BLUR SELF-TITLED ALBUM POLL (1997)

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:TayFsFB0bCD1SM:http://www.freewebs.com/requiem18/blur1.png

"Death Of A Party" is the winner here, though I liked "On Your Own" too. Great album, but haven't heard it for a while.

i went for the obvious one. so?

I voted "Essex Dogs" and I don't care.

Love this album, voted for You're So Great.

When I was 17 Essex Dogs was NOIIIZZZZE by the standards I knew of. It's still pretty gnarly. I'ma vote that

"On Your Own" is an obvious vote, but after listening to it again, there's a very good reason for that.

I still usually have to skip over Song 2 when I listen to this album. Living in North America at the time of its release sort of ruined it for me.

My choices: Beetlebum followed by You're So Great followed by Strange News.

"On Your Own" ftw.

Song 2 OBVIOUSLY FFS

You're So Great - i was on a big GBV bender at the time

Fuck me. Just listened to it for the first time in ages. Love Coxon's guitar solo and end part. Shame about his voice.

I can get very nostalgic about Blur-I was never a massive fan but like Bimble it reminds me of an era. I was was out drinking seemingly every night usually talking about how messed up we were the night before
Probably not very happy but it felt like it at the time. I think the booze helped.Blur were on those duke boxes things a lot. I probably put this one on a few times

I'll get my coat

No, do not get your coat. It is good.

So many good ones, but I had to go with my teenage love: Essex Dogs. If I had two votes, I'd also throw something up for CSBM, which I adore..

track ten is the zero vote magnet, right?

'on your own' for sure.

On Your Own, far and away their best song.

whoa whoa tap the brakes there fella

on your own - highly underrated and great fun!

On Your Own IS great, but the video was terrible. At least M.O.R. gave us Sabotage-style pseudonyms! Morgan C. Hoax! AJ Sexmeal!

nice to see some love for OYO actually, and I loved the video. I remember specifically seeing it the first time I went to Cambridge Strawberry Fair and I have the two intrinsically linked in my mind.

I always thought Song 2 was fun, if a little, well, obvious even for Blur. Country Sad Ballad Man is great too. I sold all my Blur albums shortly after they went supernova. On Your Own won them back for me.

I hated MOR.

"On Your Own" is fabulous for the guitar effect alone. This record is now a damn good 4-song ep for me, Beetlebum, Song 2, On Your Own, Strange News From Another Star.

Have not listened to it in ages but On Your Own is the song that jumps clear back into memory so it's got to be that really.

I remember that the cardboard booklet for this album had a particular smell that lasted until about 2001.. my copy no longer smells of new Blur album, sadly.

Essex Dogs was my favourite song FULL STOP for a couple of years. So, that. Still Blur's finest moment and one of the great truly experimental forays by an erstwhile pop band.

I'd love to hear what anyone else has to say EXCEPT clueless Americans who say "I only liked 'Song 2'" who can frankly go suck on several hot dogs.

Hope you're listening, milo z.

Clueless Americans will say, "I only liked 'Whoo Hoo.'" Just for the record.

"great but what happened to Song 1?"

this album is actually gr8

beetlebum IS a contender but i need to give this a whirl first

That's weird. I'm sure I posted to this thread about ten minutes ago and it's vanished. Anyhoo - 'Beetlebum' narrowly beating 'Country Sad Ballad Man' for me.

Clueless Americans will say, "I only liked 'Whoo Hoo.'" Just for the record.

Yeah, you've outdone me, here. OTM.

"Song 2" is the only track that isn't awful

LOL

Beetlebum. This album was pretty much my gateway into "indie" music, and I bought it right after catching the Beetlebum video on 120 Minutes, so there's probably no other single song that has had as big an impact on my musical taste. And it's still my favorite on here.

Easily "Beetlebum". While this album was a step in the wrong direction in a lot of ways, it still had several great songs on it. But none as great as the wonderful pop song that was "Beetlebum".

I can understand the love for "On Your Own" too though. Would have been my second pick here. I do not understand the love for "Song 2" however - only beaten by "Chinese Bombs" for the worst song here!

ahahaha geir.

"Beetlebum" was sort of spoiled for me because it immediately brought the Spike Jones "horse race" skit to mind.

(the nag in it, which eventually wins, was called beetlebum, as DAlbarn well noes)

There's nothing wrong with Song 2. Some of us had the album well before Song 2 was either released or popular, and can see it for what it is above what the pleb masses made it.

Anyway, You're So Great is beautiful. Only just pips Beetlebum and On Your Own. Only just. The whole album (like 13) is magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXRj9lSnJnI

damnit, this is the only 'version' youtube has. I have this on an old VHS in the loft, proper performance, horse racing film and all.

representing for Movin' On, Chinese Bombs a close second.

i can't recall the beetlebum video - what happened in it?

the band are playing in a room while all seemingly high on drugs, then they stop playing and all lie on the floor and the camera starts whirling around, flying out the window and then doing a sort of pendulum pan up into the morning sun over the coda

Then the speccy one moans about All Saints for 5 minutes.

thanks bimble, for starting this poll! so excited to be listening to this album again, no matter how bizarre it feels to love it. country ballad man is pretty fuckin awesome but i'm still listening :D

I have about seven or eight different version of singles from this album, all based around "MOR" or "On your own" with differing content: Peel Acres sessions, Other radio shows, Remixes, etc...

i voted!! beetlebum.

"Beetlebum" was sort of spoiled for me because it immediately brought the Spike Jones "horse race" skit to mind.

(the nag in it, which eventually wins, was called beetlebum, as DAlbarn well noes)

-- Mark G, Thursday, 17 July 2008 09:40 (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link

this represents a plus point in my book. Thank-you music lovers was one of my favourite childhood albums.

The whole album (like 13) is magic.

It is of course way better than the disaster that was "13". But the only "magic" Blur albums were "Parklife" and "The Great Escape".

Even though they were dragged down by "Bank Holiday" and "Globe Alone" respectively. Both horrible.

I have about seven or eight different version of singles from this album, all based around "MOR" or "On your own" with differing content: Peel Acres sessions, Other radio shows, Remixes, etc...

-- Mark G, Thursday, July 17, 2008 1:41 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

The shittiest thing about the end of Blur's career was the lack of new b-sides: we still got some, but yeah - lots of Peel sessions, Buddokan stuff, etc etc.

I've got all the albums (and Bustin'+Dronin')...are the B-sides worth it? I love all the phases of their career but prefer the experimental stuff (13 is their crowning achievement IMO).

I only really collected the b-sides up to Blur so I can't comment on the (sparse number IIRC) of 13 era b-sides... but I have always found that their b-sides are just as strong and sometimes much more fun than their album tracks - they weren't afraid to be even more goofy, dramatic, etc. Their early b-sides are full of indie guitars and punky vocals, and their mid-career stuff was sort of Parklife II.

I think the b-sides from the last few albums tended toward being Radioheadesque digital jams

^^^must hear these

13 wasn't THAT Radioheadesque at all, though, it was lovely and rangy and spazzy and barely-controlled. Fucking awesome, in other words.

Off the top of my head, I can think of.. Beagle 2 and Optigan... I didn't say 13 was Radioheadesque but the b-sides (I only heard them once or twice, to be fair) were closer to that than Parklife!Blur..

LJ otm. 13 needs a lot of time to settle in, but when it does... wow.

I remember first wanting to hear 13 because I heard "Tender" somewhere and loved it. The first few times I listened to the album, I would listen to "Tender" and then avoid the rest. Then one day I gave the rest a go. Nowadays I start with "Bugman" (one of the most genuinely amazing songs released by any British band in the 90's) and play on through from there. :D

Yes! It sounds like a mess until you give about 30 spins.

They played "Woo-hoo" as soon as I walked inside my gym today. I lol'd.

Aw you make me want to go through every track extolling its delights but uh-oh I already did so once and that spawned enough memes. :(

Suffice it to say that nobody else has done anything quite like it, in terms of multi-layered, micro-managed electronic guitar-rock. More dance producers should tackle adventurous avant-indie bands, you might argue, but the chemistry here was perfect, the climate just right for awesome sonic hi-jinks that actually worked themselves into a coherent-yet-completely-varied whole. The real argument is that more bands should just let go completely.

If I remember correctly, like 95% of the b-sides from 13 were just different remixes of album tracks by the Blur boyz.

Typical of present day singles that.

Depeche Mode have almost stopped releasing actual new songs as b-sides too.

But unless the outtakes from "13" were better than what ended up on the album: no loss. "Coffee & TV" was the only good song on that album.

We know you think that. And we are cool with it. There is no need to insist.

Usually I agree with Geir so this is jarring.

I agree with Geir about the worst songs on Blur (and "Bank Holiday", ugh). Never liked the band's explorations of punk too much. B.L.U.R.E.M.I. is by far the best one fwiw.

"Beetlebum" still get my vote. love this album to death and gave me a new found respect for Blur at that time.

..Never liked the band's explorations of punk too much.

I mostly agree. As "explorations" of a style, Blur's punk diversions were as trad as it gets, and pretty boring for it. The big exception to this, for me, is "Advert," which is inexplicably one of my favorite Blur tracks. I never got why "Song 2" was trumped up as their bid for American grunge appeal, as it seemed to fit squarely into their 3-generic-punk-songs per album tradition. Marketing, I suppose.

As for the matter at hand, I'm going with the usual suspects: Slightly edging out "On Your Own" & "Death of a Party" is "Beetlebum" (Bee OK OTM). I love that, despite their "reinvention" as a lo-fi Matador band, they were unable to avoid their knack for Beatles-worthy pop gems. You can't dirty up a chorus that huge.

I like the album as whole, and still listen to it regularly, but ultimately it is a blueprint for the sound they eventually perfected on 13.

Beetlebum gets my vote.

13 felt patchy to me. For every Trimm Trabb or Coffee & TV there was a Swamp Song or Trailerpark which just seemed like a lack of good songwriting to me. Elsewhere I found "Tender" and "No Distance Left To Run" to be intensely cloying - the band had done much better ballads than that on Parklife. "Blur" was the last really solid Blur album as far as I'm concerned.

"You're So Great"!!! OMG I had completely forgotten how good this album was. Jeez.

TNG, you've conveniently omitted to mention the four best tracks on the album, the record's lifeblood. Also, "Swamp Song" is MEGA AWESOME.

So what happened about the Graham reunion? Weren't they going to get back together and give it one more go?

They had a night out, and found they weren't arsed about it.

BASTIDS!

beetlebum.

I never got why "Song 2" was trumped up as their bid for American grunge appeal, as it seemed to fit squarely into their 3-generic-punk-songs per album tradition.

"Song 2" had some typical grunge elements that are not found in their other "punk" songs. It had the contrast between a stripped down verse and a noisy chorus with these really dirty guitars, that also had a very "grunge" sound to them.

Might have been fine. I mean, I liked "Creep" and "Inside" - both other examples of Brits attempting a grunge-ey style. But "Song 2" is repetitive and tuneless. It's just the same 4-chord sequence repeated all through the song. Which becomes annoying in the end. I despise music that is built in a repetitive/cyclic/minimalist way.

I hang with some of what you say, Geir, with regard complexity, but sometimes for a song to progress most excitingly it must employ a certain tension through repetition, perhaps with subtly altering dynamics/resonances, not just melodic transformation. There has been very great minimal music that sustains interest through the shifting of focus within its own sound-world. I weep that you cannot open your ears to the possibilities afforded to great songwriting by non-melodic means.

That said, there's a band I like that I think you'd absolutely do your nut over. They are probably the most melodically complex act in the entire history of music. Blur are great fans. Here's a flavour: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2600990 (Don't listen to "Eat it..", you'll dislike)

"Song 2" - yeah I agree with Geir, it's a grunge anthem that came out too late. It's catchy and fun to dance to but also very obvious, but hey if the kids like it then I'm not going to piss on their parade. It's fun and you can see why it's popular, but even in its name, I think Blur always intended it as a throwaway until some company exec said "hey, you could make a killing from this". Louis's also right - Geir, you should try opening your ears a bit (/obvious).

Louis, I know you came to 13 in the same way I came to Parklife (which was the first "proper" album I bought and a total gateway to what I like now). I'm not going to challenge that. From my point of view, 13 was the sound of a brilliant band on their way out. It's got great songs, it also has dirges and retreads of old things AFAIC. I'd say 50% great 50% a bit rub. I love "Coffee & TV", "Trimm Trabb", "Mellow Song", "Battle" and "Caramel" but the rest just sounds like jamwash to me.

Actually, I'm listening back to 13 now after a long break. It never struck me how weird a record it is. There are loads of little sections that stick out and wash through, 30 second jams and stuff. I like this. It's not the solid pop performance of Parklife or Great Escape, but it fits together in a jarring, jam band kind of way.

I adore 13, but I'm more fascinated with Blur right now because I've played it less.

I think "Coffee & TV" is pretty weak...and "Tender" took me several plays before I came to terms with it.

Blur were on those duke boxes things a lot

Could someone (Britshes??) please explain what this means. Thanks.

"Death of A Party" particularly stunned me at work today. I almost wanted to change my vote...that shit is stunning. I remember wanting to play that one several times in a row by itself. It summed up everything I felt in the post-cocaine depression etc.

Don't understand what makes Essex Dogs so great yet except that it makes me smile to realize how much it sounds like The Fall. Way to go, the ever-versatile Blur! Oasis weren't a patch on ye! In any case, "Essex Dogs" is a great way to pave the way for 13, that's for sure. I'm playing this song now and I gotta say it sounds pretty good. It's a grower.

I'm glad to see so much love for On Your Own, though. Here's why: I always kindof thought of M.O.R., On Your Own & Moving On in the same category and I think it kindof says something that in the end M.O.R. doesn't sound as good now as On Your Own does, though in 1997 I might have said I loved them equally. M.O.R. comes off a bit contrived in comparison. OTM about the great guitar sound/riff in On Your Own. Moving On also does get tiresome after awhile, but the first half of the song or so is stellar.

Another song that hit me hard at work today was "I'm Just A Killer For Your Love". Here's another stab at Americana from them. I adore it!!

As for Beetlebum, I don't hold it against anyone at all for choosing it as their fave, I just have to admit I've grown tired of it now. The delicious Beatles-y bubblegum has long since been chewed. :)

Dancehall is bravely sludgy and sleazy and even more Fall-like than Essex Dogs.

Strange News is especially lovely. I'd probably take that over "M.O.R." & "Moving On".

Chinese Bombs makes me smile because EVERY SINGLE PUNK PISS-TAKE THEY DID MAKES ME SMILE. Bless their hearts for it! Just one or two punk songs per album. I love it. It's like the little prize you get in the cracker jack box!

Still, I wonder if the real answer to the universe isn't "Country Sad Ballad Man". But *sniff* I already voted for "Look Inside America". :(

This is a near perfect album. I don't think I knew how lucky I was in 1997 even though by then the whole current British/indie/whatever scene had mostly dried up for me. Blur! A realiable, versatile, talented pop band! Name one band who matches them nowadays!

Coldplay can lick their dicks, I mean really. Can't they?

Next step: add my two CD-R's of Blur b-sides to my iPod and drift away.

Just Got Offed ^^ I realise it's a Blur thread and all, but you just reminded of something.

To once and for all check out the Cardiacs properly since I saw them for the first and only time in the late '80s!
They were supporting someone I can't recall(it may have been Robyn Hitchcock, who I saw there?) at The Town and Country Club in Kentish Town.

They blew me away that night and I haven't checked them since! Care to advise where to start? I seem to remember them making me smile. Musically they were all over the place but melodic, as you say.

Perhaps I should check out any Cardiacs threads on here?

Bimble

I was been a bit silly. I simply meant duke box. I'm a tosser.As in ,' put another dime in.... 'and yeah i'm a britishes

juke box even

Ha! You know it occured to me later that might have been what you meant! Good enough, you're not a tosser. Unless...ah never mind. :)

Sometimes I get Robyn Hitchcock songs in my head out of absolutely nowhere when I haven't heard them in ten years and shit. Happened to me this week, actually.

Hey, Fer Ark. I heard on the chatz that you are a punk guy over 50. Is this so? If so, I think that's way cool. Someone asked if you knew Noodle Vague, the reply was "probably".

Cheers Bimble - FFS!

I look about 67
Am 40.
Noodle Vague has Hull connections, yes? Not sure I know him. We probably 'hung' at the same places. I avoid cliques and scenes though - prefer being a solitary, 'fuck you' punk rocker ;-)
Where you from out of interest> somewhere in Da States? Dallas gets a mention? Austin is one of my favourite places over there

What the fucks 'the chatz' - is it another ILX secret;-)

Fer Ark - Cardiacs: Classic or Dud?

They're my absolute favourite band of all time and I recommend the lot. Start with the early stuff, cos that's the best way to do it AND you'll reconnect with what you saw. On Land And In The Sea is IMO their best early-period record, by a nose from A Little Man... . Let me know how you get on with them!

Aw, you're a nice guy, Fer Ark. I'm in Seattle as of the last ten years. Don't really want to be anywhere else, even lovely California! I lived in Dallas, Texas for two miserable years. I regret I never visited Austin while I was there, a town I had much respect for without ever being there. Houston was okay cause there's the beach & palm trees.

Re: "the chatz" it's not an ILX secret you just have to sign up with stupid ass AOL messenger in some form (known as AIM) and then you can chat with people in real time from all over the world if you want, etc. It's an instant messenger program. But I don't mean to intrude, I know a lot of folks don't really understand what any of that means, or even like to chat online. There are other IM programs, too. Herman Neuname from Scotland told me that mostly only Americans use AIM for it, but ya know...whatever chat mechanism works is my philosophy.

so this was a Blur thread then??? Oh my goodness. How have we drifted away.

Also the Bimbobulator needle is coming close into the red now, alcohol consumed is reaching a pleasing peak, etc.

Nice one Bimble - aren't music and alcohol so fucking ace?

I loved Austin for the food, vibes and the rich, rich music history. The fact that I met Jeff Pinkus and King Koffee was a bonus too. Went through all sorts of weirdness in Texas. Huntsville was creepy. We went to the museum of Capital Punishment there and stood outside of death row.What a dork.
Been all over the States - three big, lucky road trips- but never the North - Seattle or Boston

Just Got Offed - will check out the Cardiacs properly and report back. Thanks for the info

Wasn't 'Country House' a pile of shit?

I bought this record again a few months ago, thinking that I couldn't really survive the next few days unless I heard 'you're so great' once more, but it was 'strange news from another star' that I ended up listening to over and over. It's such a woozy, sad little song: I suppose it's trying to 'do' Bowie and not really succeeding but I think the not succeeding is what makes it so affecting -- that kind of faux-naïf over-fragile voice Albarn puts on, the clumsy space noises, the odd snare-drum outro.

nice one, c sharp

See the thing is, I think "Look Inside America" takes "The Universal" one step forward. Da ya know what I mean? And I love "The Universal", but...

"and the whole world could have passed through me, but I don't know if it means much to me"

vs.

"when the days they seem to fall through you/well just let them go"

I mean god, I just stagger at all the gorgeous Brit brilliance.

I'm swooning now. There's not an American band on the entire Northern American continent, Canada and all, who could have been like Blur.

STRINGS, man. That's what the Yanks can't get their arses around ever, is STRINGS! BRITISH TRADEMARK STRINGS IN THE MUSIC YO! How I love them.

See now I don't think "Song 2" is bad necessarily. But if you ask almost any American the probabilty is they will say "oh Blur, they were that band who did the 'Woo-hoo' song" it's terrible. That's all they know Blur for is "Woo-hoo". I'm serious. SO MANY CLUELESS FUCKS WHO MAYBE BUY OR DOWNLOAD 10 ALBUMS A YEAR TOPS.

You know, when the Brits say they can't stand Oasis because of te Oasis fans...or the Americans say they can't stand the Dave Matthews fans, that's what I mean. Give me a break.

I any American to have just a bit of knowledge of the Kinks for one, you know? I get TIRED of being an anglophile in a country of people that don't necessarily GET the British aesthetic and by that I mean I'm sorry to group UK all together cause I know some English hate Scots etc. hate Wales I don't care. That's where all the fucking bloody good music comes from is those places. This Yank says don't knock any o' 'em.

Right, then. I probably should cool it with the beer for the moment, I've said me peace.

Look, you guys are going to make me play 13 again I might never get out.

"Blur" surely has it moments in spite of the obvious steps in the wrong direction, certainly.

"Beetlebum" is one of their best ever singles and a marvellous attempt at doing what The Beatles were doing cirka The White Album. I would have preferred them to copy "Revolver" or "Sgt. Pepper" era Beatles instead, but this sounds really good too. Almost better than the White Album, which is the most overrated Beatles album after all :)

"On Your Own" is another great typical Blur song, only with more electronics added. It is sort of where I have always wanted pop music to head: a compromise between electronica's use of modern technology and classic pop's uncompromised use of the classic pop songwriting format melody-wise.

"Look Inside America" is also classic Blur, not unlike "Magic America" except I like the latter song's lyrics way better ;)

"Country Sad Ballad Man" is obviously very different for a Blur song (at least it was then), but is otherwise a nice and good nod to what Beck and Eels were doing at the time.

"You're So Great" is Graham Coxon doing what he would perfect on "Coffee & TV". I was not so found of Coxon at the time, blaming him for Blur's new and IMO misguided direction, but this is a good pop song nonetheless.

"Death Of a Party" is somewhat darker, but out of all of Blur's "dark" new songs, this is the one I like best at all. Has some of The Specials left even though the Specials influence isn't as obvious as on "Great Escape" tracks such as "Fade Away".

"Strange News From Another Star" is also nice for partly the same reasons as "Death Of a Party".

But then, there are also more tracks that I dislike here. I mean, OK, "Chinese Bombs" isn't that much worse than "Globe Alone" or "Bank Holiday", and if it was a one-off it wouldn't matter. But then, there were even a couple of singles that were really not good at all. I have already mentioned "Song 2", but I am hardly impressed by "MOR" either, thinking "Look Inside America" should rather have been the fourth single.
And then, "I'm Just a Killer For Your Love" is really, really annoying and repetitive as well.

So "Blur" was a step in the wrong direction, although still a great album. I will probably rank it as their fourth best album, way behind the classic 93-95 trilogy, but slightly ahead of the also somewhat patchy debut.

Missed out "Essex Dogs" Geir.

I missed out on a number, but I don't really like any of the rest much.

xxpost

Geir is my hero tonight, just for one night only. Standing room only. Holy shit I'd forgotten about "Magic America".

Yes! "You're So Great" is the GIANT COMBAT BOOT TO CRUSH COFFEE & TV SURRENDER NOW I REPEAT SURRENDER NOW

Death of A Party = Specials, yes! Now I wouldn't have thought of that, cheers.

I've grown tired of the Bank Holiday love here, folks. But then countries with bloody Bank Holidays ALREADY GET MORE HOLIDAYS THAN MOST AMERICANS SO FUCK RIGHT OFF ETC

heheh just kidding ;)

Geir wrong at the end. "13" & "Blur" are the only albums worth saving of them, really. I even got tired of Parklife, I'm sorry to say. Parklife vs. 13 FITE!!!!!!

I MEAN I WILL START THE BANK HOLIDAY UNDERAPPRECIATION SOCIETY AND THEN WHERE WILL YOU BE FUCKERZ?

Woah, I just dug out "The Sky Is Too High" and instantly got transported back to Summer 1998. It was sunny there. THe air smelt fresher.

I always thought "Moving On" and "MOR" were dreadful and let down an otherwise fantastic record.

i love the production on this. shame the songs arent all up to par. and i hate the fucking choir and the oh so trembly ballads.

i love the production on this. shame the songs arent all up to par. and i hate the fucking choir and the oh so trembly ballads.

Wrong album

I just wanted to give props to Alex's Duran Duran-y bass part in "On Your Own". That is just too much.

It's like that little tiny bit of "Girls & Boys" to put the cream in your coffee. Or tea. But not TV.

oops. i was thinking of 13.

Does anyone else here besides me think "Strange News From Another Star" is Bowie-esque?

Bowie should have covered that shit. Oh yes.

Maybe a little bit, but there is no one Blur track more blatantly Bowie-esque than "Entertain Me" anyway.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

this is their best album, i think.. i really love graham coxon's guitar sound (influenced by pavment??).. i read he used distortion pedals with nearly-dead batteries to get those nasty sewage-guitar type sounds

I'm so ashamed to admit I finally sold the Parklife CD I could just about hang myself on the gallows right this minute. But I rationalized it at the time you know - "I've been there done this". RONG.

But YET I've still got the Leisure CD in my stacks??? There is no justice in this world!

Yes, yes, yes I know the 13 love. I love it too but I'll only go back to 13 when I've finished gobbling up several other albums and two scrumptious CD-R's of B-sides.

THIS POLL HAS NOT ENDED YET PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTES THANK YOU :)

Okay, woah, woah, woah. Doesn't the first part of "Theme From Retro" remind you of the first part of Dead Kennedys' "Holiday In Cambodia"????

your points are intriguing but irrelevant, since Song 2 is the answer... COME ON OF COURSE IT IS!

I think the one-way ILX discourse of "lol limey retards" needs a reversal, at times.

even limey retards know this one, tho.

limey retards and only limey retards

"limey retards" is redundant, amirite? :)

I'm willing to bet that every song will get a vote except "theme from retro" and the bonus.

Theme From Retro is probably in my top 5 album favourites. Shame if it gets 0.

Dear Americans, Song 2 is rubbish. You are all cheap thrill-junkies with no feel for the possibilities of music. Thank you! :)

Hahaha LJ to the rescue again in a single bound!

poor, poor, poor.. ouch Song 2

All I know it's it's fucking 6:45 AM here and I was just about to fall asleep at last when Parklife the title track came on and wowowow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Great, that "Death Of A Party" somehow got 6 votes, thought I was the only one who voted for it.

shocked no one voted for "country sad"! good track.

That was the main thing I noted, too, Zeus, that "Death of A Party" placed so highly. I was really pleased about that.

Blimey, lots of love for "Country sad" but no votes!

Although I never liked it much.

huh!

this album is still good. On Your Own is top 5 Blur

as a transitional album, it shows Blur experimenting with new influences and certain songwriting hallmarks that Damon would later capitalise on further.

Songs like 'I'm Just A Killer For Your Love' and 'The Death Of A Party' are proto-13, proto-Gorillaz, although I didn't realise it at the time: swampy, downbeat and groove-based without much in the way of lyrical depth.

I never need to hear Song 2 ever again.

MOR was a strange choice of single: other than some cool guitar FX, it's wholly unremarkable. Moving On is also unnecessary filler.

P much everything else is worthwhile though. Definitely the start of a sound I would find myself enjoying less, but retaining Damon's interest in pop melodies which he would later shake off

"you're so great" is the best song coxon ever wrote

I really like Coffee + TV personally

One of the criticisms I've heard leveled at Blur is that they were bandwagon jumpers, and often late to the party with it. That, or that they were merely a jumble of influences with no ideas of their own.

Even if this were the truth, it misses the point. I don't think Blur's core audience in the 90s really gave much of a shit. If anything, Leisure opened me up to shoegaze. Parklife opened me up to bands like Wire. Great Escape was a primer for getting me into the second Specials album. I'd not bothered with Pavement until I heard the self titled album. I was young with a library card and a copy of Select magazine. Hearing these influences which I didn't realise were influences all on one CD was perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n8k0fB82nU&ab_channel=GrayGuitars

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n8k0fB82nU&ab_channel=GrayGuitars

FUCK

I was young with a library card and a copy of Select magazine.

The front line of every revolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n8k0fB82nU&ab_channel=GrayGuitars

This album meant so incredibly much to me around the time it came out, and now I feel like I struggle to remember how any of these songs went. It was such a time and a place, and that time is gone and I no longer live in that place.

has anyone made the "Country Bad Salad Man" joke yet?

Man I love this album. Not really a Blur fan otherwise, parts of 13 notwithstanding. Love the sound of this thing

would’ve voted death of a party probably. theme from retro is rad, Essex dogs is rad.. mor is rad... oh man

blur seem to do trip hop rather well? see also: trailerpark

As a wee American I was sorta perplexed by blur before this album came out. It seemed like.. extremely English music by English people for English people or something.. a real stark contrast to Oasis’ thing (the only context I ever heard mentioned pre-97 was on MTV re oasis beef). idk this is probably gibberish.

Not much of a fan, but I love "You're So Great."

country sad ballad man deserved a vote!!

I haven't really listened to this album in the last 20 years, but I still often come back to All Your Life and Dancehall, both much better than anything on the LP imo.

my favorite part of the album is probably the outro to “beetlebum”... the way Graham bends the third note of his guitar part and how it meshes with each chord in the progression.. really sets my heart a flutter

Polished Stone is also a fantastic B-side from this time

“uh oh what’s that device right there”

wow there are almost as many blur threads on here as lightning bolt threads!

i hadn't heard alan moulder's single mix of "m.o.r." until today, pretty kick ass. wonder if he did this to any others?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwnYm4dPuvc