Blur

like beetlebum, not my taste

Reminded me that revisit to this band is a good idea.

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

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. So many cool sounds and ideas, but ultimately the songs just aren't there for me. Maybe I'm more of a Graham Coxon fan rather than Damon Albarn. Maybe Blur is really more of a singles band. Maybe this is simply a lot of very promising filler.

It was good! I like Blur. I am surprised they put three blur albums on this list but like okay I guess. I will probably rate Parklife higher. I do like the b-sides here though like even Look Inside America is really good. I really loved On Your Own and You’re so Great. I could go on but I won’t. This album is different than their other stuff which is cool if you’re a fan, but I will agree it doesn’t play to their strengths all the time. I thinn they are often less successful the louder/punkier they get. Like Song 2 rips but it is a very simple song and I can see why someone would think it’s annoying. Then the other loud songs on here like Chinese Bombs are good but like if you stack it up against idk like nirvana, it kinda sounds like shit. Some very weird chord progressions too like country sad man has some changes that are maybe even a little TOO strange but hey thats the point of the album theyre trying some crazy shit and most of it goes over good

Some solid tracks

Mega super album, na pewni wrócę do niego kiedyś. Moje klimaty. Muzyka prosta lecz brzmienie fenomenalne. Nie wiem co więcej napisać

Half a good album.

Fun!!

Before I listened to this whole album I would have described myself as a Blur fan. Now not so sure... I'm surprised at how much I didn't like this album. After the first two songs (which I grew up hearing all the time), nothing really stood out to me. I guess I am just a fan of 3 Blur songs (including Girls & Boys, not on this album).

Niet echt mijn smaak dit ga ik niet vaker luisteren. Zet hiervan ook geen nummers in afspeellijst.

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

Høyrt 1000 gongar 10/10

Good. Felt like background music

Nunca he sido tan fan de Clapton, aunque entiendo el por qué se le considera uno de los mejores. Solo creo que no es completamente para mí, aunque disfruto de el álbum en general.

girl this is ass

Decent album with bunch of good songs. I enjoy Damon’s work with Gorillaz more

Nothing memorable.

This one is tough. I listened tot his in 1997 and it wasn’t my jam. Of course I liked song 2 but that’s not representative of This album. If I had to pick blue or oasis I go oasis all day the album started strong but slowed for me right around theme for retro. They brought it back with the Bowie influenced stuff towards the end but then Essex dogs rounding out the album kinda lost it for me again. Over all a fine album but meh

ok

Holy shit it’s so much longer than I was expecting. Bring back the 2 hour long albums!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no out standing thoughts on this icl. Love me some Song 2 though, hell yes.

Always fell on the oasis side of these two bands, but glad to get a fuller picture of blur. Don’t think I’ve listened to this all the way through. Much more nuanced and skilled than I expect from Blur. Some nice variety and different sound. Maybe just misses out on 4*, but close! (3.5)

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)

Has very peak peak song (song 2) in here but the rest I’m not going crazy over. Songs added: 6/32

Never liked Britpop bands but this album goes away from its formula. Creative compositions, it flirts with experimental pop, the production is varied and creative. Good album.

7/10

Honestly I zoned out a lot

The peak of Brit pop no question.

Beetlebum Country Sad Ballard Man You’re So Great

Coxon was one of my top artists last year, but this was mid

Ok album but, except for Song 2, it did not excite me.

There are some good moments beyond ‘Song 2,’ but nothing here really stands out

solid, 4/5

Overall this was a pretty good album. Some of the production was a bit too bizarre for my tastes, but this album had several enjoyable songs.

3.9 2x+ catchup 1/8/26

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.

The death of brit pop in album form. Sounds like 5AM at the after party. Be good if you stopped picking me fave albums of all time Stand outs - beetlebum, your so great, death of a party, strange news from another star

A classic. Lots of hits

Album #2 by Blur and I’m still not impressed. I’m sure we’ll get 5 more to confirm their mediocrity. I’m struggling between a 2 and a 3. It wasn’t good, but was it wasn’t as bad as my other twos. Going with 3 to start the new year on a positive note.

There’s some good music being played here, but I’m not all for the antics that Blur throws in as well. The broken record static, the reverb, and the distortion all take away from what I’d like to be listening to. Overall it’s an okay album, but I wish it was simpler.

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.

Well, this was certainly better than Parklife, so there's that. Song number 2 is a banger, I was hopeful the album would carry that vibe and energy and in spots it did, there was definately a bit more of an edge, a little something you can sink your teeth into. Unfortunately, those are offset by some misses, and those misses were horrid. Overall, interesting album with more good than bad.

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

Album cover is cool at least

Hitti ekki alveg í mark en góðu lögin góð

Ahh, langaði að hún fengi fjórar. Fínustu hugmyndir þarna (og þrjú góð lög) en annað ekki nógu áhugavert eða bara hreinlega leiðinlegt (lítið samt).

Liked it

I really do have a lot of admiration for Damon Albarn’s versatility as an artist. He could do grunge—simultaneously hilariously and convincingly, here—but none of those grunge guys could have done anything on Parklife. He could do Pavement, if Pavement didn’t grate to listen to. (Don’t come at me—I do like a couple of tracks here and there, but—). Anyway. Is it embarrassing to have a Blur phase in the year 2025? Yeah but also whatever. I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent a lot of time January-March this year with these guys. Kind of neat/funny to get this album right at the end of the year—invites reflection. I do really like the overall vibe of this one, even aside from any nostalgia—it’s one of those “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” things for me, I think. Not that the parts themselves are bad. This album has Beetlebum and Song 2 on it and that’s just for starters. But listening to it start-to-finish… it’s an experience I’m always happy to take the time for

It’s fine britpop. Nothing special. 2 stars

Yeah, most people only know the WOOHOO song but there's much more to enjoy. Beetlebum is such a fantastic opener, it has this crazy psychedelic dense sound that is super unique and chilling. The whole thing is easily the most psychedelic britpop album I've ever heard, with super woozy sounds, mellowed out guitars and vocals that remind me of some super underground slacker rock. That also leads to a few redundant songs and failed experiments. To be quite honest, I think they built upon the sound of this album on their next one and made it stronger. There is sort of a weaker dance crossover cut on On Your Own, and Theme From Retro is a bit too drugged out maybe. Still, there's explosive highlights like M.O.R. with bombastic guitars flying all over the song, or more lowkey and acoustic ones like You're So Great. Death of a Party is also one of my favorites, very fascinating sounds and genre fusions. All in all the album is not super consistent but definitely a fun and exciting listen

One overplayed song and then a fever dream of songs.

The back half of this album is a fabulous psychedelic feast. Enjoy it.

I think I'm going to give this one a 3. I feel like it started off really strong and at first was thinking a 4 all day, but more I listened I started to not like it as much.

Bussin

I love Blur! And I love this album, it's such a perfect description of this band :) Chaotic, young and british.

For as much as I was turned off by Parklife, this one was pretty good. I found the music better, the songs less boring/annoying, and the changes in style to work well together to keep it engaging. It ended up being something I would say I liked. I thought it started out strong with Beetlebum and Song 2 (the only one I was familiar with). The next few songs were pretty good too. Mostly I think I liked the instrumentation compositions in that stretch. It did start to lose steam around Theme From Metro, and it never quite regained the momentum it had at the start. There were some good moments sprinkled in, but the last half felt weaker than the first. The vocals were probably the worst part of the album for me, and they started to grate by the time it ended. That was worsened by the album's length. Much like Parklife, it just felt too long for what the album offered. I think it would've been a much better album if it were about 15 minutes shorter. Not all of the songs on it were great, so definitely some could've been omitted. I'll give Blur props here, as this was pretty solid. I still think there were some issues that detracted from elevating it higher. Even so, it was an enjoyable listened that I liked more than not. Overall: 3.3/4

Love this

6/10

'wow this sounds like gorillaz'

Buns

This album would have been perfect if combined with 13 (perhaps with music is my radar added). Great hits, love the more orchestrated direction they were going. Some of the filler definitely gives a sense of where Albert would go, but is less gripping than Gorillaz (death of a party). Chinese bombs feels a little out of place

I liked the guitar tone, unique sounds, instrumentation, and arrangement in each song, but I was just underwhelmed on the whole?

I bought this album when it came out on the strength of Song 2, but also on the back of owning Parklife. This is musically complex and interesting, with strange and at times discordant sounds. It is probably a few songs too long.

Good album with legendary song - Song 2. 7.1/10

not really my thing, wouldn't listen to it again

Liked about half of this pretty well

Paar banger drauf - song 2 all time classic, overall gut zum anhören, aber kickt jetzt auch nicht direkt für nen zweites listening. Tws bissi anstrengend. Eher nebenbei gehört. Vllt nochmal versuchen.

1. beetlebum - kinda know this one already and liked it. nice fuzzy guitar at the start. bass just kicked in, liking how it's building up. beat drop at the chorus, liking the chorus. the vocals and lyrics are quite nice as well, although i would rather listen to oasis (manchester!!!!!). different from the britpop that i was expecting. distortion at the end is realllly nice :) 2. song 2 - who doesn't know this song already? the guitar is nice on this, wasn't expecting it to be soo fuzzy on this album, but i am liking it a lot more than parklife. very grungy, especially compared to their britpop hits that i know. don't have much else to say. 3. country sad ballad man - twangy. damon albarn's voice is starting to annoy me. guitar during the chorus is nice. about halfway through the song and i have nothing to say apart from it's alright. same with the other two songs. nearly four minutes in got loud and it's getting good. the ending is good, rest of the song is a bit meh. 4. mor - almost a minute in, just got loud and good. so far, the quieter parts are agony, but the louder, more distorted parts of this album are good, probably because it's harder to hear damon albarn over the guitar. 5. on your own - more electronic. the guitar has been great throughout. wish damon albarn would shut up though. wish some of these songs were a bit shorter, it would be great if i liked them, but i don't and it's dragging. ☆6. theme from retro - liking the guitar and the drums at the start. organ just started, liking this more than the last songs. a lot more atmospheric/vibier, great so far. keyboard is reallly nice as well. more pulp-adjacent? sounds sleazier. ending is also great. probably going to be my favourite if the rest of the songs are anything like the first five. 7. you're so great - do not like this immediately. all the worst parts of whiny american 90s indie music. hate the crackling sound effect. the guitar is good in this but i'm getting a bit sick of it now, sounds very similar to all of the other songs. if oasis isn't on this list and blur are i'm going to blow myself up. how have i still got a minute left???? ☆8. death of a party - this was in all of us strangers and i liked it in that, but am now not looking forward to it considering the rest of the album. again, guitar is really nice, but the same distorted, fuzzy effect as literally all the other songs. keyboard and bass are nice, especially in the verses where the guitar stops and they get more of a chance to shine over the guitar. chorus is great. about halfway through and bit worried how there is still another half left. really enjoyed actually :) 9. chinese bombs - short song!!!!! punkier, liking the verses more so far. alright, liked it more than some of the other songs, but not much to say. 10. i'm just a killer for your love - drums are nice. bass is also nice. getting a bit tired of the constant distortion and fuzz of everything. guitar sounds squelchy((?) not sure if that is the right word lol), but i'm liking that. wish this was about half the length, still not entirely enjoying it, but it would still be a bit more enjoyable. 11. look inside america - right away do not like damon albarn's voice in this one, begging for the mega distortion to come back. liking the violins in this. bass is really nice as well. who says kooky??? just over halfway through and this album would've been a lot better for me if it was half the length. liking the moments with the harp near the end, but didn't last very long lol. ☆12. strange news from another star - very excited for this album to end now. more quieter, nice break from the constant fuzz. chorus has just started and is really nice. bowie inspiration is very clear on this one. just after second chorus now and loving it, even as it's getting louder again. loved this one, not excited for what the next song has to bring for me. 13. movin' on - again, alright, but nothing else to say. about halfway through this one, if someone put this on, i wouldn't complain, but i definitely wouldn't reach to put it on myself. squeaky distortion reminds me of the instrumental in the paw paw negro blowtorch by brian eno. 14. essex dogs - bracing myself for eight (8!!!!) minutes of this...... liking the bass and the spoken word so far, but still about seven minutes left. three mins left and will maybe try and relisten another time, getting the feeling i might enjoy this one more without the slog of an entire blur album before it. same issue as yesterday, highs and lows are even more drastic and not as many highs for me :( felt a bit uneven throughout - some really great ones, but a lot of it was just alright for me. pulp+oasis (and basically any other britpop band) over blur any day.

My kind of music. Obviously Song 2 is great but it was good to see more of their music. 8/10

the turn away from their britpop sound makes this sonically interesting, you can hear the American grunge/metal influence, song 2 sounds on the surface like a lost Nirvana track. but lyrically this was way weaker than parklife.

A great album, probably their best? Hard to go past Parklife, though

Blur’s self titled album is significantly better than I expected. I haven’t listened to much of them and always thought Parklife was overrated. But this grittier, almost punkier version of them is up my alley. Bettlebum is a fantastic opener, side A in general is great. Song 2 is fine, it might be the most over played song in history. 8.7/10

dnf

6.5 / 10

This is Blur’s best album and it’s not a close contest. The album starts with their best song and is followed by their most famous song. What’s not to like? Seriously, Beetlebum is a monster of a song. Dark, moody and provocative. There are a few duds (On Your Own, Look Inside America), but the good tracks do enough to make up for it. I commend the band for trying something new and fresh. Oasis released an album a few months later and it was a disappointing rehash of their previous album, just a lot worse and without any actually good songs. Blur took a chance with this. It doesn’t always pay off, but even if just for the opening track, this is well worth a listen.

Instantaneously love 💛

know it well, bangers

woo hoo

An uneven album that has some very quality high points, but is very musically inconsistent and I feel struggles to define itself. Doesn't help that the best songs is by far the shortest and feels like an odd inclusion around the rest of the album. Solid but needs more direction. Top tracks: Song 2, Death of a Party, Movin' On

Weird

Palion nostalgiaa ja hittejä, sitte amatöörimäistä kakofonista räminää. Rakoileva kokonaisuus.

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

Shocked at how much I enjoyed this record.

blur>oasis

we've got another blur album, already a good sign as soon as i read the album title. am i a britpop guy? maybe i just like this group in particular. this album is the "nevermind" of 1990s british rock. the album represented a little shift to their usual sound, whatever that shift was, it hits hard. the title of the band and the album art pretty much set the aesthetic in place... rock music that's delightfully blurry and hazy... you're lost in a whirlwind but you're not minding it in the slightest.

I enjoyed listening, it’s a good album

This really hit in all the spots for me. It is fantastic, rarely ever dull & interesting sonically throughout. Not every song sounds the same & the try different styles throughout. It was alot better than The Good, Bad, & the Queen album earlier. 4

Not bad, pretty well varied, though I do feel it could use some tightening up.

not a fan. it was boring imo and did not bring much to the table that i was seeking. maybe im jn a bad mood. but i jUst wanted it to end

Better then "Modern Life is Rubbish in every possible way

Favorite Track: Song 2

155 Es Blur siendo Blur en un disco llamado Blur donde hay canciones conocidas de Blur.

My crusade against britpop continues to cool down, but honestly? Is this even a prime example of britpop? They have different instrumentation from track to track, they actually use some pedal effects, and most importantly they have varying BPMs; long gone are the days of The Verve‘s static BPM. If anything this even reminds me of Pavement, and a look at their Wikipedia page confirms my thoughts, and now it feels very derivative, though luck britpop! 3/5

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.

I am one month older than this album and probably have the strangest association with it: nothing says Christmas like “Song 2” by Blur! My uncle used to play it every Christmas Eve when I was a little girl. I was the only child in a group of adults and was always pampered by everyone present. I would dance around and go wild in my red velvet dress, and when the “woo-hoo” part came, one of my relatives would take my hands and lift me up in a big jump. It’s a core memory for me, and I’ve loved the song ever since.

classic but lowkey only song 2 is good rest is mid loll

It was OK, I think maybe a little bit confused

Decent

A classic. Not a huge Blur fan but this particular album is great

Boom! Super excited about this one. While i was a fan of their major radio hit, i never took the time to listen to the whole album. They are making some great, fun music on here. Greatly enjoyed!

This album is amazing. The jams are Phish-esque, singing is incredible and guitar is obviously great.

Classic late 90's vibe

Enjoyable but other than song 2 not many top level songs thing very normal interesting album.

I can’t believe I got this as my second one… I listened to the entirety of this a week ago. Obviously love it!!!! Favorite songs from this are You’re so Great and Beetlebum. Lowkey depressing lore but I love it anyways, I also wish The Great Escape was on this list too but I get why it's not (also this album is probably just on the list because Song 2 is on it but that's ok) 10/10

I went through each and every Blur album from the start and recall enjoying each album and finding the next one better than the last. I only really knew Song 2 off of this but found it had so many good songs and is worth a listen

Knowing "Song 2" from the endless overplay on festivals, I was quite curious about this band in the late 90s. How surprised I was, it wasn't anything I expected. I loved the opener "Beetlebum" but was taken by surprise of the eclecticism of this album. From the lo-fi psychedlia of " Country Sad Ballad Man" to the Bowie-esque songs like "M.O.R" and "On Your Own" to the rattling guitar noise of "Essex Dogs". It forced me to dive deeper into their catalogue, which made me a fan ever since. So much more then Brit-Pop, and yes, I dare to say this, so much more than Oasis! 4/5

Felt like an Americanized "Modern Life is Rubbish" taking influence from Pavement, Big Star, 90s grunge. The first bit is really good, but it falls off at the end at least on first listen as the act wears thin. This can also pertain to Modern Life is Rubbish 3.5/5- probably could go up to 4

One recognizable song with an unrecognizable name = Song 2. Lots of skips for me. 1/5

Quite an unpleasant listen. Where are the melodies?

The 90's are the best!

I think i like it better now than when it came out. I’d revisit it.

Auditory

Doubled vocals and Oasis-sounding instrumental suggest that this is a Britpop cornerstone album, and I'm a little surprised it didn't perform even better on the charts. In the opener, Beetlebum, it's almost gazey with the way the vocals are delivered and mixed. Quite hard to make out any lyrics apart from the title, and the guitar matches the melody loudly enough to drown out any finer details. It's a cool effect, and the interlude guitar part is really good, so it ends up being one of my favourites. Song 2 is also an obvious hit: it's short, sweet, and gets to the point immediately. And it has the poppy "yeah-yeah"s and "woo-hoo!"s the general audiences just eat up. Myself included, of course. From there the band falls into a mess of genres rooted in punk rock and early-90s alt. M.O.R. is a solid classic-rock-sounding track that lacks any major riff or melody that would make you want to come back. (The vocals are pretty great though. I point this out because in other tracks, like On Your Own, the singing is quite bad, and it's only the wacky guitar playing (etc.) that keeps them afloat.) Theme from Retro is straight out of a late-60s British movie soundtrack, what with its organs, slow airy drums, and sci-fi-ish synths played on a keyboard. It's jarring and slightly disappointing coming from a 1997 album. (Strange News from Another Star is the same era-wise, but sonically it's far more interesting.) Retro is followed by the peculiar but extremely memorable You're so Great, which is about as upbeat and "groovy" as a percussionless song can get. And it manages this even with an old crackly sound effect playing throughout. Chinese Bombs is the closest Blur gets to pure punk, meaning it's far from unique, but still passable. 3/5 Key tracks: Beetlebum, Song 2, You're so Great

3.7 - not the most gripping album.

Nicht meine Musik. Ein Song war bekannt durch Radio.

That song that goes 'woohoo' but like, hard.

A lot of great songs and a real rock spirit and attitude.

01) Beetlebum - 10,0 02) Song 2 - 10,0 03) Country Sad Ballad Man - 9,5 04) M.O.R. - 10,0 05) On Your Own - 10,0 06) Theme from Retro - 8,5 07) You're So Great - 8,0 08) Death of a Party - 10,0 09) Chinese Bombs - 8,5 10) I'm Just a Killer for Your Love - 8,5 11) Look Inside America - 8,5 12) Strange News from Another Star - 8,5 13) Movin' On - 8,5 14) Essex Dogs - 8,5 TOTAL: 9,07 (91/100) Current ranking: 58/754

Obviously Song 2 is the ripper everyone knows but otherwise fairly ploddy brit pop.

I can't slag an album for not being "Parklife," which is, by far the best Blur record. I came to this album pretty late in my discovery/re-discrovery of Blur. It's good. It's spacey and weird, and fun. But a classic? I don't know. 6/10

8.5/10 fav songs: Country sad ballad man death of a party

I wanted to like this more than I did. Kind of unremarkable to me except for Song 2 which of course, slaps to the moon and back.

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

Funny to get this album only a week after randomly getting Oasis. Song 2 is a catchy song but I don't enjoy it that much anymore after hearing it for the 100th time. Listening to 'On Your Own' now for the first time I liked that song way more. I thought I really liked the outro of 'Strange News from Another Star' however this is probably because it sounds exactly like 'Brain Damage' by Pink Floyd. 'Essex Dogs' is an insane song but I kind of love it. Overall the psychedelic athmosphere of the album is great for experiencing once although I don't see myself listening to it again anytime soon 3.5/5 stars

The first 2 songs were the best. I prefer some of their other albums over this one. Not great, not terrible.

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.

Ok full disclosure - the full album is closer to a 4 star rating for me, but I NEED to add Beetlebum to our playlist, so its getting a bump! Beetlebum is one of my all time favourite tracks ! I vividly remember when Song 2 was released - I was 12 years old, sitting watching Rage one Saturday morning and it totally blew me away! I was really just starting to figure out my music taste, had just started learning the bass, and the chunky bass riff juxtaposed with the lighter guitar just really got me. Plus I thought Damon Albarn was hot. Great flim clip! I just slip away and I am gone

good album

Not going to win any prizes in lyricism but it’s a fun album with a variety of sounds.

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

Several members of Blur have gone on the record to say that they wanted this to be their American Rock Album. And you can hear it: grunge, alternative, indie-rock, and more. I guess Pavement was a big touchstone, which tracks. This album has a lot of the lower fidelity, quirky, texturally inclined indie stuff going on. And a song like You're So Great pushes it far enough that it almost sounds like a Guided By Voices song. I'd say this was a success overall. The core of Blur's brit-pop sound is very much here, but the indie aesthetics come through very clearly too. And it doesn't sound super disingenuous or put on either. They even scored a couple of hits in Beetlebum, and more notably Song 2. Beetlebum is one of the more British songs here: I believe it's a Beatles tribute, and it sounds it. On the other end of things, Song 2 is basically grunge: it's pretty much 100% fuzz, grunge attitude, and punk songcraft by volume. After this, Blur is pretty good. A lot of unconventional song structures and experiments with texture abound here. Most of them are very successful, from the aforementioned You're So Great's lo-fi pop, to the fuzz punk of Chinese Bombs, to the songs here that get a little trip-hoppy. I do think this could've been cut down a little, and every song does not feel essential. However, the consistency is generally there. A couple of neutral notes: it's interesting that a lot of the styles Blur is lifting from American bands here is from 5-ish years before this came out. It worked with their sound well, but it kind of does feel like Blur are playing cultural catch-up a little. Also, this was marketed as their weirder, more adventurous, "scarier" comeback, and I don't fully see it. I think this lands squarely into pop-rock, even with some of the weirder ideas, and I would be interested to hear these ideas pushed farther. Which, admittedly, may be what Blur offers on 13, which I should probably check out. Even if this isn't exactly what I was looking for, it was a cool step for Blur, and it largely paid off.

Кроме Song 2, тут больше особо ничего и не выделяется.

Simon likes this a lot. I found it a little samey

We used to sit around in all night diners drinking shit coffee and smoking cigarettes philosophizing about music. One of the many topics we covered was (at that time) the best Blur album and we would sometimes venture into who was better Blur or Oasis. [Dear Reader we all know the answer is Park Life and Blur]. Blur Blur is right up there as one of the best albums from the best Brit Pop bands out there. I still have to listen to Song 2 two or three times because it's just that good. The rest of the album ranges from middling to great. I see some people on here shit bagging on this because 'only a few are memorable' clearly they have not listened to this album as much as I have, and that is the reason why they can only name a few memorable songs. I'm kind of the opposite on things like this, it's a hard time for me to remember single songs but I do remember albums. Also for those of you who think that Oasis is better than Blur, let's just say that Damon Albarn is OBE and not a single member from Oasis is. PS. Essex Dogs is a banger, as is Look Inside America, as is Chinese Bombs, along with M.O.R, also who can forget Bettlebum, and if we're including that we need to also put in Country Sad Ballad Man, and well On Your Own is right up there, dang and so is Theme From Retro, which is followed up by You're So Great, which flows nicely into Death Of A Party, I always forget about how good Strange News from Another Star, and well we have already talked about Song 2.

A period of blue that is not my favourite but still a good listen with a couple of standout tracks.

Fun rock album that I definitely enjoyed! I loved the punchy drums on the album and the guitar was great.

Knew the big ones, of course. But enjoyed this as a total package (even if it was a bit long). A proper album with a vision.

No acaba de encantarme Blur

Excellent album - the band has a much broader Sonic pallet than I would have guessed just knowing them from radio airplay. Would definitely recommend this album

Прикольна пісня з реклами Туборга. Маю визнати, що сонграйтінг тут можна назвати цікавим. Та й рівень дуже непоганий Водночас підхід, коли ми розкидуємо по альбому референси до дуже різних гуртів і в підсумку загальний стиль занадто розмивається, мені не імпонує. Також цей вайб witty and clever теж не мій.

І хоча я провів дуже багато годин, граючи у фіфу 98, завдяки чому сонг2 стала однією з улюблених пісень мого дитинства, однойменний альбом blur не входить у список моїх улюблених. Тут є свої цікаві моменти, особливо що стосується саунду, і, чесно кажучи, ця музика загалом цікавіша ніж у їхніх одвічних конкурентів з оазіс. Але що стосується хітів, то блур далеко позаду.

For all the hubbub about Song 2, I think Song 1 is a contender for the best rock song of the decade. Feels like proto-Gorillaz

this was a solid album

The album where Blur killed off their Britpop tag once and for all. Blur's 1997 self-titled album showcases a band going through a significant rebirth. They were done feuding with Oasis through the press and wanted to stamp themselves as more than tabloid fodder. They channel The Beatles on 'Beetlebum', Bowie on 'M.O.R.' and sarcastically channel the alternative rock/grunge movement on 'Song 2', which has ironically become a bona-fide anthem of the alternative genre. But what must be commended about this album is Blur's boldness to be different, and yet still turn out such a cohesive and explorative album. Blur tackles straightforward rock, jangly pop, scratchy electronica and acoustic ballads. Nothing is off the table for Blur, and it's clear they've taken significant influence from American alternative acts, namely Pavement, Beck and R.E.M. But it's impressive how focused this record despite being so varied and all over the place, and I attribute this to the lyricism and vision of vocalist Damon Albarn. For a long time, Albarn's leap from Blur to Gorillaz was rather perplexing to me, as I was only really familiar with Blur's Britpop era at the time, but it makes perfect sense to me now after listening to this album. Where Oasis failed and went too overly extravagant with 'Be Here Now' in 1997, Blur quietly reinvented themselves that same year into one of Britain's unique and challenging acts, joining forces with Radiohead to consistently outdo themselves creatively heading into the 2000s, and Albarn would continue this approach into Gorillaz. Blur's 1997 record is a fine achievement in experimentation and relentless reinvention, and while they may not have won the commercial battles against Oasis, they certainly have them beat critically. A great album! Best songs: Beetlebum, Song 2, M.O.R., Death of a Party, Chinese Bombs, Look Inside America

First gets album: Who tf is blur? Song 2 plays: Oh they’re fucking legends. Solid listen from front to back, no skips from me which isn’t saying much because I usually don’t skip. But I didn’t have the urge to skip any record.

I like an effects pedal as much as the next man unless the next man is Graham Coxon. An occasional good tune on here, but a lot of it is just spoiled by an over-reliance on weird noises.

Is very ok

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

YA LO HABIA ESCUCHADO, ME ENCANTA Y LO VOY A VOLVWR A ESCUCHAR GRACIAS PAGINA 🙏🙏🙏🙏 temas fav: M.O.R. death of a party chinese bombs

Oasis till a die

Good first half…lost me as it progressed. But the first two tracks are bangers.

Song 2 still bangs. The rest of it is just okay 90s Britpop. Oasis won the war.

Blur is one of the handful of Britpop bands I can appreciate. However, this album - which I never took the time to listen in full before - was a bit less exciting than I hoped. First couple of songs are great (Song 2 is famous for a reason, it sure caught lightning in a bottle), and I really enjoyed Death of a Party and the hallucinated feel of Theme from Retro. But the remainder of the album kind of drags on, and sometimes feels a bit dull. Most songs have great instrumental openings, then fall flat due to pop-ish (and often exceedingly muted) vocals. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad music ; Blur is a competent band, they're more diverse and creative than Oasis, and I can appreciate their various influences (from Bowie to The Pixies) and sonic experimentations. But overall it remains a pure product of its time ; even if it has aged reasonnably well, it fails to rise to the level of "classic album" in my opinion. A pleasant listen, but not truly memorable. 6/10

I’ve always have been keen of Cool Britannia BritPop. Maybe because I have lived in London for a while at the time. And Dallin Albarn’s Gorillaz proved me right. So I was a bit disappointed to not felling more listening to this album.

It's an album I only moderately enjoyed listening to; it's probably a bit too rock for my taste. I almost hesitated to give it a poor rating of 2 stars, but it deserves better. However, I readily acknowledge the presence of Blur's hits and that they have their own quite recognizable style.

Blur has always been more creative and more fun than the other britpop bands, even if most of their music is basically pop I never liked. This album is at least a moment of clarity. I read that main influence would be Pavement… yeah, maybe a tiny bit. The guitars finally open up, the sound is less clean, and it is by far less … British… from that creepy Oasis era. Easily their best album, and the only one I can listen to without pain from the whole Britpop scene.

Blur er så nostalgisk for mig. Man kan virkelig høre stilen som senere blev til Gorillaz i dette album. Jeg er kæmpe fan.

Quirky, interesting in bits but in the end underwhelming.

3.5 - Solid album

Plodding, uninteresting, depressing. Sometimes I think the scope of my musical interests must be incredibly narrow because I find the majority of the albums on this list not to my liking. People have told me I'm a musical snob. Probably true. On the other hand, I'm always listening to music of one sort or another. I listen to rock, jazz, classical, country, bluegrass, and much more. A lot of the music presented here just bores me. Still, it exposes me to music I wouldn't have otherwise paid any attention to. Is it giving me exposure to different types of music or am I just wasting my time? I don't know.

Mindere plaat van ze

- I know this album pretty well. I’ve always slightly preferred Great Escape and Parklife for whatever reason, but I love this album, too. Tons of great songs (On My Own is my fave one) and only a few skips (e.g., Country Sad Ballad Man, Theme from Retro, Chinese Bombs, Essex Dogs). - I like Damon’s affected voice (minus the falsetto), and I think the music on this album is interesting and tight, but also easygoing… good bass, guitar, and effects to enjoy. - Blur (and contemporaries) were pretty formative for me and my musical tastes, and I’m very much enjoying revisiting this. And sorry, I liked both Blur and Oasis, lol.

I was very much on the Oasis side of the (clearly manufactured with hindsight) Blur vs Oasis rivalry when I was a kid. Looking back however, it's pretty clear that, while I don't always like Blur's music, they were by far the more interesting and varied band. This album is one of their better ones. It tails off a bit towards the end and would probably have benefitted from only being 10 or 11 tracks long, but I still enjoyed it a decent amount.

Prefer parklife and other Gorillaz albums

Another Billion play song with "Song #2", but outside of that the rest really is just a blur.

Blur goes American, Blur goes global.

6/10

Yeah it's alright

Did not finish, didn’t really get into it. Wild sounds.

Pretty good for 90's alternative/commercial rock

Olipas jotenkin outo kokemus. Alussa levy lähtee ihan mukavasti ja energisesti liikkeelle mut sit jotain tapahtuu ja loppuplatta onkin melkoista sekameteliä ja läpisoitantaa

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

Oli tässä jotain yritystä, mutta vähän tumputtamiseksi jäi.

Kai tää on blöörin joku vähän identiteettikriisilevy. Ainaskii sisältö on aika monisyistä. Joukkoon mahtuu tyyliltään monenmoista veisua. Eikä siinä, kyl mää tästä pändistä tykkään ja tää levykin on ihan jees. Jollain tapaa ei vaan lähe se yleissaundi joka tässä vallitsee. Kai se on vähän ominaissaundia sille ajalle, kun tää on pykästy pihalle. On tässä levyllä yks omista lööri-suosikeista eli avausraita Beetlepummi. Laulu kax on kans ihan takuuvarma hitti. Siit oon jotain juttua kuullut, että tekivät sen vähän kieliposkessa ajatellen sitä miltä ameriikkalainen rokkimusa kuulostaa, kun ison veen takana ei ollut blurraus kelvannut. No se sit men kivasti sillä ylipäänsä mantereella läpi. Mut, kokonaisuutena levy on "ei loistava eikä huono" eli iso kolmonen taas vaihteeks pöytään.

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.

An interesting album, with an array of different styles. I'll go a high 3.

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.

Another pleasant surprise. I knew the hits off the album and was familiar with the band by name, but I guess I never sat down for a solid listen before. Very reminiscent of the Manchester invasion of the early 90s to me (Inspiral Carpets, etc.). This is also going on my re-listen pile.

I like their other stuff more

Like most Blur albums I enjoyed it, not my favourite Britpop group. The big hit of this is the least Blur sounding song on the album.

About an hour of what I consider some evolved Britpop, some of it about as good as you could get, especially both the beginning and end tunes (the last tune is just 11 minutes of interesting beat/drone). If you want to hear some evolved Blur, one starts here.

A collection of some decent songs, bit less mainstream than I expected. (Will update review later)

Blur did go out of their early Britpop sound to embrace a more "90s" kind of sensibility. Solid late 90s rock album.

Woohoo.

great album, but loses some momentum as it goes on

Tell me you’re sad the Beatles broke up without telling me you’re sad the Beatles broke up

"It was easy to see them They were the best band to be in” American Guitars, The Auteurs The music press liked to cast Britpop as a rejection of America – a return to Englishness, a repudiation of grunge, a refusal of US cultural hegemony. “Yanks go home!” But this was always a fantasy, a compensatory fiction. The American influence didn’t disappear; it merely returned as the repressed. The thing that could not be named. Luke Haines acknowledged it openly with his 1993 hymn to Tad, years before the movement had the confidence to admit its own contradictions. With Blur, the repression finally breaks down. This is the band they always were. Coxon’s guitar style had always betrayed the secret. Those supposedly “English” riffs owed more to US indie - Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Mission of Burma, hardcore abrasion turned melodic – than to the Kinks or The Small Faces. Albarn may have written Modern Life is Rubbish as a reaction to a humiliating American tour, but by Look Inside America he sounds depleted by the very forces he and the press once defined himself against. In this sense, Modern Life and Blur work as bookends: the moment Britpop asserts itself, and the moment the coherence of that assertion collapses. Yet, Blur are always the same band. Despite superficial differences, these are largely the same guitars, the bass, the same drums. The usual narrative is that Britpop dies with Be Here Now or This Is Hardcore. But Albarn’s exit is more interesting because it is not a collapse into excess or ennui, but a strategic withdrawal – a move into an Americanised guitar minimalism that paradoxically allowed Blur to escape the very Britishness they had once amplified. Without changing much. Fitzgerald’s line about “there (being) no second acts in American lives” is less an aphorism than a symptom of American cultural fatalism. Blur’s second act only becomes possible when they abandon the Britpop posture and embrace the transatlantic feedback-loop that produced it in the first place. They’re they same band. It just the times and media narrative that have changed. This, ultimately, is the significance of the self-titled album: its declaration of identity is a negation. Blur becomes Blur by ceasing to be the Blur that Britpop required. Same band though. Albarn’s persona, always a shifting surface anyway, gives more space to Coxon’s musical programme – looser, harsher, more porous to outside currents. The same band, but a calibrated shift that allows them to weathers the demise of Britpop. For a little while. The result isn’t their best album, but it is their moment of liberation. It opens up the temporal space that Britpop foreclosed, allowing the band to continue after the movement’s death. Blur survives because it stops playing the meta-narrative game and just becomes a band. Like the once were. Like they would be on and off over the coming decades. The best band to be in. 3.5 This was the first Blur album I ever bought. It wasn’t until their next album 13 (not on the list) and seeing them live on that tour that they became one of my favourite bands. Ultimately I preferred the two albums before ‘blur’ and the album after it - three of my favourites by any band - but this album, sitting not quite as high in my admiration as the others, still ranks high in my affection. This is a misunderstood album I think. ‘Graham’s Album’ is a common moniker. Well they’re all Graham’s albums and actually the guitar playing here, although more dominant in the mix than before, represents no great stylistic departure for Coxon from a style he established as early as Modern Life is Rubbish. It’s also plainly a Damon album, despite the relative dearth of funny keyboard noises. Though dressed in the rags of alternative music this is, with the exception of Essex Dogs, disciplined pop music. Hooks, choruses, carefully written top lines - the only other track that touches 5 minutes is Beetlebum, a no 1 hit. There are arch instrumental touches - the harps on Look Inside America or electric piano on Strange News. There is as much Great Escape here as 13. Though it trails off at the end - Movin’ On feels procedural, Essex Dogs, a sort of trailer for 13, is nevertheless a bit of a bore; all of 13 is better than Essex Dogs - blur is still an excellent album. I would be happy to bore you with a track by track but I will settle for recording that Beetlebum has one of my favourite guitar solos by anyone - those 7 notes going round and round at the end are the brilliant Graham Coxon in a nutshell, contrariness and strange beauty. 3.5/5

Interesting choices at times. Enjoyed more than Parklife.

Didn't stand out in any way from the other works of blur or similar bands. Decent one time listen while i drifted to sleep. Would not listen again though.

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 was really resistant to this album. When I saw it appear in the my list I put it off for months. I have no idea why. I have nothing against Blur, but for some reason I thought 'I just can't.' I finally forced myself to listen, and you know what? I liked it quite a lot. Graham Coxon is under rated as a guitarist. There's some good stuff on here.

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.

un clásico, la primera vez que lo escuché fue por una persona que era muy especial para mi, en especial you're so great es top canciones del albúm para mi

A lot more eclectic than I was expecting. Usually 90's britpop feels like nothing more than Beatles worship fed through the lens of alt rock. Which this album has a bit of, Beetlebum is straight up (I Want You) She's So Heavy. But you got more alt rock ragers like Song 2, and stuff that's predicting Albarn's work with Gorillaz. My only real complaint is whoever chose Beetlebum as the opener is a moron, lol. That's a closing song if I've ever heard one.

80/100. Compact and packed with some of their classics, shows a grittier side of blur. It balances accessible hooks with rawer production and moodier tones.

This list loves its Brit Pop. Too bad so much of it's shit--this is no exception. Would I listen to again? Heck no.

This album contains some evidence that Blur were trying to move on/break away from/transcend the Britpop sound, and I can give them a point for that. But it still proves the conclusion I’ve come to over the course of this list — Britpop bands were all just trying to copy the sound and attitude of David Bowie’s 70s career. “M.O.R.” and “On Your Own” literally sound like Bowie ripoffs. And the ones that don’t sound like demos. You know, the farther I get into this album the less grace I want to extend. I take back my point. This sucks.

Arranca bien, se pierde un poco después

Own it. Love it.

This was so interesting sonically. So many strange white noise moments but it remains musically sound. Truthfully I was not familiar with much of Blur’s work beyond “Song 2” off of this album but truthfully while it’s still a great song it’s far from the most interesting on this album. I read up that this album was a major pivot in the bands previous style and I think it’s definitely worth the listen. Especially on some great speakers. Moody elements, grunge-y, and even some harder hitting stuff but I think that’s where I was least interested.

This album starts with a bang with "Beetlebum" and "Song 2." After that it is a sonic hodge podge and not everything works. But it's always interesting, kind of like their version of The Beatles White Album. There's even a song with a writing credit to David Bowie, "M.O.R.," and a grungy country song ("Country Sad Ballad Man") When many bands would play it safe, Blur was pushing the envelope and I love that about them.

Not to rekindle a silly manufactured beef, but the answer to the question "Liam or Noel?" is Damon fucking Albarn. The man has more creative ability and vision than either in his pinky finger alone, and this one is proof. Starting with Beetlebum is one of the best ways you could start an album, and it goes full throttle from there. The sonic variety on this, compared to a lot of Britpop acts at the time, is really impressive, from punk to slacker rock to foreshadowing of modern indie. The transition from Strange News to Movin On is one of the highlights of the whole thing for me. Its not perfect, definitely can be self indulgent like with the closing track, but I love it, probably my favorite Blur album

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 .... -

This was more interesting than I was expecting. I'd only heard Song No. 2, which is still a great song. The rest of the album was more varied and energetic than I was expecting.

Boring the first blur album i got “Modern Life Is Rubbish” was way better

I HAD NO IDEA BIG TIME RUSH SAMPLED SONG 2 FOR THEIR SONG WINDOWS DOWN IMAGINE MY FACE WHEN I HEARD THE BEAT

Bit Boring 🥱

Average Brit rock from the 90s, saved by song2

Not bad. 2.5/5

I am a sucker for unique 90's rock albums. There is a lot to like here, a lot of the songs take really strange turns and none of the songs sound like any other song on the album. Also Song 2 is an all time banger, and I don't even care that the song was made as a joke (maybe they should have made more jokes because it is a really good song). This is close to a 5 for me, but there are a couple of songs that I am not really crazy about. High 4.

cool

Just okay vs previous release

Ich liebe dieses Album sehr, damals mit 14 oder so wegen Song 2 gekauft. Dachte alle Blur Songs sind so. Sind sie nicht. Blur hat viel mehr Tiefe und Substanz in ihren Songs. Beetlebum mein fav blur song, aber auch death of a party, strange news from another star, you're so great and i love you sind geil

blur are good.

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

It was okay, had some solid hits in there and others that just kinda passed by (in a blur) without me really noticing them.

Some songs I liked. Some songs I didn’t. One I skipped after about a minute. I liked the alternate vibes of this album but it didn’t mix super well with its psychedelic element. It was relatively cool to finally discover the song that’s on like every single commercial ever. Wouldn’t listen again.

After 2 days of rap I was really happy when Blur appeared today. Then I listened to it, what a disappointment, apart from the first two tracks which I already knew and like, the rest is such a dirge. As a Mancunian I was always more Oasis than Blur in the 90's, turns out I was right.

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

Haiku review: To escape Britpop, to escape The Great Escape, Blur looked to the West.

They're no Oasis, that's for sure. ;)

Good

Blur is a vibe. +1 star for beetlebum I do enjoy it.

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.

Song 2 has to be one of the most recognizable songs for most millennials, I feel like it was everywhere when I was a kid. Other than that I felt like the album was pretty average.

Again, I wish we had a more granular way of rating these albums. Song 2 is an all-timer and I did like a lot of the rest of this album. It's pretty unique but overall too long. I'm falling right between a 3 and a 4, but if I give it a 4 I'm saying it's the same as Californication, and if I give it a 3 I'm saying it's the same as all the other generic stuff we get on this list. Doesn't feel fair either way.

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.

6/10 Cards on the table, I was never a britpop guy. I was too busy binging on grunge and punk at the time It was popular, but I'm always happy to give a chance to something I may have overlooked in the past. I obviously knew the big singles, it was hard to miss them as a living being in the late 90s, and this album starts off strong. I expected Beetlebum to be a tone setter, with its languorous vocal delivery, backed with a solid rhythmic base and some good melodic hooks to give it energy, but things seem to vary pretty wildly from then on. It kind of feels like a melting pot of different ideas, from both a musical and production point of view and it doesn’t really flow all that well as a result. It’s quite front and back loaded for me, with a big old lull of inconsistency in the middle. After the first couple of tracks, the consistency really dips and I found some of the tracks were fairly dull and uninspiring, despite apparent attempts to inject some experimentation and verve to proceedings. The production was odd, in that from one song to the next the vibe and tone would change from crisp and full to almost four track cassette demo levels of quality, which was quite jarring. I felt that the second half picked up quite a bit and some of that experimentation started to enhance the music, rather than feeling so disconnected from it. There was some great songwriting in places; interesting chord changes, nice harmonies and that aforementioned rhythmic base all contributing. There were also some tracks that leant towards the Gorillaz sounds that Damon Albarn would work with later in his career, which I enjoyed. I think this album has the makings of a very good 40 minute album, but as it is, it's just a little bloated and inconsistent, particularly in the middle. Beetlebum - A britpop classic. It’s almost lazy in its delivery, but the dynamic change into the chorus is great and the subtle backing vocals are solid. I like the way the vocal pushes and pulls the emphasis of the beat here and there. Song 2 - A throwaway joke of a song that becomes your biggest worldwide hit? Of course. It’s very simple and short, but it’s another classic. It’s got great energy and solid hooks, and that’s all it needed. Country Sad Ballad Man - You couldn’t drop the intensity much more. This is a fairly meandering little number. It feels like Graham Coxon is doing his best to inject something into it, but it just kind of plods along and Damon Albarn doesn’t sound like he’s particularly arsed about it. There are some nice moments here and there, but it does plod along a bit too much for me. M.O.R. - This is more interesting straight off the bat. Some cool guitar work, and when it launches into the song proper, there’s much better energy. The melodies are pretty good, and there’s a good bit of variety in the dynamic, which keeps things moving along. It’s not spectacular, but it’s pretty good. On Your Own - This is a bit of an odd one. It sounds like they’re trying to do two different things at the same time. There’s some semblance of an attempted anthem, alongside some sonic experimentation that sort of drowns out the base song, and it doesn’t really pull off either thing. It all just feels a bit muddled. Theme From Retro - We’re on to a wash of sound that just drudges on. It’s another lean towards experimentation, but it’s not experimental enough to actually be interesting. There’s no drive or variety to it at all, it just kind of exists and then stops existing. You're So Great - There’s something quite Dinosaur Jr about this track. It’s pretty nice, but compared to the rest of the album so far it very much feels like a demo, rather than a finished track, which is a bit odd. Death Of A Party - And we’re back too full on production. There’s more than a hint of Gorillaz to this. It’s got a bit of creeping menace to it in the verses and a nice switch up into the chorus. The organ part is great, and it’s got a good swagger to the rhythm, and Albarn’s delivery works much better on this one. This is much, much better. Chinese Bombs - Another stylistic switch up. This is almost punky, it’s got some good energy to it and it’s super noisy. Pretty good, but the stark changes in production style is confusing me quite a bit. It doesn’t feel all that coherent. I'm Just A Killer For Your Love - This is a bit cleaner, except for the vocal. The post chorus development is pretty good and has a bit of cool swagger to it. On one hand, I quite like the tone of this, but it doesn’t necessarily add in enough range or variety into the dynamic to really keep me fully engaged. The thrust of the rhythm is good though. Look Inside America - Good morning lethargy is a fairly fitting opening lyric for some of the tracks on this album, although not this one. It’s another stylistic switch up, but there’s some really good drive and pace to this one. The strings feel a bit forced, to be honest, but the pre-chorus and chorus are solid. The breakdown is a bit weird, but in a good way. Although it switches styles about a bit, it all feels like it’s pulling in the same direction, which is pretty satisfying. Like it. Strange News From Another Star - It’s got an interesting intro and then drops into something more plain. But it’s a good kind of plain. This is a really solid, relaxed effort that builds nicely into different sections. It’s quite Bowieish, even in Albarn’s vocal delivery. The production is simple but effective, and the sparing use of soundscaping really helps develop the dynamic depth , and then it launches into a noisy burst at the end, which it feels like it’s earned. Another good one. Movin' On - And the drive is back. I feel like this album has saved some of its best work for the end. This is hardly reinventing the wheel, but its got a good bit of zip to it, the experimental work all serves the narrative of the song and doesn’t overwhelm and there’s some really good build and release of tension and range. It definitely kept my attention, and had me tapping along. Essex Dogs - This is a cool end to the album. It’s got another edge of Gorillaz to it, and sonically, it’s really interesting. It’s got a really solid groove, and the subtle sung vocal that drifts in and out behind the spoken word vocal is great. Again, the experimental edge enhances rather than overshadows, and it ebbs and flows in a really satisfying way. A quality closer. And we get a bit more experimentation as a bonus track, which is a bonus bit of fun.

Woohoo

Firstly I must admit that I'm Oasis over Blur, I'd probably also take Damon Albarn's Gorillaz over Blur but nonetheless was excited to listen to this album all the way through for the first time. Outside of the the two openers everything was new to me. I will say that I think prefer this version Blur to their radio friendly Britpop sound but nonetheless this album still meanders along without every truly grabbing my attention. There's nothing necessarily wrong with any of the songs here, on the flip-side, there's nothing engrossing about any of them either. Decent overall but no higher. Favourites: Beetlebum, Song 2 Least favourites: Country Sad Ballad Man, Movin' On, Essex Dogs Rating 6/10

beetle, song2

Lækkert low key album med kæmpe hits. Helt sikkert et album jeg ville sætte på igen.

I think it's a decent album, I like the overall composition. I don't think there's anything outstanding about it and there were also a few weak tracks. 3.4

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

second song is clearly why this is on here, the rest is fine but nothing special. 3.5 rounded down. 3/5

Oasis better

It got better is it went along

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

This was a fun one

Upbeat and cool. I didn't realize Song 2 was the name of that song. I know it and like it.

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

Recognized Song 2 and the rest was easy enough listening, but no stand outs to make me want to explore further.

Song 2 wasnt the 2nd song...

opening track was truly awful and I felt disappointed, I had somehow expected more. However it rapidly perked up and each track seemed better than the one before. Bitter disappointment averted

Woooohooooo! Naturally, the best track on the album. Road to World Cup, anyone? IYKYK. Didn't mind this. Some decent tracks, an obvious pastiche, easy to listen to. Wouldn't say it's a strong 4, but it's definitely better than 3. I'm left satisfied hearing it, but not really left wanting more.

I'm a big fan of Blur but was not a big fan of this. Sounded like a combination of cool Graham Coxon riffs with some proto-Gorillaz tunes but it didn't really work. Apart from Beetlebum and Song 2 of course.

Not quite Park Life but up there as Blur's best recordings. The energy of Song 2 and a mixed bad of lo fi guitars and synths make for an interesting album and reflection of the 90's

Better than the other Blur album that was on this list, but only slightly. Song 2 is still good, provided you haven't heard it in a while, but the rest was forgettable.

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.

Beetlebum is the best britpop song i listened to this SO MUCH In college i had forgotten this album is in fact too long though, if it ended on Look Inside America it might be perfect

Obviously Song 2 is well known, but this is a strong and interesting record.

Can you guess which song I've heard more than others? This was pretty good, wish I had listened to it more when I was younger.

actually more varied that I expected. a bit of brit-pop some garage. not bad.

Best Song: Song 2 This is a first time listen of the whole album. Of course I knew Song 2 as that was played on a loop in 1997 on the radio. Overall the album is a slightly better than average grunge album. I'm not really sure why it made this list. It's not bad but is definitely not anything mind blowing. 4/5.

Super fun as always. If I had never heard it, I may feel like it is too in to itself if I am being honest. A little incohesive at times.

I really liked this. You really notice Blur moved on from Britpop here into pastures new, a welcome change. The songs are more chill (except the breakout hit) and the entire vibe is more Trip Hop and Jazzy than their earlier album. It's a bit more experimental too, especially with the weird jam that's the final track. Makes me excited to dive a bit deeper into Blur's later catalog because this is really solid.

Remindera of England

55

Essex Dogs is a masterpiece.

Ah yes, I remember listening to this after wondering who created Song 2. I still find it pretty striking how it sounds nothing like the rest of the album. This album has quite the variety, seemingly taking inspiration from different artists and styles, which makes it a fun listen. But in the end, I don't *love* this album, or any of the songs that much.

This album makes it painfully obvious that the list was created in the early 2000's. While it's fine, it's definitely not an album I would consider particularly good or even influential. It's a fine album with Song 2 being the obvious popular one that I'd heard very often before. But while its songs sound nice, it doesn't have that "influential" vibe that I would expect from albums in this list.

first go around I was like.. no. and stopped listening. then came back to it today and I really like it. Got some psych rock, punk, pop, bowie-y. it's a bit of a jam. :)

really fun britpop album. i find i have quite the liking for blur's output so far, although i do find them to be firmly my #2 britpop band. this one is a really good, fun record, especially with the incredibly nostalgic and bash-you-over-the-head "song 2" which definitely buoys this album a little bit. the rest of the album is pretty solid and satisfyingly sneering, but, hey, it is predominantly defined by its most famous song.

A lot of the building blocks for what would be the Gorillaz. A great listen, and fun throughout

Forgot how good this album is. No more cheeky Chappy Britpop (although I liked that too). Now time for Angst and songs about heroin. Great guitar work and vocals and all the tracks are strong.

Much weirder than I expected. Felt more like Gorillaz offcuts than what I expected Blur to be. Graham Coxon is all that’s keeping this from being another Damon Albarn solo project.

I had only really heard Song 2 before this. I liked the first half of the album quite a bit, toward the end it felt like there was stuff on there that didn’t really measure up to the other songs. But still, pretty good album.

Song 2 is a great name for a hit

Rad

Meh, kinda boring.

This was one of those that you know but you didn’t know you knew. Weird. Good though. Like pimento cheese. I’d eat it.

There’s a few really fun tracks and cool experimentation. I’m not the most fond of his voice, but I can appreciate the style here. A few tracks left a bit to be desired

Honestly I try to be positive about the albums I listen to, but..... This apparently marked a new musical direction. It may be a new direction but it is hardly musical. I can't give any more than 1 star

Triaging the weekend albums in order of interest and this one wins out. I'm often mixed on Blur -- like I really enjoy Damon Albarn as a musician (particularly Gorillaz), but that is somewhat in tension for my general ambivalence towards brit-pop. This album was among the more enjoyable from Blur that I've listened to. Certainly it covers more ground than some others, with "punkier" bits like Song 2 living alongside the acoustic nostalgia of You're so Great, the psychedelia of Theme from Retro, balladry of Strange News from Another Star, and general indie-alternative elsewhere. While the diversity is entertaining, it does make for an album without any real centralizing appeal. Favorites from the listen were Song 2 -- a dumb and fun song that lives an altogether too-short life with its wonderfully fuzzed-to-hell bass and freewheeling nature -- Death of a Party, I'm Just a Killer for Your Love, and Essex Dogs -- a rough-cut spoken word outro with dubby elements that works quite nicely. I could certainly see myself coming back to this one time and again -- 4 / 5.

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.

Easily the best of the 3 Blur albums we have had so far. This one had some cool trippy aspects to a lot of the songs which I was getting down to. Kept reverting back to pretty typical British 90s rock which is not my fav, but overall this was much higher over my expectations!

Beetlebum is a fun one. Song 2 is a classic. Theme from Retro has a spooky vibe to it! Reminds me of some Gorillaz with how he’s speaking in it. Death of a Party is a pretty fun psychedelic one. That was a solid hard psychedelic ride there. Better than I expected after the first few songs. Low 4. That being said it’s ridiculous we’ve only had 1 Gorillaz album and like 4 Blur albums.

This was all right, a little Nineties nostalgia, but I got bored with it by the end and the memorable Song 2 has been overused in advertising.

Meh

I personally prefer their Brit pop Kinks- inspired era but this had some great songs on there which really derive from their usual sound, something I can respect although I don’t know too much about their publicity struggles and why this album helped to get them more popular in a way. I actually didn’t like side 1 all that much other than the first 2 (the hits) and the last one on there. Side 2 was better in my opinion with some more interesting and unique songs. That’s something I like about Blur, in the 3 albums i’ve heard from them they like to change it up as they go through an album. There was a clear focus on American indie rock as was the intention which was executed fine but didn’t really interest me in comparison with the more blasting punky songs on here, I guess that’s because it fits what I like about Blur. Although, as I said, the last song on side A was really great and sounded very American Indie rocky, it specifically reminded me of Yo La Tengo and even more specifically their “I can hear the beating heart as one” album. Mostly though I liked a select few songs and the rest were just ok. Favourites: You’re so great, Death of a party, Chinese bombs, Movin’ on and I guess the first 2 although not something I would actively listen to myself as they get played quite a lot anyway. Overall, 6/10.

Other than Song 2, pretty naff.

Okay but not great, British

Prettay prettay prettey good

🧡

# 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 like this, I’ll have to listen again. This grew on me. Not obsessed with the first half, but the back half creeps in and really made me enjoy this record more. Strange News from Another Star sounds like an old Bowie tune. I really like how they interpolate Song 2 into Movin’ On, huge fan of that. Also enjoyed the sound of Chinese Bombs…but so short! I had no idea this is where Song 2 came from! Also so short! And I had no idea that one of the creatives from this band went on to form Gorillaz. I’m happy I listened to this. But I don’t think it resonates greatly with me. 3/5

Enjoyable album, good bit of versatility, obvious stand outs were beetlebum and song 2, there's a good reason they're the most well known.

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

Great album, definitely brought me back to the 90’s

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

Great album with lots of personality. Song 2 was a favorite for me.

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.

Going through this project is just listening to a battle between Radiohead and Blur, and they're trying to figure out who can make the most drab sounding crap. I'm not sure who's winning, but I'm definitely on the losing end. 1 star.

3.0 - Ok

This record was ok! Song 2 is a classic, but not much of the rest jumped out at me. Cool guitar work, laidback vibes, not bad!