There's No Other Poll: Let's rank the Blur albums

I... thought Magic Whip was great. So much beautiful detail in the arrangements. What's the correct number of years between albums?

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.

...rather, both ends of the hiatus

mbv, next

Yeah, the MBV follow up wasn't a letdown

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)

I'll take an EP of the best four or five songs on The Magic Whip over the entirety of Everyday Robots.

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.

Parklife > Blur > Modern Life is Rubbish > The Great Escape > 13 > Think Tank > The Magic Whip

I've never bothered to listen to Leisure.

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

This thread has made me pull out my Blur albums. Never realized how much "Mr. Robinson's Quango" sounds like Syd Barrett's "Octopus"

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.

I like "The Magic Whip" would place it in the middle probably.

Having said that, I don't want any more.

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 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.

Yeah, its 'one for all the family' innit?

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.

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.

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

I have a lot of time for Blur's b-sides.

Here are my Top 10 Blur b-sides:

1. Young and Lovely
2. Polished Stone
3. Theme From An Imaginary Film
4. One Born Every Minute
5. When The Cows Come Home
6. All Your Life
7. Supa Shoppa
8. A Song
9. St Louis
10. Peach

Young And Lovely could have been an A-side really

Black Book is my favourite Blur b-side and also their longest song

Are you trying to PVMIC yourself here?

(I don't think I've heard Black Book)

Listening now... Hmmm it reminds me of Susan's House by Eels.

Y&L is p much just as good though yeah

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.

Yes, and hopefully you got to the bit of Black Book where Coxon takes it to the next level :p

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 585
2 For Tomorrow 490
3 Beetlebum 469
4 End Of A Century 370
5 Sing 357
6 Badhead 340
7 Out Of Time 303
8 Girls & Boys 296
9 Blue Jeans 274
10 The Universal 264
11 Tracy Jacks 264
12 Coffee & TV 255
13 On Your Own 251
14 To The End 238
15 Tender 231
16 Trimm Trabb 220
17 Best Days 216
18 Chemical World 205
19 Clover Over Dover 196
20 Trouble in the Message Centre 193
21 Yuko & Hiro 190
22 There's No Other Way 189
23 He Thought Of Cars 181
24 Popscene 177
25 Death of a Party 168
26 Battery In Your Leg 152
27 Oily Water 149
28 Resigned 149
29 Theme From An Imaginary Film 148
30 Battle 144
31 Sweet Song 134
32 Young & Lovely 134
33 Caramel 123
34 Advert 122
35 Me, White Noise 121
36 Bugman 120
37 You're So Great 120
38 Entertain Me 117
39 She's So High 115
40 All Your Life 114
41 Starshaped 112
42 Strange News From Another Star 111
43 No Distance Left To Run 100
44 Country Sad Ballad Man 99
45 Song 2 98
46 Essex Dogs 97
47 1992 87
48 Ambulance 84
49 Charmless Man 77
50 Parklife 75
51 Country House 69
52 Miss America 69
53 Inertia 62
54 Globe Alone 58
55 Coping 53
56 Magic America 53
57 One Born Every Minute 52
58 When The Cows Come Home 52
59 Colin Zeal 51
60 Intermission 51
61 Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club 51

On Your Own is such a good single, oft forgotten

"Don't Be" and "Music is My Radar" were also great b-sides from the Think Tank era

sorry... "Money Makes Me Crazy." "Music is My Radar" is from the 2000 comp. But a great non-album cut as well.

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

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, March 22, 2017 10:27 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hell yeah twins

"on the way to the club" is suuuuuch a good song

as is "caravan" holy shit i nearly forgot

"Caravan" is one of their best songs, the...melodicas?...or whatever that come in are so beautiful

yeah that part!!!!

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

"sweet song"!!!! ok i'll stop

Out Of Time with Graham was amazing at Hyde Park, that's my preferred version now.

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 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsedPxv-3_U

wow this sweet song demo is lovely

i even like "jets" but it hits the sweet spot for me of "enormous bassline + sax solo"

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.

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

"Battery In Your Leg" might be their best closer (when you remember that "This Is a Low" technically isn't one)

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.

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

― 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.

*been

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.

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)

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.

Of course I refer to the aggregated tracks results.

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.

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.

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.

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?)

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

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).

Is this the current Blur thread? They have just had a disastrous set at Coachella.

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

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

i dont really understand who coachella is supposed to be for?

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

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.