Blur: Classic Or Dud

I saw Blur on the Rollercoaster tour in 1992. They were bottom of the bill with Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, and Jesus & Mary Chain

They may have been bottom of the bill that night, but when I saw them in Glasgow D Jr were first on. I'm sure the running order changed at each venue with JAMC headlining each night.

> Not the term, no, but MBV's first album was released in 1988, and Jesus & Mary Chain debuted as early as 1986.

by 'as early as 1986' do you mean '1984'?

Hmmm. Their first album was in 1985, and there may have been a single before that too.

koogs, plz collect yr 50 credos

xpost. Upside Down (1984), Never Understand and You Trip Me Up (both 1985) were all released as singles prior to Psychocandy.

That's not part of the Blur story anyway, except for a loose connection via the indie-sphere. When Blur debuted I recall there being a lot of buzz about what a great live band they were, at a time when most bands were pretty bad entertainment. They definetely had a superior reputation right from the start.

I'm just wondering what direction they'd have gone in if it weren't for Britpop, the whole Oasis stigma, and the rest of that crap. They were always vastly superior to 99% of their peers at any given time; there's a case to argue that they were sucked into a battle for popular supremacy rather than artistic integrity, which in turn sparked such violently creative reactions as Blur and especially 13. Their populist work still bears the hallmark of quality, as they were far too good a band to release crap, but I markedly prefer their more individualistic, exploratory material.

Here's one for you, Everything: would they have gone in the direction of Cardiacs, a band Damon Albarn has self-confessed love for? Except with crazier guitar effects?

hmmmm. Well, they do have one or two pronky moments, though I can't remember them at the moment. A couple of songs/b-sides on Parklife and The Great Escape I remember crediting to a Cardiacs influence, but this was mostly because I was aware he was a big fan. Like most of Blur's emulations, it becomes very vague when filtered through their own creativity, lyrics etc (they are probably the most talented and creative pop band of their time imho). "Ernold Same" could be maybe considered as being inspired by a mid-80's Cardiacs track for example but it's really nothing like it.

Had they done a full-on, messy indie-prog double album with 10 minutes long tracks etc, it would probably have been amazing. But I doubt that would have ever happened. I don't think Coxon's into it so much, and Damon's always got an eye on the mainstream. He's very similar to (pre-1985) Paul McCartney - cherry-picking genres and commercializing them with a hefty dose of his own style and marketable reputation to make something that transcends the original in terms of commercial appeal.

Without Britpop, they would not have made 13, as it was a concious, "violent" move away from all that, and hammered a few nails into it's coffin. For which we can all be truly thankful.

Had they done a full-on, messy indie-prog double album with 10 minutes long tracks etc, it would probably have been amazing.

don't torment me!

although i'd prefer it to be a single album. 70-75 minutes, 10-12 tracks.

i'm going to make this album myself one day, so i don't know what i'm complaining about.

i mean, the problem with most 'epic' albums w/10-minute tracks is that they get lost in their own import and forget a) how to surprise and b) how to have fun. albums that combine surprise, fun, epic, and ambition (and then execute it well) are ftw.

(and i think blur would do it more or less like that, being my point)

don't worry folks, i'm off on hols tomorrow morning, so this overposting will be compensated for!

p.s. pronk-influenced blur song off 'the great escape' = "dan abnormal"? one of my favourites, that.

I've got to hear that album again. My cassette of The Great Escape got melted on the dashboard about 5 years ago and I haven't heard it since (though I've still got the box for some reason). It's got some of their best stuff. I realise I have no Blur albums at all now. I traded in Modern Life Is Rubbish, never owned Parklife except from taping it from a friend (tape got left at a restaurant I used to work at) and lend the b-sides compilation to someone that I never see anymore.

I remember three things about Blur's apperance on the scene:

Them getting hassle from some university student unions/feminists groups because of the cover art for She's So High.

Them being described as remniscent of Syd-era Pink Floyd.

Ian McGlashan coming into our 6th form common room the morning after their TOTP appearance and scoffing at "the lead singer of that band rolling his eyes around and pretending to be on drugs."

I'm just wondering what direction they'd have gone in if it weren't for Britpop, the whole Oasis stigma, and the rest of that crap.

If there was no such thing as Oasis, then Blur would still have been playing roughly the same style they did in the mid 90s.

(I don't remember anyone thinking they came from anywhere near the same place as MBV or JAMC)

xpost

haha 'you're so great' just came on and i thought it was guided by voices

There's a new reality show on the BBC called Maestro, in which celebrity contestants including Alex James learn how to conduct an orchestra! I won't lie, I downloaded the first episode so I could check it out..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/maestro/

Yeah, I watched that on Tuesday. Go Goldie go!

If there was no such thing as Oasis, then Blur would still have been playing roughly the same style they did in the mid 90s.

-- Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 17 July 2007 21:25 (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

This is wrong. What Damon did/does has nothing to do with Oasis.

yeah i don't agree with this. MLIR came out well before Definitely Maybe and was the benchmark of their sound. Anything else that came after was entirely independent of what Oasisever did.

I can sort of see why he thinks this: The whole Oasis escapade could make someone run a mile from making more 'commercial stuff, but Damon's always been a musical butterfly really.

If there was no such thing as Pavement, then Blur would still have been playing roughly the same style they did in the mid 90s.

-- Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 17 July 2007 21:25 (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

fixed!

...I kid, I kid..

I love them. The Great Escape was a bit disappointing, but apart from that, I think they were brilliant.

Of course you do, even your username is a Blur song! :D Who am I to talk, my email is based on Theme From An Imaginary Film.

The Great Escape is a very, very good album in my view, and I'm infamous for preferring their more experimental stuff. It knocks the spots off MLIR and Parklife. I'd even prefer it to "Blur" these days.

To me, The Great Escape, apart from The Universal, epitomised Britpop at its very worst. The lyrics are weak, the melodies barely register, and the songs lean too heavily on horns and other production flourishes. Maybe I need to listen to it some more, but as it stands, it's the only Blur LP I cannot stand.

Fake Louis.

Well, it was A Blur Album, with all the constituent parts in place, including the 'character' pieces a'la Ray Davies and so on. But the buttons being pushed were all worn out.

That 'pavement' fix comment isn't so far away from the truth.

Quelle bullshit. It might still be their best album. But really you had to be there at the time.

Well, I was! Why call bull?

I like other albums more. Five, off the top of my head

multixpost
The Great Escape is the dark heart of britpop and presciently is infused with disappointment and rage. Almost as if they new what was to come post Blair's election. If you can't see past some of the more outre production touches then that's your loss.

Thank you sir.

By being "there at the time" I also meant "being in West London" which obviously everyone couldn't be but I'm just saying that when you experienced the environment every day TGE was very easy to understand and grasp.

OK, I can go with that.

there are too many total turkeys on it for me, but the highlights on it are some of their best.

xpost Oh, I do, I do. I'm not saying it's a bad album.

(thinks: Was I in West London then? mmmm... Yes. I was.)

hmmmm bhmm hummmh hummmmmnh humnn hbmn hjm hm mhm hm DUD

Asa 16 year old in Devon it didn't really do it for me.

The Great Escape was the last Blur album I discovered; I'd been holding out on it for fear it was the cliched Britpoppy sell-out disaster I'd been promised. What I got instead was this vast, dark, nauseous treaty on the rottenness of Middle England, with some cracking tunes and genuinely original arrangements. I think it's fab. Although not my favourite song, the key to the album is probably "Fade Away". To many it sounds tacky. To me it sounds fabulously diseased.

Blog this, Louis. Blog Blur.

I haven't heard the B-sides :(

I don't care.

I want 500 words on The Great Escape.

OK! I might incorporate all the other albums, tho, just for context...

No, just this one. Mention them not no exegesis.

All done. Editors out there, here's a dude who works to schedule. ;-)

The production really doesn't bother me, except in the sense that it's only there to hide a bunch of sub-par songs. And I was there, though I suppose I was too young to fully appreciate the context of the record and all that. To me, "Country House" is just a relic of the 90s, like "wannabe" or the first Britney Spears record. I love Blur, but TGE is just shite.

not one word on ilx about the hyde park show next year! my, times have changed...

is this a one-off gig or is this a "we're back" type of show?

They said this is going to be one of some other shows. They're already rehearsing. My, I really wish they'd come to America.