Blur tracks poll - the RESULTS thread

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50. Parklife
(5 votes, 75 points)

'Country House' really works well live imo tho I can't really listen to it on record. Didn't vote for it however. 'Inertia' was my #2 I think. Perfect.

Guy I worked with at Virgin looked a little bit like Damon and one Saturday when the shop was absolutely rammed this group of maybe 10 or 11 year olds followed him round the Singles Dept screaming "PARKLIFE!" at him for about 20 mins. Kinda realisation, on my part, that Blur big-time now.

Like "Country House", people who think "Parklife" was worth a vote get something completely different from Blur than I do. Probly wasn't annoying the first couple of listens.

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49. Charmless Man
(4 votes, 77 points)

ok i take back what i said about the last 2

Kind of excited to see three of their most well-known singles in a row ranking at the bottom of the poll... parklife should have fared better tho...

It got beaten by "Charmless Man" !

I've always held a place in my heart for Great Escape, because that seemed to be the first to really a get a big push in America prior to its release.

Charmless Man is my least favourite Blur single - grotesque self-parody.

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48. Ambulance
(4 votes, 84 points)

At least 'Parklife' made the top 50 but really, that's robbery. Nothing not to like about that track.

... except the fact it's not "Country House"

love Miss America. easily in my top few Blur cuts. it's Alex James' fave Blur song!
i was pretty taken aback when i heard Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs for the first time though.

When it came to compiling my list I didn't end up putting in many of their biggest hits so I'm quite glad three have of them have are already out of the way. Parklife is one of my favourite albums of all time but I really don't ever need to hear the title track again.

Ambulence was in my top five, it's such an amazing opening track.

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47. 1992
(four votes, 87 points)

FWIW I liked Parklife when it came out. I can remember hearing it for either the first or second time on the radio one morning and thinking "it's just some bloke talking about pigeons - this is brilliant", then they suddenly cut into the song to announce that John Smith had died, which took the edge off it a bit. As with 'Girls & Boys' I just feel I've heard it far, far, far too many times to want to listen to it again now. As for 'Charmless Man', while it's far from being my favourite I don't really get the intense hatred it seems to inspire in some people. '1992' on other hand, is a little bit boring and self-pitying (and I say that as a fan of most of the desolate introspection numbers).

46. Essex Dogs
(four votes, 97 points)

If "Blur" hadn't had that tracck, the album would still have been way long enough, so it always seemed like a bonus track.

And all the better for it...

hurray. 1992 is the first of mine to make it.

51. Country House

TOO FUCKING LOW!!!

Globe Alone's music is a brilliant representation of the madness going on in the head of the subject of the song. Ugh, crap sentence. Anyway. Love the shit out of it.

Charmless Man is mainly a great tune, really, but to its benefit/detriment (take yer pick) it continues that album's theme of characters that Damon hates/pities (including himself obv). In retrospect it's not that surprising that he effectively disowned the album – it's sooo negative, and not in the dull-fondness way that makes Parklife so appealing.

'er indoors LOVES Ambulance. I don't mind it but I have enormous prejudice against everything off Think Tank because I do not like Think Tank.

btw I don't recall voting for many tracks off 13 but it's my favourite Blur album by some distance.

You people are savages. Country house below 1992 and charmless man, I mean...?!?

Yes I'm talking about the 'blow blow me out' bit which is pop genius as opposed to drivel like 1992 and embarrassing nonsense like charmless man. A pox on ya!

Woo-hoo!

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45. Song 2
(5 votes, 98 points)

Woo-hoo!

Song 2: A song largley unknown outside of Britain - rejected in American for being "too darn rock". Most Americans, when asked about Blur, give a blank look - but if you play them the chorus of 'Yuko & Hiro' they immediately recognise it as the soundtrack to countless games of Ice Hockey, Baseball and 'Football'.

heh

Not to mention Soccer.

It was huge here.

oddly enough i have felt Heavy Metal on many occasions but none of them induced by Blur.

http://www.allgigs.co.uk/images/object/artist/62317/PJ_Proby-1-200-200-85-crop.jpg

44. Country Sad Ballad Man
(6 votes, 99 points)

ha i was trying to work out what the picture was signifying

I love that one.

dammit should have voted for CSBM, I could have sent it a few places up.

Yeah this is a good one. Glad to see it scrape past song 2. Shoulda been a single instead of mor

mor is such a single, CSBM is not.

MOR is like "on top of old smokey" played fast.

That's a good thing, btw.

MOR is eugh

it's like the whole album just stops being interesting for four minutes

I can't even remember how mor goes but csbm is an earworm. Sorry to disagree

Autumn otm. In a strange way it could be seen as a very clever self-fulfilling parody.

It really is! CSBM otoh is epic.

M.O.R. and For Tomorrow are the two Blur singles which always remind me of Bowie (the former based on Berlin, the later on Ziggy Stardust) and they always make me wish I was listening to him instead. They both sound to me a bit parodic (then again, most of their singles seem to share this quality). CSBM might not be single material but it's more interesting and unique.

Yeah, Blur are the ultimate 90s parodists in a sea of parodists. Damon's wanted to be Syd Barrett, Ray Davies, Terry Hall, Stephen Malkmus, and a whole host of other figureheads throughout his career. Don't really see it as a problem though because I knew Blur before I knew their influences and worked back.

Let's not forget Jilted John as well.