Blur

Great !

Glad Albarn eventually started Gorillaz, he’s 3 albums short of figuring it out here. Song 2 is fun and overall it’s ok but I was fine never hearing this.

could have been a 4 but some tracks let it down

This is nice and got a lot weirder than I expected, in a good way. Song 2 is overplayed but slaps. It pleases me that it is the second song on the album. And that the album cover is a blur.

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

Most of this album was very different from Song 2. I did enjoy Beetlebum as well. The melancholy style of the singing later in the album was addicting.

2.5 stars It started out with promise. The 2 songs I knew. And they’re both pretty good. And the songs after aren’t too bad. But before long it starts to sound like an album by a band trying to sound like other bands and it’s not natural. I wouldn’t listen to this whole album again before I die.

A rough listen, edging on a feel of unfinished or constant movent. Somehow it feels unresting, going somewhere in the traffic and with a ticking clock. It makes me feel late, but in a laid back, unavoidable way. Weird record, which I quite like. To me, this was the first step for Damon towards the Gorillaz, with a mixture of indie rock, experimentalism, and with an eye to the future.

Sounds like radiohead b-sides

I always thought that the band name perfectly sums up their music: a blur. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad, and Song 2 rocks, but I just don't think they deserve the hype they still get. I'm just glad that Damon created Gorillaz. That band is superior to this one, and I think he knows it as well. That being said, just because it has Song 2, I give this album a 3.

Oh yes

-personal storylines -experimental -contrast to the brit-rock culture -raw, grunge guitar

Not my favourite blur album I recon, some bangers on their like Song 2 but other songs are much weaker. Still love Blur. Something also about the production that doesn’t sit quite right.

Bien.

By 1997, Blur had already discovered that The Great Escape wasn’t. Parklife had made them Britain’s defining band, but The Great Escape showed them the cost. It was bright, clever, successful and increasingly airless: an album full of people trapped inside the lives they had supposedly chosen. The title now sounds less like a promise than a joke. Nobody escapes. Not the country-house exile. Not the office drone. Not the charmless man first glimpsed as graffiti in the toilets at Grantham station. Not Damon Albarn, who had spent years writing brilliant little novels about other people and was beginning to realise he might be trapped inside one himself. That is why the cover of Blur matters so much. A blurred figure on a stretcher, being rushed into A&E. Not a corpse. A casualty. The patient is Blur itself, being carried away from the Britpop wars after technically surviving them. Then comes Beetlebum. It is the crucial track because it does not merely announce a change of style. It enacts the thing the whole album is about. The song drifts in like late Beatles viewed through narcotic fog, owing something obvious to Happiness Is A Warm Gun, but the important moment is not the reference. It is that sudden opening when Damon sings “and when she lets me slip away”. For a few seconds, the burden lifts. The room brightens. Escape seems not only possible but beautiful. The rest of the album spends an hour testing that promise and discovering its limits. That is what makes the record so much more than “Blur discover American indie”. Pavement, Neil Young, Nirvana and lo-fi guitar culture all matter, but they are not the subject. They are tools. America itself is only another proposed exit. So are drugs. So is fame. So is love. So is reinvention. So is being in a band. The album keeps asking the same question from different angles: what if every escape route leads back to the person trying to escape? Song 2 understands this instinctively. It is not the album’s thesis. It is a controlled explosion, a joke about American alt-rock that accidentally became one of the most effective rock singles of the decade. In two minutes and two seconds, Blur blow the doors off and immediately risk creating a new trap for themselves. They escaped Country House only to create another monster. That, too, is part of the point. Even rebellion can be marketed. Even a joke can become your signature. After that, the album proper begins. Country Sad Ballad Man is the first sign that Blur have stopped merely arranging and started discovering. There is boxy air around the song. The band sound relieved, as though Graham Coxon’s wish for music that would “scare people” did not mean horror or aggression so much as uncertainty. The old Blur records are brilliantly designed. This one allows things to happen in the room. Damon’s writing changes accordingly. He had always been a great observer, but here the distance begins to collapse. Graham later said that Damon’s songs were revealing more to him than to Damon, and that feels central to this album. On Parklife, Damon is still the novelist. By Blur, the characters are becoming translucent. The teenager who dies in Death of a Party is not just a social type. It is Damon himself: the death of the belief that the next party, next drug, next lover, next country or next version of yourself will finally deliver the escape you were promised. That is why Graham is so important to the record. He is not merely the guitarist who brought in Pavement records. He is the counter-argument. While Damon keeps searching for exits, Graham keeps shrinking the frame. You’re So Great is almost embarrassingly simple, which is why it matters. It is not a manifesto. It is a small human solution: affection, coffee, television, ordinary life. The same instinct would later become explicit in Coffee & TV. Graham’s answer is not transcendence. It is sufficiency. Maybe simple things have to be enough. Damon is not there yet. Death of a Party is the “I hear you, Graham” song, but not yet the “I agree” song. It hears the argument that the party is over, that the teenage fantasy has died, that the search for elsewhere has failed. It does not yet know what to put in its place. Chinese Bombs, gloriously meaningless and furiously brief, is Graham’s “mid pop life crisis” in miniature: a refusal to let significance smother noise. Sometimes liberation is just eighty-four seconds of racket. Then the second half of the album tightens the noose. I’m Just A Killer For Your Love is not really romantic melodrama. It is letting go, self-deprecation, nullification. Hair cut off. Coat removed. Load dropped. Nothing lasts. Look Inside America is not Magic America revisited. That earlier song was still Damon the novelist, writing a character who projects salvation onto elsewhere. Here the distance is gone. America is real now: hotel rooms, Pepsi, bruises, exhaustion, Woody Allen on rewind. The promised land becomes another place where the same face looks back from the mirror. By Strange News From Another Star, the album has reached the point at which even another country is not far enough. Damon sings “I don’t believe in me” and asks “Will you love me though it’s always the same?” That may be the deepest wound on the record. Fame has failed as self-validation. America has failed as reinvention. Love cannot be safely made responsible for saving you. Even another star would not be far enough away if the problem travels with you. And then comes Essex Dogs. A paranoid, tired vision of 1997 over a strung-out jam. Orange sodium light, terminal pubs, panic attacks, tiny lawns, strange thoughts in the car. The spoken delivery is crucial. Damon no longer sounds like a singer inhabiting a song. He sounds like somebody watching himself through glass. The alienation is not just social. It is bodily. He is reporting experience rather than fully living it. The effect reminds me of Mudhoney’s Check-Out Time: not a sung confession, but an exhausted account from the edge of things. By this point the cover image has become unavoidable. The patient on the stretcher was not an abstract design choice. It was the album’s diagnosis. Blur survived Britpop, but survival left them injured. They won enough to discover that winning was not the same as freedom. The hidden track is the final masterstroke. After Essex Dogs, there is no grand resolution. No anthem. No healing speech. Just loops playing out like a haunted machine. The effect is like the Plastic Ono Band leaning guitars against amps in Toronto and walking away. Human drama ends. The system keeps running. Leave the loops running and go home. That is where Blur finally arrives. It begins with the narcotic promise of slipping away and ends with the acceptance that slipping away is temporary. Fame, America, drugs, love, success, reinvention: none of them can keep the door open. The self keeps turning up wherever you go. For a band trying to escape itself, that is a brutal discovery. For Blur, it became liberation.

Discazo, blur > oasis y que lo lloren, pero le bajo un punto porque song 2 es plagio de windows down de Big Time Rush. Sape

1001 albums to hear before you blur out of this world 130# I love Damon Albarn, he makes things with character and texture like nobody. More experimental than I thought it would be. Some experimentations fail but it is pretty good nevertheless.

not as fun as parklife

It was epically alright.

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.

Damon Alburn has been around the musical world and back, so this is an interesting case study to help understand his early days. You can definitely feel the creativity that eventually propelled him into Gorillaz fame. I would describe blur's music as punk fusion or punk plus, maybe similar to Dad's sentiment about the Buzzcocks in that it's rooted in punk rock, but also boasts a lot of musicality and creativity. The first Gorillaz's albums even maintain traces of that sound. The way that he uses guitar, for example, it feels like he doesn't treats it as an instrument so much as a compositional tool, and you can hear that creativity in the guitar parts. It must be said that he truly reached his full potential with the Gorillaz, though. This is speculation, but when I listened to this album, it sounded like he was dampening his own creativity in order to stay within some imagined framework of how Blur should sound as a punk rock project.

I don't have this album, so am only familiar with "Song 2" (from the radio). I do have the 2 Blur albums that preceded this one; my sense is that they're (loosely speaking), similar to, but possibly a bit better than, this one. Possible Brit bias, having this album show up here, on the 1001 Albums list - although I think Blur are better than most of the other Brit stuff we've had. Having said that, though, I don't think I can go higher than a 3 for this one. I note that this album came out in 1997, and it was only a year later that Blur singer Damon Albarn co-founded Gorillaz, who I think were (are) a notch above Blur, in terms of musical quality and interest. Back to this album: it's a 3 because, even though the songs were decent to pretty good, none of them really stayed with me, or made a strong favorable impression, either the first time through or the second (although "Song 2" is catchy and fun, if kind of simple).

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

ive already listened to this album the whole way through multiple times but im excited to hear it again. death of a party will always be my favorite song by them

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

This veered more in a Gorillaz direction than Parklife, and thus I liked it more.

Huh. Kind of liked this. Really liked that lick in the chorus of death of a party. In my very little understanding of the genre, 1997 seems early for some of the indie sounds here.

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

Ok, but not my favourite Blur album

Song 2 is classic so that was fun. I also really liked the last two songs, Essex Dogs was a little weird and quirky and Movin On was fun and up beat. The rest was just kinda upper mid, nothing special but nothing awful.

Now I'm wondering if all of their album covers are blurry. I enjoyed this! Song 2 is a classic (and now I know why it's called that), and I was getting down with a lot of the other tracks too. It's low-fi rockin' in just the right way.

Honestly super great I even recognized song 2. This could maybe be a 4 but we’ll play it safe with a 3

Ok. Listenable at least.

So mid it's almost bad. It's clear why Song 2 is their only hit in the US.

This was a decent listen. My favorite song was definitely Song 2 though, which doesn't sound too much like the rest of the album or other Blur. I did enjoy the more experimental ideas they explored here, and hearing this made me really appreciate Gorillaz for giving Damon a better outlet for all of those ideas. Favorites: Song 2, Chinese Bombs, I'm Just A Killer For Your Love, Moving On

Blur goes "indie" and it's... fine. The music is listenable but they do lose a bit of their identity. Song 2 is undeniable though... but it's hardly a Blur song if that makes sense.

- I've listened to this before but not indepth not that u care what i think hmph ( ,,⩌⤙⩌,,) - This is some good vibes - It honestly falls off for me the longer i listen - I cant say its all good or bad

1woohoo 2rly cool album 3idk the middle ish area sounded like a BLUR 4soooo idk I liked the harder songs 5I really like essex dogs for the beat and weird sounds 6albumcover looks rly cool like oh no hospital scary rush moment. 7asur dying everything becomes a blur 8blur 9blur 10blur like everything is slowly disappearing.

Starts very well, maybe a bit of filler in the middle 3rd. You can hear the influence of American bands like Pavement and Sonic Youth. The singles are all great, Beetlebum might be my favourite Blur song. Overall a strong record and given it’s came 18 months after The Great Escape it’s Testament to the Blurs ability to sound completely different from prior themselves and pull it off. 4.2

It starts really well and I admire the ambition of this record to do something different. There are too many tracks which, although are different and experimental, just don't really appeal to me and I wouldn't bother listening to again.

It was fine. Honestly couldn't understand a lot of the words, felt very mumbly. Overall I liked the sound though.

Much better than expected. And not thanks to song 2. They surprised me for good. 3,5/5.

I particularly enjoyed some tracks but the album as a whole was only listenable for me.

Não faz muito o meu estilo

Blur (1997) - Интересная веха в эпохе группы. Ознаменовавшая окончательное отхождение от бритпопа в сторону более экспериментального инди-рока с некоторыми замашками на гранжевость и электронную музыку. Примечательно и то, что Деймон здесь впервые отошел от привычного подхода к написанию песен, отойдя от лиричных героев, высмеивания и сатиры на британское общество. На альбоме присутствует как и задорные вещи навроде Movin' On (обожаю её), так и более меланхоличные и личные (потрясающая осенняя Beetlebum или же минималистичная лоу-файная You're So Great), не забывая приправить более психоделичными, впечатляющими полотнами навроде Theme From Retro. Впоследствии, Blur продолжили курс начатый на этом альбоме, релизнув 13 (1999) исследуя психоделическое звучание с электроникой и далее. Отдельно я хочу поговорить о Essex Dogs. Пожалуй, одна из самых любимых песен репертуара Blur в принципе. Поистине великая закрывашка альбома, звучащая не как песня британских аристократов, а скорее как потерянный би-сайд с Slint - Spiderland. Зловещая, почти параноидальная атмосфера с нетипичным речетативным вокалом и великолепной гитарной работой. Господи, а часть Interlude звучащая после неё, воистину - вишенка на торте. Я даже не знаю, как наиболее красочно и подходящим образом выразить насколько я люблю эту песню. Лучше один раз услышать. Чего я вам и желаю. Само собой 10 из 10.

Good/fine.

Some of his best stuff!!!

Carries by two of their best songs in the beginning of the album. The full album is more average. Favourites: Beetlebum, Song 2 and Death of a Party

8 - GOOD

Beetlebum and Song 2 are quite the power punch to open this album. And there's plenty of other good stuff throughout to be fair. It really fizzles horribly with the last track though, which I struggled to get through. I wonder if this is the album where Graham Coxon first sets his sights on going solo for a bit, because his guitar playing is really progressive compared to early Blur, which Damon is still, y'know, Damon.

Some bangers on this one ("Song 2", "Chinese Bombs", "M.O.R.". A bit on the long side, but I didn't hear any specific tracks I would cut. On the better end of the 90s Brit-pop scale.

Hey ... these guys should open up for Gorillaz!

Not bad; gives a bit of a Cage the Elephant vibe Kinda just have it on in the background

Great

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

Me gustó muchísimo, voy a escucharlo más

Man this guy really sounds like 2D!

Not a bad listen, but it definitely starts strong and then runs out of steam as the album goes on. I don’t know that it’s a necessary listen, but it is fun to hear Damon Albarn experimenting with the sound and songwriting that would become Gorillaz. Song 2 is always a jam on its own though.

I want to keep my reviews on this site fairly atomic, and don't want to base things off other albums, or the order i listen, but just having listened to "Modern Life is Rubbish" YESTERDAY I feel like this is a refreshing follow up. I was super underwhelmed by the sophomore album, and felt exhausted when I saw this album pop up the very next day. But even with that feeling of minor dread, this one was such a pleasant listening experience. I can tell they evolved (quickly, too, 4 years??) past your average (and severely lagging to American counterparts) Britpop and created almost like a post-Britpop album of sorts. Love the melodic slower songs, riffs, and even some trip hop experimentation. Much much much better harmonies and song structures. A treat of a project given what I listened to yesterday. Is that Noodle featured in On Your Own?? 🧐👀

Fav song: Beetlebum

Great album. Blur is one of those underrated bands that everyone seems to respect on the low, but you never hear a ton about. Sure “Song 2” is great but so are tons of other tracks on this record. And I feel like the rest of the Blur albums I’ve heard are similar. Maybe it’s because Blur is one of those bands that leaves me with the impression of yeah it was great, but I can’t really tell you way… I just really enjoyed it.

This album was a necessary change in style after The Great Escape, which had plenty of deserving hits, but overall felt like a case of diminishing returns. From the very first muted guitar strum on Beetlebum, you can sense the band going in a different, more experimental and overall morose direction. Their biggest hit ever, Song 2, continues to showcase how much the band has changed in just a couple of years, but it also shows that there is still some levity left in the group, which will be all but gone by the time 13 comes out. As always, I have to give special credit to Graham Coxon, whose signature crunchy guitar tones sound more fitting than ever on this release. While I have tremendous respect for this album, I do have to say that it's shockingly inconsistent. Blur are known to drop a stinker here and there, and some mistakes are to be expected when trying out a new sound, but the amount of clunkers present here is too large to ignore. Any time the album builds proper momentum with a couple of great tracks, the band will proceed to completely drop the ball with songs like Theme From Retro, Chinese Bombs, or I'm Just a Killer for Your Love. The closer, Essex Dogs, is also among the weakest in their discography. Thankfully, Blur will proceed to iron out the kinks by the time 13 comes out, which is, in my opinion, their best album not named Parklife. Favourite track: Death of a Party

Mostly clever and cool stuff

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

In an album where Blur went looking for influences they managed to find a happy medium between serious (and often self serious) sonic experimentation and slacker-than-thou goofing off. It's quite impressive how many ideas, hooks, sounds and textures are crammed in here, with most of them landing. Very good fun.

I didn't expect this to be so... weird? It's not exactly Britpop, nor is it Grunge, but between the moments where it does sound like those genres, there are some experimental and unhinged tracks, which are of variable quality, but of undeniable character. That being said, what'll make me come back to this LP are mainly the depressing songs such as "You're So Great" and "Death of a Party", as well as the iconic couple of tracks that open the album.

Not my style

I don't really have a passion for this music. There is no sentimental value for me, so it just does not hold up. It is OK, but not WOW.

I had been expecting to like this one more having listened to a 'best of...' where a lot of the tracks are excellent. I was surprised to not be more engaged by this one

So much to love about Blur, and a lot to find quite irritating too. Haven't heard this album in ages, think I might have petulantly written it off at the time. Quite a few good songs on this, and Graham Coxon's influence is much more forward than in a lot of their other albums. Song 2 is so overplayed now that it's psychically damaged, but that doesn't ruin the whole. Might come back to see if I like it more on repeat.

Good grunge rock

Taking influence from slacker band Pavement, there is a lo-fi sleepy feeling pulsing throughout the album. Album opener "Beetlebum" may not have the energy of their previous singles, but it more than makes up for it in melody. The songwriting is much more personal than the character studies you will find on other Blur songs. Despite being one of their best known songs, I have never cared for the satirical "Song 2", and it does feel odd sitting next to these mellow tunes. Coming out once the band was fully established and opening with two of their biggest songs, I went into this expecting a hits album with maximum mainstream appeal. I was pleasantly surprised by the relaxed vibe of this album.

𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝟮 easily stands above the rest for me. The rest of the album isn’t bad, but very little reaches the same level of energy or immediacy. You can clearly hear Blur moving away from classic Britpop here and leaning more into a noisier, American indie rock sound, which at least keeps the album interesting. Still, a lot of the tracks blur together after a while, and outside of a few good moments not much really sticks with me. In the end, 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝟮 is still the one track I’d actually come back to.

I like the strong guitars on the first track I like song 2 Theme from retro was weird and kind of broke up the album in a strange way. Not sure what they were trying to do here. It suddenly feels like I'm listening to the Beatles. Which is fine, it just shocked me tonally. They have really strong guitars! This is an experimental album. I think I like it, but it's not an easy listening kind of record. I want to look up the band's intentions behind creating this, because it's definitely fun, but I want to know if they themed it. This is the first album on the list so far that I've relistened to immediately to try to see if I missed something/ capture more nuance.

Yes amigo yes, me encantó bbs, la vdd algunas canciones no fueron nucho mi estilo pero nada que unas 20 repeticiones no resuelvan

Great opening with beetlebum and song 02, but they do carry the album. Drops off slightly from there. Some gorrilaz vibes in the vocals and production on Theme from Retro and one other track I don't remember the name of. Not bad, but not great. Light 3 from me. Top tracks: beetlebum, song 2, death of a party

Good album, only know Damon from Gorillaz so it sounds like 2D made a solo album - Notable songs are Chinese Bombs and You're so Great

Probably the Blur album I like the most, perhaps because it moved away from the cheeky chappie sound of their earlier stuff, burying some of the vocals under layers of distortion. The fuzzy guitar work on this really made me pay more attention to Graham Coxon (although sadly Song 2 has become far too overplayed)

A fun and varied album. I regret not listening beyond the single “Song 2” which I loved when it came out. Should have bought the album.

An album I’ve listened to countless times, but always happy for an excuse to listen again. Over the years since first listen, this has become my favorite Blur album. A vital, crackling, and necessary swerve that propelled the band out of its Britpop containment. Standout moment: I always love the way Essex Dogs revs up in its opening moments.

(5) this is an either you hate it or you love it, I am thinking I just don’t know! I think I love/hate it! Just don’t know.

Blur trying to be The Pixies and Bowie all at the same time.

Really disappointing- annoying and whiny. They can do so much better so they only get a one

Even though they missed out on the Yoo Hoo product partnership, “Song 2”, makes this the least annoying Blur album.

i forget if i've ever listened to this album in full before or not....? either way tho, this one's pretty solid. i think i've always been less of a fan of blur compared to damon alburn's later work with (as?) gorillaz but it's still good. i guess it makes sense then that i prefer the tracks that sound more like gorillaz, like "death of a party" and "i'm just a killer for your love", but my favourite track might be "theme from retro", with the sludgy vibe, electric organ and unintelligible vocals making me feel like it was composed for me specifically. and obviously "song 2" is great, although it's a shame it's only 2 minutes (and 2 seconds) long. i don't fuck with it so much when it's doing more standard britpop stuff, but there's thankfully much more on offer with this album. it's pretty great overall, but idk if i'd wanna listen to it on loop really? i'd much rather just switch to demon days...

3 stars. or after smoking a bowl 4 stars

I quite liked it but the second half falls away a bit.

Very good album again

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

It's ok, tended to drift into the background really. Not my fave but a fun enough listen

luvly, very groovy, quite rad

Didn't know Bowie was such an influence on the band. Really enjoyed this. Thank you!

I’m just a silly American who cannot comprehend Britpop, but boy oh boy do I like that “Woo hoo” song. This is very stylistically diverse in a good way. I really like the songs that begin acoustic and build as they go on. Favorites were Beetlebum, Song 2, On Your Own, You’re So Great, Look Inside America, and Movin’ On.

Interesting album - one TRULY notable song. Pitchfork: 8.1 Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs Beetlebum Song 2

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

This album is jam-packed with catchy hooks. Albarn is such a skilled songwriter. Far more Beatle-esque than anything Oasis ever released

My sister’s all time favorite band. I will never understand it. They’re fine.

previously heard: beetlebum, song 2 (listened to best of blur a lot when i was 13), you're so great (i distinctly remember being 16 and my english teacher asking us to bring a song's lyrics to class the next day so i went home and spent HOURS trying to choose something only to settle on this one. it wasnt even that serious idk why i was doing all that) - took me five years to learn that damon albarn didn't sing you're so great... havent sat down and listened to it properly in a while but now that im reading the lyrics again im remembering why it meant so much to 16yo me - love death of a party. im about halfway thru the album now and the switchups between tracks are giving me whiplash - chinese bombs sounds quite suicidal tendencies - strange news from another star: simple but effective, could be on ziggy stardust and also oddly reminds me of kid a - essex dogs gives me the same creepy feeling a day in the life does. also i end up saying this for every spoken word track but this one rlly could be on the fight club soundtrack i should probably rewatch it at some point what im getting from this is that damon albarn has a lot to complain about. some great songs surrounded by a bunch of noise, might listen again

In the Oasis v Blur Britpop War, I was very much on Team Blur. Oasis were Pissed Up Ladz Ladz Ladz Music. Blur were the sensitive art school kids, which was very much my side. By the time Blur came out, I was getting a bit bored of the Britpop scene, but still liked this album as a swansong. Song 2 was clearly taking the piss out of American rock. Hilarious that it was their breakthrough in the so-called land of the free! Anyway, definitely not their best album (Modern Life Is Rubbish wins that award), but still a decent effort and the last Blur record that's worth your while listening to.

Not awful, not my favorite.

🎧 Beetlebum, Song 2, and a bunch of very average, perfectly acceptable indie rock tunes. This is apparently the album after the band was influenced by Pavement. 🤷‍♂️

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

This album was not my vibe.

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.

So many betters songs on this album from the radio hit Song 2.

Not their best

Big Gorillaz fan, but had not yet gotten around to Blur so I was pleasantly surprised to see this waiting for me. SO glad to have finally got to this one and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Beetlebum show the great lyrical writing that he would go on to hone later in his career and its a great opening track, only to be followed by one of the best song Damon ever made. Song 2 is an eternal classic. A riff on grunge at the peak of its popularity, but holy shit do they absolutely eviscerate this track. So unbelievably catchy from every single instrument and the very Kurt Cobain inspired nonsense verses are phenomenal. Despite my praise for Albarn, I have to also give huge props to the rest of the band, they allow his vocals to sound even punchy with the fantastic instrumentals behind him. Some sick guitar on songs like M.O.R and On Your Own. The drums on On Your Own as well sound so dynamic and completely force its way to the front of the noise. Coxon also gives a pretty solid vocal performance on You're So Great. Definitely hear some proto-Gorillaz sounds (Death of a Party just straight up sounds like a Demon Days cut in a best way) throughout as well. Second half is not as strong for me, but its still pretty listenable. Definitely worth the listen for the evolution of British music in the 90's and Damon as an artist.

No me ha gustado ninguna excepto Song 2, obviamente. Mucho Fifa. Luego me enteré de que hicieron esta canción como crítica al rock and roll de este estilo como Nirvana, diciendo que era muy fácil y que cualquiera podía hacerlo. La única que me ha gustado. Un 1 por Song 2

Releasing a self-titled album when you're 5 albums in and going through a stylistic change is a bold move. The shift from full britpop to a more lo-fi inspired sound marks the first real sign of the impending arrival of Damon Albarn's solo project, Gorillaz. Is it really a coincidence then, that the song titled "On Your Own" includes the lyric: "No psycho killer, hooligan guerilla"? Probably. Yeah, that's probably just a coincidence actually. I do love this album, but it suffers from an ending that drags on for no good reason. The last track could've been half the length or shorter, and the album would be better for it. All the same, I really like this album. It's very well made. It's not perfect but I still think it's worthy of the title of masterpiece, and thus I give it a 5.

Decent brit pop

It's always interesting when an album has one clear and unmistakable hit mixed in with a bunch of ok tunes. Where did that energy come from? Where did it go?

Kjempeglad for å se Blur men ikke mitt favorittalbum fra dem 4.5

Fav- movin on 3/5

another britpop beatlecore

Woohoo! They kinda remind me of the beatles sometimes?

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

Hate it

kinda repetitive at times but had some good moments Top Songs: Beetlebum Song 2 Essex Dogs

Хороший альбом, не так что бы эталонный но может быть даже когда нибудь приобрету на виниле т

Starts off incredibly strong with "Beetlebum", one of the greatest 90's britpop songs of all time. It's super saccharine atmosphere just oozes 90's bliss, and the song's outro is phenomenal. Immediately after this though we get the instantly recognizable "Song 2". The "woo hoo" song as others know it as. It's a parody of grunge rock, but it's played so straight that you wouldn't know that Albarn and Coxon were taking the piss out of the genre. The rest of the album is quite a mixed bag, what I find interesting about it though is that despite the inconsistency it definitely shows how versatile Damon and Graham are. They experiment with dancey, psychedelic, noisey and even country-esque styles in these various songs and all are pretty good in their own way. While not every moment stands out like the very beginning, it's cool to hear essentially proto-Gorillaz music as I could definitely see many of these tracks decorating one of their albums down the line. I can see why an album like this would be a little underwhelming compared to their more deeply britpop records from the past, but Albarn was never going to stay tied down to one style of music and approaching Y2K a record like this makes sense. It was their international breakout record for a reason. Definitely a grower for me, but still I rather enjoyed this one and will continue to play it every now and then. Groovy!

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.

It wasn't really for me. Some songs were ok

There are 2 great songs here, and a lot of guff.

definitely their best i’ve heard of theirs, really good songs, had a semi punky sound at some point

Beetlebum - I think he’s on it

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.

Good stuff

“Beetlebum” wouldn’t sound too out of place in the white album. I like the vibe of “Country Sad Ballad Man”, although it goes too electric at the end. I can see the album’s energetic appeal but it’s not as unique as the album “13”.

its blur. its awesome

I was a big fan of Gorillaz in High School, and eventually listened to Blur. This is one of their better albums, and outside of "Song 2" there are some great tracks, and they managed to evolve their sound in interesting ways. I think Blur is important enough, and this was the album that helped them break into the US market - broadening their recognition and legacy. So sure, toss it on the pile.

3.5 The intro track made me lower my expectations, but overall this is a pretty decent album. Not a big fan of the lead singer, but that's a personal pet peeve.

great guitar and of course i love damon albarn!

I enjoyed this album listen from Blur! It wasn’t anything groundbreaking to me but I thought it was a solid alt-rock/brit pop album that I would listen to again. I did find the lead singer’s voice to be annoying and whiny at times but that’s just me. A solid album listen overall!

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.

Awful

Rock music, pop lyrics. Started off very fun, and then took a turn towards something different towards the back half. It wasn't bad, but didn't feel like it belonged with the first half of the album.

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

This album is a classic from my childhood.

Song 2 is such a classic. The other songs do not hold up as well. I do like the grungy songs like On Your Own but that's personal preference. Without blur we won't have Gorillaz. Can't give more than a 3 to this.

Didn't love it, never got into it.

Quite a mixed bag really, but something I would want to listen to again

Biased rating 100%, this is nostalgic for me

This was a strange one. It kicked off with the two iconic singles we know and love but after that is a total mixed bag. Just when you’re bored to tears and clocking out they pepper in something surprising. I was glad I listened to it just to hear blur explore genres other than Brit pop. They’re more versatile than I realised. I still don’t love this album, but I’m glad I heard it.

I think this may actually be my favorite of the Blur albums, though it is stronger in the first half than the second. I really like Coxon's guitar here.

Love this. One of the first brit pop albums that I hear.

blurry

good

Got some good songs on it

This album feels like a breath of fresh air because of how light and effortless it is, but it’s the variety underneath that really keeps me hooked. It’s got this incredibly calming energy, yet it never gets boring because the themes and the instrumentals are constantly shifting. It feels like the band finally stopped trying so hard to be "British" and just started playing whatever felt right in the moment. The instrumentals are definitely the highlight for me. There’s this great mix of lo-fi, scratchy guitars and these really beautiful, melodic layers that give the whole record a very specific, textured aura. It’s the kind of music that works perfectly for just drifting away, but if you actually pay attention, there’s so much interesting stuff happening in the production. It’s raw and experimental in spots—like they were just messing around in the studio and stumbled onto something brilliant—but it still manages to stay pretty and accessible. Even when the themes get a bit more introspective or strange, the overall mood stays grounded. It’s an album that doesn’t feel like it’s demanding anything from me; it just sits there and offers up these great melodies and cool sounds. It’s a very "human" sounding record, filled with personality and a sense of freedom that makes it a really easy, beautiful listen from start to finish.

blur

Blur built on the melancholic aspects of Parklife to great effect, and whilst this can be seen as a logical step towards the darker 13, it hits all the right notes. Song 2 and Death of a Party are worth thee try price alone. Outstanding.

Meh. Dissonant alt-rock with songs that variously remind me of the Cure, the Violent Femmes, early punk, industrial noise, and various other bands...except they're not as good as any of those bands, at least to my taste.

3.5

Way better than I remember

Closer to 4, but not quite there. Some great songs but not an album worth, and not nearly as cohesive as the first 4 albums

Starts STRONG with Beetlebum, making me wish I was more aware of them in the late 90's holistically. Instead, I merely heard Song2 on the radio, which is great and still a great second song on the album. Country Sad Ballad Man put a big grin on my face. It got a bit murkier from there, still good but not brain-shakingly good. Chinese Bombs is a rager, love it!

Cool

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

Trop bien

extremely fine. would rather listen to Gorillaz.

This was fine.

I just realized I have heard most of this album throughout my life through my dad singing them or playing them in the car. This album has one of their most popular songs but everything else just kinda blur together (ha see what I did there)

I had never sat down to properly listen to this album and I enjoyed it more than I expected! half the time blur is fooling around and i cant take their music seriously because of it but was pleasantly surprised that this album seemed decently organized

4 de 5 Blur se aleja de el Britpop y comienza a probar con sonidos experimentales, lo-fi, introspectivos y alternativos, los cuales, hacen que la banda alcance una reinvención audaz y fresca que modernizan el trabajo presentado. A destacar: Track 1 - Beetlebum Track 2 - Song 2 Track 7 - You’re so Great Track 8 - Death of a Party Track 11 - Look Inside América Track 12 - Strange News from Another Star

I haven’t liked this album that much on previous listens (compared to others by them) but I was really into today. It doesn’t feel as tightly an album as Modern Life Is Rubbish does, if that makes sense, but the songs are all good. I’ve always liked Beetlebum and On Your Own a lot, and some other songs on here have become a lot better to me over time.

Good start.

Graham for PM

Blur album 3/3 for me and while I did enjoy this one the most, I’m glad I’m done listening to them.

Good, fun listen

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

Really unique and variable songs. They're like a British version of the Presidents of the Untied States of America.

This was much better than I expected, I thought it would just be some generic rock songs, which admittedly it was at times but overall very good. Favourite - Song 2

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.

Excelente álbum, parece en partes una precuela de Gorillaz

This is the first Blur album I’ve listened to from start to finish - it’s great! Favourite track: Hard to pick, but it’s tough to beat Song 2

I don't know why I never took the time to listen to this album. I always liked Song 2, but never went further. This album was really good! I will definitely add this to my collection.

Review - this is a much better album than the last Blur one I got. Once they're open to influence from American bands they were a lot more interesting. The influences are very clear (every time I heard a song and thought "this sounds like Pavement", or "these backing vocals are like Eno-era David Bowie", I saw mentioned once I read about the album on Wikipedia. And there are plain influences that aren't mentioned directly in the reviews on Wikipedia. The lead guitar at times is incredibly Pixies, and You're So Great (a truly wonderful song) is Graham Coxon trying to be Lou Barlow. So while it loses points for originality compared to other Blur music, it is at least good, so I couldn't care less that it's less original. Rating - 8/10 Need to hear? YES

trip hop drums oml so good

I’m not a Britpop fan by any stretch, but this had moments of enjoyment sprinkled throughout. Song 2 remains iconic, but ended up really enjoying Death of a Party. At times, it’s guilty of being too much of a Beatles tribute. At others, it feels more like it’s following the zeitgeist instead of being it. It’s particularly easy to follow the throughline from some of the tracks here to Albarn’s later Gorillaz output. It’d still probably be the worst Gorillaz album but being the worst Gorillaz album is still a major accomplishment by most metrics.

This was great. I listened to it three times and enjoyed every minute of it. Five stars.

I like a lot of blur albums but this one is admittedly not my favourite... Beetlebum and Song 2 slap, and I quite liked your so great, but the others are a bit forgettable. I'm not sure whether I'm on board with the monkees/organ-style keys or not - stick to the britpop maybe?

Intrigued.

The one song is great, rest is quite mediocre

Started with a couple of big bangers, but the album went to strange places in the second half

Good fun album, a lot of tracks I’d never heard, a good mixture on this album

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.

Something in me wants to file this album under 'debut of a promising band'. It's the 5th album of this iconic Britpop band which I respect, but never listened to every much. "Parklife" is a lot better than this one which has too many meandering and failed experimental tracks imho.

First listen

Awesome. Oh no. Not awesome. Yeah another case of false expectations. I am a Damon Albarn fan. I like Gorillaz. At least some Gorillaz. But this album, which I guess I have never actually heard before is a lukewarm 3. Boolean rating: no. I could have died without hearing this.

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

Pretty decent.

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

Unfortunately had to split this one up over a few segments but I’m into it overall. The first half had a few bops in addition to Song 2. I will check out more from them for sure.

Song 2 carried this a lot for me, but I think there might be more for me from Blur.

I enjoyed this album. I feel like this had a more pop feel than I usually associate with 90s music. This, again feels like it fell in the generational gap for my home growing up so it was good to listen to it now.

Its not bad, I like the first 2 tracks. However imma deduct some points from them for the way they treated nardwuar that one time. 6.5/10

My rating 3.4

a gente aprende a dar valor a uma coisa boa quando aprende o que é ruim. ouvi vários álbuns ruins nesse desafio nos últimos dias. esse álbum do blur que eu nunca dei muito valor, de repente ficou bom

This was just ok (barely), and mostly because of the one hit from this album.

As an Oasis fan, Blur is my guilty pleasure hahaha Seriously, nothing they did beats Parklife (1994), but that's a great album. Song 2 is an intencional awful song. When you listen to it knowing that, it makes perfect sense. But for me, the only problem is that this track should be the last one in the album, cause it may cause a little distraction on the sight of the great songs this album has. But... it's just a small detail. That being said, let's get back to the character: Oasis: so mad fer it. Blur's shite life.

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…

I liked this better than the other music I’ve heard by them. Pretty good variety here is not maybe a little long.

Song 2 was the only song I knew off of this album. Beetlebum was a nice start and seems to be another popular one. MOR was almost nostalgic sounding to me for some reason but I loved it. On your own had a similar feel, very late 90s early 2000s sound in my opinion. For Disc 1 I liked You're so Great and Death of a Party the most. Other than Movin On I felt as if they should've stuck with the acoustic stuff as it is better. All Your life is amazing! Highly underrated song. Disc 2 had all the live versions which are always fun. However, the only songs I liked off disc 2 were all your life, get out of cities, and polished stone. The others are okay but I stick with my judgement that I seem to enjoy acoustic blur more than rock blur. for these reasons its a 3 star for me since it still has some really good songs and guitar riffs.

way more experimental and interesting than Song 2 would suggest

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

Excellent overall. An interesting variety of influences are made abundantly obvious (which is great if you like those influences). Song 2 took me back to playing hours and hours of FIFA World Cup 98 on the Nintendo 64.

Why not a different album, this is cool, but no their best!!

Blur is one of those few bands I bought at the time because they were on trend, generally I don’t care about being cool. I have Parklife and the Great Escape but they are not my favourite band and wasn’t really looking forward to this. But wow this was fantastic! They’ve come away from their faux-Kinks sound and have just decided to embrace indie post punk. Feels like a new beginning hence the eponymous album title, normally reserved for first albums. Way to go!

I never listen to blur, but am a big gorillaz fan. This album was more eclectic than I thought it would be and I'll probably put it into rotation.

Country Sad Ballad Man 💚💚💚💚💚

It’s alright, but do we really need 2 Blur albums before we get 1 Iron Maiden 😒

I liked it more than Parklife. Still not as good as Oasis, IMO.

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.

Blur definitely have better albums but I love this for how they're still finding their sound, and I genuinely think Beetlebum is one the best Blur tracks.

It’s hard to see how I could give this a higher grade. Blurry, almost.

Sounds pretty fresh. Fun stuff across the board.

Made an impression, ironically

there is some pretty good parts... i guess ultimately im not a britpop guy and i sorta don't understand it as a scene/genre but im a guy who loves london, uk so i gotta give it up y'kno

would be 4 stars but damon albarns voice started really annoying me halfway through

Song 2 is a banger, but the rest of the album fell off, probably why it was a one hit wonder.

Song 2 is an absolute banger… rest of the album suffers because that is such a good song. 2.8

My listen was a big fragmented throughout the day, which I’m sure didn’t help, but I found this enjoyable but a bit forgettable. 6/10 Pretty Good

Big 3

Meh

I’m only familiar Song 2, so this album is both exposure and semi cool.

This was okay

'She'll suck your thumb / She'll make you come / 'Cause she's your gun.' I know what that means w/o knowing what it means, if that makes any sense, you know what I mean? That's kinda how I feel about this record: if I'd go ahead & say I dig this album, I'm not sure what that would mean, but then again, dismissing it would be equally meaningless. The album is, it seems to me, essentially meaningless, but somehow it's not complete blah or rot, & I hate to admit that I may've been wrong 'bout Blur all along. But then again, maybe I was exposed to the wrong Blur, b/c, tho this is not quite at Pavement's level, these Brits do American indie pretty damn well, & it was always Blur as Brit shit that I had resisted. +, the comp to Oasis is empty.

uhm.

Iconic songs all round, full of personality, well produced. It's amazing what Blur managed to do at their age.

Cool 90s album

Good album and great band. 2 or 3 big hits but the others songs so so.

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.

love blur, love Blur by Blur. Very nostalgic album for me, listened to it a lot in high school. Very much their most "American" album and was their big shift away from that BritPop sound that skyrocketed them into the stratosphere. The Albarn/Coxon relationship is about as strong as it ever was on here & I love the nighttime melancholy pall that's all over this one. The album cover is just a hi-speed snapshot of an orderly pushing a gurney at night but it was always really striking to me. The live version of Chinese Bombs on Bustin + Dronin is maybe my favorite Blur thing. The riffs on Just a Killer are so good. The gap between this and what Oasis was doing simultaneously is pretty stark imo, Oasis was pretty content to stay in their wheelhouse and put out good stuff but Blur looked west and sourced the sound for this album from the cooler American contemporaries; Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Guided by Voices, etc. Great move and suggested Albarn's unquenchable thirst for new sounds on new projects. Favorite Tracks: Beetlebum, On Your Own, Chinese Bombs, Death of a Party, I'm Just a Killer for Your Live, Essex Dogs

Just ok

Icónico para toda la vida.

Movin' on sounds like suffragette city, like kind of a lot Faves: Song 2 MOR On Your Own You're so great Death of a Party

Blur are a million times the band Oasis are. Listen to any album and there's far more invention and thinking there. They prove they can do the fun and bombastic just as well (Song 2, On Your Own). Not all of this sticks though, which I find with a lot of Blur albums. So I find it hard to give it a 5, but it's fun and it's interesting for the ride.

Beetlebum is an incredible start, but the rest was kind of hit or miss for me

I find this one a bit tricky. For a long time this was my least favourite blur album and I still don't love it in the way I do with at least 4 of their others... However, with this listen I definitely grew to like it a lot more. I think it's pretty stellar for the first 10/11 tracks and either loses it a bit or I got distracted. The guitar work is fascinating all the way through as Graham really leant in to the crankier sounds he can pull off. On your own is possibly my all time favourites blur track, I just love the feel of it and the space given by the guitar part along with the heavy use of guitar FX to build the hook. Yeah, I can imagine I'll end up loving this, but right now it's a strong 4.

Knew song 2. I enjoyed this album, but probably wouldn’t throw this on myself

better than i thought

I mean it was alright I don't think I needed to listen to it before I died

Solid album front to back. One of those bands that I always thought should have been bigger outside the UK. 4/5 from me.

top of the pops!

A really nice album

I think this album will continue to grow on me, thus a 4

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

Excellent. Possibly best blur album. Longer shelf life than oasis.

Frontloaded album Fave track: Song 2

As good as Parklife. The album artwork being blurred is really funny to me. Like yeah, why wouldn’t it be? 4/5

Pretty solid album from beginning to end.

i dont get it. Song 2 and nothing else.

If someone asks you the question, "Oasis or Blur?", the answer should be a resounding "fuck off you cunt".

masterpiece

Just didn't like it.

락이다. 여기 피파 노래 있음!! 위-후 하는 거. 다른 곡들은 쏘쏘.

This is Blur pretty good, I like park life better.

2/5

woo hoo! or: me and someone else also doing this challenge both got this album today, so i spent the morning trying to find out whether damon albarn had died or: the song 2 music video becomes vastly better if you imagine the gallagher brothers standing just off-screen and, somehow, using telekinesis or: woo hoo!

90’s Britpop ⭐️Song 2

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.

You’re so great def my fav, relieved to find he made this at 29 and not like 18

buen album, algo que hubiese escuchado en la adolescencia, en este momento no es quite my tempo

A great album, but as with all Blur albums it contains tracks that are clearly experimental. Good - I already have this album in my music collection.

Blur is an apt description for this album. Only hours after hearing it I remember nothing about it.

“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.

Blur > Oasis, but let's see if that's actually true, because I've never listened to a full album of theirs (I just like 'Parklife' a lot). I see that their previous album is called "Live at the Budokan", which is terrifying. I already heard one "Live at the Budokan" album in this lifetime, thanks. Good album cover. Looks of its time. I was always weirded out by this being the Gorillaz guy, but now, for the first time, I can hear it. Blur > Gorillaz (for me) though, for sure. I never really liked 'Song 2', but I do like that it is in fact Song 2. If it weren't that'd be crazy, but I kinda assumed it wasn't. And it's 2 minutes 2 seconds! Solid stuff. OK, nothing super duper impressed me. It was fine. I did like it more than Oasis, but it was a closer call than expected.

Before this, I’ve only heard ‘Song 2’ from this album and I really haven’t heard much Blur. I couldn’t help but constantly think I was hearing a rock album from Gorillaz. I blame my dumb mind. Really good though! Has a good variety of songs that’s I’ll probably go back to. 3.7/5.0

That's the second day in a row with Britpop. Why are there so many of these albums on the list? I like Gorillaz, so maybe this won't be too bad ... So Beetlebum and Song 2 are great. Everything else is ok to a bit annoying. The grunge like fuzzy guitars are not working with these pop songs. 3.25

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

Really enjoyed this, but I feel like there are so many layers to it that I need a few more listens to really understand it. A varied album with a mix of styles, and I think it took me a bit by surprise. It's all over the place but in a good way!

It’s been at least 20 years since I played any Blur – probably this album. “Song 2” got me back into them after the disappointment of The Great Escape, and it still sounds like a glorious blast of artistic regeneration. In fact, the whole album draws a line in the sand – the end of Britpop and the beginning of a new adventure. The first half of the album is a smorgasbord of different styles and approaches, not so much to see what sticks, but the delight in trying out something new. It’s to the band’s credit that so much of it works. Highlights abound – the fore-mentioned “Song 2”, the lo-fi chug of “Country Sad Ballad Man”, the adrenalin fuelled pop perfection that is “M.O.R.” and the eight-minute plus closer “Essex Dogs” – with its furtive spoken-word hum and buzzy electronics. It’s been a sweet couple of hours getting reacquainted. 8/10

Not for me

Damon Albutt has a fucking awful voice. Who listens to this shit? Fucking Oasis vs Blur? Holy Christ listen to Radiohead if you want “innovative sound”. Fuck this band.

En fejl, jeg ikke har hørt den her før.

didnt like the songs but it was an alirghe experience i see why its a good album mid songs tho

not my favorite blur album but a very very good one with some world music influences that foreshadowed gorillaz

I like this album a lot more than the other Blur album we had to listen to. This is btw a 3 and a 4 to me.

Bought this with the came out and usually stopped listening after the first two songs. And none of the rest of the album is actually as well crafted as those two... but it's a solid record, with some pretty creative stuff on side two that I never gave a chance before. Not Blur's best, but I like it.

This was the era of the band that I really took notice. More variety, melancholy, anger, regret, and above all, comfort in their skin.

I never get tired of listening to Blur. This album is no exception. It didn't exactly blow me away, but it's still very good. 4/5

I sort of get it but sort of don’t. It’s weird how little my perspective on this has changed since I first heard it 20 years ago.

Never got into Blur, but I dig Gorillaz.

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

Blur decides to lean into the underground lo-fi movement in America and blends it with their electronic Brit-pop. Can hear the influence of Pavement, Sebadoh, Pixies, Sonic Youth all over this album. It has some great sonic moments, some fun upbeat tunes, the ballads are a bit whinny for my liking. It is a hip album but I wouldn't consider it great. It's a fun listen and credited to the band for evolving.

lifes a blur

Older and newer Blur albums have been better. But this is still solid.

Cuando decidiste experimentar, sale este disco