Blur tracks poll - the RESULTS thread

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!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6PbDrJkTF_w/TL10xnKfWQI/AAAAAAAAACs/YPqPCJ16g9k/s1600/blur_song2.jpg
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.

xpost: Well, huge credit to him for emulating all of his influences with various degrees of success. Blur were always a very open eveything-goes sort of band that still managed to have a very unique, trademark sound. That's no easy feat.

I'm giving most of the uniqueness credit to Graham Coxon, btw as his guitar playing feels like the unifying, unmistakable force to their music.

Yeah, and also why Think Tank doesn't sound like a Blur album.

43. No Distance Left To Run
(5 votes, 100 points)

Ah, I thought that pic was a comment on AAlmanac's winning argument!

I think I pulled this from my ballot late on, but it's kind of lovely. Probably just a bit too slight and passive to be worth my vote, I think I decided.

I find it slightly annoying.

I should explain what I mean by that, but I don't think I can without sounding mean-spirited. I just find it borders a bit on smugness in a 'look - I'm heartbroken, but see how reasonable I'm being about all this' kind of way. I imagine it irritates Justine, but I could be wrong.

And sonically it's not as interesting as most other tracks on 13.

Well, it won't be irritating Justine that much, as:

1) she's left the country, or
2) it doesn't get that much radio play anymore, or
3) both

unless she's moved to a town where the locals endlessly play it on the jukebox whenever they see her

Damon Albarn once mentioned that people kept putting 'Roll With It' on the jukebox every time he walked into a pub. He said he expected people put 'Country House' on whenever the Gallaghers went in one, but I doubt it.

I think they put on Ocean Colour Scene on.

http://images.paraorkut.com/img/clipart/images/s/smiling_star-846.gif

42. Strange News From Another Star
(6 votes, 111 points)

my favourite damon vocal performance...maybe.

Think I put Strange News From Another Star in my top 10. I remember when John Peel died Radio 1 did a tribute show and Damon came in and did a solo version of it that was just stunning.

Strange News is great - really makes me think of Bowie actually. No Distance is wallowsome self pity of the worst kind ahhh poor Damon boohoo. Meh.

It's very "cross between Prettiest Star and Starman" yes.