Blur

very 90's very british

Not bad.

@@@. Ok rock, some nice songs.

Essex dogs.

Difficile mantenere il livello di Song 2

Some great songs. Some filler.

Never listened to much Blur beyond Song 2. Not super overwhelmed with this album, but you can hear a lot of influences on other brit rock bands. Needs more listens.

1997 opening track 5:05mins Blur #1 song on spotify is Song 2 which is 2 min 1 sec long. marked stylistic changes of influenced by american indie bands (like Pavement). recorded in London and Reykjavik Iceland. Song 2 launched fame in US (where they had been unsuccessful)

Good but not really my style

Only got a bit into it. Seemed very vanilla.

It's alright but I'll stick to 'The Best of Blur'

Some songs was nice some was not as nice

Starts off amazing for the first few tracks but doesn't keep it up. Shame.

It’s blur baby!

Own. Fave song “Song 2” not much of Blur fan outside the hits.

It's not bad, but I feel like quite a few of the songs are parodies or just ripping off other genres. This can be successful (they're great anytime they try grunge) or less than successful ("Country Ballad Sad Man"). It's not bad, I just preferred MLIR. Favorite tracks: "M.O.R.", "Chinese Bombs", "Strange News from Another Star"

5/24 Another good British rock album. Standout Tracks: Beetlebum, Theme from Retro, Death of a Party, I'm Just a Killer for Your Love, Strange News from Another Star, Essex Dogs

song 2 is here but this album is just ok

oh jeez an album by the gorillaz dude man ballad sad country--there's this japanese band called ogre you asshole with an ep from like 2024 called outside of the house and the little synth bit in here reminds me of that. oya does it better, tho. 2 stars what unique characteristics is this supposed to bring to the table? all i hear is the dull drone of mediocrity, which is something that i am not in a mood to tolerate more than 5.5 tracks worth of.

Two blur albums in a week! And this was the worse of the two

Just when I thought this Britpop crap couldn’t get any worse, they abandon the “pop” part and make a bunch of repetitive “alternative” music.

I like Blur. I've always been around this album, I've known it existed, I've had Blur songs in heavy rotation for the past 20 years. I've probably listened to this album somewhere in my past and then shrugged and put it aside. I gave it another listen. This album sounds like a really tired band unable to string their exhausted ideas into songs. I know I've listened to it before, or tried to, but nothing here resonates with me. Some of it's straight up grating and boring.

Outside of “Song 2” this album is mostly just a big nothingburger.

Pretty bad, instruments were almost in tune with each other, and they almost sound good

I wish I liked this, but I would be grossly misrepresenting my feelings on this if I said otherwise. I get that blur was going for something a bit less commercial and differnt from their norm, and I appreciate that. However, really doesn't work for me. I think the first 2-3 songs work well, but agter that it really became a chore to power through. I'm curious as to how differnt the other blur albums are as I hope to enjoy them more. Overall, really struggled to connect with this and I found the instrumentation at points to be very unpleasant to listen to. First 2 songs are fire tho, that saves it a fair bit for me. Whatever, I like 'Song 2' the most, I'm basic I guess. Fav Track: Song 2

A varied selection of pretty unique sounding tracks, but nearly all of them suck. The vocals are interesting at first, but they get real annoying real fast.

Highlights: Bettlebum, Song 2 2.8

Didn't quit like it really

chill. mellow.

One-hour album, and only the first two songs are great. Blur are at their best when they're being quirked up and British.

There's something about late blur that I just can't stand. It's like they're trying desperately to be edgy and experimental and it's just falls falt. 13 manages it to an alright standard - in fairness - but beyond just you get records like this. Full of shlock that runs out it's welcome very quickly. Some odd redeeming tracks but overall a bit of a messy one.

The first two songs have élan, impulsion. The rest are unremarkable. The vocals are uninspiring and not helped by the distorting effects. I don't have a lot of patience for music like this but I do respect the artistry and craftsmanship. Also it's toooo loonnnnggggg

not really for me, it was okay

Beetlebum and Song 2. The rest didn’t cut it for me

An album you must hear before you die? No thanks mate.

Parklife was an awesome find and has the inside track to runner-up on the list of best album find of the year. This was rather disappointing by comparison. Too much distortion by more than a wee bit--be Blur of Parklife, not Radiohead knockoffs. I think Blur and I have some fruitful listening years ahead of us but this is a tough listen for the time being.

I guess it starts strong (like a solid 4.5% American lager) and then just drones for another 50 minutes. I appreciate the attempt at experimentation, but it's way less than the sum of its parts. Miss me with this whole era of non-hip hop music

Some great songs but honestly not a genre I appreciated that day

Man this guy really sounds like 2D!

The hits are great, but the rest feels like a slapped-together collection of ideas?

Not my style

I honestly expected better coming into this with how hyped Blur is, but it was kind of a let down, and maybe that’s on me. Just a bunch of noise with a few good sections thrown in.

Song 2 is one I didn't know was a Blur song. It's a borderline 3 but it's a 2.7

A few good songs, but if you're in the wrong mood, just downright annoying at times. Might listen to a few songs again, but passed on the rest. 2.5/5

aparte de song2, el resto son pop-rock, tranquilo, guitarras, bateria, etc. nada super bueno, está bien por tener algo de fondo, 2/5

Wow I'm actually surprised at how much I didn't like this. The first 4 songs here are great but after that the album just spirals off entirely into these weird experiments that don't work at all. Some songs are super lo-fi while some are cleanly produced, all the songs are all over the place sound wise and all of their attempts at experimenting with different genres are super half assed and just make this a really disjointed and confusing listen overall. I liked a few songs here but a majority of this I thought was pretty bad.

Not their best

One big hit. The rest was okay. Not my cup of tea.

Bleh. Meh.

Blur and Gorillaz don't really tick any boxes for rock music that I like. Everything they make just seems to pretentious and "better than you", it really turns me off. Song 2 is one that just screams "heh, we're so much better than you ignorant Americans", that attitude, being very charming and very British, is good in the right circumstances. Blur does it poorly. Strange News From Another Star ended really cool, same with Movin' On, I liked the progression it went through. Side B is definitely better than A; I think Blur actually decided to make less self-indulgent pieces towards the end.

Album 192. Blur (https://open.spotify.com/album/3VyHgnHE4cp7YuU7skzuJ2?si=m4bkfb-wRYChVjIA_GWMSQ) — Blur (1997) Well, this one is better than Modern Life Is Rubbish I can't help but dislike this band and songs. I don't wanna write anything. I'm tired of britpop. 2/5 Liked: — Beetlebum

I wouldn't be upset if a friend put this on, but I'll probably only be returning to Song 2.

Lowkey ass, song 2 makes no sense on this album

For various reasons, I never got around to listening to this album for 30 years. For the one reason that's its annoying, I hope that it'll be at least another 30 years before I have to endure it again.

its interesting certainly, but for me not in a good way compared to their other albums, especially the second half

Didn't love it, never got into it.

blurry

Has some genuine merit to the sounds they bring, lots of energy. Little else resonates. Many songs feel half baked.

Blur - when a satirical "joke-song" becomes your biggest hit 😬

My knowledge of Blur was based on their song Tender… this album was not tender. There were moments of okay sure but then more moments of no thanks but I think that speaks more to my preferences with rock than the quality of the album

I expectes more from the band that were supposedly the rivals of Oasis. If I didn't know this was Blur I would give it a 2. So I'm giving it a 2.

This is a 2, because let’s face it some songs are memorable and the sold plenty of units. Objectively, Blur were good at what they did. Absolutely none of my business though. Each member was infuriating in their own way, and this isn’t for me. Not necessary to hear.

Started off okay but got a bit redundant so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I might at the beginning

Found it pretty unmemorable. Some songs just sounded like noise

I’m more of an Oasis guy

Started strongly but I wasn't into their more melancholic tracks

I’d say I’m a fan of Gorillaz, and I’ve always thought Song 2 was fun, but I’ve never listened to Blur. Now I can say I have…

Boring and overrated. Song 2 is the best song and they wrote that as a parody

I do like Blur for the most part, but this album didn't do it for me. There a few high points - the first couple of tracks are great and start the album with a lot of promise - but the rest of the record falls flat in my view. How they were compared to Oasis in the 90s is utterly beyond me. The tracks just aren't that memorable or noteworthy enough for this to be considered a classic album, or anywhere near their Brit-Pop rivals earlier albums. It's a decent enough listen at points and I do prefer some other Blur albums, but too many of the tracks on this album were simply bang average.

Sounds pretty fresh. Fun stuff across the board.

Meh

uhm.

For the most part, Blur has always been more miss than hit for me. I enjoy some of their work but I can probably name at least five better Britpop bands off the top of my head. This album sounds a little like Pavement so that caught my attention but for the most part, I don't find enough of it to be interesting. A fine album but just not for me. Song 2 has been mercilessly beat into my head at every sporting event I've ever been to, which may be the source of my ire for Blur.

Just ok

Maybe I need to listen to it again but I was excited for this one to end I think there's something wrong with me I'm supposed to like blur

2/5

Alles in allem leider kein gutes Album

Nicht mein Fall, obwohl ich es schon mit diversen Alben probiert habe.

Honestly the album is super mid. Just because song 2 is popular doesn’t make this a top 1000. M.O.R is easily the next best song on the album.

“Song 2” is the one track I know from this album, the fifth album released by this British rock band. Otherwise, these guys should have eliminated a few of the clunkers here to improve the overall quality. “Beetlebum” is ok as an apparent Beatles homage, and “Movin’ on” was ok too. Overall not good enough for a three-star album rating though.

Man Blur is bad. Song 2 is worth a point though.

Not for me

I don't think it's a bad album I just did not enjoy it. 2/5

Few good songs, lots of filler though.

ehhh not as good as parkland. this feels like a step down. some good standout songs but overall pretty mid. 5/10

There was some fun stuff in there, but Christ there was a lot of there there.

3 eme (et dernier) album proposé par le générateur. Je n'avais pas vraiment apprécié les 2 précédents (notés 2/5 - morceaux trop mous, longs et ennuyeux). J'avais déjà entendu 'Song 2', qui alterne des passages calmes et plus intenses, et qui est très concis. Autre exemple de concision efficace : 'Chinese Bombs' et ses 1 mn 24 s. Malheureusement la plupart des autres morceaux sont mous, et/ou trop longs ... =>2/5

Carried by Song 2

The album is not great with the exception of song 2

Sub par brit shit. Not sure how they managed to get as big as they did. There are two good songs and then a bunch of filler.

I feel like they took the worst parts of American music at the time and Britishized them. Never really been a Blur fan, though. Song 2 does indeed fuck.

WORST BLUR ALBUM CONFIRMED?

fucking boring. 1 good song

Indistinguishable from a lot of music from the era.

Tja, beetje vermoeiend. Geen melodieën die je bij blijven en soms wat voorspelbaar maar

Song 2 really stands out, the rest is so dull and MOR. 2.65

I understand why it only ever heard one song from this album now

Decent enough!

I’m a huge 90s alt rock fan and it just didn’t feel that special to me. Some of the songs were ok but I was always thinking about if I actually liked it enough to add to my playlist. Music is very subjective so I probably just don’t mess with their sound like I mess with others.

All these 90s alternative Brit pop bands sound the same (until Radiohead came through and crushed the buildings). It’s like one big 90s car commercial or teen movie: derivative and dull, but still listenable.

Two amazing openers give way to a rapid deceleration. A few songs in and it's background, by the end it's actively frustrating that it's still going

It's blur being blur but just speeding it up in parts.

you're so great & look inside america are honestly terrible, i'm not a very big fan of wailing on top of an aimless strumming. i'm just a killer for your love was nice. song 2 was great. otherwise, not really anything special. it felt like a typical indie-rock album, sort of a nothingburger. i feel like it doesn't have a real identity: some songs veer into pavement-sounds, shoegaze, britpop, even the beatles. it doesn't feel cohesive. some of the guitar sounds are cool, but i feel like they are not very interesting, they're not new and not very original.

I’ve heard this before, and I own it. My wife loves Blur; I don’t dislike them. I am not a fan of britpop, Blur is the best of that genre at least. This album is their break from the britpop sound apparently but I still hear it in most of the songs. I liked Song #2 first time I listened to it but I could go the rest of my life without hearing it again. None of the songs here are bad, there are good melodies and some decent riffs, and some of the deep cuts are better than the radio singles, but this just doesn’t do anything for me. Surprisingly, since there’s a Graham Coxon solo album that I really like, so he must have kept the better stuff there.

tipo, legal. lado a fodinha, o lado b me cansou um pouco. song 2 clássica e essex dogs do caralho

first two songs were decent, the rest gave me a headache.

Damon Albert doing a creditable impression of Ian Hunter on a not bad album

One hit wonder. the rest is .. OK

Got bored of this album kinda fast. I've heard Song 2 hundreds of times before. A few songs stuck out to me but not enough to make me want to revisit this album.

I cannot ever pretend that I care about Albarn, but Song 2, Death of a Party, and Strange News from Another Star are all solid.

1st two songs awesome. The rest. Ergh

Not my cup of tea

some great moments, a lot of boring moments

Rock, 1997 -> 2

schizophrenic album

This was fine. Obviously "Song 2" is iconic, but nothing else here really sounded that strong. It wasn't bad, but this vocalist is not great. This album didn't feel very cohesive either. The instrumentalists are strong, but sometimes the vocals are too exposed/too chaotic Liked Songs: "Beetlebum" , "Song 2" , "M.O.R." , "On Your Own" , "Chinese Bombs" , "Look Inside America" , "Strange News From Another Star" , "Movin' On"

One classic that was everywhere at the time and relatively nondescript besides.

Not really memorable by any means

I’m not much of an Oasis but was this really a question? One immortal jock jam and a lot of Brit pop homework.

Nothing exceptional

I knew Song 2 and Beetlebum. I like Brit Pop, but Blur has never been one of my favorites in that genre.

Disappointing. Aside from "Song #2" there was nothing good. I find it interesting that as soon as the album finished my algorithm played "county house" and "girls and boys" to at least remind me that Blur isn't horrible

I really didn't enjoy this to be honest, apart from Song 2 and Beetlebum which I already knew. Essex dogs was quite atmospheric but I wouldn't listen again. Just a lot of tuneless noise that sounds like a boring version of Oasis - sorry!

One hit wonder band. Unclear why they have *3* albums on the list.

This is my second Blur album and I see now why their only hit was Song 2.

Song 2 and not much else.

plus je l’écoute, moins je l’aime les 2 dernières minutes de Essex Dogs sont bonnes

I thought I might like this a bit more but Blur can’t write albums. And it has to be said, they wear their influences very much on their sleeve to a point that it sounds more a collection of tributes than songs

I tried. I listened about halfway through and I get it, but I don't want anymore

I preferred Parklife. Whoo-Hoo

Not what I expected.

Started off strong then felt really dull. Feel like the album didn’t many songs that stood out.

In what twisted world is Damon Albarn’s can’t be arsed vocals essential listening? Quite honestly they sound like a really crappy Pavement tribute band that hasn’t really listened to any Pavement.

like beetlebum, not my taste

A couple of songs I recognized and enjoyed learned some lyrics like his head wasn’t shaved by a jumbo jet plane but overall don’t quite get it

No lo he terminado. Me gustan las dos primeras, estoy cansada

every song kinda sounds the same,I only added beetlebum.Song 2 I already had cuz its peakkkk but the rest of the songs on the album were ahh in my opinion,some instrumentals were good tho but nahh not for me

Only added 1 song bit too boring and they are British only good British is pink pantheress (queen of england)

Honestly I zoned out a lot

Apart from 'Song 2' and maybe 'Beetlebum', this is just very average dragging dross.

I like the vibe, but it just doesn't catch my attention.

Significantly better than Parklife, so the corner that they turned on this album from BritPop to Indie Rock was a very welcome change. That said, this does little more than prove that they can sound as good as one of those interchangeable 90s bands like Better than Ezra or The Verve Pipe. But, we don’t need another Vertical Horizon or 3 Doors Down, do we? The 90s gave us enough of The Toadies and Hoobastank to cover us for a lifetime, so we don’t need Blur coming late to the party like some long lost Dishwalla. They can hang out with Harvey Danger, Eagle Eye Cherry, Tonic and Deep Blue Something over in the corner. I’ll go listen to something less derivative.

decent.. only a few songs liked though - song 2 and death of a party

It’s fine britpop. Nothing special. 2 stars

Buns

dnf

Good Britpop, but it doesn’t have the standouts of like Parklife to keep me coming back.

Solid album, it starts off so strong. I know they’re popular but this feels like very mediocre Brit pop rock. Maybe I need to give it more time but it didn’t hit for me.

Quite an unpleasant listen. Where are the melodies?

Nicht meine Musik. Ein Song war bekannt durch Radio.

this is like my fourth or fifth album to listen to today, and i'm coming down from a hot streak of 4- and 5-star albums. in comparison, this is absolute dogwater. beetlebum is fine, song 2 is straightforward but a classic, and then... there's another 12 tracks on here of overengineered and unintelligible britpop cacophony. snore. favorites: beetlebum, song 2

As I said in my last Blur album review, I find their music, lyrics and delivery, a little too pretentious. The ultimate in BritPop. Song 2 is good. I wish I liked this album more than I do.

This album starts off with beetles beetlebum which is a strange one. To put the best song first is odd because it never gets anywhere near those heights after that. The annoying song 2 follows and then its just self indulgence all the way. After their previous excellent albums this is a drop-off in quality

Some Beatles, some Oasis, some Radiohead. Too harsh, experimental, and depressing for me, but some bright spots. Favorite song: Look Inside America

Oasis till a die

Quirky, interesting in bits but in the end underwhelming.

Alkuun ihan menevää rokkia, mutta loppua kohden poppoon keskittyminen on herpaantunut ja puhdasta paskaa oli vahingossa livahtanut äänen tallentimiin puolikkaan albumin verran. Laitetaan siitä kostoksi kagone

Pääni tutki, jumbojetti! Kuuntelin tämän levyn kerran vähän sen jälkeen kun se ilmestyi, en muista lainasinko kirjastosta vai kaverilta, mutta nyt muistan miksi en koskaan palannut tähän. Sorvarin kourallinen ihan ok biisejä, kusenpoltama Song 2 ja sitten loput melkoista hevonpaskaa. Varmaan huonoin levy missä Damon Albarn on koskaan ollut mukana. En oikein löytänyt mitään punaista lankaa tältä levyltä. Tosi tunkkaisia nirvanasoundeja, eikä sävellyksetkään tosiaan ole mitään maata mullistavia. Tästä jotenkin tuntuu puuttuvan kokonaan se itseironinen meininki, mikä itselleni ainakin tekee Blurista hyvän. Epäilisin että tässä rojektissa tulee kyllä muutakin tuotantoa vastaan, sinänsä harmi että eka levy mikä tähän osui on melkein se kehnoin.

The album's only notable track is Song 2, which I should have realized was foreshadowing for its rating. This one felt like a very mediocre roller coaster: the beginning wasn't great beyond Song 2, the middle improved a little bit, then the end brought it back down to Earth from its small peak. How this band has any albums on this list, let alone three, is a mystery to me.

i know song 2 is a parody of the harder alt rock songs but it's also the only good song on the album so idk maybe the other guys are right

I’ve never listened to an entire Blur album before. I knew the single, Song 2, as it was hard to miss at the time, but I didn’t care for Britpop then. It turns out that I still don’t! Or at least not this album. I hear some of their influences here—Pavement, Bowie—and it’s mildly interesting but I’d rather listen to that than Blur’s interpretation of it. I don’t hate it, but nothing grabs me enough to want to go deeper with it either. In all, it feels a bit light, don’t know if that’s just an ingrained dislike for the genre.

Kinda more boring than I thought. Did not finish.

- 2.5 rounded down to 2 because it's fine, competent and has some interesting moments ...... but it never really goes anywhere. I was left wanting .... -

I would've been ok with dying only knowing the small excerpt of Song 2 that played in FIFA 98

I listened to this album twice yesterday, but can only remember the hit song 2, so, I suppose that tells you everything you need to know about the album. But, i never thought 'i should turn this off' during the two listens, so it's not actively bad at any moment.

One big hit and a lot of average melancholy

i wasn't really blown away by this. Song 2 is pretty awesome, but everything else i felt like was just on the album. perhaps this would require another listen, but overall i found it underwhelming

I like Song 2 and a couple others, but for the most part this album was unremarkable.

I owned this album as a teen! but only really listened to song #2, which I still thing is the best song and only one I'd really listen to again. Still, a real nice groove to this album.

Very average, other than Song 2 which is a classic. Knocked off one star because of how they treated my boy Nardwuar :(

I thought I’d like it more to be honest. Some very impressive tracks on it though.

Blur starts with promise but quickly loses its grip. Song 2 is a pure burst of fun and noise that still holds up, but most of the album drifts between half-formed ideas and filler. Country Sad Ballad Man feels like it’s building toward something that never comes. nd the middle section struggles. 2/5

If you're going to have uninteresting music, at least have vocals that are expressive and dynamic. Similarly, if you're going to have stale vocals, at least have more dynamic music. This entire album is just filler and there aren't any amount of various sounds that could save how structurally uninteresting the songs are. A massive slog to get through.

Meh, kinda boring.

Pretty punky and noisy, but had its moments. This one was bordering between 2-3 the whole time. Then Essex Dogs came on to finish.

Meh

Other than Song 2, pretty naff.

# 590 : Blur Blur – A Whole Lot of Meh, Bookended by a “Woo-Hoo” Sometimes I’ll listen to an old album and wonder why I’ve only ever heard one song from it. In this case, I know exactly why. Blur is a very ordinary, very beige Brit-rock album trying on American indie like a teenager in a thrift store. And it doesn’t quite fit. “Song 2” slaps—no denying it. A two-minute sugar rush of fuzzed-out guitars and ironic grunge mimicry. The real kicker? The one song that parodies American alt-rock is the one that made them famous in the States. That’s some delicious irony. But after that? The album becomes a bit of a… well, blur. The first two tracks are bangers, and then it’s like the band collectively took a nap. None of the other songs really spoke to me. It’s not terrible, just incredibly uneventful. Like a lukewarm pint—technically beer, but not worth writing home about. Best Track (if you must): Song 2 – the musical equivalent of a Red Bull shot in a sea of tepid tea. Verdict: ★★ for the “Woo-Hoo.” File under “albums that peaked at track two.”

I thought i didn't like blur because I liked oasis more. Turns out I just dont like blur.

This album felt like 3 hours long. Didn't enjoy much. Bleh

One of the cases where I can absolutely see, and respect why this band is on this list. However you probably could have just left it at the Gorillaz self titled, seeing as its the next, and more interesting Damon Albern project. Oh well. This just sounds like proto Gorillaz, with some more strong grunge and indie notes.

This was a slog, 1 star if it didn't have Song 2 and Essex Dogs.

Ehh

Man, and I thought this band was good. Suppose I liked Song 2 and Death of a Party because I've heard them before. The rest is a snooze fest. Actually couldn't get through most of the songs. Much prefer their album "The Magic Whip" from the 2010s.

I spent at least one point in every song thinking "is this song over yet?"

How did I not know it was just called “Song 2”? This album didn’t really feel cohesive. Some songs were fine, others were less so. Not a bad listen, but not one I will come back to.

It is an album made up almost entirely of perfectly fine movie soundtrack pieces. The phrase "workman like" occurred to me many times while listening. They are clearly skilled musicians, I'm not sure why they felt they had to make this album but it does seem to have happened under some form of duress. The cover also feels contrived, 2/5.

I think this album really lets blur down. They have so many hits but this just doesn't help, it just lacks everything and after the 4 or so albums before it's a complete let down. It's also just boring. What is it trying to be.

Not really for me but I guess I can appreciate the cultural impact.

Chatinho chatinho

Hipster bowlshit

Some very radio friendly tracks but otherwise didn’t do it for me then nor now

2 stars all day and twice a day on Sundays.

I kind of assumed that this was Blur's debut album considering how messy and all over the place it was. Damon Albarn went on to do much more interesting stuff with Gorillaz. 2/5

Nothing great here

Yeah its got a couple of good tracks but the rest is kinda boring guitar white noise to me.

Meh, mediocre to me.

This is the kind of album you'd buy for one track and then spend months trying to convince yourself you liked the rest of it so you didn't feel ripped off. To their (dis)credit, Blur does a pretty good job here of capturing the esthetic I hated most about 90s music: that noisy, lo-fi alternative garage sound with overbearing drums and simple-yet-flawed guitar riffs that sounded like a couple teenagers jerking around after school. I'm kinda tired of handing out 1s, though... and we HAVE had so many worse things on this list... so, since I was able to get through this twice without rage quitting, I guess I can justify tossing it a generous 2.

Ich komme mit der Stimme überhaupt nicht zurecht.

Sounds like a (good) tribute band to several other bands/artists. I hear The Beatles, Bowie, Nirvana, the Monkees, & others. It’s not bad, but I just don’t hear anything influential — just a lot of influences. A 2.

I don't get it. They were one of the biggest band in the UK in the 90's. How?

blur

More Brit Rock, WOO HOO! You’ve heard “Song 2”, even if you've never known that was the name of the song. It's their biggest hit and probably the only thing you know about Blur. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is pretty unremarkable 90s brit rock. I'm not going to wade into the details of Blur changing their sound for this record or what bands they chose to "take influence from" for their new sound. You've never heard their old sound anyway, so who cares. This list seems pretty insistent that brit rock is very important and that we should listen to every big record from the genre. Sadly, I don't see what this is bringing to the table that isn't covered by The Boo Radleys and Oasis before it, or Primal Scream and Franz Ferdinand after it (all albums I've reviewed from this list so far). It doesn't feel like a step forward for anything, just a 'status quo' brit rock record that managed one monster hit single. I didn't need to hear this before I died.

Like two great songs, but otherwise felt really unfinished.

After only knowing Song 2, I expected a little more from this band. After the first couple songs it's pretty uneventful. 2/5

It’s ok, fine vibes

I think I like the regular britpop Blur rather than this "we just discovered Pavement" record. Good thing there's another 2 Blur records on the list!

Never able to get into Blur. Not bad, just nothing there for me.

I'm all good with it. Solid 2/5

As an American who was only familiar with "Song 2" before this challenge, I was immensely looking forward to digging further into Blur and hopefully finding some gold. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up particularly enjoying this album. It feels like Blur is trying to poke fun at different rock trends across the tracklist, but the lack of context made it hard for me to tell whether or not I should be taking anything seriously and I tried to just enjoy the music for what it is. There are a few tracks I thought were decent, but I didn’t come away from this album with a new favorite from the band ("Song 2" unfortunately reigns supreme, for now) and I spent most my listen itching to move on to something else. Highlights: Song 2, Theme from Retro, You’re So Great, Look Inside America

Insufferably pretentious. At their best when mocking their betters.

I liked the first song? Then it kinda went downhill

Gear: Grado Hemp Artwork: 🛌🍃🟧 Production (2012 Remaster): 🙄🤔🤷 Music: 🎸🕑🇬🇧 Rating: 🚑🚑(🚑)/5

Meh. 90's music just isn't for me.

This is fine but the album feels really inconsistent. There's no overarching theme, it feels like a bunch of random ideas that got turned into songs. It's not bad but I don't think it's particularly very good. It feels like they were musical tourists and just pulled from everywhere they were visiting. Song 2 is so high school coded for me. It's the only song that feels 'polished.' Anyway, I'm not likely to revisit this.

I've been on a real Oasis kick lately and Damon Albarn's grunge tourism is not doing it for me right now.

Wasn't my vibe

Each song feels a bit different, but I wouldn't call them okay to listen to. British rock all around. Notable tracks: Death of a Party, On your own

Listening to this album just reinforces my previous understanding that these guys were a one hit wonder. And they didn't even have the creativity to give it a name--both the album and the one hit, Song 2. Without that song, this album would have been a 1/5. Really just twangy whining. This was a terrible era for rock, the late 90s, and bands in the U.S. and U.K. often just sounded like bland, watered down versions of early 90s powerhouses. This has no business being on this list--I could have very happily died before listening to this album.

Meh, it was very hit or miss.

this listening experience was a fever dream

Not very interesting, the sound blends together. The end is a bit more expetimental, so more interesting, but barely. Melodies are not that strong too..

**Just noise, most tracks sound alike

2.8

Look, I could have gone my entire life without hearing this album. It's alright, just not hooky enough for me to want to listen to it again. Nothing to grab me. Beetlebum was interesting. M.O.R. was good. Song 2 brought back memories. Outside of that, nothing notable. My Rating: 2/5

I think the algorithm has a thing for Damon Albarn. Sheeezus. This one has a few great songs and you can feel them pushing away from BritPop, but I am still not won over.

Meh. I remember the impact of this album, but listening today it did carry through like it once did. There is no denying the impact of Song 2, but the remainder of the album did not have much extra to offer.

Too much mediocre Brit Pop!!

warbly, screechy, whiny, noisy, harps??, cringy. It's not a 1 star album since I did make it through listening to all of it, but it is a significantly low value of 2 Whoo-hoo! That's over.

*1997. *First time listening to this album all the way through. Starts strong with Beetlebum, Song 2, and Country Sad Ballad Man, then falls off. *Really wanted to like this, but just didn't hit. Didn't hate it either though. *Anyone who says Blur is better than Oasis is a pretentious contrarian. *Will try giving it more listens. RATING - 6/10

Do I even like rock music anymore? Definitely not this kind of rock music. This album just seemed to go on and on and on and on...Even Song 2 wasn't the joyous harkening back to my youth that I had anticipated.

Besides Song 2, this all is very very boring Best Song: Song 2 Rating: 4.0/10 Stars: 2/5

4/10

For song 2 only

I had to unblock Blur from my Spotify just to listen to this. I'll be generous and give it 2 stars because of Song 2.

I expected this to come it at a 3 but it didn't. Was never a fan outside of Girls and Boys.

così così

Not great, but not terrible. Not an album I would choose over something else to listen to anytime soon

När Blur glömde skriva melodier. Med undantag för Death of a party.

Tem uma ou outra mais ok, mas o Blur pra mim até hj sempre bateu na trave, nunca atinge o softspot do que eu gosto

2.5. Beetlebum and Death of a Party are good songs. Wasn't that into the rest of the album though.

An interesting return, but Oasis is just more interesting im sorry.

Correcto, sin más. Entiendo a la gente a la que le guste Blur, pero a mí no me termina de convencer y mira que lo he intentado varias veces. Además, puede que Song 2 sea la canción que más me guste y ya está muy trillada. 2'5/5

Nice to see Song #2 in its natural habitat but the rest of the album felt like a grabbag. 2.5

I saw someone talking about Oasis the other day and someone else said “you seem like more of a Blur guy” and that’s the rudest fucking thing I’ve ever seen someone say on the internet. Extra star for song 2, the rest of it is mind numbing.

there was two songs on this that i found somewhat enjoyable, which was two more than expected

Song 2!!!!!!! And then a bunch of generic rock

Pretty standard BritRock - it's okay - Song 2 is a banger, but most of it is just whatever.

Still not really of fan, but it was better than Parklife.

Better than the other album we listened to by them. Still not my favorite.

A bit of a weird medley of sounds on this album. It was by no means shit but the idiom about throwing enough shit and some of it will stick comes to mind. I don’t think it really works for me as an album, I found some songs reasonably enjoyable and no denying the staying power of the first two songs on the album, but then you get the dire ending of the final two tracks. Kudos to anyone who can enjoy Essex Dogs, in particular the final interlude.

I remember listening to this album near it's release which is rare for this project. The first two songs are iconic from the era and probably sold most of the copies of this album. The rest was classic Blur noise which is fine but uninteresting. I did think you can hear some proto-gorillaz in here though in hindsight which is cool.

lame

This project has confirmed to me that I do not like Blur, nor do I like Brit-pop. Sounds like crappy indie rock from the early 90's, and not in a good way.

sounds like the soundtrack for a PS2 racing game

Song 2 is all that matters, the rest is absolutely mid

Okay I think (no memory)

Still prefer Oasis:)

Not bad, I don't need it all. Unfortunately I think I background musiced this album and didn't pay proper attention, but yeah. 2.5/5 stars.

Damon Albarn is much more interesting when he's not flying under the name Blur.

Oljud

Song 2 is a great song alot of the songs are not that great on disc 1 of the album Death of a party has a nice little bass line the album is very industrial sounding I liked the charm of You're so great Many of the songs on here are bad, although it is quiet and eclectic collection

If you like blur it's a five, i don't.

Another Blur album? Three Blur albums? I know people criticize Rolling Stone lists for having too many American acts, too many white acts, too many etc....but the number of forgettable British albums, multiples of groups that have little to no resonance outside of their time period, and certainly not enough to warrant multiple albums, is astonishing. Blur has three albums and Oasis has two...I guess Damon Albarn won after all. Except Oasis is getting ready for a reunion tour that the whole world is excited for and if Blur opened for them everyone would boo them until Oasis came on stage. It's fitting because they're like a less good Oasis. Song 2....the hit of all hits for Blur...WOO HOO! This feels like a very 90s song. This album is garbage...I'd prefer to listen to Garbage. Chinese Bombs would never get made today. This album feels like it is trying too hard to be....something. I'm not sure if it's something important or something cool or something popular. If American bands were as obsessed with the political environments of other countries, they'd be called colonialists. Keep Star Wars out of your America hating mouths. Ending with an almost nine minute spoken word drag does not help.

Standouts Beetelbum

Well, today I learned the lead guy here also formed Gorillaz. That's pretty neat. This album is just ok. Song 2 about the only notable piece. It'll go on the 1001 playlist. ~ 2 stars

This was initially a pleasant surprise to see come up. I've always liked Song 2 and it's a wonder I've never listened to this album. After hearing it, I question why it's on this list. I mean, it's but not a terrible album, but there's nothing special here. It's a fairly typical album from a one hit wonder in the 90s. Not terrible, but still, pretty bad. Song 2 keeps it a solid 2 stars.

I honestly really like some Blur songs, but I don’t like most Blur songs. None of their albums are worth a listen as a whole, in my opinion.

I only know Song 2 by Blur...and that's about the only song I liked on the album. Never liked them enough to go...oh I should listen to their whole album!, and I see why. A lot of the songs were pretty annoying, and I won't listen to this album again.

Experimentation is fine, but it has to be a means to an end - there has to be a singular goal or at least some guiding hand tying everything together. Blur maybe lacks that focus, and as a result is often more "interesting" than "listenable". Beetlebum and Song 2 always struck me as being a little too contrived as different ends of the indie spectrum, and MOR is just Boys Keep Swinging played sideways. Luckily, the album tracks you might be less familiar with do Albarn's more introspective lyrics the most justice - the moody ska of Death Of A Party, or more authentically trippy organ workout Theme From Retro, for example. Elsewhere, Look Inside America sees Blur paying tribute to themselves, so there is something for fans of their previous albums too, while Coxon gets his moment on You're So Great. Overall, less than a sum of its parts maybe, but far from the worst album you'll hear on this list.

Meh

Disco confuso e sonolento. Algumas passagens interessantes, apenas. Mais uma "bandinha".

Couple of well-known songs but the rest I didn’t care for. Not a fan.

Considered myself more of a Blur guy than an Oasis guy, but there wasn't a lot for me on this album. Maybe this is more of an outlier, but the album is just generally okay.

Blur should have stuck to playing Britpop. This is not an album that I would want to listen to again. The two hit tracks are the highlight, and I'm sure I'll hear those again plenty of times... So that will be enough, thank you.

Enkelte greie melodier. Mye gitarspill som blir verken fugl eller fisk. Best når de er Beatles light.

One good song on a otherwise weak album.

Very muddy sound for most of this album, not sure if they are being ironic or not on multiple songs. Generally didn't enjoy most of this

"Beetlebum" e "Song 2" são as únicas músicas boas. As demais são monótonas e desleixadas. "Song 2" me traz uma memória muito vívida: eu no banco de trás do carro prestava atenção no meu pai colocando um CD no rádio. Lembro do meu pai cantando "Song 2" e como aquela atmosfera do carro me contagiou. Perguntei pro meu o nome da música e, por algum tempo, eu a considerei a minha música favorita.

Some bands are one hit wonders for a reason

Okay, so I may have judged Blur a bit too harshly in my Gorillaz review, because I did actually enjoy this album quite a bit. I don't see myself returning to it on a regular basis, but there are quite a few bangers on here that I've now added to my playlists. Still prefer Oasis, though.

Can’t really put my finger on it but this album didn’t do it for me. Felt like maybe they were trying too hard to be creative and different; touching on multiple genres. Iblistened to the album twice and both times it seemed like noise in the background, nothing caught my ear. There were a couple of cool chord changes in Beetlebum and of course Song 2 is awesome but beyond that this album did nothing for me. It’s a one star album in my opinion but I’m giving it an extra star because the Blur boys wanted to fight the Gallagher brothers and I think that’s pretty fucking rock n roll.

British rock again, this was one of the better albums. But still not my style. 2.4

A couple of good songs surrounded by meh.

Pretty mundane- having a hard time finding the criticality of this one.

I don't recall listening to a lot of blur outside of sound number 2. That one still holds up... Sadly I don't feel the rest of the album does. I expected more since he went on to help create Gorillaz and that song number two has had such staying power that it would be more. So besides a couple of songs the album is really very plodding along. Like the way he sings it is like he's droning on to noise from the band. Sadly it's a miss.

Meh. Medium music from a medium era with medium impact.

2/5. Song 2 is a classic, and I still like it. But it can't carry the weight of this dumpster fire.

Kind of disappointed by this album when I bought it back when it came out. Still disappointed kind of disappointed.

Maybe wasn't the right time for this one... has so much play time I liked the opener. And you're so great. Trying to avoid the uber sad ones at the moment so the last few tracks weren't the thing.

It’s alright. Song 2 is great though

So full of promise and hope at the start, quickly faded into disappointment. Soundtrack to Tony Blair's tears.

Very disappointing. I have no desire to listen to this again. I did make it all the way through, so it's 2 stars!

2/5

That one hit song, “Song 2” wasn’t bad. The rest just felt kind of repetitive and boring to me, it’s not really even something I would say is fine. Certainly non offensive but that’s not much of an endorsement.

It was OK. Not much that really stuck out for me.

Mid.

You can see how the band members really grew when they started the Gorillaz. Less developed sound here, pretty average album.

Very British rock. I’m not the target audience.

A slightly incoherent album that oscillates between catchy radio-friendly tracks and downright unlistenable/unapproachable ones. This pales in comparison to the last Blur record on here. Standout track is: “On Your Own”