Blur: Classic Or Dud

But they're playing all the boring big obvious singles like The Universal and Countryhouse and Charmless Man,

..and look! they're promoting a singles comp!

It needs promoting. I didn't even know it was out until I saw a microscopic ad for it in Saturday's Guardian Guide! Probably why it'll be lucky to sneak into the Top 30 if the midweeks are anything to go by. Still, "Popscene" is on there and it's good to have that back in UK CD circulation after 17 years' absence.

They should have re-released Popscene as a single to promote the concerts (or vice versa), since most casual fans would think it to be a new song.

Actually, that's not a bad idea:

CD Single:

a) Popscene
b) Don't bomb when yr the bomb
c) Wassail song

Not encouraging to see Bugman, Swamp Song, 1992, Battle and Caramel all off it :(

― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, June 17, 2009 8:33 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

dude, i know you'll take this the wrong way but... just no. no.

Oh, by the way, they really should do "Out of Time", it's damn good. Graham can have a rest if he feels strongly...

xpost Totally, Blur are a business now, not a band. Won't stop me foregoing PRodigy to see them at Glasto this year.

I also object to their compilation being called "MidLife" - ugh!

anybody see that video they did with david shrigley? funneh stuff!

Is there any band who isn't, by definition, a business?

yeah, was gonna say.

It's more about how back then, if Damon wrote something, it got shaped towards Blur or it wasn't done. Presumably, the temptation now would be to keep the 'Blurish' stuff for Blur, and the more experimental stuff for the other projects.

Could be wrong, of course...

I object to the "Midlife" title as well. It's just dumb.

Is that an assassination threat?

Goodness no, are you just making some kind of bad joke or something? No offense, but I don't get it.

If they'd had an album or song called "Young Life" or something earlier in their career, I'd have no problem with the title.

Oh, by the way, they really should do "Out of Time", it's damn good. Graham can have a rest if he feels strongly...

― Mark G, Thursday, 18 June 2009 09:43 (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'm with you on this. One of his sweetest melodies

Judging from the gig yesterday at Brixton, they are doing it as part of their set, along with nearly every single apart from Bang and On Your Own.

ah good.

I see "Crazy Beat" is the only Thinktank single not on the comp.

yeah, it's rub.

those are two of their better singles xp

"on your own" anyway, love that song.

"bang" along with much of "leisure" is hella underrated

i mean it's their second-worst classic line-up album, but such is the quality of the others that it could hardly be anything else. parklife ftl.

PL>MLIR>BLUR>GE>13>LEISURE>TT

get rid of the last two and flip the arrows around imo

my go:

BLUR>MLIR>13>TT>PL>GE>LEISURE

MLIR > ... don't really like the others but i guess PL > BLUR = TGE > LEISURE > 13 > never heard THINK TANK, never going to

They meant a lot to me in the mid-1990s, but I think I'd find them hard to listen to now - except maybe 'she's so high' which I always adored.

I sorta understand, Pinefox - I loved them a lot more in the moment than afterwards. Like, Great Escape was a fantastic album, but I never felt the need to pull it out after that initial run with it.

I had a strange experience listening to Midlife where I couldn't tell if the stuff had been heavily remastered and how much it was just that I mostly listened to their first three records on cassette.

If they'd had an album or song called "Young Life" or something earlier in their career, I'd have no problem with the title.

― Subway to Idaho (Bimble), Friday, June 19, 2009 9:08 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Consolation: Parklife?

Once one of them dies they can release an "Afterlife" or maybe "Parklife II: Sitting on a bench, complaining about kids these days"

Watching Glastonbury and Albarn's voice has completely gone to shit. Like a cross between Henry Rollins, Jamie Oliver and an inebriated plasterer. This Hyde Park concert is going to be abominable if it's anything like this.

Maybe he's just got a cold, or something.

was about to bump this thread!

everything else seems in order except the SLIGHTLY unoriginal setlist choice

they're certainly going for it

stop playing songs from parklife srsly

your manic energy is great but maybe applied to something a little less mid-period?

full choir indicates that 'tender' may be imminent

It's Glastonbury, all they're going to do is the hits.

Really looking forward to Albarn brawling his way through 'This is a Low' at the end, though.

^^^me too

and yeah, here we go

To be fair, they did play 2 songs off Parklife which weren't hits!

Beetlebum and TNOW the highlights so far

LET'S GET RETARDED IN HERE, HEAVY HIT AFTER HEAVY HIT AFTER HEAVY HIT

am sitting in sullen silence

They are right, it's definitely more retarded in here.

why, bbc

that's better

If you're referring to this mentally overspeedy version of Parklife, this is not "better". Oh, maybe compared to BEP, it is.

too bad Phil Daniels couldn't leg it over to help them out with 'My Humps'

Now that I would have watched.

full choir indicates that 'tender' may be imminent

― the funk soul custos (country matters), Sunday, June 28, 2009 9:27 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Did I see the camera catch Alex flat out laugh at the expression Damon affected while singing this song, or is that just the default face of Alex?

ailsa, was referring to sunday sunday

i'd forgotten how kickass keith flint and maxim were XD

and i did not see that bit, sadly, although i did see aj's sweat patches

if anything, a double bass is a more laughable affection amirite

zane's going audiovisual on us

oh you teases i thought this was gonna be one of your arty ones

probably not the thread for it but wtf at the bbc pimping for bruce springsteen? i honestly don't know when springsteen became a thing, but on top of neil young it kind of reminds me why i liked the britpops at the time. ie it wasn't earnest americans being earnest. the boss moar liek the DROSS.

NOW PLAY THEME FROM RETRO

kinda get whatcha sayn nrq but apparently he was rly good so whadda i know