Modern Life Is Rubbish

Having only heard some of these songs on greatest hits collections, this was my first time listening to this one all the way through. The Kinks and XTC are obvious influences, of course, but these guys created their own sound and took Britpop in new and interesting directions. I was too busy listening to Oasis when this came out when I should have been listening more closely to Blur.

Possibly Blur at their britpoppiest. Idk if these guys were listening to a lot of XTC early in their career but they sure sound like an influence, especially on songs like Pressure On Julian. A couple skippable tracks but i never regret listening to Blur

Not the best Blur record, but it kickstarted the best 5-album run in all of Britpop. This was when Blur adopted the sound they're most known for, abandoning the Baggy-er leanings of their debut. The result is very fun, ecletic, and quintessentially british. You really cannot go wrong with any of these five albums. Key tracks: For Tomorrow Advert Chemical World Sunday Sunday

Modern Life Is Rubbish asks a question of the listener: Can a conservative and reactive turn create something new? Typically, turning away from the present moment to look on past successes and redraw the artistic boundaries of your pursuit to please the press and public is not a winning formula (or at least not by my criteria) — it's pandering. And yet, here is Blur coming off of their disastrous US tour and their poorly performing first album where it seemed the lesson they learned was they should lean into The Kinks and The Small Faces. They should, in other words, return to move forward. And as the title suggests, they're deeply suspicious of the present and the future both. The train, notably, is still moving from left to right which is culturally read as moving forward (not backward). If modern life is rubbish and modern music is as well by corollary at least, then what is this record? There's certainly a conundrum here if not an outright paradox given this is one of the albums credited with kickstarting Britpop as a set of identifiable conventions. Unfortunately for Blur they lean on a few too many distinctly disagreeable tropes of the British musical tradition for my taste. I can do without the music hall aspects that creep into some arrangements (done so deliberately as to recall earlier artists and moments in time), the aforementioned Kinks-y nostalgia, and Englishness as charm/defensive posture. The songwriting talent and general prowess on their instruments resists a stronger condemnation even as I have a strong negative reaction to the record. Two stars.

I disliked from the start and it only got worse. Bad Brit pop pretending to be something else. The music is wasn’t atrocious, but the vocals were just annoying constantly. Too bad food and too big portions.

2.5

Rubbish

See, I feel like Damon Albarn is the anti-Albini: every track is a studio trick, a put-on sound, a hook that started out as a concept and then a CAD drawing. Only rarely does it sound like there was a band in a room playing a song after some varying and perceptible level of rehearsal. Sometimes it's clever, sometimes it's undeniably catchy. Usually there's some preachy message from an above-it-all perspective. Overall, I find the albums something of a slog. Blur is late-stage U2 but without all the early-stage masterpieces or a sonic identity. If this album doesn't end soon, I'm going to get annoyed and give it one star.

really like it. will listen again for sure.

As this list has a propensity to do, Damon Albarn is over-represented here. This, in spite of being a fine album, is the one that shouldn't be here. 3 stars.

With apologies to the Brits, it's really hard not to think of Blur as just a warm up act for Damon Albarn's next project: the Gorillaz. I know that's not fair and they have plenty of good music, but almost every song on this album made me think "I know a Gorillaz song that does this so much better."

Favourite lyric: Swimming in yellow pissy water. Jokes aside, this is a painfully British album that was honestly quite fun. I swung back and forth between hating it and loving it, but I think I have to end up loving it. There was so much to hate but at the end of the day I ended up enjoying myself immensely. 4/5⭐️ 307/1089

'We're trying not to be sick again / & holding on for tomorrow.' Something 'bout Blur feels, tho not nauseatingly, unfavorably engineered. I mean this precisely - not 'manufactured,' as if Blur were merely a product of industry, but 'engineered.' That's part of their 'genius,' I guess: they're masters of a pop aesthetic they can lay claim to. 'Colin is a modern retard / W/ a love of bombast.' & w/ lyrics like that, they're a somewhat memorable bunch. But the songs on Modern Life Is Rubbish are ne'er very impressive or banging, e'en when the instrumentation hits hard & the melodies are palpable (e.g., 'Star Shaped'). Better than Parklife but not at the level of their self-titled gem, this is probably their most signature record, hence my ambivalence.

I want to like Blur, they are band that I sort of admire but just don’t actually like. I like their influences which they appear to wear happily in their Englishness. But they just miss for me. I admire Damon for pushing himself and his musical boundaries but don’t particularly enjoy his vocals. Maybe it’s my northern bias of southerners. No problem with them being here, I just don’t find them very engaging, and there aren’t much in the way, dare i say decent songs here, didn’t think much of it as an album. 2 Star

Все ще не можу полюбити блюрів. Ще раз залишу коментар, що хороший сонгмейкінг, але музика просто не моя.

Якось ніяк. Пару пісень запамʼяталось, але вкотре згадав чому blur не мій гурт.

To have a Blur album and it NOT have Song 2 on it? For shame. It's Britpop, so it's not great. I put For Tomorrow on the playlist, but I wasn't happy about it.

Not terrible. Some decent tracks here, but mostly it's rather boring and forgettable. Brit-pop isn't for me.

Jaunty re-Kinks. Didn’t hold my attention.

When I saw how few listens this album had and the fact that none of the songs were their hits PLUS I have never heard of them I thought "oh here we go again, another stinker". I groaned as I saw the 2h+ album time. To my pleasant surprise, I really enjoyed this album! Like I'm not sure I'll have any takeaways, but damn I'd listen again! It was very different and distinct throughout, and just plain enjoyable to listen to! I have to give it at least a 4, this was so fun!

Blur never goes wrong

Damon sure has a hard time ending a song. Just keeps going. I felt I was being trolled. It was a fine Blur album, but there were no standouts to me, other than the Intermission. 3.5 stars

1993 -- 2nd studio album -- English alt rock / britpop -- moderately successful, debut had been successful but immediately fell out of public favor ("swiftly exposed as bogus trend-hoppers, they duly caught the wrath of the Madchester backlash"); had a failed US tour with poorly received live performances (Dismayed by American audiences' infatuation with grunge and the lacklustre response to their music, the group frequently drank, and members often broke into fist-fights with one another. Homesick, the tour "instilled in the band a contempt for everything American"); threat of being dropped from label and had to undergo an "image makeover"; "poignant humour and Ray Davies characterisation to investigate the dreams, traditions and prejudices of suburban England"; Blur argued that they would embody a renaissance of classic British pop on their next album; "highly influenced by the traditional guitar pop of English bands such as the Kinks, the Jam, the Small Faces and the Who. The album's songs explore a number of styles—punk rock ("Advert"), neo-psychedelia ("Chemical World"), and vaudeville music-hall ("Sunday Sunday");" "it was f***ing scary how American everything's becoming ... so the whole thing was a f***ing big two fingers up to America"; "London odyssey crammed full of strange commuters, peeping Thomases and lost dreams; of opening the windows and breathing in petrol ... It's the Village Green Preservation Society come home to find a car park in its place." It's not them, it's me. I cannot stand to listen to disaffected white guys complaining, it is so fucking grating to my soul. Especially Brits, man, just shut up. English punk and alt rock -- those blokes are not speaking to me. This is a 3 and I MOVE ON because life is too short for my brain to be this annoyed.

i like blur but there are far better albums by them to have on this list

david bowie vibes right off the bat, but like 80s bowie maybe a little bit the who? the mix is a bit busy i'm just not that into britpop (quinn asked if this is lad music) chemical world is good this one's more interesting as an album than any individual songs

I enjoyed the variety on this album. I did not expect this to be so good. I look forward to their other albums.

Really underwhelming. A hodgepodge of different styles and influences which was less than the sum of its parts.

The opener, For Tomorrow, is belting track. Up there with my favourites from Blur. Apart from that nothing really stood out for me though. That’s me finished with all the Blur albums on the list. Nothing on here has really changed my opinion of them. Parklife is a really good album but apart from that they are very much a singles band for me. Top Track - For Tomorrow

3,5

Blur e eg glad i fra før. Chemical World kan gå å legga seg. Ikkje så fan.

Un bel suono.

Bit too 'knees up mother brown'for me.

I enjoyed that the album title is factually correct. Modern life is rubbish. Out of the three Blur albums in this book, Modern Life is Rubbish is my least favorite. Granted, there is a high bar to make an album on par with Parklife and/or The Great Escape, though I still think 13 should have been in this book. The first half of Modern Life is Rubbish is stronger than the back half (in my opinion) and I do think maybe trimming a song or two wouldn't have been the worst idea overall. As indicated in the review, Modern Life is Rubbish is where Blur became the band that we know of now as "Blur." The first three songs are a perfect encapsulation of what the "new" Blur sounded like. It's difficult for me to say this album should not be in the book, but I also think 13 should be in here. 4 Blur albums is too many in my opinion. This one has a spot because Blur is an important band for Brit-pop and this is their first album with the refined sound. I like Great Escape and Parklife more though. My favorite songs: For Tomorrow Advert Colin Zeal Blue Jeans Chemical World Sunday Sunday Coping

Already one of my favourite albums of all time by one of my favourite bands of all time. Not their best, so will be getting a four, but that may change depending on what other albums end up on this list.

Really? Is every Blur album on this list?! This is ridiculous, especially since this isn't a particularly good album. Why is the list trying to make Blur important and get people to care?! I still don't care about Blur.

Not for me

not for me

I'm going to be consistent here, but I maybe should have been a touch kinder to Park Life.

Can you imagine thinking people want to listen to your garbage (sorry, rubbish) music for 2 hours and 20 minutes?

Pretty good highs; unlistenable lows

Not for me. Not terrible, but also nothing to recommend. Sounds a little bit like Pulp (which I HATED), but less annoying.

I’ve listened to a couple of blur albums before this and I was convinced they were mid which got my expectations low and some were still boring but it’s my favourite so far

I mean it's obviously not as big as their later stuff, and I'm not as familiar with it, but, it still goes already. Opening track is a banger, as is the closer. Blur love a closer.

Es álbum de Blur que más me ha gustado hasta ahora, sin embargo me ha tomado tiempo digerirlo, estoy algo biased a que Blur no es de mis bandas predilectas Pero algo que si es cierto es que la influencia de Albarn en sus proyectos es notoria siempre y le da más energía al proyecto No tengo una canción que particularmente diga esta es la insignia del álbum, pero empieza con una interesante y de ahí va haciendo uso de elementos brit pop rock en unas, y en otra puede ir más fuerte o más suave también Le puedo dar el 3, le siento mayor presencia que otros de los trabajos que haya escuchado

Average album for me (2.5 stars)

Have to rate a 2.5; better than Amy Winhouse but worse than Beck. Just really boring.

Maybe this isn't my kind of Brit Rock. It just sounds like the Madness without being the Madness. There's some good songs, but a bit underwhelming tbh

This has to be one of the most annoying voices in music history.

How is this blur

Too early Blur is too plauding. Tried twice, failed twice. A redeeming song or two to save this from the dreaded 1.

A third blur album on this list. My sister is going to the UK to see Blur reunite in November. I will never understand her devotion to this band.

I liked it but did we really need this one ? Parklife and Blue I think are all there needa be on the list imo.

Modern life is rubbish is rubbish. In my opinion anyway, I like a lot of blurs music but the out of tune singing was not enjoyable for me on this album. I was in a bad mood when I wrote that woops, so I was most likely projecting but this still wasn’t an enjoyable listen for me

Like this one. I really enjoy this era of britpop alternative rock. Good listen overall, not much to say. Sunday Sunday was my fav song and first listen of the song. Chemical World and Oily Water were my other highlights

Blur albums always sound two or three times longer than they actually are.

Oh boy. More britpop.

Gives me anxiety.

Meh

It’s a 4 +1 for awesome train cover

Meh

Fun. Blur may surprisingly be my least favorite Damon Albarn's project, but it's still quality music.

some of the guitars' work is interesting, but the vocals are mostly obnoxious and the songwriting and arranging are painful. the presence of britain's fastest steam locomotive is insufficient distraction to make it tolerable.

This is an affront, it's the most bloody minded rebellious britpop band album recording from the period. That's praise by the way. I feel it suited the times. That is, not shrinking back from the grunge invasion, not being a rock throwback from the 70s, but actually doubling down to who they were; as the only way to stand out was to be loud and different. Two fingers up and 4 stars.

I like all of the songs on this but I’m not sure if I love any of them, its about as good as all of their albums are

An album that is meaningless to the rest of us outside of the UK. A rubbish double album that doesn't belong on the list. I personally wouldn't put any of their (or Oasis' albums for that matter) on this list. The only song of theirs I have ever enjoyed was "Song 2" from their self-titled BLUR. Having lived through the era outside of the UK, I think that British media and public overestimate how much of an impact their music had on the 1990s. To me it doesn't feel like quite the impact that it had on the 1980s. An album that also came out in 1993 that is not on here but has been more relevant to where society has been over the past 30 years and actually includes more creative risks than this one is Billy Idol's CYBERPUNK. Criminally derided. People pull their head out of their ass and see out prescient most of the lyrical content and how far ahead the production techniques were for the time. And failing that selection it is a crime that Nine Inch Nails THE FRAGILE is not on this list. That double album should absolutely replace this mediocre music.

Another double album I actually liked. Had Blur been big in the US in the 90s, I would have been all over this.

Modern live is always rubbish yesterday and now!

It is rubbish, modern life I mean, not the album "Modern Life is Rubbish." The album is not rubbish, it is good, though I don't have a great deal more than that to say, except that I like Blur and they are not rubbish.

meh, blur is lame

Probably my favourite of the (inexplicably) three Blur albums here on this list.

I like other Blur albums better, but still nothing I would skip here!

If you're thinking about making a double album, don't. If you took the best half or third of these tracks you'd have a pretty good album. But I simply can't take any more British singing, especially not two hours worth

Trots att jag älskar skivorna efter denna så har jag missat när Blur blev Blur. Skönt sound men inte lika minnesvärda låtar som på Parklife och The Great Escape. En fyra

Great album, but a little middle-of-the-road for my tastes. Tight English rock. Will played and sung

Verrrry long but still Blur

That's a lot of blur songs I don't know

When this album first came out, I got it for free from my friends who worked in the record industry in London. I had an inkling of Blur after their first record and this one drew more attention. I just did not get it at first and it sat on my CD shelf for years. It wasn't until maybe 20 years later that I started to enjoy this record. From not caring about the band to really liking this band. It is not my favorite Blur album, but my second favorite one. I think it is worth a listen.

Yeah, no.

It makes sense why I haven't heard any songs off of this record except `For Tomorrow`. It doesn't feel like it is a must listen album but nonetheless it was a good listen.

I like this album - 4/5

Decent album.

This album is rubbish!

This didn’t work for me. Some of it did but overall I blame my mood for it.

It was okay alt rock. None of the catchy blur songs I'm familiar with but no disappointments

Pretty good. Especially the second half of the album.

Much more forgettable than Parklife, for me at least.

It's not bad, but nothing about it stands out either. I don't think this album deserves a spot on the 1001 list.

I was hopeful that I’d like this more, based on the starting track, but file this as another piece of evidence in my “I like Blur singles more than I like Blur albums” file.

Man, a few songs come almost close to sounding as catchy as some of their better known singles but a LOT of this is solidly fine to meh to man-Damon-Albarn's-voice-verges-on-annoying.

This was ok. I really want to like Blur but they're just not as good as they think they are

Blur jäi itselläni ysärillä varsin vähälle huomiolle, ei oikein iskenyt silloin vaikka silloinen tyttöystäväni tätä muistaakseni kuunteli. Itselläni oli punk, metalli ja rap lähempänä sydäntä. Nyt tätä kuunnellessa täytyy sanoa, että albumi on loistava. Ei suoranaisia huippukohtia mutta tunnelma tai biisien laatu ei myöskään laske missään vaiheessa. Parempi myöhään kuin ei milloinkaan. Onneksi Blur löytyi nyt yli 30 v myöhemmin. 4/5

Not their best but still very charming and playful.

Upon re-listening, this very much sounds like a band coming into their sound, with some good ideas albeit not fully formed. A solid debut, but it pales in comparison to the next 3, with Damon only hinting at his sardonic genius.

Whiny Brit pop

Ive only listened to Damon Albarn through Gorillaz, but today I discovered that I really like Blur as well.

++: Pressure on Julian, Oily Water, Miss America, Coping +: Advert, Sunday Sunday, Villa Rosie +-: For Tomorrow, Star Shaped, Blue Jeans, Chemical World/Intermission, Turn It Up, Resigned/Commercial Break -: Colin Zeal 4,1/10

It's all a bit dull really, with the cheeky chappie vocals.

Way too long, and some of the songs were genuinely annoying, but I liked one song actually really a lot so 3 stars it is. Mostly it was just fine.

I don’t even know that blur had made this album

Not even that bad, really. Just so long, too long in fact. Way too long. This was honestly one of my favorite blur albums I’ve heard (I’ve been listening to them a lot lately because my new friend really loves them) but it’s just a tad long. I like a lot of the songs. I think that “Blue Jeans” is one of blur’s best songs. “For Tomorrow” is an easy banger. “Star Shaped” is surprisingly undeniable. There’s not much to each song past the first verse and chorus, which is a problem with a lot of music lmao, but each song is pretty nice, and very few really stick out as obvious bad songs. Very impressive. 8.2/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: YES REASON: DOPE ASS ALBUM