Haha I'm a pretty big fan, they were the soundtrack to my teenage years. However, there are limits...
Hey, I like "When the Cows Come Home" as well! Just like Vern I also have everything released by Blur, but unlike him there are in fact a couple of tunes I don't like. Mainly the post-punky ones. BLUREMI, Jubilee, Globe Alone, Bank Holiday, Bugman and their ilk. I will agree, however, that some of their B-sides are silly. But that's not a bad thing IMO.
Heh...I really like all the ones you listed. On the other hand, I don't mind Rednecks, which most people seem to hate, and is definitely silly.
I suspect that, if "Crazy Beat" had not been included on Think Tank, more rawk fans would be able to appreciate just how strong the rest of the album is. But "Crazy Beat" is too close to dreaded dance/pop music for them to get past, even though there is a rather punky guitar part underneath the offensive elements.
This is the first year I have been a blur fan. The first band that I got into specifically because of their vinyl availability. They are probably my favorite band now. What seems to blow all my friends away is that they don't really sound like a 90's band, there is something more timeless about them. I'm in the process of gathering all the 12" and 7" singles I can because their B-sides are just as good as their album tracks. My girlfriend got me into the Gorillaz, and Damon's solo album feels almost like a 21st century Pet Sounds. So much emotion. I just wish I could get into Graham's solo stuff. He is most certainly my favorite guitarist, but there is something lost to me in his solo songs other than a handful.
I collect Blur's 12"s. They are fantastic. At the time, they'd usually make sure to have an exclusive B-Side and/or Extended Mix on the 12", although they were later released on CD. They definitely got this love of making each single an EP from The Smiths, as they did of each cover being a piece of art in its own right. I own these three so far. There's No Other Way (Extended) / Inertia / Mr Briggs / I'm All Over Bang (Extended) / Explain / Luminous / Uncle Love Popscene / I'm Fine / Mace / Garden Central I like the idea of buying them when I see them in record shops, as opposed to online, which I've done with these. During both the Leisure and Modern Life Is Rubbish periods, their B-Sides were more experimental than most album tracks. Popscene is one of the greatest Blur songs and left off Modern Life Is Rubbish for what I consider to be completely petty reasons. In terms of B-Sides you've got a Byrds-influenced I'm Fine, the laidback late night tunes Inertia and Luminous, the pop-rock of Explain and Mace, the punky I'm All Over, the experimental Garden Central, and the more explicitly britpop Mr Briggs and Uncle Love.
You are lucky to live in the UK, blur is so hard to find on vinyl stateside. The only vinyl I have seen other than the 2012 reissues was a Modern Life is Rubbish boot that sounded awful. Importing from overseas is pretty expensive so my collecting is going slow but so far I have: There's No Other Way / Inertia / Mr. Briggs / I'm All Over Popscene / I'm Fine / Mace / Garden Central Parklife/ Supa Shoppa (love this track) / To The End (French Version) / Beard Stereotypes / The Man Who Left Himself / Tame (hot pink 7") Under the Westway / The Puritan (7")
For those collecting the vinyl singles, I also recommend you get hold of the promo versions. These are pretty cool to have and for the Leisure singles they all come in classic Food Records sleeves combining two main colours. The She's So High one for example is gold and purple. And then there is also a cool promo 12" of High Cool and Bad Day with unique mixes.
I saw Blur on their first American tour back in 91 in NYC at a small club on the Westside. Damon Albarn was crazy back then, he climbed up on the pipes of the ceiling in the club. One my favorite bands from the 90's. I have most of there music on cd's. I did have a 12' mix of there first hit but sold it.
That is a bummer! I felt that way even last year when the ONLY US show they played since 2003 was at Coachella. At least I saw them in 2003 but I'll always kick myself for turning down TWO opportunities to see them in '99 because I figured, "I'll catch them next time..."
Okay, here's my collection for 1990-1992, for which I collect everything. Here's all the 12" promos and two posters that came with the 1st and 2nd singles. I also have the press release from the label for There's No Other Way. All the 12" singles plus the lesser known remix 12" of There's No Other Way. Here's the Spanish releases of She's So High - the 7" promo and the 12". Both are very rare. Then some 7"s. The Popscene one is the promo contaning an edited version of the song. I just need the 7"s for There's No Other Way and Popscene. And then the cassettes. The cd singles. I need Popscene. And then the 2012 Leisure reissue. I want to get the original LP to see how it compares. And then I just need the US released 12" of There's No Other Way that contains a unique remix not found elsewhere and the Dutch released 2x12" of She's So High. Very proud of this collection!
That is an awesome collection! I just purchased a fully signed Charmless Man cassette, the owner sent me a link to a ton of other blur items. May be picking up a couple more cassette singles that I haven't been able to afford the vinyl of (or had different B-sides than the vinyl) Also I have been offered an original Leisure vinyl issue, but after I responded I never heard back from the guy. I wouldn't want to pay much more than the 180g release, because imo, they were all done so well I can't imagine the originals sounding better.
Fantastic! Are you the fellow on the Blur forums who was psyched about getting the Spanish She's So High last week?
I had the Best Of CD for a while, but it was over the spring/summer that I got the albums. They are certainly one of my favorite bands now, and I agree about the timeless aspect.
Some of the earlier stuff is a bit hard on the ears, but I've loved everything from Happiness In Magazines on.
Interesting that you're including Popscene in this era. To me, it's firmly in the "Modern Life is Rubbish" era, even though I'll agree that some of the B-sides are more of the shoegazing type.
Yep, I've had this debate with others before whether it fits in with Leisure or MLIR. It really should be seen as a transitional stand alone piece, but I think it belongs in the Leisure camp. They wrote the song early 1991, way before tunes that appeared on MLIR. It formed part of many live sets during Leisure and the band for the most part adopted a very different look, the quintessential Britishness, for the release of MLIR, one which wasn't apparent during the release of Popscene.
I have an old friend who filmed one of their early shows at Cannock Bowling Green in 1990. I've not seen this gig listed anywhere but it did happen as I have seen the video. He also conducted an interview on the tour bus prior to the show which he also filmed, he pretended to work for a local newspaper and made a fake press pass in order to do it. The interview is hilarious as my friend asked terrible questions like "what are you afraid of" to which Graham replied "string" The footage has never been circulated but it's great quality and an early undocumented Blur show.
