Main Menu

Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 11:17:17 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Blur's "Blur" album

Started by willbo, July 02, 2021, 05:28:51 AM

Previous topic - Next topic
Was it actually called "Blur" or was it untitled?

Key

This was the first album I ever bought, aged 11 off the back of hearing Beetlebum and Song 2 on the radio that year. (The 2nd was OK Computer a few weeks later, fact fans)
I wouldnt call myself much of a blur fan today, but when I last revisited it a few years ago for nostalgia purposes, it held up well, and I'm grateful it quite quickly primed me to get into much cooler lo-fi noisy indie type stuff at a young age.

I thought 13 was great too in a similar vein but by Think Tank my tastes had gone elsewhere I'd heard Coxon had left, and the singles didnt really enthrall me  so I've never heard it. I heard The Magic Whip in a mates car and Ive got to say that didnt do much for me either, seemed musically a bit retrograde and less weird than I expected.


DrGreggles

Quote from: DJ Bob Hoskins on July 02, 2021, 02:02:57 PM
Wait, what?!? Well belt my hat's arse. I bought the limited edition CD when it came out back in 2003 and had no idea there was a hidden track on it. Indeed it's listed here: https://www.discogs.com/Blur-Think-Tank/release/380104

Since I don't have a proper CD player anymore, can anyone enlighten me if there a way to play it via my laptop's CD drive and VLC Player or similar? Not sure if you can rewind from the beginning of track 1 to access track 0 like you could on regular old CD players.

EDIT: Never mind. It's on Spotify, tacked onto the end of Battery In Your Leg. Wow, it's well odd. Hat fucked.

It was on the 2nd disc of the 2012 Special Edition.

daf

Those rewind tracks are a pain in the arse - all unplayable since changing my CD player - cheers idiots!

purlieu

The Great Escape always felt like a conscious attempt to do Parklife II, only with a slightly rockier approach, and it sounds very contrived as a result. I really like about half of it, but the rest really feels like b-sides.

Love the self-titled album, definitely a few that are low in the melodic stakes, but it always worked well for me. Country Sad Ballad Man, You're So Great, Death of a Party, On Your Own, Strange News From Another Star, Look Inside America, tremendous stuff.

Think Tank remains the biggest musical disappointment in my entire life. I loved Out of Time and had high hopes, despite being wary due to the lack of Graham, but what a mess it turned out to be. Brothers and Sisters is one of the most unfocused, disjointed, unpleasant songs I've ever heard, Crazy Beat and We've Got a File On You are appalling, Gene by Gene is possibly worse, Jets is half a song that lasts for six minutes and is filled out by a terrible sax solo, Moroccan People's Revolutionary Bowls Club sounds like it was written by a four year old. Good Song, Caravan, On the Way to the Club and Sweet Song all sound like demos for decent tracks but are stifled by their loop-based production, which always felt like it was a way to compensate for them not being able to operate as a live band at this point, rather than an attempt to Do A Radiohead. Only Ambulance, Out of Time and Battery in Your Leg have ever had any replay value for me. I was an absurdly big Blur fan at the time, a top three band certainly, and that album pretty much killed off my interest. Don't think I listened to them properly for quite a few years after.

Otherwise, MLIR, Parklife and 13 all incredible, Leisure pretty naff. The Magic Whip I never did get into, I should revisit it at some point. I think I'd just got to the point where I don't think I wanted any new Blur.

gilbertharding

I loved the untitled album too. A friend of mine with connections (somehow) posted me a tape copy about a month before it came out. It was never off my Walkman.

Still my favourite blur album, although I haven't played any of them for probably 10 years.

Video Game Fan 2000

It's their best. The lo-fi thing is just as phony as the baggy thing, the mockney thing and the XTC Jr thing, but for some reason it resulted in more consistently good songs. I used to think it was odd that "lo fi american indie" meant "bowie imitations" but in hindsight that makes sense. All Your Life should have been on the album, show your work boy.

Also if you're gonna knock off American indie riffs, might as well go all the way and cop Two Beads at the End surprised they didn't do Return of the Rat and Chartered Trips while they were at it.

I agree that Think Tank is indeed bad, but Out of Time and Battery hold up. They missed a trick by coming close to the revival of shoegaze, with Trimm Trabb, Bustin n Dronin, Battery and shit like that like, but I guess being Radiohead 2.0 was more enticing at the time. Wasn't Graham into the Swirlies yet or summat

gilbertharding

I have a soft spot for all of Blur's stuff anyway - my mum seemed to think, and would occasionally say, that I discovered them, because I showed enthusiasm for She's So High when it was on Juke Box Jury one Sunday teatime - vastly overestimating my influence over the tastes of a nation's pop kids.

Mums, eh? What are they like?

Kankurette

The Great Escape had its moments - Fade Away and Entertain Me were two album tracks I still like - but it's always going to be tainted by Country House and all that Britpop Wars crap. I haven't got Think Tank because I just wasn't keen on having an album without Graham on it. It felt weird. First time I saw them was back in 2009 when he'd rejoined and they had Florence & the Machine supporting them. It was the best gig I've ever seen. I cried like a little bitch when they did This Is a Low.

non capisco

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on July 02, 2021, 10:10:48 AM
Ken Livingstone droning away

A friend of mine put a really great Blur playlist up on Spotify this week that really rekindled in me an affection for their music and reminded me how many great songs and fantastic deep cuts they have. 'Young And Lovely', 'For Tomorrow', 'Advert', 'Luminous', 'Sing', 'Beetlebum', 'Chemical World'. 'Trouble In The Message Centre', 'Oily Water', 'You're So Great', 'Caramel', 'Trimm Trabb', 'This Is A Low', 'Out Of Time', the list goes on. Take away their more "oi oi what a palaver 'ave some whelks me old son" material and blank out from my mind's eye the Tory cheese cunt, turns out I like Blur a lot more than I thought I did.

For some reason my mate then drops 'Ernold Same' smack into the middle of this thing. Whyyyyyy did you do that?! Ken Livingstone breaking the gorgeous spell with some kind of..Mr. Man narration, was it? Why'd he put that one in there?! Dreadful.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: DJ Bob Hoskins on July 02, 2021, 02:02:57 PM
Wait, what?!? Well belt my hat's arse. I bought the limited edition CD when it came out back in 2003 and had no idea there was a hidden track on it. Indeed it's listed here: https://www.discogs.com/Blur-Think-Tank/release/380104

Since I don't have a proper CD player anymore, can anyone enlighten me if there a way to play it via my laptop's CD drive and VLC Player or similar? Not sure if you can rewind from the beginning of track 1 to access track 0 like you could on regular old CD players.

EDIT: Never mind. It's on Spotify, tacked onto the end of Battery In Your Leg. Wow, it's well odd. Hat fucked.

I first heard Me White Noise live, I believe on its first outing.  They were pretty audacious to bring Phil Daniels onto the stage and not perform Parklife. It's one of my favourite Blur tracks, a nice bit of early 00s Hooligan House. Wallop!

the science eel

Quote from: non capisco on July 02, 2021, 08:26:00 PM
A friend of mine put a really great Blur playlist up on Spotify this week that really rekindled in me an affection for their music and reminded me how many great songs and fantastic deep cuts they have. 'Young And Lovely', 'For Tomorrow', 'Advert', 'Luminous', 'Sing', 'Beetlebum', 'Chemical World'. 'Trouble In The Message Centre', 'Oily Water', 'You're So Great', 'Caramel', 'Trimm Trabb', 'This Is A Low', 'Out Of Time', the list goes on. Take away their more "oi oi what a palaver 'ave some whelks me old son" material and blank out from my mind's eye the Tory cheese cunt, turns out I like Blur a lot more than I thought I did.

For some reason my mate then drops 'Ernold Same' smack into the middle of this thing. Whyyyyyy did you do that?! Ken Livingstone breaking the gorgeous spell with some kind of..Mr. Man narration, was it? Why'd he put that one in there?! Dreadful.

Lots of great stuff, especially B-sides, on the Parklife box that came out a few years back. I really like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnrbVYvSaHY

PaulTMA

Think Tank is an absolutely fantastic album, I can only ask for it to be given another listen.  Speaking as a fan since Parklife, loved it then and now.

imitationleather

Am I incorrect in my assessment that Ice Cream Man is the only good song from the last album?

purlieu

Quote from: Video Game Fan 2000 on July 02, 2021, 05:46:43 PMBustin n Dronin
My favourite Blur b-side. A wonderful mid-ground between the US lo-fi major key stuff of Blur and the looser, longform approach of 13. 'Dancehall' and 'All Your Life' from the same era are superb as well.

They're a weird band, b-side-wise. Some truly great tracks (how the fuck 'Soundtrack to an Imaginary Film' got left off Parklife - quite late, if the liner notes are anything to go by - I'll never know), some brilliant curios ('A Song' never fails to haunt), and maybe a few too many novelties ('Beard', 'Supa Shoppa', 'Alex's Song', 'Red Necks', 'The Horrors', 'Ludwig', 'Got Yer!', 'Anniversary Waltz', 'Money Makes Me Crazy').

BJBMK2

Don't forget Young And Lovely, easily there best B side, and contender for best song.

imitationleather

Until they put all the b-sides on the rereleases of the albums that 20th anniversary box set was fookin' fire. I don't know of any band with better b-sides.

When I was a kid I spunked so much money on this from the imports section at Virgin Megastore:

non capisco

Ooh yeah, 'Bustin and Dronin' and 'All Your Life' are both mint.

From that era though I will say I dunno how they ever expected to get away with 'M.O.R' without everyone and the farmers' dog immediately going "That's exactly the same melody and even some of the same lyrics as the moderately famous song 'Boys Keep Swinging' by David Bowie".

purlieu

Quote from: imitationleather on July 03, 2021, 12:50:56 AM
Until they put all the b-sides on the rereleases of the albums that 20th anniversary box set was fookin' fire.
Pretty sure the 2CD sets and box came out on the same day.

I think most of their mid-'90s contemporaries beat them, b-sides wise, which is probably related to the fact that Blur always did ludicrously long albums. Parklife could have been 12 tracks with four consigned to be excellent b-sides, but the albums was much longer and we ended up with daft instrumentals and pissing about in the studio filler amongst the good stuff on the singles.

imitationleather

The b-side box set came out around the same time as Music is My Radar, didn't it? Years before the 2CD albums.

willbo

I bought the single of "Radar" when it came out and it didn't make an impression on me at all. I guess I should have given it more of a chance.

Seedsy

So funny this thread has popped up, as myself and a friend where in discussion and agreement on this album

We think it's great. All the singles were very strong and the slightly scuzzy lofi sound is great. They clearly still had an eye on the charts, as its polished lofi

Beetlebum getting to number 1, looking back was a revelation, quite a ballsy lead single
You're so great is probably my favourite blur song. Look inside America is lovely too.
An album I go back to, much more than any other blur lp.

DrGreggles

Quote from: willbo on July 03, 2021, 08:55:38 AM
I bought the single of "Radar" when it came out and it didn't make an impression on me at all. I guess I should have given it more of a chance.

I was completely indifferent to it when it was released, but did a bit of a Blur re-evaluation a few years ago and it's now one of my favourites.
Definitely an odd choice for a single though.

Jockice

It's a cracking album, although I wouldn't go as far as my friend who said upon hearing it; "They're certainly not a pop group anymore." I think that Beetlebum is probably the best chart-topping single of the 90s and although I'd quite like never to hear Song 2 again in my life I can appreciate why it's so popular.

Apart from that their best album is Modern Life Is Rubbish. The first one wasn't very good at all, Parklife had too many songs with the same tempo, The Great Escape had its moments (I love Yuko And Hiro) but was patchy, 13 just didn't do it for me despite having a couple of decent singles (and one stinker. I'll let you guess which one it was), I think I played Think Tank twice and then forgot about it and I haven't heard the last one.

Incidentally due to my disdain for Damon Albarn I found it very amusing when a young man I was talking to recently about music referred to him as David Albarn. More than once.

purlieu

Quote from: imitationleather on July 03, 2021, 01:10:19 AM
The b-side box set came out around the same time as Music is My Radar, didn't it? Years before the 2CD albums.
Ah shit, I thought you were talking about the Blur 21 box which had all the albums, b-sides, DVDs, rarities and a horrible 7" of two awful Seymour tracks on it.
Yes, The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set came out earlier, 1999 apparently.

Video Game Fan 2000

Bustin n Dronin, Trimm Trabb and Music Is My Radar are all favourites for me. They're wonderful, inventive tracks and I wish they'd gone more in that direction. Never cared for either Battle or Caramel, Battle in particular does my head in. I do like Essex Dogs though, which I don't think many people do.

There's one bside from the late 90s that has a bit of a Seefeel thing going, something else they were surprisingly good at and could have taken further. 


JohnnyCouncil

Quote from: phantom_power on July 02, 2021, 08:35:04 AM
You're So Great is one of my top 5 Blur songs

Agree with this. Heavy amount of teenage emotion mixed in with it. Blur was my 'intro' Blur album and I think it paved the way for 13. Death of a Teenager is fantastic and Essex Dogs is just incredible. Heard Beetlebum on the radio the other day and still holds up well. Still resentful wasn't quick off the mark to get tickets for Leeds T&C around the time.

willbo

#57
Quote from: DrGreggles on July 03, 2021, 09:42:12 AM
I was completely indifferent to it when it was released, but did a bit of a Blur re-evaluation a few years ago and it's now one of my favourites.
Definitely an odd choice for a single though.

it was to promote the late 90s best of wasn't it? I just assumed it was the only new track they had lying around, or something they tossed off in a few minutes, (as promoting a best of probably isn't that exciting).

edit - I've just heard "Radar" and "Bustin'", and... I don't get it. Sorry everyone.

Quote from: imitationleather on July 03, 2021, 12:50:56 AM
When I was a kid I spunked so much money on this from the imports section at Virgin Megastore:

Seeing that in the racks of Our Price brings back memories. That and Live From The Budokan, which was always £20 more than I could afford back then.

12-year-old me put an ad in the Blur fanclub mag because I wanted the old singles for the b-sides that were otherwise only available on that dead expensive Japanese import. A couple of weeks later, Graham's mate Biffo had sent me these two tapes of early stuff for nowt which I treasure as much as anything else in my collection:





It was the first time I ever heard the studio version of Popscene, and you could make a better album than Leisure out of some of those early b-sides. I don't think all of the songs ended up in the 21 box set either.

By the way, the second half of their set from Glastonbury '94 is hidden away on the iPlayer at the moment and and it's great - especially Chemical World, Advert and This Is A Low. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p09kl4gs

DrGreggles

The live versions of Chemical World were always great - especially The Budokan one.