I... thought Magic Whip was great. So much beautiful detail in the arrangements. What's the correct number of years between albums?
― geoffreyess, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 02:16 (seven years ago) link
That might be a good topic for a new thread.. what's the longest span between two albums from a band that were actually decent on either end of the hiatus.
― LimbsKing, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 02:32 (seven years ago) link
...rather, both ends of the hiatus
― LimbsKing, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 02:33 (seven years ago) link
mbv, next
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Wednesday, 22 March 2017 02:33 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, the MBV follow up wasn't a letdown
― Carlotta's Portrait (Ross), Wednesday, 22 March 2017 02:34 (seven years ago) link
The Magic Whip was especially disappointing because the two Parklife-esque tracks they did in 2012 were decent enough and there wasn't really a drop in quality from Blur to Gorillaz (though Everyday Robots was pretty awful and is closest to The Magic Whip)
― ufo, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 03:10 (seven years ago) link
I'll take an EP of the best four or five songs on The Magic Whip over the entirety of Everyday Robots.
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Wednesday, 22 March 2017 03:22 (seven years ago) link
Blur is funny for me, i own all their albums expect the one from last year and about 25 singles. loved them at the time but never have the desire to play them now. even when we were running the Blur poll i thought it would be a good time to listen all over again. i never did get around to it and ended up not submitting a ballot.
voting Modern Life.
― To Live and Die In L.A. (Bee OK), Wednesday, 22 March 2017 05:01 (seven years ago) link
Parklife > Blur > Modern Life is Rubbish > The Great Escape > 13 > Think Tank > The Magic Whip
I've never bothered to listen to Leisure.
― enochroot, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 17:24 (seven years ago) link
Think Tank is one of those albums would be perfect if only it weren't for a few utter crap songs like Crazy Beat
all the same remains my fave, gets my vote.and Out of Time is fantastic
― niels, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 17:27 (seven years ago) link
This thread has made me pull out my Blur albums. Never realized how much "Mr. Robinson's Quango" sounds like Syd Barrett's "Octopus"
― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 17:28 (seven years ago) link
never understood the love for parklife, i was quite disappointed when it came out. "modern life is rubbish" gets my vote, it hit me directly in the guts, there is an englishness to it i love. "13" is almost as good but it impressed me slightly less, maybe it was too close to prog-rock for my liking.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 22 March 2017 17:31 (seven years ago) link
I like "The Magic Whip" would place it in the middle probably.
Having said that, I don't want any more.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 18:44 (seven years ago) link
never understood the love for parklife― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, March 22, 2017 1:31 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, March 22, 2017 1:31 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
It might just be a case of first exposure to the band leaving the biggest impression, but Parklife seems to highlight their strengths. It has some of their best drone-y ballads ("This Is A Low", "To The End"), zany interstitials ("Lot 105", "Bank Holiday"), Kink-y slice of life songs ("Tracy Jacks", "End Of A Century"). As an album, it's fun and it gorgeous. Whenever someone says another band/song sounds like Blur, they're not talking about "13" or "Think Tank", they're talking about Parklife. Plus, "Girls & Boys" -- I could vote for it on that song alone.
― enochroot, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 19:16 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, its 'one for all the family' innit?
― Mark G, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 19:38 (seven years ago) link
13 was the first and only album by this band I listen to. Pretty remarkable record all things considered. Tender is all time for me.
― octobeard, Thursday, 23 March 2017 01:01 (seven years ago) link
Kinda sad that nobody (save Mark G) likes Magic Whip. I find it beautiful and satisfying. Would never claim it as their best, but for a long time to come it'll be my favourite to listen to just on account of it being fresher.
― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 23 March 2017 10:39 (seven years ago) link
This thread has prompted me to do a highly-subjective Spotify list of songs by this band that I am still happy to listen to and don't set my teeth on edge. Surprising amount off of Think Tank actually:
https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/7BjfkncJBdfSK1L79CWu4d
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 14:37 (seven years ago) link
I have a lot of time for Blur's b-sides.
Here are my Top 10 Blur b-sides:
1. Young and Lovely2. Polished Stone3. Theme From An Imaginary Film4. One Born Every Minute5. When The Cows Come Home6. All Your Life7. Supa Shoppa8. A Song9. St Louis10. Peach
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:35 (seven years ago) link
Young And Lovely could have been an A-side really
Black Book is my favourite Blur b-side and also their longest song
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:45 (seven years ago) link
Are you trying to PVMIC yourself here?
(I don't think I've heard Black Book)
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:45 (seven years ago) link
Listening now... Hmmm it reminds me of Susan's House by Eels.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:46 (seven years ago) link
Y&L is p much just as good though yeah
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:47 (seven years ago) link
it really is. Coxon's guitar is especially detailed. For me, that's what make Blur Blur, more than any Albarnisms, it's Coxon's guitar-style that lends it to these songs.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:01 (seven years ago) link
Yes, and hopefully you got to the bit of Black Book where Coxon takes it to the next level :p
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:04 (seven years ago) link
Here are the results of the ILM big Blur poll from a while back. Some very interesting placements here. Badhead at 6 and Blue Jeans beating out The Universal show that even their most understated deep-cuts were quality. Out Of Time bringing TT out of its perceived slump. Loads of great B-sides (good to see Theme From An Imaginary Film do so well - I really like that song).
1 This Is A Low 5852 For Tomorrow 4903 Beetlebum 4694 End Of A Century 3705 Sing 3576 Badhead 3407 Out Of Time 3038 Girls & Boys 2969 Blue Jeans 27410 The Universal 26411 Tracy Jacks 26412 Coffee & TV 25513 On Your Own 25114 To The End 23815 Tender 23116 Trimm Trabb 22017 Best Days 21618 Chemical World 20519 Clover Over Dover 19620 Trouble in the Message Centre 19321 Yuko & Hiro 19022 There's No Other Way 18923 He Thought Of Cars 18124 Popscene 17725 Death of a Party 16826 Battery In Your Leg 15227 Oily Water 14928 Resigned 14929 Theme From An Imaginary Film 14830 Battle 14431 Sweet Song 13432 Young & Lovely 13433 Caramel 12334 Advert 12235 Me, White Noise 12136 Bugman 12037 You're So Great 12038 Entertain Me 11739 She's So High 11540 All Your Life 11441 Starshaped 11242 Strange News From Another Star 11143 No Distance Left To Run 10044 Country Sad Ballad Man 9945 Song 2 9846 Essex Dogs 9747 1992 8748 Ambulance 8449 Charmless Man 7750 Parklife 7551 Country House 6952 Miss America 6953 Inertia 6254 Globe Alone 5855 Coping 5356 Magic America 5357 One Born Every Minute 5258 When The Cows Come Home 5259 Colin Zeal 5160 Intermission 5161 Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club 51
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:45 (seven years ago) link
On Your Own is such a good single, oft forgotten
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:46 (seven years ago) link
"Don't Be" and "Music is My Radar" were also great b-sides from the Think Tank era
― LimbsKing, Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:50 (seven years ago) link
sorry... "Money Makes Me Crazy." "Music is My Radar" is from the 2000 comp. But a great non-album cut as well.
― LimbsKing, Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:51 (seven years ago) link
those poll results are interesting, 13 seems fairly ignored - Caramel at 33 is so low. wouldn't have expected Sing quite that high either.
Black Book is great, has to be one of their most underrated tracks. Music is My Radar is quite good too, wish they'd been able to explore that direction a bit more
― ufo, Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:03 (seven years ago) link
― niels, Wednesday, March 22, 2017 10:27 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
hell yeah twins
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:14 (seven years ago) link
"on the way to the club" is suuuuuch a good song
as is "caravan" holy shit i nearly forgot
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:15 (seven years ago) link
"Caravan" is one of their best songs, the...melodicas?...or whatever that come in are so beautiful
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:19 (seven years ago) link
yeah that part!!!!
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:22 (seven years ago) link
really upset that they felt the need to put "we got a file on you" on this record though. why do they have one of these per record starting with the s/t
also the synths in "moroccan" sound like they came from a kraftwerk record or something, man do they rule
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:24 (seven years ago) link
"sweet song"!!!! ok i'll stop
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:31 (seven years ago) link
Out Of Time with Graham was amazing at Hyde Park, that's my preferred version now.
― piscesx, Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:32 (seven years ago) link
Blur is funny for me, i own all their albums expect the one from last year and about 25 singles. loved them at the time but never have the desire to play them now. even when we were running the Blur poll i thought it would be a good time to listen all over again. i never did get around to it and ended up not submitting a ballot.voting Modern Life.― To Live and Die In L.A. (Bee OK), Wednesday, March 22, 2017 5:01 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― To Live and Die In L.A. (Bee OK), Wednesday, March 22, 2017 5:01 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
To be quite honest - and this has been hammered home to me by revisiting some of this stuff, which I haven't heard in years in some cases - I'm pretty much in a similar boat regarding this band. At the time I was quite a big fan and played the shit out of all of their albums to varying degrees, and I still do think they were one of the better bands of that period alongside Pulp, Suede, Oasis and of course Radiohead. Some, but not all, of Blur's work (even strictly talking about singles and album tracks here) retains its appeal, particularly the ballads. However, I very rarely have the desire to listen to this band these days and haven't done for quite a long time if I'm to be really honest with myself. I think that for every track that has aged well, there's another three or four which have aged terribly. I'm not just talking about their "knees up around the Joanna" period either, some of which grates on me intensely these days - their later years have a fair amount of self-indulgent meandering bullshit in the name of "experimentation" too.
I'd say I could easily put together a playlist of a couple of hours worth of music that Blur put out that would be incredible, and at the time I thought a lot of this music wouldn't age as terribly as it has done. However, that is the case and as the years advance, it's clear to me that unless there's some sort of revival around the corner that somehow makes some of this stuff "cool" again, the time for Blur's music has long passed. The cheeky chappieisms of 'Parklife', with its Phil Daniels cameo, sound ancient to me, part of an era that is so far in the rearview mirror it can't be fucking seen anymore.
Funnily enough, the Bowie/Roxy-isms of Suede and Pulp have aged far, far better.
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:33 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsedPxv-3_U
wow this sweet song demo is lovely
― ufo, Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:36 (seven years ago) link
i even like "jets" but it hits the sweet spot for me of "enormous bassline + sax solo"
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:37 (seven years ago) link
As for The Magic Whip - if Blur ever were going to get back together, reform with Graham and record and release new material, the most sensible time to do it would have been around 2005-2006 when people still really gave a shit on the scale they once did. Even the reformation in 2009, as excited as some got about it, was too late. Various people had moved on by then - much of their fanbase, even Damon Albarn himself (let's face it, he wasn't really that arsed about doing a new Blur record, was he?) - The Magic Whip was about 10 years too late.
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:41 (seven years ago) link
if graham coxon could only be on one song on think tank i'm sure glad it's the one where his guitar sounds like it's swallowing the earth
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:43 (seven years ago) link
"Battery In Your Leg" might be their best closer (when you remember that "This Is a Low" technically isn't one)
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link
Nah, 'Battery In Your Leg' is their best closer. I always thought that 'This Is a Low' was immensely overrated even back in the mid '90s, as far as Albarn ballads goes it's mid-tier, I think.
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:52 (seven years ago) link
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, March 23, 2017 5:22 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This has long bean a bugbear of mine but I think you can trace it back even further to 'Bank Holiday' on Parklife and 'Globe Alone' on TGE.
― Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 23 March 2017 17:57 (seven years ago) link
*been
― Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 23 March 2017 18:00 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, they've been attempting "punk"-style numbers on their records as far back as Modern Life in Rubbish - 'Advert', 'Bank Holiday', 'Globe Alone', 'Chinese Bombs', 'B.L.U.R.E.M.I.' and 'We've Got a File On You' - and all of 'em are highlights of the albums they're from, IMO.
― Coolio Iglesias (Turrican), Thursday, 23 March 2017 18:11 (seven years ago) link
Taken from the Blur tracks poll I did in 2011 - not votes for albums, but aggregating the votes for tracks to the albums they came from:
1. Parklife (2,786)2. Modern Life Is Rubbish (1,808)3. Non-album tracks (1,535)4. Blur (1,491)5. Great Escape (1,341)6. Thinktank (1,221)7. Thirteen (1,174)8. Leisure (738)
― the salacious inaudible (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 12 October 2018 23:39 (five years ago) link
If you swap #1 and #7 the results of the poll may be just about right. As an album Modern Life Is Rubbish is the most cohesive though.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 13 October 2018 17:40 (five years ago) link
Of course I refer to the aggregated tracks results.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 13 October 2018 17:42 (five years ago) link
Parklife was always a stronger end-to-end listen compared to Modern Life is Rubbish, which I always felt outstayed its welcome by a few tracks (it seems to fall off a little after 'Oily Water' for me) ... Nowadays, I'm far more likely to listen to Modern Life is Rubbish over Parklife, which feels like it's aged quite badly.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 14 October 2018 09:29 (five years ago) link
I mean, I don't want to say Parklife sounds dated, but it is strongly evocative of a very specific time which is at odds with now.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 14 October 2018 09:30 (five years ago) link
I always found Parklife a big drop-off after Modern Life Is Rubbish. Girls & Boys is such a crap song, I found it ridiculous the first time I heard it just when it had come out and the whole album was such a mixed bag and not really holding together.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Sunday, 14 October 2018 11:47 (five years ago) link
This is crazy talk afaic - "Girls & Boys" is one of their standout tracks, and Parklife is pretty much their most cohesive album. I do agree with Turrican that it is too much of its time for it to resonate with current tastes, and I doubt I'll have the desire to listen to it again some time soon. (I do in fact think it also sounds "dated", but I've never understood why that's such a pejorative. Revolver sounds dated, Thriller and Bandwagonesque sound dated, "In da Club" sounds dated. So what?)
― dorsalstop, Sunday, 14 October 2018 12:56 (five years ago) link
I'm listening to Think Tank for the first time in years. It could definitely do with editing and there are tracks here that do absolutely nothing ('Jets'?) but also it hold up a lot better than I expected
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Monday, 14 November 2022 17:09 (one year ago) link
I'd say Out Of Time is up there with the best of their stuff. Actually, I probably did say that (in that poll more than a decade ago).
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Monday, 14 November 2022 18:52 (one year ago) link
Is this the current Blur thread? They have just had a disastrous set at Coachella.
― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 14 April 2024 21:22 (two days ago) link
the crowd for blur at coachella was so embarassing damon im so sorry i wasn't there pic.twitter.com/k60LxJj8a7— nicole (@cupidschok3hold) April 14, 2024
― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 14 April 2024 21:25 (two days ago) link
with all due respect (I quite enjoyed the set and Blur in general), it was sort of weird that they were on the main stage
― brimstead, Sunday, 14 April 2024 21:32 (two days ago) link
i dont really understand who coachella is supposed to be for?
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 14 April 2024 21:55 (two days ago) link
they have gen z fans aplenty throughout the world but idk if many of them were likely to be at coachella
a happier vid from a few days back
Audience member nails “Parklife” with @blurofficial on 4/10/24 at Fox Theatre in Pomona. #blur pic.twitter.com/rNmXXf7Dmy— Beaker (@Beakerlives) April 11, 2024
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 14 April 2024 22:04 (two days ago) link
They were the best set that I saw yesterday, don't care how it coma across live. We're talking about it on the Coachella thread while it was happening.
― Bee OK, Sunday, 14 April 2024 22:21 (two days ago) link