Reviews (page 6 of 13)
I could have been into this back in '97. Standout track is "Strange News From Another Star"
Yup, another classic
Great stuff from one of my fave bands
For Luke x
Good, but really long
catchy
More of an Oasis person in the 90s but I liked this. It was a bit more varied.
I enjoyed it very much. I had no idea who they were but I recognized the type of music.
¿El mejor de ellos?
Rock alternativo. Un megahit.
Interesting find. Everyone has heard Song 2, but got the memory jogged hearing M.O.R.. Enjoyed On Your Own and will listen to Essex Dogs a few more times to form an opinion.
I only knew song 2 before... So...
I always forget this was the Gorillaz guy. I also never heard this entire album, and it was surprisingly good!
Fun record. Song 2 is an all-time classic, still gets my blood hot. Hadn't listened to this LP previously. Fun distortion.
cover hard u passend zum sound
Hell yeah! Enjoyable! 4 stars!
Good Brit pop rock sound nice good yes
Blur is great. That is all.
Awesome album, really fun to hear, the last song was kinda boring but outside of that, I really enjoyed it. 9/10
Lots of memories with this great album
Cool rock album. Very much like!
Love Damon Albarn. Love this album.
hell yea. a lot of Gorillaz comes out here. great album. Love this.
I liked this album, I really didn't expect anything from Blur but they got some good songs.
I only knew song 2. The album is surprisingly better than I expected.
liked more than i thought i would
Fedt album, som måske ikke er så kendt. Mest kendt for song 2
I think this is a really interesting record, definitely a precursor to a ton of Gorillaz stuff. Alt Rock, Art Rock, Garage rock, maybe some mild psych rock. Some tracks though that I just don’t care for. Maybe I’d warm up to em with other listens, but for now I’ll call this flawed but very interesting. I will say it’s a very unique sounding album. Doesn’t sound like much else
This album came out when I was getting back into metal. So other than Song #2 I missed it. This was very close to being a 5-star album....the last song wasn't right.
Decent Blur changing track. Some memorable tunes.
#382 I’ve always been more of a greatest hits fan of Blur and never really got into any of their albums. Maybe there is something about them I don’t quite get, perhaps because they’re from London and in the great Oasis vs Blur wars, I was firmly in the Oasis camp at the time, and even though I’d much prefer to listen to Blur these days, I don’t enjoy them perhaps as much as I ought to, which was on my mind when listening here; there was a lot to like, it was musically interesting, Song2 is a banger (although overplayed to the point of tedium), and Beetlebum represents the type of Blur song that I gravitate towards. It’s a 7/10 sort of album that is teetering between 3 and 4 stars. Heard before?❓(Probably) Would I revisit? ✅ Listen before you die? 🫳 Fave track(s): Beetlebum; Death of a Party Rating: 7/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
--Beetlebum...a bit grungy --Song 2...woo hoo! --Country Sad Ballad Man...I didn't know this group got so sludgy --M.O.R....meh --On Your Own...didn't get me at first but it eventually comes together --Theme from Retro...creepy organ intro. not really sure what this is trying to accomplish --You're So Great...production is interesting the songwriting is not --Death of a Party...head bopper. the production finally elevates the song --Chinese Bombs...nice riff. not much more to it --I'm Just a Killer for Your Love...some chunky production, but the song ain't tops --Look Inside America...it's best if you don't --Strange News from Another Star...feels appropriately alien. another point where the production and songwriting is complementary --Movin' On...another mediocre song built around a strong riff --Essex Dogs...ooo, a little off-balanced to start, I like it. But, Damon, buddy, you don't need a hidden song on an album that's already pushing an hour
Solid alt rock album from the legend Damon Albarn and team. Couple weird ones with some cool ones mixed in
Pensé que era un álbum de britpop y no lo disfrutaría, fue todo lo contrario, una experiencia algo nueva dentro de lo que había escuchado sobre Gorillaz. Varios componentes electrónicos, experimentales y alternativos.
Really strong beginning , not as strong in the second half. Got a bit too chaotic for me, still a great album. I love song 2
As far as Britpop goes, I've heard better. But I've also heard worse.
Blur’s self-titled 1997 album is a polarizing, inconsistent experience that highlights both the band's creative peaks and their experimental growing pains. While the record opens with the undeniable power of "Beetlebum" and the quintessential, high-energy adrenaline of "Song 2," the momentum frequently stalls throughout the tracklist. Tracks like "Death of a Party" and "Theme from Retro" offer genuinely captivating, eerie textures and unique instrumental flourishes, yet these highlights are often buried under a collection of filler material that ranges from lackluster ballads to garage-style tracks like "Chinese Bombs" that feel jarringly unpolished. Ultimately, the album suffers from a disjointed production quality; it oscillates between refined, atmospheric brilliance and abrasive walls of sound, resulting in a project that feels more like a scattered collection of ideas than a cohesive artistic statement.
Wow al geluisterd? Maar misschien ff opnieuw omdat ik oprecht geen 1 lied meer kan noemen Oke heb niet meer opnieuw geluisterd dus ik geef gw 3 sterren
It’s very … eclectic. In this case, eclectic mostly means crap.
It was good but not great. Maybe my expectations were too high.
ни разу раньше не слушала этот альбом полностью по song 2 и не подумаешь, что он такой интересненький, но местами затянуто
3.7/5
Good 90s album. I like that they were trying to shed the pop star sound and ended up blowing up in the US because of it. Song 2
Solid album, I like
Song two is brilliant in its simplicity. When Blur tries for more complex songwriting, it doesn’t resonate with me. Full respect to Damon Albarn and his amazing influence on music. He created a lot of fantastic stuff! This album though… not brilliant. To me.
This is a fine album. However, it feels criminal to have 3 Blur albums and only one Gorillaz album. Maybe Damon Albarn moved the industry (or Euro music?) a lot with Blur. But given that only one song from this (or any of the 3) album ever really did anything, I'm not convinced Gorillaz isn't his bigger legacy. #justiceforgorillaz
++: Song 2, Country Sad Ballad Man, On Your Own, Death of a Party, Strange News from Another Star, Movin' On +: Beetlebum, M.O.R., Theme from Retro, Chinese Bombs, I'm Just a Killer for Your Love, Essex Dogs/Interlude +-: You're So Great, Look Inside America 6,4/10
One great song, somewhat underwhelming
Song 2 is so damn good, it makes the test of the album, just a tad better. I loved the 90s riffs and listening to this made me feel like I was 14 again, listening to a new band on a cd.
Prefer the earlier stuff
Solid stuff. Not as brit-poppy as their early stuff? Should probably be a 4.
A mix of genres with a lot of fuzzy guitar. I love about a quarter of it, like a half and the other quarter I could do without. 3.5/5
Damn I like blur a lot less than I think I do:/ won’t be running back to this, apologies - still good! But ‘Parklife’ is better. Wil concede that ‘Essex Dogs’ is a banging closer though
Britpop has never really inspired me and whilst I like Blur better than Oasis I am not wowed by anything here too much.
This one has a couple of high points but for the most part hasn't aged gracefully, with each track sounding more like the last.
Typical Blur. Some great single tracks, very creative with a lot of variety but just too hit and miss.
its ight
There's a certain weariness to this album that I'm finding difficult to embrace. A heaviness. A jadedness, perhaps. It feels like an album a bunch of disillusioned dudes in their late 20s and early 30s would write. I say that as a disillusioned 32-year-old, weary of what the world's become. There are many elements I appreciate - some of the production, some of the instrumental choices (harps, surprise surprise!), the experimentation (looking at you Essex Dogs, though I can't say I'm itching to listen to you again any time soon). And there are certainly some gems on this album. Beetlebum sets the tone, but plays with expectations. Song 2 is a classic, and rightfully so. Country Sad Ballad Man, You're so Great, Look Inside America, even Movin' On to a degree... There's something there. Yet I kept finding myself wondering... Is this Bowie? The Beatles? Radiohead? What IS this? WHO is this? Perhaps I'll try this album again in the future.
could have been a 4 but some tracks let it down
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.
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.
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.
not as fun as parklife
It was epically alright.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
I particularly enjoyed some tracks but the album as a whole was only listenable for me.
Não faz muito o meu estilo
Good/fine.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
Blur trying to be The Pixies and Bowie all at the same time.
Even though they missed out on the Yoo Hoo product partnership, “Song 2”, makes this the least annoying Blur album.
3 stars. or after smoking a bowl 4 stars
I quite liked it but the second half falls away a bit.
It's ok, tended to drift into the background really. Not my fave but a fun enough listen
Interesting album - one TRULY notable song. Pitchfork: 8.1 Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs Beetlebum Song 2
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
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. 🤷♂️
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?
Fav- movin on 3/5
kinda repetitive at times but had some good moments Top Songs: Beetlebum Song 2 Essex Dogs
It wasn't really for me. Some songs were ok
There are 2 great songs here, and a lot of guff.
“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”.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Quite a mixed bag really, but something I would want to listen to again
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.
Love this. One of the first brit pop albums that I hear.
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.
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
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
Cool
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)
Good start.
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
Really unique and variable songs. They're like a British version of the Presidents of the Untied States of America.
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.
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
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.
Pretty decent.
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.
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
This was just ok (barely), and mostly because of the one hit from this album.
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.
Why not a different album, this is cool, but no their best!!
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.
It’s hard to see how I could give this a higher grade. Blurry, almost.
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
I’m only familiar Song 2, so this album is both exposure and semi cool.
Beetlebum is an incredible start, but the rest was kind of hit or miss for me
Knew song 2. I enjoyed this album, but probably wouldn’t throw this on myself
I mean it was alright I don't think I needed to listen to it before I died
Frontloaded album Fave track: Song 2
i dont get it. Song 2 and nothing else.
This is Blur pretty good, I like park life better.
Blur is an apt description for this album. Only hours after hearing it I remember nothing about it.
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
didnt like the songs but it was an alirghe experience i see why its a good album mid songs tho
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.
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.
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.
Older and newer Blur albums have been better. But this is still solid.
I've only listened to one other Blur album start-to-finish, and I think I only recognize one track by name on this album. The irony of that is it's essentially an untitled song. As I mentioned in my other review for the other Blur album I've listened to, in the head-to-head Britpop battle between Blur and Oasis, I prefer Oasis. This isn't bad, but I don't quite understand what's supposed to be so great about this.
Interesting
Good for the style
Couple of great tracks, thr others are good 3/5 compared to the rest of their albums
3.5/5, I like this album and its def a classic. I've heard it before so ima skip the longer review, but def enjoyed!
Pretty solid
preferred to parklife
First couple of tracks are classics, I need another run at the rest to properly review the album
If you like Brit Pop this is probably a classic album. Not for me. Can't seem to hear anything at all distinctive. Blur at its most Blur-like I suppose.
I’m not a huge Damon Albarn fan, but I did see him live with Gorillaz which was fantastic. This feels like the album where Blur moved away from their distinctly British style, prominent on earlier tracks like Parklife and Girls & Boys, and aimed for a broader, more American-friendly sound. For the most part, it works. Song 2 in particular is completely inescapable, though I’ll always associate it with a Volvo advert.
Geez, I'd really forgotten how annoying "Song #2" is when it was a hit, and then played at every single Reds game, as part of the pre- or in-game ritual, for about 12 years. Ugh. I never wanna hear that again. I like Blur when I hear 'em on alternative rock radio, but this album didn't really do anything for me. 2.5 stars
Blur leans into this fuzzy, indie‑rock thing here — rough edges, loose vocals, and a lot less Britpop shine. It’s still catchy, just more scruffy and lived‑in. A few songs blend together, but the big ones like “Beetlebum,” “Song 2,” and “On Your Own” carry the whole vibe.
this was awesome!
Beatles homage Song 2 Mor On your own
It"s gotta sting to have an album explode because of a throwaway joke song, but that's what Blur's eponymous will always carry with it. At the time, I wrote this off because Beetlebum didn't grab me at all (so much so that on relisten, I didn't even remember its chorus, which is to be fair more lush than expected). So the proof is in the pudding for the post Song 2 tracks, I suppose. I appreciate that the album has a lot of diversity and experimentation on it. Blur is sort of like the more avant garde side of Oasis and the less faffy side of Radiohead in that regard. They don't really reach the highs of either in my experience, but I'm glad someone is in that middle ground. I'd say this album was a victim of a lot of things, but a lot of albums like this in the 90s were really hurt by being overly long. Not that 56 minutes is unthinkably long, but if you want to put 14 songs on an album they need to be largely super strong stuff, so even as we get to the crunch of Look Inside America or the twang of Country Sad Ballad Man, there's a lot of movement that isn't ending in a clutch of really successful tracks. But it's not that this is bad, just disjointed. "Strange News..." has big Bowie vibes, which I like (so does Movin On, but that doesn't hit as well for me). 3ish stars? Top track was Death of a Party
L great start but boring after the first few tracks
This album kicks of with a brace of top tracks, but seems to flounder a bit from then on. Overall it has a nice rough and ready sound to it, which may be the much-vaunted Pavement influence.
Right off the bat I was a bit skeptical because of the amount of awful UK albums on this list but this was not too bad of a listen. It sounds like an early ‘90s alternative album but released in the late ‘90s so it’s the sound of a band arriving slightly late to the party. It started off a bit derivative and I wasn’t sure if this album would be essential listening but as it went on it became more experimental which made it a more interesting listen in the end. I’m now looking forward to checking out their other albums.
Eh, not my thing. It sounds really dated
Maybe I’m just not that into Blur. Second album by them in just over a week. The Brit pop sound is just not my favourite. It was fine, but I had no desire to listen to it again when I finished.
First half is a 4, but it gets worse the longer it goes on.
Twas a blur
Альбом одного хита. Ну, хорошо, полутора хитов
The much derided Britpop that lots of people seem to have issues with. At the time I was more of an Oasis fan than Blur, but have since come to recognise that Blur are the better band. Not sold on this album though, some great tracks but a fair bit of filler too. 3 out of 5 stars
Beetlebum great opener followed by Song 2 also a winner. Some tracks seem 'experimental' and I think the experiment failed. On Your Own became repetitive and boring.
ehh
Mid
As much as I like Blur, this is NOT an album I come back to. It's solid, but that's about it.
Long time since I heard this album and it’s just about as good as I remember it. A slight shift towards weird after the horrible ‘The Great Escape’ but plenty of reminders of how good a song these guys can write. Not their best but not that far off it. A strong run at the end (until the final track.) Good to listen again. Hopefully Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife make an appearance. Best: M.O.R., Look Inside America, Beetlebum, You’re So Great Worst: Essex Dogs
Kinda aimless. Not a lot of choruses.
The shift from the slower Beetlebum to the famously fast Song 2 is wild. And then a country ballad right after... Theme from Retro is weird.
Solid interesting album
3/5. Blur’s self titled in the context of the bands discography is a transitional record. It saw them moving away from Brit pop and more to a 90’s indie rock influenced alt-rock sound. The results of that shift are best showcased on this albums follow-up (and IMO blurs best album) “13.” As for the self titled, it is an album of peaks and valleys for me. “Song 2” is a banger even if a bit overplayed, I love the energy of “MOR” as well as the intro “Beetlebum” and “On your Own.” But there’s also a number of songs on here that feel like the growing pains of Blur trying to change their sound.
Woo hoo! But album as a whole, is just ok.
Song 2 is a bit of anomaly as much of the album has a completely different sound.
First song was the best. Never got back to that level.
90. nice
I remember liking Blur but it's been forever since I listened to them. This is a decent album, nowhere near as good as I remember it. I think the upbeat songs are pretty great but there are way too many slower boring songs. Overall a decent album but not sure I would go back to it.
Although I was very excited to finally listen to this album, it didn't grab me in the way I would have hoped. There's little to outright complain about here and I'm happy to have finally listened to a Blur album, admittedly. "Song 2" is iconic, and I did enjoy a few other songs on this, especially "Strange News from Another Star." The album drags, though. I found myself wondering when it would wrap up.
High 3. I wasn't wowed by it, but toward the end I started to hear some interesting moods & experimentation that I liked.
6.5/10
Good album but terribly sequenced. The first two tracks are so strong the rest seems anticlimactic. That's unfair though as not a weak song on there. Feels like they were lazy with presentation. No title, lame sleeve.
Blur!!! Always hated them because of how they treated nardwuar (same reason as to why I never ended up listening to sonic youth all that much), but I always knew deep inside of me… they’re pretty great. And in this case, “pretty great” means Oasis if they were lo-fi. I mean that is literally what this is. Pavement but Oasis. Oasis but with slacker/post-hardcore influences rather than shoegaze influences. It’s weird and not necessarily bad, but even… even that “pretty great” that I talked about earlier has an asterisk already, that being that I really will only return to Beetlebum, or maybe you’re so great (song 2 is great but like it’s not entirely my thing lmao) much of this album is, while intriguing, much less capable than it wants you to think, especially in songs such as theme from Retro, or Country Sad Ballad Man, which even as I enjoy that song, I must admit a lack of genuine merit all the way through. Not to mention the closer is a dubious host for any easily detectable reasons to like this album. Basically what I’m saying is you CAN like it and I’d agree with you, but… you can also dislike it and… I’d agree with you. 7.0/10
“Song 2” is easily the best song. A lot of the rest of this is pretty weak.
Good blur album but not great
This album is okay. Only one song really grabbed my attention and that was track two. Also called song two. The rest of it is just more shoegaze music.
Good
This record is actually quite good. Interesting songs where the theme and style shift from one to another. It's not just Song 2, there's much more. Some dips where I lost interest, but overall good
Good but not great.
On your own was my fav. But in general I don’t love their sound. Solid 3
the nostalgio again. favorite is beetlebum
I'm guessing this isn't something I was supposed silently on my headphones to listen to while at work because it just didn't feel interesting. The last song was cool, though.
Song #2 still slaps but this sounds more 90s than I remembered. Good trip down memory lane but not an essential album.
overall fun album but I wish i liked it more than I do, doesn't really compare to my favorite Gorillaz stuff
Some big songs at the start - overall a strong 3.
Front-loaded. Was hoping for some unknown-to-me-juicy-booty but alas that was not to be
Another group I was unfamiliar with. Glad I was exposed.
I really enjoyed this album however it only warrants a three. A lot of these albums from the late 90s sort of sound the same to some degree not a lot of variety as I can see at this point.
Surpirsingly mid. not very enjoyable, but I also listened to it on the bumpiest flight of my life, so who knows.
Nothing burger
Didn't like this as much as I thought or hoped I would. Not impressive at all beyond "Song No. 2".
Some good songs, but most were just okay. None of the songs had any bad elements of many rock albums. Overall, a decent album.
This one reminded me a bit of Vanishing Point by Primal Scream, by which I mean that it felt more artistically driven than most music that sounds like it, but still wasn't all that enjoyable to listen to. This one especially felt like it traded too much listenability for experimentation and ends up just fading into the background. Favorite Track: Theme From Retro
I wish Damon Albarn would just shut the fuck up and let someone else on the mic, as this album was actually fairly interesting, psychedelic and artsy beyond the first handful of numbers, but it's mired by his vocal style which gives me the shivers. Invariably, it does descend into "trying to be too clever for its own good" territory, but I quite liked the track "Death of a Party", and everyone knows the woo hoo song for being on car adverts and the like.
*Song 2 is a great song, but the overall album didn't have the focus enough for me to enjoy it
Woohoo! Better than Parklife. Cover art is blurry.
Ok, not my favorite from the 90s but whatever
There's something about Britpop that never quite does it for me. A lot of the time it's the vocals, and I've never been a Blur fan anyway. Few songs in and that hasn't really changed...Country Sad Ballad Man, I don't know what some of the vocals were here, not good to me. M.O.R. wasn't too bad and had some good moments. "Death of a Party" I enjoyed more, this moody feel then got flipped on its head by "Chinese Bombs" which sounded like an old frantic heavy punk song. "Strange News From Another Star" is another surprising track with an almost trippy feel to it. I'll give it a 3 - though mostly not my thing it had some moments.
Filler. Decent sounding filler. But filler nonetheless
I only knew Song 2 before this listen. The rest of the album is hit or miss.
Craig: didn’t really care for it Courtney: i love it, but i am a sucker for Brit Rock
I do like this band. My friends loved it. But it just didn't resonate with me like it does with others
It was alright 😉
The hits were fun to listen to again. The others were okay. Everything flowed well, but nothing else stood out.
Song 2 remains iconic but the rest of this album is uneven. Some songs are GREAT (Death of a Party is a real standout for me) and some aren’t bad, they’re just kind of mid. Rounded up rating of 3.5.
Song 2 carries
Not bad, but a little bland. It’s energetic at times, but still has a neutral feel to it. I don’t know, it’s fine.
It’s ok but I was never really that taken with the whole Britpop thing. Song 2 is a belter though!
Loved the start! Tapers off a bit, but cool guitar and voice. Good atmospheric album
It's so funny how the only thing I can think of when Damon Albarn sings is Gorillaz
There were some interesting things going on here, especially since a good bit of it sounded like it could be a prototype Gorillaz, but realistically this album was just “Song 2 And A Bunch Of Songs That Don’t Sound Like Song 2 At All”
This album was honestly a crushing disappointment for me, which made me really sad. I love Parklife and I love Gorillaz, so I'm very familiar with Damon Albarn and his creative content. Unfortunately, this felt like another overly-long, bloated alt rock album. Can't count how many times I thought it was almost over and there were still several songs left. On a few tracks, like M.O.R., Death of a Party, and I'm Just a Killer For Your Love I felt like they were really doing something cool and experimental. The rest felt very generic and forgettable.
I think the best that Blur ever did is to dissolve and give birth to Gorillaz.
Good, not great. Even in the UK, where it was most popular, it ended the year as the overall 29th best-selling album. In the US, the largest rock music market on the planet, it peaked at 61. 'nuf said.
Standard late 90's grunge lite alternative. More focus on attitdue and distortion than production and composition. Mostly forgetable.
Some great songs on this, it's mostly a fun, anytime listen album, cheery chod progressions, energetic. 3/5
Okay, finally a album without sad moaning for the whole set
Some very creative sounds and a great start to the album but not enough to keep me interested throughout
I can't tell whether I think this sucks or I'm just in a bad mood. I don't think I particularly hate any of the songs but I'm left feeling a bit irritated. Is it the vocals? Maybe, most likely. I'll have to relisten to this in the future because right now I have nothing. I want to give it 2 stars but I'm rounding it up to 3... as a treat (a treat for whom?). Whatever, I'm going to bed.
I couldn't make up my mind with this album. Maybe I was expecting too much? Liked some of it (Death of a Party, Strange News). Hated some of it (Country Sad Ballad, Theme from Retro). But mostly it was just meh. Certainly if I was picking a winner in the great Blur v Oasis battle based on this debut then I'd put the house on Oasis. And so it came to pass.
J’ai pas vraiment écouté mais je connais donc ça va
я знаю пісню 2аое мабуть мені не нрав голос але музика чудова боже 14 пісень це жахіття ну кароче голос не дуже я б 3.5
Only Song 2 really resonates and is probably the only one anyone still cares about.
Blur, Blur!
- 1 nummer toegevoegd aan MMMM - 0 nummers al toegevoegd aan MMMM
I listened to this album while working, and by the end, I realized I hadn't really paid attention, so I played it again. And I still didn't pay attention; nothing really stood out as awesome or terrible. - Heard before? No - Will I listen again? Given the trouble I had listening the first or second time, probably not. - Does it inspire me to listen to more of this artist? This is tough, because I actually own their first album and liked it, although I haven't listened in years. So, maybe?
Really enjoying the vibe. Song 2 is the well known one, but some good sounds, a little Oasis/U2-ey. Really unique sound, think I enjoyed Death of a Party the most. 3.5/5.
Beetlebum - 5 Song 2 - 5 Country sad ballad man - 4 M.o.r. - 3 On your own - 3 Theme from retro - 2 You're so great - 3 Death of a party - 4 Chinese bombs - 3 I'm just a killer for your love - 4 Look inside America - 4 Strange news from another star - 3 Movin' on - 3 Essex dogs - 1
Listened to in the queue for the tip. Favourite song: Song 2
Fan discovers the guy behind Gorillaz was good at album rock
7,7/10
Good blur album but there are better ones.
Like the woohoo song
pretty good
Pretty good. Not as polished as I would like coming from Blur but it was pretty good.
Непоганий альбом, багато цікавих шумних звуків використано, всі пісні в одному стилі дуже брит поповський, але мені не вистачило доаматичності в вокалі
not as good as I thought it'd be, beetlebum, song 2 are stand outs, death of a party, chinese bombs also pretty good
1001 Albarn Generator.com is more like it.
Parklife came up earlier in this project for me and I was blown away by it. I know Blur's radio songs, but I was too focused on grunge and american alternative rock at that time and wasn't spending my limited resources on anything else, lol. So I was excited to get this other Blur entry in the queue. There's some solid music here, and I appreciate the eclecticism and occasional weirdness of their music. But tbh their hearts don't seem fully in this one. There's a generic-ness to this album as well. There are hints of what Albarn ends up doing with Gorillaz which I appreciate, but this was just a solid, fairly unremarkable entry for me.
271221 18:04 3
Surprisingly boring at times
Couple good guitar riffs. Lots of extra noise. I get Blur and Sublime confused for some reason. Oasis is better than both!
Beetlebum and Song 2 are great but the rest is just OK. 35 albums in and I believe this is the first one I own in a physical format. Overall I think the best album Blur has ever made is their Best Of. Souce: I am fucking MADFERIT. Sorry
fav: Beetlebum. Diverse album, with sounds and ideas. Enjoyed the music very much.
The first few tracks are excellent but it then shifts to a different tone that I didn't enjoy
Very simple and repetitive lo fi rock. Song 2 was definitely the highlight. Beetlebum, Movin' On and On Your Own were also pretty good but not great. A lot of the songs are a little too lethargic for me and as an album it feels very scattered with different production styles and tonal shifts that come out of nowhere. You can definitely here the proto-Gorillaz sound though.
Genre: Alternative Rock I was expecting something a little more contrived than this. This was fun, British as hell, and had some really solid tunes. Knowing now that Damon Albarn is the Blur guy AND the Gorilaz guy, you definitely gotta give him his props. Very creative, very rock and roll, this was a really nice late-90s surprise for me. Still not one I'd revisit all the time, but solid. 3/5
I'm pretty sure we already covered this. Beatlesque-ness. Brit-pop. Yeah. Competently done. But heard it already.
Wow I went into this not expecting to like this as much as I did, as I listened to Parklife ages ago and it didn't click (may need a relisten of that). Song 2 is the one everyone knows, and it's a cool track but I find it baffling THAT became the hit from this album really. If this album didn't drop off a bit towards the second half, if it was just a bit shorter, this would be a 4 instead of a 3.
Første halvdel funker bra
Reminded me that revisit to this band is a good idea.
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