13 is their best in so many different ways. Don't get me wrong, every single album of theirs is superb, but 13 is the single album I own whose every track is radically different to every other, yet throughout, a strong musical and emotional theme is miraculously sustained, and a progression is formed through the wildly disparate effects created by the imaginative instrumentation and HIDEOUSLY creative production involved. The tunes themselves are generally as strong as any in the Blur oeuvre, but on this album more than others they are back up with some jawdropping realisation.
Tender - This song was my first Blur song, yet I spent the first 6 months thinking it was some really, REALLY ace American band. There's no messing with this one, from its awesome chorus to its tastefully-applied gospel choir.
Bugman - Blur KICK SOME ASS. They never did this so well before, or since. The last two minutes are worth the album price alone, as Coxon and his guitar do some quite illegally delicious things.
Coffee And TV - EVERYONE likes this song, right?
Swamp Song - The simple 3-chord thrash to end all others. Succeeds because despite the roughness, every last detail is meticulously seen-to, eveyr crescendo and 'incidental' screech just in its right place.
1992 - Best song on the album. Marries a genius chord progression to one of the best virtuoso guitar-effects solos you will ever hear. And there's a brief yet brilliant keyboard solo.
BLUREMI - Well, there had to be ONE clunker, but it's so short (see also Chinese Bombs, Bank Holiday, We've Got A File On You) that it is forgiven. It's also quite groovy, for a clunker.
Battle - THIS IS THE SOUND OF RADIOHEAD BEING BEATEN AT A GAME THEY WEREN'T EVEN BOLD ENOUGH TO PLAY
Mellow Song - It's nice and neat, but as a comedown after 'Battle' it does the job to a T. The riff in the second half is mesmeric.
Trailerpark - THAT SOLO
Caramel - OK, this one clinches the deal. An organ-led effects-splattered climb out of darkness, when it eventually explodes (orgasms) Blur have taken the very depths of your soul and smashed them over the insides of your skull. And God does it feel great.
Trimm Trabb - Actually, when I wrote that about Bugman, there was ONE exception...
No Distance Left To Run - Yeah, a stripped-down ballad, no effects, freakouts, or curveballs here. Blur don't need to, any more. They've already done all that's needed. Some raw, unaccompanied emotion is more or less all that's left...
Optigan 1 - ...Except for the slumbering, bittersweet finale. It's a beautiful track, and spotting each layer of music peel away and then return is like watching a grandfather clock pendulum whilst half-asleep on ale. The train rides off into the sunset, and Blur have finally released the stone-dead classic they'd always promised.
Your call.
-- Scourage (papiermachealamphibia...)
― like murderinging (modestmickey), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 02:38 (nineteen years ago)