‘Blur’ by Blur

Following the release, and lukewarm critical reception of ‘The Great Escape’, Blur went to great efforts to evolve, releasing this album in 1997. Listening to the album as a whole, it’s an obvious new direction for the band, but it would be a mistake to say they’d neglected their pop roots. ‘Beetlebum’ and ‘Song 2’ may have a slightly rougher arrangement than previous albums, but given a polish, they’d have both sat comfortably on earlier albums. Only with ‘Country Sad Ballad Man’ is there a real indication that Blur were entering new territory. It’s a down beat arrangement of a track, layered in slide guitar, and featuring a vocal performance from Damon Albarn that jumps through octaves like hoops. It sounds unlike anything Blur had done up to that point. The album continues in a similar vein – ‘You’re So Great’ is rougher than any tracks that had come before it, though lovely never-the-less, ‘On Your Own’ is the most awkward sounding track they’d ever released as a single, ‘Theme From Retro’ dispenses with words altogether, and pretty much loses its tune along the way, ‘Chinese Bombs’ is abrasively loud and short, and ‘Essex Dogs’ is more of a rambling stream of consciousness than a song.

Mixed into all this, however, are some great pop moments. ‘M.O.R.’ may have been derivative enough to require a writing credit for Bowie and Eno, but it’s still a great track, ‘I’m Just A Killer For Your Love’ and ‘Strange News From Another Star’ are both great, and ‘Look Inside America’, though weary, is suitably anthemic.

All in all, ‘Blur’ is a fantastic album, and testament to the fact that the band made all the right decisions before making it. It also cements their reputation for being great musicians – it’s more evidence in particular that Coxon is one of the greatest guitarists of his generation. Twelve years on, this album sounds as good as it ever did.