13

I forget at times that I have more Blur albums than is normally considered acceptable, but I also own 2 more Alien Ant Farm albums than is considered acceptable, current count is 2.
13 today, no not me, todays listening was 13 by Blur, I bet any money that it was produced by Eno, I havent checked yet, but I reckon it was.......wikipedia......nah, William Orbit, that kind of makes sense, its at times a little noodley, not in a Paul "Check this tasty riff out" Weller kind of way. More of a string a song out to 7 minutes kind of way. That would be a bad thing if it wasn't this album, but as it is this album, "7 minutes sir? you couldn't make it closer to 8 could you?", Why certainly!

This album contains my favourite Blur song, and one of my favourite ever songs in No Distance Left To Run, where as Albarn was leaving behind moustachiod Elastica frontman Justine Frischmann, it was rather poignant for me as at the time I was going through relationship woes with my hobbit like wife, but that will be represented I am sure some years in the future when we hit the Pernice Brothers.
I digresse, not only are we treated to No Distance... but also Tender, Battles, 1992 and Swamp Song, a truly well formed adult album that cuts free of woohoos and knees up muvva brahnisms, its a thinking album, cerebral, and a bloody good album at that.
This album sees Graham definitely getting more of a voice and the first green shoots of The Gorillaz, showing in Damons vocals, Damons next recorded work was with Deltron 3030, teaming up with Dan the Automator prior to recording the Gorillaz debut album, or as they were described, The Banana Splits.
So in summary, an enjoyable album, made me listen to it, and not just have it playing in the background whilst I called cyclists that dont use cycle paths c#$%s. 8 out of 10.



No Distance Left To Run by Blur

Blur

Saturday and I am working again and so it is the self titled album by Blur. Some weeks ago I said that they, Blur, didn’t really hit their stride until the last 2 albums, 13 and Think Tank. I may be wrong about that and listening to this album really confirms that error. I likd and like a lot of the tracks on this album and as one finished I thought, aha another I like. Song 2 may be a worldwide anthem now, but it is still a great song. One afternoon in Virgin around the time of the release of this album the stereo in store went off just before the Woo-hoo, and a vast majority of the shop sung it, its an infectious song.
Its not just Song 2 though, there is more to this album than a video game soundtrack, I’m Just A Killer For You Love, Country Sad Ballad Man are the non single tracks that highlight the songwriting talent of Blur. The singles on this album would be difficult to better thankfully a million miles away from the comedy of Country House. All in all a pretty good album that I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed it at the time. 8 out of 10.



Country Sad Ballad Man by Blur

Parklife

Parklife today, yet more textbook Blur, extremely popular album and one that has been the soundtrack to my shape throwing on too many occasions to mention, just add alcohol and “bank holiday” and I truly believed that Strictly Come Dancings loss was Wolverhamptons gain. Wolverhampton said “cheers mate but we are good for 30 something shape throwing tubbsters” bastard Wolverhampton.
As mentioned earlier in the week, its dated, its Blur by numbers and regardless of what you think I think the likes of Girls and Boys and Parklife are a million miles off their best work. They are a million miles off the best on this album.
This isn’t a particularly bad album, there are tracks on the album that I like, but that surely doesn’t make it a great album. It may be the best of the Britpop era….released in 1994….thats the third album…..by a band fronted by Damon Albarn. With hindsight though, its merely an average album.
Whats does make this good though are the green shoots of quality songwriting showing through with To The End, the album version is sans Francois Hardy, but avec Laetitia Sadier de le Stereolab. The Hardy version with all of its rum French vocals really does top the album version.
This is a low is another high point on the album, taking its lead from the shipping forecast, and running with it. End of the century and Bad head again are stand out tracks, that make this album ok, to pretty good, nothing more. 6 out of 10.



To The End by Blur

Modern Life Is Rubbish

Today my CD of choice was Blurs second album Modern Life Is Rubbish, on paper this shut be a clear 8 out of 10. On paper. Lets talk about Blur for a moment.
People that I know and have had the pleasure of meeting Damon Albarn state that he is, not to put too fine a point on it, a shit of the highest order with an ego the size of Manchester. I have never met him, but would probably imagine that this is the case. The Drummer in Blur is a gentleman called Dave Rowntree, he flies planes and tries to get elected as a labour councillor, I can stomach the planes bit but the labour thing, well lets not get into politics. Alex James, I read his biography, a bit of a blur and ended up despising him, a truly selfish man with the morals of an alley cat that was an appalling boyfriend and who, it has to be said only has the cheese going for him, I quite like Graham Coxon though. So that’s Blur and my opinion of them.
I never really heard this album at time of release, I was working in the cocooned world of Butlins at the time and although I bought one or two singles, I never actually bought the album until I had bought the follow up, Parklife.
To be honest, I am not keen, it’s a bad album, really it is. Albarn is doing that dreadful thing that Ray Davies does so well of making the songs about people, Albarn explores it more on Parklife and the singles B-sides but here its clumsy and not engaging in the slightest. It makes, amongst other things sound dated and that’s what you get when you attach your self to a scene.

There was pressure on Julian
Pushing trolleys in the car park
From B to A then back to B
Pressure on Julian

Pressure on Julian

Not just Pressure on Julian though, the whole sound of the album is rather contrived, distancing themselves from the baggy sound on their debut Leisure, they could see that dead horse was flogged and they had to change for album two, as it is, the songs do not stand up, sure the singles are fairly inoffensive in Sunday Sunday, Chemical World and For Tomorrow, but they are extremely one dimensional singles. With hindsight its reasonable to assert that Albarn didn’t really hit his stride with his songwriting until the last two albums, moderately enjoyable songs such as This Is A Low from Parklife or Villa Rosie from this album, The Universal from The Great Escape, maybe a handful of songs more from those albums but as a band they never wrote great songs consistently until 13 and Think Tank.
So a disappointing album, a bad album, an album by a band trying to hold on to a record contract? Who knows 4 out of 10.



Villa Rosie by Blur