šŸŽµ How Good Are They Really šŸŽµ Blur

Still bitter about Oasis? Yes I am.

Not keen on Blur? No Iā€™m not. Quite like the ants in the carpet one but beyond thatā€¦:person_shrugging:

Add them together and here we are.

2 Likes

Aside from the fact that I do love them, I fully agree with everything youā€™ve said here!

1 Like

ā€¦and made it the focus of their official merchandise for ages to make money off it and encourage their fans to pile on tooā€¦and tried to get it all going again a decade later when there was never really a basis for it in the first place.

Anyway, I suspect weā€™re both being drawn into more entrenched positions here than either of us really care about & I cant imagine Blur were ever really that fussed, so Iā€™m not going to get upset on their behalf.

one of my favourite bands ever, first album I ever got that wasnā€™t just a Now type compilation was The Great Escape and rinsed it relentlessly, reminds me souch of being on holiday in Gran Canaria. some songs on it are a bit naff but still like it.

then I went backwards and got all the other albums (definitely didnā€™t borrow them from the library and copy them onto tape), loved Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife, never been super sold on Leisure though. For Tomorrow was, and is, ace. got Blur a while after it came out and loved that, still reckon itā€™s my favourite album of theirs. listened to all of these a couple of weeks ago and theyā€™re still ace.

then I kind of bounced off 13, liked the singles but I think I heard the album being played back on the radio or something like that and the non-singles didnā€™t do anything for me, too long and not really interesting - I would have been 14 at the time though, didnā€™t instantly ā€œget itā€ so cba trying. actually bought it a few years later when I was at uni and enjoyed it, still not my favourite.

Think Tank came out when I was at uni and as Graham was my favourite the concept of a Blur album without him was sacrilege (still got the special edition on day one like a mug) and didnā€™t like it, still donā€™t. some nice songs, but mostly shite.

the rest is alright, I like the Magic Whip overall but have no desire to actually listen to it. got the Blur 21 boxset with all the b-sides and rarities and stuff but donā€™t recall much of note.

the one thing I do think is a bit of a shame is that Iā€™ve only ever seen them live once, at Hyde Park in 2008 - by the time I was old enough to actually go to gigs on my own they were in the Think Tank era and I wasnā€™t going to see them on that tour. have seen Graham live loads though.

1,000,000 / 5

5 Likes

Hahahaha forgot how much I like Tracy Jacks, itā€™s put a big stupid smile on my face :smiley:

This thread has also made me remember that my cringiest Britpop moment was facilitated by me buying Leisure from the Oxfam shop in Winchester on my way home from holiday :see_no_evil:

10 Likes

*Patent Twat

5 Likes

Omg I missed this :smiley: incredible!!

Blur are a perfectly servicable, adequate, unexciting band. Most of their songs have never grabbed me the way it feels like they should have. I was very into Parklife at the time but looking back it was all a bit cringe, wasnā€™t it? A bunch of private-uni kids in lad cosplay. Not even Damon Albarnā€™s best band. 3/5

2 Likes

No real opinion. When they first came out I wasnā€™t interested because they didnā€™t have proper guitars or proper haircuts like Ride.

Saw them on the Rollercoaster tour and the film they had of someone doing a shit backwards was far more memorable than any of the songs.

Still confused about how they got drawn against Oasis in the Britpop wars but.

2/5 because i mostly just find them boring and annoying rather than actually bad and I quite liked Tender.

Judging Blur for Country House is a bit like judging R.E.M. for Shiny Happy People

(I actually quite like both songs)

10 Likes

General thoughts:

I really enjoy the deep deep cuts where theyā€™re just dicking about (Ludwig, Dizzy)
Theme For An Imaginary Film is hilarious
Fucking Popscene, absolute belter
Thought Essex Dogs was the most profound thing ever when I was 19
Ambulance :heart_eyes:
Battery In Your Leg :sob:
I love the whole second half of Blur but the deep cuts on the first half of the album are a bit shit
Iā€™ve always wanted the Penguin books t-shirt that Damon has in the Sheā€™s So High vid

Remember when Foolā€™s Day came out and was so excited by it, love that guitar climax

donā€™t tell anyone but I quite enjoy Crazy Beat unironically

3 Likes

Theyā€™re a 4 from me. All of their albums have at least one or two songs I want to skip, but the good bits are tremendous. Some excellent album closers too: This Is A Low, Essex Dogs and No Distanceā€¦ in particular

Thereā€™s some intersting ideas in there musically - the layering of multiple melodies building up, but itā€™s also overblown bollocks as well - thereā€™s a good tune hidden in the worst excesses a brass band.

1 Like

Shiny Happy People absolutely slaps. Canā€™t wait to defend it in the R.E.M. thread

8 Likes

He Thought Of Cars is in my top five songs of all time I think

3 Likes

Sorry for being so annoying in this thread @anon19035908, when is the Suede thread? That is the other one I will be hyper annoying in

Pleasantly surprised by the comments here so far tbh but I reckon itā€™ll be a middling 3.

1 Like

Suede are definitely going to get pummelled because they are so pretentious and overdramatic but Dog Man Star is excess at its finest and Iā€™m very excited to complain at length about how the alternative tracklisting for it makes a perfect album.

2 Likes

Not annoying at all Pervo, all your contributions to these threads are top quality. Suede are a way off yet, but on the list (4/5).

4 Likes

ā€˜Britpopā€™ bands still to come on the list:

Pulp
Suede
Elastica are a maybe
Ocean Colour Scene
Stereophonics
The Bluetones maybe if Iā€™m in the mood for a fight

Couple of songs I like, a whole mess of songs I donā€™t. I absolutely canā€™t stand Song 2 - itā€™s an attempt at at grunge rock banger written by people who approach rock music with tongs and silicone gloves. And I canā€™t think of many people Iā€™d like to be stuck in a conversation with less than Albarn.

2/5

2 Likes