Blur had some great songs, but I didn't really care for the production. I still really like about half of it though.
Would mostly agree with that. Would have been interested in seeing what someone other than Stephen Street would have done with those songs.
Per wikipedia: "Under the suggestion of the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, the band underwent a stylistic change, becoming influenced by American indie rock bands such as Pavement and Sonic Youth." I don't think it was Stephen Street's fault. I blame Graham. That sentence does really sum up my feelings on latter-era Blur, though, since I have never remotely understood Pavement or Sonic Youth.
Well, there's more to it than that, but I get your point. As it stands, the songs Graham wrote for those two albums are among my favorites, especially "Coffee & TV."
Thanks for the advice. I'm always looking for an excuse to buy a new album and by your recommendation I just bought it.
</rimshot> Damon is obviously a big David Bowie fan.Clearly what he was trying to do was recreate what Bowie did with The Berlin Trilogy,especially Low,always my least favorite album by Bowie.That was why he got Brian Eno to produce the thing.At least Everyday Robots is not the dud Think Tank was,IMO.blur,like The Beatles (LIB),went out with their worst album.it was quite a crash from the psychedelic and prog rock brilliance of 13. At least we got Gorillaz and TGTBATQ a few years later.That more than made up for a stinker like Think Tank. And I actually like Dr.Dee.
GREAT thread title! "Blur" "JumpED The Shark" for "me" [being non-British] when you jumped on. Tho "Girls & Boys" was way banging in the clubs & thru various playback devices; as well as "Song 2" which blew my & many others mind/minds at the time. The early stuff had that 'TooCool' at the time "Manchester Sound". i think they may have gotten even more popular w/the less 'trippy' stuff when they got way more 'English' [thought of em as a 90's "The Style Counsel" as time went on]. Butt, when you start off a the start*, sometimes it's hard too follow along as the path changes & adapts: *Blur – "She's So High/I Know/Down" Food CDFOOD 26
Tender is probably my favourite Blur song. 13 took me a while to make sense of yet it ended up being my most listened to album of 1999. It's pretty dark and difficult at times but I found it to be worth the effort in the end.
Loved blur from the start,but it wasn't until years later,that I realized Leisure was a shoegaze record.Fits in perfectly with Ride and the rest."There's No Other Way" sounds just like "2000 Light Years From Home".That's part of its charm.
I was a fan of Leisure, but the first time I saw Blur live (in 1991), I got tickets because Slowdive was scheduled to open. It wasn't until we got to the venue (The Roxy, Hollywood) that we found out that Slowdive had to cancel their entire trip to the US. Blur was great, though. I'll never forget Alex James shoving the headstock of his bass through one of the pa speakers during their encore. Not sure what he was angry about, but that was pretty entertaining.
To me, Blur seems a natural progression from The Great Escape. It's still brit pop at its core, just a bit more amped up. The thing is, they were taking inspiration from Pavement and Sonic Youth. Yes, american bands, but they were themselves largely influenced by european and british music. Full circle, in a sense.
My favourite band of the 90's. Discover them around the time of The Great Escape and immediately get Parklife. In those pre-internet days i thought these two were their first and second album. Later on, i discovered they have two previous records! Just when i was getting tired of the britpop stuff, they surprised me with Blur. I love that record from the beggining and was glad they took risks and changed their style. Essex Dogs was my favourite track. Around this time i get Leisure and Modern Life is Rubbish. Two years later they surprised me even more with 13. Love Caramel and Battle but my favourite track this time was Trailerpark. 13 became my favourite Blur album. Around these time they came on tour to Argentina but i couldn't see them. Next came Gorillaz and i thought it was only a side project of Damon . I liked it but not as much as i liked Blur or 13. Around this time i heard Mali Music and the Ravenous soundtrack and enjoy them. Then came Think Tank and it was the first time i thought that the new Blur album was not better than its predecessor. But i'm not so sure now. Maybe, somedays, could be my favourite Blur album thanks to Jets, or Me, White Noise or Caravan or Brothers and Sisters. Then i get Demon Days and i didnt' understood that record and the whole Gorillaz project (i tried tough, even buying the G-Sides and Laika Come Home). And by 2005 it was clear that Blur was over. So for a while i'd lost track of Damon and their projects (miss TGTBATQ). But in 2012, with all the Blur 21 hype i was interested again. Now i'm enjoying Damon's new album and the 21 box. Definitely Blur is my favourite band of the last 20 years and Damon Albarn an artist i'm interested to follow. So i'm looking for the gaps on my collection , say, since Demon Days to Everyday Robots.
Think Tank is my favorite Blur album. "Out of Time" and "Battery in Your Leg" are my favorite Blur songs.
those comparisons are a lose-lose proposition -- they offend Beatles worshippers, and they insult fans of the subject group, who are just fine without the validation of being almost as good as Sir Paul.
Blur and The Beatles are both great. Says a lot about the Beatles fans incapable of even considering the possibility...
When Mojo reviewed the Blur 21 box set, the reviewer argued that Blur were the last major band to follow the Beatles' model of growth and progression within the context of a band that had actual pop hits on the charts (in their native UK, at least). I would tend to agree with that; for me, in my old fogeydom, they are the last major band in that mold to have appeared (U2 are still going, but obviously pre-date Blur). I guess Arctic Monkeys are the only band since who have come remotely close, but, unlike Damon Albarn, Alex Turner doesn't have a counterpart/creative foil in his own band equal in stature to him, as Albarn had with Graham Coxon. Even Alex James was far more of a personality than whoever the Monkeys' anonymous replacement bass player is.
Hopped on to the Blur train w/ Leisure. "There's No Other Way" is just so good. Leisure is still my favorite album of theirs. I am missing 13 and will remedy that.
I love all of their albums, and the reissues from 2012 are great. They had an unbelievable amount of amazing b-sides that could have been hits. Saw them on the "Think Tank" tour...really hope they have one more album in 'em. As far as Blur related side projects go, my favorite is the "the Good, the Bad, the Queen" lp.
I agree with the sentiment above, their b-sides are really incredible. Well worth checking out for those less familiar.
Some of their B-Sides are amazing. On the other hand you have the likes of When The Cows Come Home, Albarn at his most punchable. Ugh. Regardless, one of my favourite bands. Reading this thread with people listing their favourite songs had had me going "ooh yeah that's one of my favourites too!" only for me to read the next post with another song listed and for me to then think that song was my favourite. An exciting band to grow up with, due to their aforementioned growth. I was a bit late buying Blur for some reason, so had heard that one and its singles enough by that point that it wasn't a surprise. Buying 13 on release date was different though- very familar with Tender obviously, but I can still remember listening to the album for the first time and by the second half of Bugman thinking "What is this glorious racket?". Fun. Took me a long time to come around to Think Tank, possibly due to lack of Graham, possibly due to Crazy Beat. Now I think it is really pretty good, although not on the level of MLIR, PL, Blur or 13. There are things to enjoy on all their albums though.
I have every single Blur song, rarities and all, and I love each and every one of them, not even kidding! I'm the ultimate Blur fan.