Modern Life Is Rubbish

Better things are to come I think. It's pleasant enough but I don't think this should be here.

This is the most British album I've listened to in a long time. I can't say there's any song on it I'm excited to hear again. A lot of the recordings sounded like the epitome of recording quality and techniques I was taught in college.

For their second album, and breakout success, Blur made a transparent attempt to revitalise what the Kinks were doing in "Village Green Preservation Society", without quite the same humour or heart. On my first listen, "Modern Life is Rubbish" really didn't do a lot for me. But it's worth persevering to allow the best songs to float to the top of the "oily water": there are some gems here, albeit obscured by a performative indifference. On first hearing this album, my struggle was that it seemed relentless with Damon Albarn's smug and faintly condescending songwriting about stranded twentieth-century men and women trapped in "modern life." Most of the songs boast unorthodox chord progressions which are interesting at times and obnoxious at others, as though Albarn and co. are showing off at the expense of crafting good songs. Still, once I listened more and had got over wondering how each song was going to settle itself, I started to appreciate Blur's craft much more. "For Tomorrow", a last-minute addition to go out as a single, proves irresistible with its deceptively chirpy "la la la" refrain. "Chemical World" is a slow-growing anthem, even if it does sound like the Weasley twins on vocals. "Star Shaped", "Turn It Up" and "Villa Rosie" are my other honourable mentions, though my highlight of the whole album may just be "Intermission" at the end of "Chemical World". Surprising, refreshing and dramatic, it's a perfect interlude. For a second album, "Modern Life is Rubbish" is reasonably assured in taking risks but could perhaps have gone further. Despite the promise of genre experimentation and an expanded orchestra section, all too often we end up reverting to throwaway character studies ("Colin Zeal"), robotic punk-by-the-numbers ("Coping") or tuneless dirge ("Miss America"). The rest of the band are competent but not breathtaking: Graham Coxon proves himself a supple and versatile rhythm guitarist, while Dave Rowntree's drumming is rarely anything but seismic and intense. As a forty minute album, "Modern Life Is Rubbish" could have been truly special. As it is, it's just pretty good- but knowing the heights Albarn would later reach, both with Blur and the far superior Gorillaz, makes it a worthwhile curio.

I did not listened a lot to Blur before and I mainly know them from "song 2". I really like their sound, but this album didn't convince me.

Maybe a bit too poppy, maybe a bit too long, but it’s all quite clever.

Nice to learn some more songs by Blur than just song 2, Not really my favourite songs ever or anything but they do sound pretty fun

Opens really strong and has some great songs. Just a few too many dull moments for it too be 4 stars. Great listen though!

Modern Life Is Rubbish is weird because it's a Blur album without pretty much anything Blur were well-known for. It's alright, good in places and forgettable in others, preferable to lots of stuff we've had but really average in general. Just gets a 3.

Not their best, but not bad. I didn't buy this when it came out, possibly as a result of their rather twattish public personas at the time.

I love Blur. But of all their albums, this is my least favourite. It's the album before Parklife (which is an absolute riot), and a looong way from 13 (which I think is Blur's pinnacle). Still a good listen and cuts along nicely - but nothing outstanding, which is a shame because a lot of Blur's output really is.

Bit dated and a bit gobby, but gets better as it goes on. I didn't appreciate the context to it: despite it being their second album, Blur were far from being on the up at the time. Bit of a drag in places, but a few great tracks. Prime cuts: Star Shaped, Chemical World

Some good musical moments which they have ruined. Maybe on purpose?

Not bad, little bit all over the place

meh

Reminded me of Bowie a little at the start in a weird way. The ending songs had a lot going on. Overall it was fine.

Very blur

Early Brit pop from a bad that is mostly known in North America for one song that isn’t on this album. Musically strong with British influences, lyrically thought worth repeated listen

Buena sucesión de canciones con el característico estilo del pop británico. Ritmos sencillos, estribillos pegadizos y canciones alegres. Muy de escuchar a ratos

Perusjeekkisblurri

It's a pretty tight album, I found myself expecting more from it though. It's got that British edge to it at times and also has some beauty in melodies here and there. The singer has a great voice that is so memorable. I really liked "Star Shaped". Like a lot of their songs, the singers voice has this "mocking" sort of tone but it sounds great in this track. The break in this with the acoustic guitar and synth is one of my favorite parts on the record. I kind of felt like I wanted more from the record, which is surprising given that it's 2 hours and 18 minutes long. Maybe it needed to not be spread so far?

Good ol’ Britpop. Probably the best Blur album. The influences of the Kinks and Small Faces are strong with this one. The album is a bit too long tho. Not bad at all.

All I really know of Blur is WOOOO HOOOO! This album was fine - I did have to get the book out to tell me why I needed to hear it (FYI it didn't convince me).

Ihan ok, mutta en mitenkään erityisesti tykänny. Jos pitäis valita lempparikappaleet niin For tomorrow ja Blue jeans.

Ihan kuunneltava, mutta ei tästä jäänyt ihan kauheesti mieleen, vaikka palasin joihinki kappaleisiin parikin kertaa. Kuuntelin vähän aikaa sitten Blurrilta toisen albumin (Parklife), ja vaikka se oli osin jo ennestään tuttu, niin myös moni niistä aiemmin tuntemattomista kappaleista tuntui jäävän paremmin heti mieleen. Tällä albumilla sellasia kappaleita oli ehkä jossain määrin For Tomorrow, Oily Water ja Turn It Up.

Beatles but bad

3,5

Essential if not a bit superfluous BritPop.

it's good background music. 3.5/5

not bad

Alright

Background noise at work, was decent but didn't pay too much attention to it.

not bad 3

The critics who put this list together must really like blur! Familiar blur chord progressions, quite liked advert but no other standout songs.

Thought it was decent but I enjoy their later albums more.

Not as good as parklife imo but it's ok.

Slow british pop

Þetta kærulausa britpop er alltaf skemmtilegt.

Think I may have brought this back n the day not aged that great tbh

A bit risky calling modern life rubbish when putting an album like this. I mean it's alright but it's also a bit rubbish - sorry, had to do it. I mean it's not impressive and somehow all British alt rock sounds the same. 6/10.

Interesting... this project has exposed me to a lot of bands I've never heard of. These guys are pretty good, not necessarily my jam, and some of the other albums I found better at first listen.

This was really close to the kind of music I like to listen to, but none of the songs really grabbed me. Not a bad album. My favourite song was For Tomorrow.

Jams were good and I liked the overall theme. Relevant in even today's age.

Didnt know Blur had an album without Song 2 on it.

Solid album

i don't want to like it but it's not that bad

Early 90's rejection of American cultural imperialism produced this album when they were essentially Kinks 2.0. The sound of beans on toast, football, tea and copious amounts of booze and drugs. The good songs are really good, the bad just kind of dirft off into the background. Best Tracks: Star Shaped; Chemical World; Turn It Up

The music was good, I think the album could've been shaved down a few songs. 3.5/5

Great album. Standouts: For Tomorrow, Advert, Chemical World/Intermission Many other really good songs on here as well. 3.5/5

"Song 2" was the only Blur song I was familiar with before listening to this album, so my biggest exposure to Damon Albarn's music is his stuff with Gorillaz (which I enjoy quite a bit). I knew this album would be nothing like that stylistically, but I was expecting something similar with regard to creativity. Instead, I got a middle-of-the-road pop rock album. If you'll forgive the pun, the entire album kinda blurred together, with the exception of "Advert" and maybe "Coping." It was fine, but I'm not in a rush to listen to it again. I'll stick with Gorillaz. Giving it a generous three stars.

Seems like a completely average album to me. Why this is a "must listen" album is a total mystery to me.

Indie rock, 1993. Chill record with a really well balanced tracklist which flows perfectly during the whole LP. Unfortunately there isn't a hit "Song 2" (Blur), "Girls & Boys" (Parklife) or "Coffee and TV" (13), but this album is still pleasant and peaceful.

Bri'ish, not a bad listen

Some great rock songs

2quirky4me

Good nostalgia and some songs I remember. Not stacked with classics. Enjoyed For Tomorrow, Villa Rosie.

Why did I find this a bit of a slog.. took me like 3-4 goes to get through and I'm sorry so say I didn't absolutely love it, like I had expected to. Not that I am a huge Blur fan, but naturally like the hits. I didn't really like the singing style in these ones - found it a bit irritating. Some were more fun that others... Luke says its his fave Blur album. Perhaps I don't have the nostalgia of the pop punk hey day

Preferred it to the one before, fewer bangers but more consistent. And I'll repeat what I said for the last album: I very much like Damon Albarn but I have never forgiven Blur as a whole for bullying Nardwuar in his interview with them in 2003. They stole his hat.

Pretty average album. Good, not great nothing very memorable either. Deluxe edition seems overkill for a lot of average tracks. Probably was better than average for the time but didn't age that well. Ok. Not great

Legalzinho e pa

Modern Life is Rubbish is the second album that I have reviewed for Blur for this list, and I've listened to many singles from the band. I generally like Blur and their front man, Damon Albarn. This album was fine. Other than "Turn It Up", the rest of the album was new to me. "Turn It Up" and "Coping" were the two tracks I enjoyed the most. A couple tracks on the album got a "meh" reaction from me, and the rest were "good". This album lands solidly on 3.5 stars, but I'm not sure whether I should round up or down. I'm not sure what would call me back for a second listen.

Not as good as their later albums but clearly a sign of things to come.

Alright sound, but didn’t grab my attention.

Damon can write a good pop tune, but his voice can be a tad wearingover the course of a whole album.

Interesting enough, I guess, but nothing really exceptional. A bit overwrought.

Ces mecs-là se prennent clairement pour les Dexys Midnight Runners et ce n'est pas pour me plaire.

Nouvelle tentative de Robert de sauver sa peau, seulement cela ne prend pas, nous osmmes toujorus à la recherche d'un album 4 étoiles. Je suis actuellement en route vers le domicile de Robert pour l'exécuter publiquement.

Not as good as Parklife Cover art 3/5

3 parce que trop long mais quand même mieux que l'autre album éponyme la

It’s fine. Nothing special.

I'm not even sure what I want to say. It started off with a bang. I really liked For Tomorrow. The rest of the album, however, just catches me off guard. It's not bad, but I can't find myself listening again when I'm getting my face slapped every second half of each song when Blur decides to go really hard on the music. The intermission in Chemical World is insanity. You're starting to feel it but Blur does not let you absorb any of it. They just keep going and have the climax be its end. Genuinely surprised. Highlights: For Tomorrow, Colin Zeal, Sunday Sunday, Villa Rosie

Classic. But I find it draggy at times.

Never heard it in detail before this but tunes out it’s quite nice, I mean, it did not turn into my favorite Blur record but now I like it more

Enjoyable. I see more of their influences having listened to 300 albums of old rock now due to this project.

6/10 Best song - For Tomorrow

nem sei se ouvi

Blur just isn't my favorite. There's some cool songwriting here, but I don't care for their sound.

Always been more of an Oasis man. This album has not changed that

Boring

Jamais écouté du Blur, je les ai toujours mélangé avec oasis J'appréhendais mais je suis agréablement surpris. Très influencé early pink floyd dans les mélodie de voix, c'est pas linéaire, il se passe des choses dans l'instrumentation, les effets, la réalisation, la bass est pas plate elle a sa propre ligne et ne fait pas juste doubler la guit genre. Si je m'attendais à entendre du hautbois?? Pas du tout😆 J'ai catché plus tard dans l'album que c'était le dude de Gorillaz... je ne les mélangerai plus avec oasis. Ah ! pis oily water : karkwa n'écoutais pas juste du radiohead finalement😅 (blague j'aimais bien Karkwa quand même)

Pas mauvais, mais rien de mémorable après ma première écoute. Du bon rock Britannique. J'aime bien la pochette. Probablement que si j'avais eu mi-vingtaine à la sortie de cet album, c'est quelque chose que j'aurais acheté. Je vais sûrement y revenir puisque j'aime bien les projets de Damon Albarn et je ne connaissais pas cet album de Blur.

I guess this is "British Pop Punk?" Not awful, but not much memorable here either. Another middle of the road offering.

Phew! That was long. Good, but too much I think

This album is a bit of mixed bag for me. As already noted, the effort to emulate the Kinks and bands like the Who are obvious. Some really good songs (For Tomorrow, Blue Jeans, Star Shaped) but also some misses. It seems like they are trying to pay homage to 60's/70's pop=rock but also trying to make some inroads into being a solid Brit Pop band. Some good guitar licks and good hooks but still not quite hitting the mark for me. Similar feeling I get from Oasis. 3 out of 5.

Blur draws thematic and melodic inspiration from The Village Green Preservation Society, casting themselves as modern successors to the Kinks' particular backward-looking approach to pop. "For Tomorrow" is a particularly smart homage. While I can appreciate the Ray Davies worship and feeling inspired by his songwriting, this record lands more like a well-studied tribute than personal evolution/expression. I can appreciate Damon Albarn's obvious talent, but I don't often find his work resonates with me on much of an emotional level. This record also does not justify its nearly hourlong run-time. Trim 3-4 of the weakest ones (Resigned, etc) and you would be left with a more impactful set of songs. Fave tracks: For Tomorrow, Star Shaped, Blue Jeans

Pretty good. 3/5

Great, but surprisingly dated already.

Not as good as that other Blur album, but Chemical World is great. 6.5/10.

Blur’s 2nd album. Very Blur. But v average vs Parklife…

Good album with good songs in it, just not all were good and there were 1 or 2 not good songs, still had a couple great ones

Its okay but not my fav

I've really never listened to a full Blur album before. Not bad.

3.5* Favorite songs: Oily Water, Miss America

initial thoughts: feels very nostalgic for I time I can appreciate, but was no present for. they have the psychedelic british pop rock sound on lock fav. off album: blue jeans or chemical world

4th February 2022 Listened throughout the day before going out in the evening to see Jackass with sav and Steve. Enjoyed parts of this, Damon Albarn drawls his way through with some nice nods to the whimsy of some classic UK rock (Who, Queen etc)

Actually kind of good.

“An energised, infectious romp around contemporary little England, by way of an exuberant trawl through a highly-coloured patchwork of its pop past.”

Was ok

Meh.

B side is so much better than A. Like its not even the same album. Still an eh album. Very forgettable

For me a typical britpop record, some uptempo songs which are nice and some whiney ballads. I like other blur albums better

Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album of brit pop band Blur. Some regard it as their first masterpiece. I'm not one of them. I listened to it over ten times in my life and still can't remember an individual song. So I don't understand why it's on this list. Blur has made better albums that are not on it.

I enjoyed this time with 90s Britpop. It didn't seem to get played in the US then as much as it deserved. I definitely would like to spend more time with Blur, and I think my appreciation would grow. I definitely enjoyed its connection to classic British pop.

bored

Tepid Brit pop

First time listening to Blur proper. Not bad for what it is but definitely too long for its own good.

zaten aantal leuke dingen tussen maar i kvoelde hem niet

Toffe listen maar niet iets waar ik direct terug naar ga komen

This snotty Junior Kinks album is pretty great, you know.

maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but at least we've moved on from indie and Britpop

Very disappointed. Have listened to quite a lot of Blur but mostly Parklife onward. Was surprised on how unremarkable all this sounded. 2.5/5

another enjoyable but not stand out album by Blur, song do get into my head though. 3.3

I think this got an extra star merely in comparison with the last blur album we had (we had one right?) which I remember being not nearly as listenable. For all I know I gave that one three stars too though. 🤷‍♀️

The first britpop album from Blur, though not their debut album. By the time Leisure came out in 1990, Blur was already late to the niche and dwindling "Baggy" or "Madchester" scene (see: The Stone Roses). As such, Blur's debut did poorly, along with live shows and touring. Down, out, and discouraged, the band regrouped for a new sound and image inspired by the success of Suede. This would be the band's first of many contributions to the brand new genre of britpop. It is explicitly riff-driven pop. Pretty good songs but only the opening track is worth opining about for the most part.

Not my favorite

a blend of sex pistols and the smiths that works well in some places, but falls quite short in others

Very care free

6/10

6/10

Classic rock album, Fav songs Chemical World, Blue Jeans, For Tomorrow

3.5 Stars. Pretty dynamic pop rock record with really nice melodies throughout the album. The songwriting is really strong in this album; the lyrics reflect social satires and commentary on his "hatred" for life, as the title suggests. The album is an hour long, and the second half does fall off a bit for me. Favorite tracks: For Tomorrow, Colin Zeal, Star Shaped, Sunday Sunday, Villa Rosie.

Chemical world is a banger but cant save the whole album

Nicht meine Blut-Phase

I was hoping for a bit more out of this one, especially after my exposure to britpop earlier on the list. It's not bad, and Sunday Sunday was giving me Supergrass vibes(I Should Coco which came out 2 years later than this album), which I really liked. But, overall as an album I found it a bit uninspiring and homogeneous. Might be my favorite album cover though!

Ok. I preferred the great escape

Blur to long but not that bad

Solid

I've been interested in checking out more Blur for a while because British TV shows have led me to believe that the band was much more popular in the UK. I thought it was fine, but didn't love the style.

This is not one of the Blur albums that I had previously listened to start to finish. I knew the singles and they hold up. I enjoyed the tracks that were new to me but, it was a week ago that I listened to this record, and I have already forgotten them all.

listened 3 out of 5 - mix bag

Helt ok

3/5 enormous album, but didn't make the cut.

I liked this marginally more than Parklife, but it has the same issue where parts of it sound like they were intentionally designed to be obnoxious. 6/10

It's hard to explain, but however this album and "Parklife" have just 1 year of difference, this album is far away from the quality that I got listening to "Parklife". The album itself is fun. They have a lot of good experimentation and the songs are fine.

it was okay!!!! i struggle a bit with this side of damon albarns work. but was good!!!

It's good, has essence of gorillaz, no hits on this album tho

3.5

This Blur album didn’t do as much for me as the other. Damn. Still ok though.

This was the album before Blur got good. It's all a bit derivative. A pound shop Ray Davies.

At least double the last album... more like 3.2 - 3.5

Very XTC. Way too long. Decent. 6/10

Brit pop has always been fun to me. Grew up through the explosion, so listened to a lot of Blur pre-Song 2 infamy. This one is alright. Fairly straightforward, nothing pushing the boundaries like Parklife did, which is still one of my favourite Blur tracks. Enjoyable to listen to. Nostalgic for me.

Meandering

Rocks more than I remember, is absolutely bursting with ideas. Def announced them as a major band, albeit an almost alienatingly british band, but is overlong and not as great as their albums eventually get despite having some excellent canonical highlights

Por fin un album dentro de mi círculo de comfort (hace rato que no tocaba uno). 3/5

I’m starting to wonder if there are any good albums on this list.

Eh, this album is okay. Nothing great, nothing terrible. A couple of tracks stand out. My favorite is the second half of Chemical World.

It's ok, but a bit forgettable. Nothing really notable that stands out, but nothing bad about it either, easy to listen to.

Some nice songs but very generic indie. Nothing particularly interesting.

some good tunes on this like for tomorrow, advert, colin zeal, star shaped, and blue jeans... the rest left a bit to be desired though. i'm definitely gonna check out the rest of their discography soon.

Never heard of blur but enjoyed the album. Gave me the shins vibes at points

Creo que está bien, pero no sé, algo no me convence de este estilo de música. :(

Favourite Songs: Pressure on Julian & SundaySunday

prefer later Blur, this is not quite there yet

Super 90s uk alt rock album

Nog zeker niet zo goed als de latere albums en nog teveel jengelende Brit-pop, maar prima aan te horen.

Geweldige stem, maar ze moeten hier hun vorm nog een beetje vinden.

Sounds of a time, some of the lesser known tracks were nice surprises.

Some good stuff. The vocals kind of wear on me a little.

TRAIN! Enjoy the sound in general, but nothing stands out as one of the top 1001 albums to listen to before you die. Maybe this is an example of the Britpop genre in general. Hidden tracks were a cool bit, especially with Intermission being in Baby Driver (which it fit well). Would be happy to have these tracks come on the radio or a shuffle playlist but wouldnt seek them out. 3.5 but rounding down

Signs of things to come but this is no classic

I was really excited to listen to this. Don’t know much about Blur, but always hoped they were a slightly more roc version of the Stone Roses - a band I really like. There are moments here, but wasn’t the supercool nugget I was hoping for. That said, I’ll likely dive more deeply into the Blur catalog when I get a chance.

Always been a big Gorillaz guy, but never got into Blur other "Song 2" of course. I didn't dislike anything here but I also never really fully got into it. Really solid catchy alternative songs, and I liked the fact they made this as a stick it to Americanization album. I could see the heart of that Gorillaz "lets play a bunch of styles and see what sticks," ethos. They had some songs that were a little punk, some straight forward rock, and the circus/vaudeville interstitial tracks. Pretty solid album through and through, but if I want Damon Albarn I'll be sticking to Gorillaz.

eh it's fine. I think I'll be ok only associating Blur with Song 2 and nothing else

I liked it.

Desde que empieza con "For tomorrow" está claro el sonido Blur. También me ha gustado "Colin Zeal". Interesante y lo volveré a escuchar seguro.

Album correct, je vois la tendance brit pop et aussi un peu rock. 3.15

Nothing really stood out, but in general found some good vibes. Just not my scene. Felt very much like Proto Arctic-Monkeys, which makes sense. Not something I'd put on again by choice, but I respect the influence Blur, and Damon Albarn in particular has had especially with projects like Gorillaz after Blur.

Ja cool, aber länger als n Tarantino Film - 3

Blur es de los grupos de britpop que me agradaban, sin embargo en mi opinión mejoraron muchísimo cuando se alejaron del estilo y comenzaron a hacer música en otros estilos e incluso a experimentar (incluso sin tomar en cuenta que todo lo que Damon Albarn hizo en Blur palidece comparado a todo lo que subió al hacer Gorillaz). Incluso de los discos francos de britpop que tienen Parklife es el que se me hace mucho superior al resto y que, seguramente, se encuentra en esta lista. Esto me lleva a cierta reflexión sobre esos sesgos raros de esta lista en cuanto a que, o va a haber demasiados discos de Blur, o se va a centrar en poner algún par centrados a britpop y se va a ignorar cosas como el disco 13 o Think Tank que son mucho más interesantes. Hablando de este disco propiamente, creo es un disco que pocas personas recuerdan realmente (de entrada yo no recordaba el 80% de las canciones a pesar de haberlo tenido en algún momento en mis listas hace años). Nos presenta un pop rock medio psicodélico que hay que decirlo y es muy notorio... es básicamente una copia del sonido de los Kinks. En cuanto a letras lamentándose de la vida moderna cual buen britpop, hablando en varias canciones de esos puntos y costumbres hartamente británicos que a veces cuadran y uno se puede relacionar y a veces simplemente son demasiado locales. En realidad siento que el disco no tiene mucho sobresaliente, pero sí es agradable de escuchar y las canciones terminan siendo buenas. Lo que también es muy cierto es que con una duración de una hora se siente un poco largo y seguro que se podía recortar digamos al menos a 40-45 y se sentiría mucho mejor. Muy buen disco pero en mi opinión para nada un clásico como para estar aquí.

strange that this made the list. i didnt recognise any songs

Agradable escuchar de nuevo tan rápido Britpop y del bueno, no es ni por asomo el mejor disco de Blur pero ya se comienza a notar el cambio que van a tener. Damon Albarn tuvo que evolucionar mucho durante Blur para llegar a crear lo que es Gorillaz

Decent Album, Very 90's and while not jaw dropping by any means it was an easy listening album and i listened to both cds and thought they were okay

Mix between chill cruising rock music and psychedelic sounding jams. Overall pretty happy and positive vibes.

It was no Song #2, but I enjoyed parts of it

Not too bad. The album is consistently decent throughout, with a few worthwhile standouts, including the album's opener, 'For Tomorrow'. That said, I wouldn't be listening to this album again anytime soon.

3.5; great 90s alt rock, bit of psych in there. good fun

British Pop? Mir gefällt der Gesang nicht. Nicht die Qualität, sondern die Energie. Britischer Humor in musikalischer Form? Dafür hör ich wahrscheinlich keine Musik und bin wahrscheinlich gerade (wenn überhaupt irgendwann) nicht in der Stimmung. Ich hör später nochmal weiter. Nee, immer noch abgetan. Musikalisch weiterhin gut, aber der Flair der Stimmen stört mich.

Album was good. Really liked the guitar (electric guitar?) riff on Pressure on Julian.

Decent album, starts out very strong the first third or quarter but then slows down and ends up being 15-20 minutes too long

great piece of 90s britpop, little bit longwinded though but the highlights are great

Pretty decent Britpop album, "Star Shaped" is very catchy but some of the songs end up being just okay

eh

As said previously, I think my mood influences how receptive I am to listening. Blur wouldn't be my choice of band but this album may grow on me if I were to give it a couple of plays. 2.9/5

A truer sentence has never been uttered since

Not a huge Damon albarn fan but this one was heavy enough that I was digging it at times

Nifty tunes. I liked the guitar work and the casual feel of it all. 3.5

I thought this album was perfectly fine. It did seem pretty derivative of some other British rock bands I've heard before. I liked how the album was themed and I thought the lyrics were pretty clever.

neat album, but honestly, it was a blur

I've heard some later blur so this could be interesting. Thoughts: it's really.... English? Like they seem determined to capture the full spectrum of "British rock sounds" from song to song. Some of it sounds beatles-y or maybe the kinks, some queen, the Smiths introspective kinda style, couple of quaint interlude type arrangements from English prog, alt rock like Oasis made huge a few years later, etc. And the lyrics/vocals are hamming it up. It's not too bad though, can't fault the songwriting. Honestly this is a nice one-off listen but it's a bit too English for me to listen to again, it reminds me of summers where you need a jacket. 3/5.

p716. 1993. 2 stars. The alternative to Oasis's 90s revival of Brit rock, with an infusion of ideas and tunes stolen from The Kinks and The Jam. It's OK, but very derivative. Multiple points deducted for Damon Albarn - can't stand his voice, and at the end of the day he's an ex-art school middle class twat from Colchester, pretending to be a working class cockney. Poor life choice.

Definitely not what I was expecting given what "Song 2" sounds like. Joke's on me I guess since I've now learned that that song was meant as a more of a parody. I have to say that this album wasn't great. Nothing stood out and it had it's weird moments.

Näh

Tätä ei oo tullut kuunneltua, Blurin tämän jälkeistä tuotantoa kyllä. Tämä oli hivenen tylsä levy biisi materiaaliltaan. Ei jäänyt mikään biisi mieleen.

Kui album hakkas, siis ma arvasin, et kuulan Gabrieli-aegset Genesisi. Aga see polnud üldse nii hea. Igasugust veidrust on siin plaadil ja enamik sellest ei istu. Mul on raske sellele isegi 3 anda, sest mulle tõesti ei jäänud midagi siit kõrvu. Võibolla 90ndate inimestele selline kõla istus, sest see oli uudne. Aga mulle tundub see pigem mõttetu. 2.4/5

Honestly I might not even finish this one today, it drags a bit. I love the album art but that's about all I do like about this album, not as memorable as the one I got before from them, so perhaps 2 stars here, not complete garbage either

I do not get the hype over this band from this list maker. My list would not have any of their albums.

<The obligatory diatribe about Robert Dimery putting really mid britpop from the '90s on the list by default>

Boring

There is nothing on this album that makes me want to listen to more Blur

The album started off pretty good... but then the britpop reared it's ugly head. And don't get me wrong, it's pretty good britpop, but "good britpop" is also an oxymoron. So because of the britpop, and the sheer length of the album, I was feeling quite... resigned... at the end.

If this album, not even Blur's best Britpop sounding album, is on this list then I'm certain that this won't be the last time I hear them in 1001

it's okay

Første gang jeg virkelig har syntes de lyder som Oasis. Ikke et kompliment

Lidt banger-flad imo

This album is also a bit rubbish.

Wow, long and boring. I thought I would love it after the first song, but alas

Couldn't finish it

Review - stop fuckin makin me listen to Damon Albarn arrrrrrgh Score - 5/10 Need to listen? NO

Bastante lejos de los mejores trabajos de Blur. Hay varios discos de la banda más merecedores que este para estar en esta lista.

I suppose you include this in the book because it was the starting pistol for Britpop, if you think that particular marketing campaign was as important as music writers like to make out. Suede weren't the starting pistol to their credit. Blur are a singles band to me. The albums always seem to have more than their fair share of filler. I can't imagine why the Teardrop Explodes peeps haven't sued over Colin Zeal's similarity to the way superior Sleeping Gas. They even add insult to injury by immediately following it up with a song called Pressure On Julian. One amusing thing to observe is that the 1 star reviews by American participants complaining about its Britishness would no doubt have delighted early 90s Damon Albarn. This was a rebellion against Grunge but it was also a rebellion against the perceived musical excesses of shoegaze and the influence of the likes of the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Marychain. For me the problem with that is that they end up with a restricted pallette to work from and too many of the arrangements are a bit dull and the melodies and lyrics aren't good enough to pick up the slack. It sounds pompous.

Much as I like Blur, they can get a bit much, especially their more Britpoppy stuff like this. The videos are all a bit too Lads Lads Lads for me. And that bit tacked on the end of Resigned was very novelty song, which always means a point deducted.

I dunno... I liked some parts of this record. It had some cool music at times but to be honest, nothing really catchy or that memorable. I wanted to like this... but I did not. My bad.

Album that saved the band from bankruptcy, but I don't think it belong in the list if we already have Parklife and the Self titled. Not to say that it is a bad album, just not the best from Albarn and Co.

Damon Albarn is rubbish. The first song annoyed the fuck out of me, I skipped it. His dumb ass voice just sucks so bad on this album. I liked the instrumentation.

Not really a Brit pop sort of guy, or a blur fan, so this is a hard listen. It was either these or oasis and unfortunately I’m probably ok the bandwagon of oasis. Odd one or two songs stand out but, I don’t know if it’s you’ve got to be in the mood or if it’s just not as good as I thought it would be this album. Long, drawn out. I’d say masterpiece in a lot of ways, but again, it’s Brit pop.

Britpop is totally my jam, and yet.... reading the Wikipedia for this album is terribly embarrassing. The pretentiousness of Damon Albarn and even the other band members is astounding and makes me want to hate this album. It's such a shallow attitude to take - "America bad! England good!" Also - they hated America because we didn't love their music.... yeah - *it wasn't very good at the time, sir, BY YOUR OWN ADMISSION*. And yet the band felt that "Modern Life is Rubbish" was some kind of major artistic statement. Anyways. Let's actually listen to this thing before we draw any conclusions...... - I'm noticing something about Damon Albarn's music. I really enjoy some of his songs, "Coffee and TV," "Sing," "Clint Eastwood." But most of his work is missing anything remotely ear-catching to me. The songs on "Modern Life" are squarely in the non-hook category: dense, and tuneless, and going nowhere very interesting. I just don't get it. TWO STARS

Not great

Quite a long sit like this. Whether I thought it was worth it, hmmm...

ngl no le presté la atención necesaria porq estaba yendo a defender a la universidad pública.

Forget modern life - this album was rubbish 😔 Nowhere near as good as their other album listed on here 2 ⭐️

I am coming to realize that I just do not enjoy blur. The first album on the list did nothing for me, and it was the same for this record. I remember liking the Song 2 single off their self-titled album but not enjoying anything else on that album. Perhaps the entire band turns me off...

Didn't have any of the hits I know them by, and didn't grab me. I'm sorry I did have time to give it a second listen before having to rate it because I know these guys are capable of great things.

Kinda meh. This can’t be Blur’s best record right? And if there’s another one on this list, and they still included this album… then that makes this album even more annoying to stomach.

Meh. It's not rubbish, but it doesn't particularly distinguish itself either.

It is a decent mix of Brit pop and 90's indie, not a fan of the vocals at all. Only a few songs that I thought were completely interesting, could have cut a few songs and tightened this up. For me it was a bit too over produced, especially the drum sound and too long. And I know Albarn with the Gorillaz, which are awesome, but I couldn't get into his style on this record.

When this started to play, I thought it was OK as I got through the first few songs. Then I got distracted by something and must've tuned it out, as I only still realized it was playing when I got to song 9 (Oily Water). I found that one pretty good, but it doesn't really bode well for the album that I was able to completely ignore 5+ songs and not get pulled back in sooner. Having now completed the listen, I feel like the things I remember most about it are negatives. The main one being Albarn's voice, which once again grows old fast. Some people can pull off a distinct/unconventional singing voice, but his doesn't really work for me. I also didn't love the songwriting. Some parts were good, but often one section of a song kinda ruined what I had liked about it otherwise. Another issue was the length. I don't know if this band is capable of making an album shorter than 50 minutes from what I've been recommended, but I wish they had here. I really didn't see anything that lent to this album running as long as it did (just about 59 minutes). This is my third Blur album from this list (behind Parklife and Blur). I've only really liked Blur so far, for whatever reason. And even that wasn't really anything great. This one is better than Parklife to me, but still not that good. As a whole, I found it fine but unimpressive. Maybe another listen would help it make more of an impact, but I don't feel inclined to give it one. Overall: 2.2/5

Enjoyed about the first half of disc 1 as it was reminiscent of the Kinks and the Jam. Was not impressed with the other songs or sounds.

this was okay, nothing stood out really except chemical world with the intermission. that slapped. but yeah didn’t stand out overall

It's been years since I heard Modern Life is Rubbish, but I remember being ambivalent towards it. Upon relisten, Blur does some things that I expected, and some things I didn't. As previously stated, I did not have good memories with this album, and I'm reminded why. Blur can often be irritating when they lean obnoxiously pop. What I did not expect is that Blur could be punky or channel the dark psychedelia of a Soundgarden song. I really do appreciate the band's willingness to experiment with their sound, and it is consistently rewarding. Sadly these songs are in the minority Highlights: "Advert", "Oily Water" Lowlights: "For Tomorrow"

I’m calling it. Brit Pop is just overrated.

I think this is good but it’s not super engaging for me. The instrumentals are good but the singing is eh

eh

Nothing memorable here

Far too long 2 srts

Damon Albarn is rubbish. His disaffected vocal style completely ruins two different bands for me -- Blur and Gorillaz. This album is actually what cemented that notion for me. Let's attempt some criticism: 'Chemical World' is interesting. It has a singalong melody and sort of a Flaming Lips gang vocal in the chorus and a Pumpkins-esque glassy tone to the overdriven guitar. And then there's an irritating piano outro for some fucking reason. 'Oily Water' has kind of an interesting riff but it's totally dependent on either a tremolo pedal or possible some volume modulation to work, which is fine except when your whole thing is an effect, I'm going to compare you to The Edge -- one of the few people I give a pass to on this -- and it's not as effective as ol' Dave Evans. I'm not even a U2 fan. 'Villa Rosie' is alright. Instead of listening to this shite, try any of Sloan, Thrush Hermit, Eric's Trip and/or Jale. Music from Canada's East Coast in the 90's was infinitely better than the hot, sweaty, leaking garbage that was the Blur/Oasis "battle". Honestly The Stone Roses and later The Verve were much better, too. I've seen it written that Blur and Oasis were lifting their act from the 60's and 70's of great British music, respectively (say The Kinks for Blur and T. Rex for Oasis). If that's the case, I think they both missed the point (to be expected of the Gallaghers, as they were probably steaming drunk). There's a subtle aggression and transgression to The Kinks, backed up by their very beautiful melodies and harmonies; Blur just picked up the jangle and wanked all over a recording studio. You wouldn't attack a blackboard with a wire brush in a public park, so please be mindful of noise pollution and don't stream Blur if you don't have to. This reminds me of growing up in an era where everybody my age pretended that they didn't care about or like anything in particular and that performative cultural anhedonia has done lasting damage to all the kids from the Gen X/Millennial cusp. Don't celebrate it. This is crap. The Spice Girls were better. 2/5

4/10

Buen álbum para acompañar una mañana tranquila sin nada que hacer, solo para música de ambiente.

There was some ok stuff in there... but nothing REALLY caught me

I am not now, nor have been, nor will be (probably), a britpop fan. A lot of dissonant and unusual chord choices keeps this from being generic and bland, but as a result makes a not very pleasing listening experience.

Meh - it seems almost like a piece of meta-irony. Technically well put together but just not that interesting. You could see where they were going with future albums but this is just a bit forgettable.

I like Blur and whilst this album has the basic early blur hallmarks (cheeky cockney chappies singing about Bacardi Breezers and Steak & Kidney pie, possibly) it doesn't really have the memorable hooks to make any of these songs stick in the mind. It's no The Great Escape or even my favourite, the self titled 5th album. Not really worthy to be on this list.

My thought process whilst listening to this fluctuated between "this actually isn't half bad, probably the best Blur album I've had so far" and "shut the fuck up Damon Albarn" approximately 30 times. It's way too long (not helped by the drawling "Oily Water" or disastrous "Miss America" tanking proceedings towards the second third of the album), and it tries to be psuedo-intellectual whilst ultimately coming off as a bit daft. Very Kinks-esque updated for the 90s, but I'm not the biggest Kinks fan, so go figure!

Modern life is rubbish is rubbish

Sería poco original decir que esté álbum es basura

Better than I remembered, but about 110 percent longer than it needs to be.

They try so freaking hard to sound as British as possible that the album has to suffer. I mean no wonder these guys never became popular in the US. I’d much rather listen to a proper British band like oasis during this time.

Not for me.

Wow I hated this

Will other Blur albums be on this list? This was a decent album, but there are other Blur albums I prefer. I don't think I recognized any songs on here. And maybe because I just listened to Dirt, but Pressure on Julian sounds like an Alice In Chains song...

1.64

Found it a bit meh. Was hoping for more, I listened twice and found it pretty forgettable. I’m guessing Blur has some catchier/more compelling albums.

Oh good, another Blur album...and a touch over 2 hours. Wonderful Blur isn’t bad. They’re just not mind-blowing. And yet, because they’re British, those crown-kneeling, crooked-toothed, beans-on-toast-eating tea-chuggers have tried to convince everyone that Blur is on the same level as the Beatles. Listening to it, I kept thinking about the first Third Eye Blind record: polished, melodic alternative rock with strong hooks and solid songwriting. A decent album. Do you know where Third Eye Blind plays now? “Brews in the Park” in a random suburb 35 min away from the municipal airport. Maybe the amphitheater next to the penguin exhibit at your local zoo. And honestly? Modern Life Is Rubbish isn’t operating on some dramatically higher plane. The difference isn’t the music. The difference is the mythology. Which is great for history books. Slightly less impressive when you’re listening thirty years later wondering why this supposedly monumental album mostly sounds like a pretty good college radio band.

I thought I liked Blur but this album is so long and boring. Every song sounds the same. I had to turn it off half way through

Blur is rubbish.

2.5 Stars - not very inspiring

He sido un poco prejuciosa, pero tenia razón, la primera cancion es la mas escuchada, la caida de escuchas de las siguientes canciones es comparable a la de cualquier montaña rusa que te pone en vertical. Flojea mucho y encima son dos discos. Algunas canciones parecen interesantes, pero en cuanto entra la bateria suena todo igual, exceptuando alguna como Miss America o Villa Rosie.

Hade svårt att ta till mig det. Jag är snäll med detta betyg

Why are they sing-yelling at me in Extra British?

Best thing about this album is the title. But I’d go further and insert English between modern and life. To those wondering yes it’s a right wing observation. Second best thing is The Mallard which I’ve seen many times at the railway museum in York. Built at a time when England wasn’t rubbish and makes you yearn again for those days. As for the music Blur were never my favourites and Damon Albarn’s cheeky cockney whiny voice is more annoying than on any other of his albums. 2/5 13/2/26

Couldn’t get through it

For Tomorrow Chemical World

I like Blur and so was initially surprised that I only knew For Tomorrow from this album. After listening, I'm less surprised. Other than the piano led outro to Chemical World, these tracks are not memorable.

Very British. Better than their Blur album, but too long. Starts out OK, then lots of similar fillers, strong finish with Coping, Turn It Up, and Resigned. (2.3*s) Tempo seems somewhat askew throughout Modern Life Is Rubbish, but maybe that off-tempo is why this album makes The 1001 Must Hear List

Modern Life Is Rubbish but better than a lot of other eras. Same goes for the band when compared with other Brit Pop acts as they paved the way for the genre. This 2nd release was not a s good as their later works though. This album was a bit of a blur for me. Went past pretty quick and smooth for an hour long LP but didn't grabbed me at any point. Interested in listening to their debut as comparison to see the new direction they took. Not a bad record but skippable at 2.42 stars.

more like this album is rubbish hehehehehehehehehehehehe

This is an average album by a good band. Ultimately, this is an early album from a band still figuring out who they were going to be.

Can't get on with his voice at all

Ok album, but at over 2 hours, too long!

The Kinks we have at home. Damon Albarn really fancied himself huh

Rubbish. Boring. Nothing standout about it.

This album proves its thesis — rubbish it is. The songs are well crafted, solidly in the Venn Diagram of The Beatles & Bowie. but I don’t care about any of them. The heavy cockney accent and frequent failure to hit the notes bother. On the whole, disappointing and boring A 2.

Just did not hit any vines musically.

Not my kind of music

Ehhhhh

This album wasn’t total rubbish.

Nicht so geil - typisch Blur. Rotzig, jammernd und eher eindimensional. Einmal hören reicht hier.

- uhhmmm ..... weak and boring. I can't understand where the comparison to the writing of the Kinks comes from. Whoever writes that either doesn't listen, is grasping for something or has their head up their ass. The worst Kinks records still outshine this effort buy miles. It's almost an insulting comparison .... -

El disco contiene una de sus mejores canciones, la que lo abre. Tras ella, todo es aburrimiento, pretensiones y ruido. Damon Albarn no es cantante de nivel y el grupo suena a chicle y a música de dibujos animados de los ochenta.

And so is blur sort of.

I liked a couple tracks, but mostly I just wanted it to end

A very typical boring 90s britpop album.

Another example of 90s BritPop that I probably don't need to hear again.

Soft music + nasal vocals = not particularly enjoyable

Ei tämmönen brittipunkki ihan kyl uppoo. Laiskaa menoa ja laulukin vähän ärsyttävää.

Not inspired by this at all

My family hated me for making them listen to it

Blur is a fun band. I recognize a couple songs from different albums, but I’ve never heard any of these not bad 2.5 stars.

I didn't hate this album, but I was a little bit bored. There was nothing that pulled me in. Song I liked- Turn It Up

The songs are better than the ones on Parklife, but it's definitely not good enough for me to ever want to listen to an hour of it? Literally just pick and Kinks album and listen to that instead, honestly!

Modern life is very much like this album then. Blur were much better before they thought they were the Kinks, and even then they were much like modern life is.

More Britpop. So fucking sick of the pretense. List author's containerized sense of music really shines here.

Worse David Bowie

Not a good or interesting album...

I really like Blur but this one sort of misses the mark

Pretty standard Brit Pop 2h18m?? We serious here?? Fave track: For Tomorrow

I don't particularly see the appeal? too long i find the singing kinda annoying

I really don't like the vocals here. Everything else is just alright. Low 2*

Passed by in a blur and not in a good way 2-3

Second album proposé après 'Parklife' qui ne m'avait pas convaincu (noté 2/5). Ce nouvel album n'est pas mieux : les morceaux sont en général inutilement longs et ennuyeux ('Miss America'). Quelques exceptions qui le sauvent de la note minimale : 'Star Shaped' (harmonie un peu plus recherchée, signature rythmique évolutive), 'Chemical World' (break piano et accélération jusqu'au final). Pas de seconde écoute envisagée. =>2/5

This was not as easy a listen as Parklife. At times, though, it kinda sounded like Madness, and that was cool.