 Im All Over (02:00) 7 Wont Do It (03:20) 8 Day Upon Day (live) (04:13) 9 Theres No Other Way (Blur remix) (04:56) 10 Bang (extended version) (04:25) 11 Explain (02:45) 12 Luminous (03:13) 13 Berserk (06:43) 14 Uncle Love (02:31) 15 I Love Her (demo version Fan Club single) (03:36) 16 Close (Fan club single) (03:02) 1 For Tomorrow (04:20) 2 Advert (03:45) 3 Colin Zeal (03:16) 4 Pressure on Julian (03:31) 5 Star Shaped (03:26) 6 Blue Jeans (03:54) 7 Chemical World / Intermission (06:33) 8 Sunday Sunday (02:38) 9 Oily Water (05:00) 10 Miss America (05:35) 11 Villa Rosie (03:54) 12 Coping (03:24) 13 Turn It Up (03:22) 14 Resigned / Commercial Break (06:12) 1 Popscene (03:14) 2 Mace (03:25) 3 Badgeman Brown (04:47) 4 Im Fine (03:03) 5 Garden Central (06:00) 6 For Tomorrow (Visit to Primrose Hill extended) (06:02) 7 Into Another (03:55) 8 Peach (03:57) 9 Bone Bag (04:04) 10 Hanging Over (04:27) 11 When the Cows Come Home (03:49) 12 Beachcoma (03:38) 13 Chemical World (reworked) (03:44) 14 Es schmecht (03:36) 15 Young and Lovely (05:03) 16 Maggie May (04:06) 17 My Ark (05:57) 18 Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Made for Two) (02:48) 19 Lets All Go Down the Strand (03:41) 1 Girls and Boys (04:51) 2 Tracy Jacks (04:19) 3 End of a Century (02:46) 4 Parklife (03:05) 5 Bank Holiday (01:42) 6 Bad Head (03:25) 7 The Debt Collector (02:10) 8 Far Out (01:41) 9 To the End (04:04) 10 London Loves (04:15) 11 Trouble in the Message Centre (04:09) 12 Clover Over Dover (03:22) 13 Magic America (03:38) 14 Jubilee (02:47) 15 This Is a Low (05:16) 16 Lot 105 (01:19) 1 Magpie (04:15) 2 Anniversary Waltz (01:23) 3 People in Europe (03:28) 4 Peter Panic (04:21) 5 Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 12" mix) (07:16) 6 Threadneedle Street (03:18) 7 Got Yer! (01:48) 8 Beard (01:45) 9 To the End (French version) (04:05) 10 Supa Shoppa (03:02) 11 Theme From an Imaginary Film (03:35) 12 Red Necks (02:54) 13 Alexs Song (02:41) 14 Jubilee (acoustic, BBC live version) (02:32) 15 Parklife (acoustic, BBC live version) (02:59) 16 End of a Century (acoustic) (02:44) 1 Stereotypes (03:11) 2 Country House (03:57) 3 Best Days (04:49) 4 Charmless Man (03:33) 5 Fade Away (04:19) 6 Top Man (04:00) 7 The Universal (04:00) 8 Mr Robinson’s Quango (04:02) 9 He Thought of Cars (04:16) 10 It Could Be You (03:13) 11 Ernold Same (02:07) 12 Globe Alone (02:23) 13 Dan Abnormal (03:24) 14 Entertain Me (04:19) 15 Yuko & Hiro (05:24) 1 One Born Every Minute (02:18) 2 To the End (La Comedie) (05:05) 3 Ultranol (02:42) 4 No Monsters in Me (03:38) 5 Entertain Me (Live It! remix) (07:17) 6 The Man Who Left Himself (03:22) 7 Tame (04:47) 8 Ludwig (02:24) 9 The Horrors (03:18) 10 A Song (01:45) 11 St. Louis (03:13) 12 Country House (live at Mile End) (04:57) 13 Girls & Boys (live at Mile End) (05:02) 14 Parklife (live at Mile End) (03:42) 15 For Tomorrow (live at Mile End) (07:02) 16 Charmless Man (live at Budokan) (03:22) 17 Chemical World (live at Budokan) (04:12) 18 Eine Kleine Lift Musik (04:17) 1 Beetlebum (05:05) 2 Song 2 (02:01) 3 Country Sad Ballad Man (04:50) 4 M.O.R. (03:26) 5 On Your Own (04:27) 6 Theme From Retro (03:37) 7 You’re So Great (03:36) 8 Death of a Party (04:33) 9 Chinese Bombs (01:24) 10 I’m Just a Killer for Your Love (04:12) 11 Look Inside America (03:50) 12 Strange News From Another Star (04:03) 13 Movin’ On (03:43) 14 Essex Dogs (08:10) 1 All Your Life (04:11) 2 A Spell for Money (03:30) 3 Woodpigeon Song (01:42) 4 Dancehall (03:11) 5 Get Out of Cities (04:02) 6 Polished Stone (02:42) 7 Bustin + Dronin (06:31) 8 M.O.R. (road version) (03:01) 9 Swallows in the Heatwave (02:33) 10 Death of a Party (7" remix) (04:18) 11 Cowboy Song (04:07) 12 Beetlebum (Viva Niteclub live acoustic) (04:33) 13 On Your Own (live acoustic version) (04:11) 14 Country Sad Ballad Man (live acoustic version) (04:44) 15 This Is a Low (Viva Niteclub live acoustic) (03:31) 16 M.O.R. (live in Utrecht) (03:17) 17 Death of a Party (live in Utrecht) (04:16) 18 Song 2 (live in Utrecht) (02:07) 1 Tender (07:40) 2 Bugman (04:47) 3 Coffee & TV (05:58) 4 Swamp Song (04:36) 5 1992 (05:29) 6 B.L.U.R.E.M.I. (02:52) 7 Battle (07:43) 8 Mellow Song (03:56) 9 Trailerpark (04:26) 10 Caramel (07:38) 11 Trimm Trabb (05:37) 12 No Distance Left to Run (03:27) 13 Optigan 1 (02:34) 1 French Song (08:19) 2 All We Want (04:32) 3 Mellow Jam (03:56) 4 X-offender (Damon/Control Freaks Bugman remix) (05:40) 5 Coyote (Daves Bugman remix) (03:50) 6 Trade Stylee (Alexs Bugman remix) (05:58) 7 Metal Hip Slop (Grahams Bugman remix) (04:16) 8 So You (04:11) 9 Beagle 2 (02:54) 10 Tender (Cornelius remix) (05:23) 11 Far Out (Beagle 2 version) (03:57) 12 I Got Law (demo version) (02:42) 13 Music Is My Radar (05:29) 14 Black Book (08:30) 1 Ambulance (05:08) 2 Out of Time (03:52) 3 Crazy Beat (03:14) 4 Good Song (03:09) 5 On the Way to the Club (03:48) 6 Brothers and Sisters (03:47) 7 Caravan (04:35) 8 Weve Got a File on You (01:03) 9 Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club (03:02) 10 Sweet Song (04:01) 11 Jets (06:25) 12 Gene by Gene (03:49) 13 Battery in Your Leg (11:34) 1 Money Makes Me Crazy (Marrakech mix) (02:53) 2 Tune 2 (03:47) 3 The Outsider (05:14) 4 Don’t Be (02:40) 5 Morricone (04:50) 6 Me, White Noise (alternate version) (06:44) 7 Some Glad Morning (04:18) 8 Don’t Be (acoustic mix) (02:39) 9 Sweet Song (demo) (03:50) 10 Caravan (Zoë Ball XFM session) (04:15) 11 End of a Century (Zoë Ball XFM session) (02:40) 12 Good Song (Zoë Ball XFM session) (03:31) 13 Out of Time (Zoë Ball XFM session) (03:36) 14 Tender (Zoë Ball XFM session) (06:21) 1 Dizzy (Seymour Rehearsal & Demo) (03:34) 2 Mixed Up (Seymour Rehearsal & Demo) (03:51) 3 Birthday (Seymour Demo) (04:32) 4 Sing (To Me) (Sing Demo, Released To Fan Club Dec 1999) (05:28) 5 Fool (Seymour 4 Track Demo, 30 July 1999) (02:36) 6 Shes So High (Seymour Rehearsal) (11:33) 7 Wont Do It (Demo Released To Fan Club April 2002) (03:12) 8 I Know (Falconer Studio Demo) (03:55) 9 Repetition (Falconer Studio Demo) (05:12) 10 High Cool (7" Master) (03:39) 11 Always (Im Fine Early Version) (02:58) 12 Come Together (Demo, Released To Fan Club April 2002) (03:34) 13 Im All Over (Demo) (01:52) 14 Wear Me Down (Demo) (05:32) 1 I Love Her (Alternate Version) (03:39) 2 Popscene (1991 Demo) (03:44) 3 Beached Whale (4 Track Demo June 1992) (03:23) 4 Death Of A Party (Demo Released To Fan Club August 1996) (03:40) 5 Pap Pop (4 Track Demo Recorded June 1992) (02:24) 6 Pressure On Julian (Demo) (04:26) 7 Colin Zeal (Demo) (03:32) 8 Sunday Sunday (Demo) (02:11) 9 Never Clever (Demo, Released On Food Compilation "Food 100" In 1997) (02:51) 10 Advert (Demo) (03:45) 11 Star Shaped (Demo) (03:05) 12 She Dont Mind (Blue Jeans Demo) (03:52) 13 Coping (Andy Partridge Version) (03:22) 14 Sunday Sleep (Sunday Sunday Andy Partridge Version) (03:31) 15 Seven Days (Andy Partridge Version) (03:41) 16 Kazoo (Turn It Up Early Version) (03:15) 17 The Wassailing Song (7" Giveway At Hibernian Club Gig, Fulham On 16 December 1992) (03:24) 18 When The Cows Come Home (Demo) (03:26) 19 For Tomorrow (Mix 1-Early Demo) (04:14) 20 Magpie (Early Demo) (02:05) 1 Parklife (Demo) (03:08) 2 Clover Over Dover (Demo) (02:54) 3 Jubilee (Demo) (02:51) 4 One A Minute (One Born Every Minute Demo) (02:13) 5 Badhead (Demo) (03:07) 6 Far Out (Demo, Electric Version) (03:16) 7 The Debt Collector (Demo) (02:11) 8 Trouble In The Message Centre (Demo) (03:37) 9 Red Necks (Take One) (02:46) 10 Red Necks (Take Two) (00:59) 11 Alexs Song (Demo) (03:09) 12 Cross Channel Love (Home Demo) (03:16) 13 Ernold Same (Demo) (01:20) 14 Saturday Morning (Demo) (04:33) 15 Hope You Find Your Suburb (Eine Kleine Lift Musick Full Band Demo) (04:13) 16 Rico (Fade Away Demo) (05:08) 17 Bored House Wives (Entertain Me Early Version) (04:57) 1 Beetlebum (Demo) (03:00) 2 On Your Own (Mario Caldato Jr Mix) (04:21) 3 Woodpigeon Song (Original Full Length) (03:01) 4 Battle (Jam, Mayfair Studios 11 August 1998) (05:46) 5 Caramel (Ambient) (07:47) 6 So You (Alternative Version) (03:45) 7 Squeezebox (Music Is My Radar Alternative Version) (06:34) 8 Jawbone (Black Book Alternative Version) (05:33) 9 "1" (03:38) 10 "3" (04:49) 11 Sir Elton Johns Cock (01:23) 12 Avoid The Traffic (01:29) 13 Money Makes Me Crazy (Deepest Darkest Devon Mix) (02:29) 14 Dont Bomb When Youre The Bomb (Previously Released On A 7" Promo) (03:59) 15 Nutter (02:42) 16 Piano (03:19) 17 Kissing Time (05:38) 18 Fools Day (03:27) 19 Under the Westway (04:17) |
| Blur 21: The Box : Allmusic album Review : It is a hefty box. It is 18 CDs and three DVDs, adding up to 21 discs, which just happens to be the anniversary Blur are celebrating in 2012, a year when theyve continued their halting reunion to headline the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. And, really, there was no other choice for such a prestigious gig. Other bands were bigger -- archrivals Oasis handily eclipsed them in popularity and the Spice Girls soon brought Cool Brittania to an even greater audience -- and Suede arguably kick-started the whole Brit-pop phenomenon, but Blur defined their era, reasserting the prominence of British pop music and then heading into uncharted waters. Blur 21 chronicles that journey in minute detail and, contrary to what its imposing size suggests, the box does not contain everything the group ever recorded. Youd have to be a pretty hardcore fan to notice how their terrible 1994 cover of the Whos "Substitute" is MIA and even if you were that committed, chances are youd rather have the four discs of unreleased rarities included here instead. These CDs -- along with the DVDs, each capturing a separate live show from different stages of the bands career beginning with the 1994 home video Showtime and ending with a 13-era live set augmented by videos that didnt make the 2000 Best of Blur DVD -- are exclusive to the box set but the double-disc expanded editions of the groups seven albums are available separately. Each of these rounds up the non-LP B-sides from the accompanying album, leaving behind a few live cuts and remixes but containing all pertinent stray songs, many of which are excellent, particularly during the groups mid-90s prime. What makes Blur 21 something more than just fan bait -- although, make no mistake about it, there needs to be a certain level of dedication to get through a box of this size -- is that there is an actual narrative told here, one that not only tells the story of Blur but represents the trajectory of British indie music in the 90s. At the outset, Blur were a noisy, confused amalgam of droning psychedelia, C-86 pop, and Madchester dance, their various influences gaining focus on their 1993 second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, designed by lead singer/songwriter Damon Albarn as a defiant response to the insurgent grunge from the U.S. For two albums -- Parklife in 1994 and The Great Escape in 1995 -- Blur perfected a classical British pop before returning to their art-school roots on their eponymous 1997 album, eventually embracing modern electronic cut-and-paste techniques on 1999s 13 before splintering apart during the recording of 2003s Think Tank. This journey is compelling and the added detail of rarities and B-sides deepens the experience, particularly during the early years when they were called Seymour and during the Brit-pop purple patch when they were making more good music than could fit on a single album. Naturally, at this length there are some failures or experiments gone awry -- the early demos, such as an 11-minute "Shes So High," are interesting but formless, and the concluding jams from 13 were meant to be spliced into shape by William Orbit, not heard at this length -- but all the mess winds up illustrating Blurs restless range and depth. There were plenty of other great British bands of the 90s but none of their peers -- Oasis, Suede, Pulp, Radiohead -- covered as much stylistic ground or wound up with a catalog as rich as this ridiculously generous box set handily proves. | ||
 | Album: 18 of 19 Title: Parklive Released: 2012-08-18 Tracks: 30 Duration: 2:19:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Girls & Boys (05:07) 2 London Loves (03:33) 3 Tracy Jacks (04:26) 4 Jubilee (03:00) 5 Beetlebum (06:01) 6 Coffee & TV (04:58) 7 Out of Time (04:43) 8 Young and Lovely (05:13) 9 Trimm Trabb (05:29) 10 Caramel (05:05) 11 Sunday Sunday (03:34) 12 Country House (04:28) 13 Parklife (03:45) 1 Colin Zeal (03:18) 2 Popscene (03:50) 3 Advert (04:31) 4 Song 2 (02:50) 5 No Distance Left to Run (03:57) 6 Tender (09:09) 7 This Is a Low (05:13) 8 Sing (06:19) 9 Under the Westway/Commercial Break (06:04) 10 End of a Century (03:39) 11 For Tomorrow (06:42) 12 The Universal (05:51) 1 Under the Westway (live from 13, Matt Butcher mix) (04:21) 2 Under the Westway (live from 13, Matt Butcher mix) (03:16) 3 Mr Briggs (BBC Maida Vale session) (03:30) 4 Colin Zeal (live at Wolverhampton Civic Hall 6-9-2012) (03:09) 5 Young and Lovely (live at Wolverhampton Civic Hall 6-9-2012) (04:39) |
| Parklive : Allmusic album Review : Blur headlined a Brit-pop blowout at Hyde Park on the final day of the London 2012 Olympic games, a concert that not so coincidentally also capped off a flurry of Blur-related activity. The band celebrated its 21st anniversary in grand fashion, reissuing its catalog as deluxe double-disc sets, boxing these deluxe editions in a mammoth rarities-laden box set called Blur 21, releasing a good reunion single in "Under the Westway"/"The Puritan," and, finally, performing this concert, releasing it digitally the following week as the double-album Parklive (which is due to be expanded into a five-CD box later in the year). Given the amount of time the reunited Blur spent trawling through their back pages, its not much of a surprise that the set list of Parklive is constructed as a chronicle of their past, one that touches lightly on their beginnings and end -- theres one song apiece from Leisure and Think Tank -- one that accentuates two through-lines in their history: the churning, darkly psychedelic art rock band and the proudly patriotic, albeit wildly sardonic, British pop group. Considering the occasion, Blur serve up plenty of the former, playing roughly half of Parklife -- Phil Daniels himself comes out to bark out the title track -- and have fun digging deep, playing "London Loves," which has rarely ever been played on-stage. This isnt the only rarity here -- they haul out the Modern Life Is Rubbish B-side "Young and Lovely," which Damon Albarn introduces with a preamble dedicating it to the bands children, an acknowledgment of Blurs advancing years, a subject he also alludes to by changing a lyric on "End of a Century" to "as you get closer to 50." Blur are indeed now 20 years on from their 90s peak and its evident in the music: where they were once frenetic they are now muscular and Albarns ambition has mellowed into a quiet confidence. The passing of time has only increased Blurs stature as a British treasure and this is a concert that suits their status: its crowd-pleasing without pandering, the knotty "Caramel" and "Trimm Trabb" fitting neatly next to "Sunday Sunday," the new "Under the Westway" gaining resonance when placed near "Sing" and "For Tomorrow." The latter is just enough to suggest that Blur could continue to build upon their legacy, but if this turns out to be a farewell, it is one that is triumphant. | ||
 | Album: 19 of 19 Title: The Magic Whip Released: 2015-04-24 Tracks: 13 Duration: 55:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Lonesome Street (04:23) 2 New World Towers (04:03) 3 Go Out (04:40) 4 Ice Cream Man (03:25) 5 Thought I Was a Spaceman (06:16) 6 I Broadcast (02:52) 7 My Terracotta Heart (04:05) 8 There Are Too Many of Us (04:25) 9 Ghost Ship (04:59) 10 Pyongyang (05:47) 11 Ong Ong (03:08) 12 Mirrorball (03:38) 13 Yall Doomed (03:57) |
| The Magic Whip : Allmusic album Review : Blur dissolved slowly so it follows that their reunion was protracted -- a halting reconvening that produced understated singles and excellent concerts spread out over a period of six years. Finding a headlining appearance at Japans Tokyo Rocks festival canceled in the summer of 2013, the band holed up in a Hong Kong studio for five days, producing several reels of jams they abandoned until guitarist Graham Coxon decided to shape them into songs with the assistance of producer Stephen Street, the collaborator behind their greatest albums of the 90s. Its an unwieldy history for The Magic Whip, a record thats casually confident and so assured in its attack it feels like a continuation, not a comeback. Certainly, its moody meditations are of piece with Damon Albarns 2014 Everyday Robots and his noir 2007 project The Good, The Bad & The Queen, but those albums, along with 2005s Demon Days, put into sharp relief that The Magic Whip belongs not to Damon, but to Blur. Often, the rhythm section of bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree announces itself through a churning undertow -- James loping interjections on "Go Out" call attention to themselves in a manner not dissimilar to "Girls & Boys" -- but Coxon claims this record, easing the band (and listeners) into familiar territory via the bright "Lonesome Street," an evocation of Brit-pop that soon curdles into the gnarly squall of 1997s Blur and then settles into a steady thrum thats reminiscent of 13 but stripped of despair. While it retains trace elements of melancholy, The Magic Whip jettisons the internal turmoil that fueled the turn-of-the-millennium Blur albums -- 13, the record Albarn wrote in the wake of his split with Justine Frischmann, and Think Tank, the album they recorded while the band broke up -- and it also sees the world outside south London, with Albarn skewing all his observations through the prism of Hong Kong, capturing the digital isolation through the pulsating neon rush of mainland Asia. There are hooks, there are songs -- songs that sink their hooks in slowly and fully, registering in the subconscious without notice -- but its Blur claiming their status as an art-pop band, favoring texture and mood over wit and flash. Like Everyday Robots, theres an existential loneliness thrumming throughout The Magic Whip, but theres also camaraderie, a sense that companionship can pull you through, and thats especially true of Albarn and Coxon, who prove once again to be the others ideal collaborator, refining, expanding, and sharpening their ideas, turning a potential throwaway to something quietly resonant. | ||