13

Blur | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 29, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol Music
• ASIN: B00000I8T8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,992 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tender

2. Bugman

3. Coffee & TV

4. Swamp Song

5. 1992

6. B.L.U.R.E.M.I.

7. Battle

8. Mellow Song

9. Trailerpark

10. Caramel

11. Trimm Trabb

12. No Distance Left To Run

13. Optigan 1

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Unlike many English pop bands, Blur have always defied convention. When the neopsychedelic swagger of their debut single "There's No Other Way" caught on in 1991, the band shifted gears, adopting a playfully classic British rock sound reminiscent of the Kinks. When that clicked two years later, Blur turned all slack and noisy, garnering their first real American hit with "Song 2." So, does 13 follow in the same tradition as their last disc? Of course not. Subordinating melody for atmosphere, 13 is a diverse, subversive odyssey forsaking worn paths to explore roads less traveled, such as country-gospel ("Tender"), combustive glam ("Bugman"), and expansive space-dub ("Battle," "Trimm Trabb"). Lyrically, vocalist Damon Albarn is consumed with his breakup with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann, but while the songs on 13 are often moody and melancholy, Blur are far too musically adventurous to ever resort to mere self-pity. --Jon Wiederhorn

Product Description

13 by Blur

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars shooting stars in my left arm... January 31, 2005

By medellia

Format:Audio CD

well. every cliché about blur being britpop to the bone aside: this album is truly a matserpiece, and one of the most underrated pop records of the nineties.

i dont feel like dwelling on the differences between blur, when blur is bloody english, and the blur that toss its guts right at the listener. this is simply something very different from what the band had ever done before, maybe except for tracks like 'sing' and 'essex dogs', though the intensity and the core of 13's tracklist is something quite astonishing.

its impossible for me to pinpoint certain tracks as better than the next one, as i think this is indeed an ALBUM, aching to be listened to as ONE piece. the atmosphere and despair in there is not to be written about, but listened to.

however, if you want to get the big picture before purchasing, you should probably listen to 'bugman', 'caramel' and 'battle', which would confuse the average blurhead a lot. simply go for the whole experience, and you wont regret a damn thing.

howl!!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Blur's best February 4, 2006

By Yakov, Smerd

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

IMO, this is Blur's best. The band was unique in that each subsequent album was not only more "progressive," but also very different. Not many bands pull this off, but Blur did. It seems to me that 13 was the band's peak. The songs range from the choir-laden Tender to the Arabesque, hair-bandish Swamp Song. There's only one song I'm not fond of, Caramel, which just kind of drags on. All the rest are great. My favorites are Tender, Bugman, 1992 (Portishead-ish), Mellow Song (Radiohead-ish), and Trimm Trabb. Man, do I love Trimm Trabb! And I think the album's songs all fit together very nicely, a la Sgt. Peppers and American Idiot, where they all pretty much need to be there for it to make sense. After 13, I think Blur's Think Tank was disjointed and a bit indifferent - a few nice tunes, but no 13. You can hear Gorillaz being born in 13, I think. This is one of favorite albums.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Damon ends decade low but the band of the 90's end so high July 10, 2000

By David Groves

Format:Audio CD

In 1998 Damon Albarn split from his girlfriend of 7 years Elastica's Justine Frischmann. As with any great songwriter, he let his songs express how he was feeling and this is the painstaking theme running through Blur's sixth album '13'. This was very much a studio album as Blur locked themselves in studio 13 for six months to produce this, their best album for 5 years. Britain at this time was coming down from the musical high of Brit-pop and artificial boybands were again polluting the charts. This album was needed to show that musical forms can still be moved on and that no-one can master it as well as Blur. Early criticism was inevitable from the cynical British press but for many of its listeners, this album grows and grows on you until you to can feel Damon's pain.

The gospel-filled opener 'Tender' bares Damon's emotions all too clearly, seducing you into their ever-growing wide musical spectrum. Graham Coxon's love of guitar distortion and experimentalism is apparent throughout the album giving it an edge like no other album that decade. 'Coffee and TV' (sung by Coxon), reaffirms your belief that Blur write the best melodic pop/rock songs today. '1992' includes typical Blur chord changes but as ever alters almost unrecognisably to an intriguing psychedilic/grunge format unlike anything else heard before.

'B.L.U.R.E.M.I' is the only song not worthy of being included as it unnecessarily re-introduces the 'Song 2', 'Chinese Burns' elements from their previous album 'Blur', but every song following it is near perfect emotional experimentalism.

'Battle', (with vocal styles reminiscent of underrated Welsh band Super Furry Animals that Damon is known to be a fan of) draws you in encompassing trip-hop, post-punk and grunge over such a sensitive backing that you can not understand how it works so well.

'Mellow Song' begins with Damon moving back to his acoustic roots while allowing his love for the dreamy organ sound not heard since thier debut album 'Leisure'.

'Trailerpark' allows Graham Coxon to show his underappreciated brilliance of lead guitar journeys and the drumming of Dave Rowntree throughout the album should not be underestimated. 'Caramel' is possibly the song of the album balancing mysery, pain, beauty and hurt in equal measures leaving you feel as close to music as is possible.

'Trimm Trabb' changes the mood once again with lyrics expressing how Damon ended up resigned to the fact the his relationship with Justine was over. Coxon excels on guitar once again and perhaps this song best represents the album and the adventurous production of William Orbit.

'No distance left to run' is pure beauty (Justine admitted that she cried through it the first time she heard it). It sees Damon lay all his feelings out on the table one last time.

'Optigan 1' cleverly ends the album and seems to sum up all the emotion that came before it using another of Damon's pet instruments.

In an era when commercialism and conformity is encouraged in music, it is good to know that a band can still surprise and delight. Remember to listen to all of Blur's albums starting with 'leisure' and then you realise how diverse they are.