Customer Reviews

S/T CD ITALIAN FOOD 1997

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For the people who now realize that "Song 2" does not exemplify this band's true sound, this is still an amazing album. Like so many others, I first took note of Blur with that overplayed hit. But, UNlike the majority of buyers, I was still impressed with the CD's diversity and overall hum. A lot of tracks on the album are hidden gems that probably should've been included on the Best Of release. So for the amateur Blur fan, nowadays, it is more beneficial (choice word) to purchase the Best Of instead of this one. Sadly, because of "Song 2", this band has been dubbed by too many a one-hit wonder; and the album has been labeled a poor buy. All the same, this a great CD with more than just one or two good songs. Here's an overview of all the tracks:

1. Beetlebum - 5/5 - there's no question this should've been a big single. In all likelihood, this is the best song on Blur. It has a great beat and keeps you tapping your foot all the way through (it has a similar background to 13's "Coffee And TV").

2. Song 2 - 5/5 - it may be ill-advised to label this as my favorite... and to be honest I really can't say that it is. Nevertheless it's an awesome song that helped me come to like Blur in the first place. Without this track, I would have missed out on something very special.

3. Country Sad Ballad Man - 3.5/5 - the word `country' fits this song pretty well (at first). The beginning has a twang-like feel to it that catches you off guard. It's a weird track, but that's to be taken in a good way.

4. M.O.R. - 4/5 - I really believe this song should've been on the Best Of album. This is very different from the previous three songs; as it has more of the `brit-pop' Blur sound that their fans are used to. It will grow on you over time.

5. On Your Own - 4/5 - this track is many people's favorite. And even though it's not my personal favorite, it's still a great song. It has a slow start and doesn't really grab hold of you. But nevertheless it is a fun track that is, again, reminiscent of earlier Blur work (maybe "Parklife").

6. Theme From Retro - 2/5 - this odd-sounding track doesn't seem to be much at all. It's accordion sounds and echoing background don't allow for it to stand out amongst the rest. It's still kind of intriguing, though.

7. You're So Great - 3/5 - here we go... back to the usual sound we know. The singer's voice sounds a little scratchy, but the guitar and unkempt sound make it enjoyable as a whole. It's pretty much a love song, and that's okay.

8. Death Of A Party - 5/5 - another song that should've made the cut for the Best Of Blur CD. The lyrics are smart; to the point of downright scary. This is really a (dark) change from "You're So Great". It acts as one of my favorites on the album.

9. Chinese Bombs - 3.5/5 - this Oasis-like (has that comparison been made before?) rocker is good, but tries too hard to become a "Song 2 [part 2]". It's short, sweet, and will get you jumping around from time to time.

10. I'm Just A Killer For Your Love - 4/5 - As melodic as this track isn't, it really calms you down. The lyrics are rather simplistic (the title is repeated a lot) overall, but the singer's voice easily makes up for that. The female'd background is also a plus.

11. Look Inside America - 3.5/5 - coming from a British band, this song becomes more and more enjoyable. It has been compared to "End Of A Century", but I believe it's not quite on that level. Even so, it's slow and (maybe) worthy of a spot on the Best Of.

12. Strange News From Another Star - 5/5 - I don't know why, but I love this song. When I first listened to the album, I never really noticed this one. Now I believe it to be one of the best Blur songs ever. I have yet to find a reviewer that agrees with me on this; might you be the first?

13. Movin' On - 2.5/5 - this one gives the impression of a harder sound, but doesn't quite make it. Again, its echo-like singer make it just average. But it's certainly not horrible and has a great beat (both background and front).

14. Essex Dogs - 3.5/5 - this closer is a fitting end to the CD's overall sound. It's different, weird, and (once more) could've been on that less-than-perfect Best Of album. I say it's a fitting end only because it sounds nothing like the rest of the songs. The spoken word verses are somewhat agreeable.

As it's been said time and time again, this is a very experimental release. It's blending of Sonic Youth/Bowie-ish sound and Oasis-like rocking beats allow for it to become great and still controversial; even years after its release (March 1997). If you still only know "Song 2", be very careful in acquiring this album. But the longtime Blur fans will no doubt be satisfied, if not breath-taken, with it's entire resonance. None of these songs are bad. Even the 2-star "Theme From Retro", as I said, is intriguing. And gems like "Beetlebum" and "Strange News From Another Star" (and yes, that popular `woo-who' track) should go down as some of the best tracks Blur has ever produced. I have really come to enjoy this CD over the years; and see no reason why you wouldn't be able to as well.

My favourite album's tend to be the one's where a successful band leaves behind their signature sound and ventures into new realms that you wouldn't have expected them to and this is no exception. That's not to say that Blur were always the indie pop meets music hall of 'Parklife' and 'The Great Escape', there was definitely evidence of them wanting to be a more challenging band on their second album 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' and prior to becoming Blur their previous incarnation as art punks 'Seymour' showed they were musically more ambitious than any of the Britpop bands of the mid-nineties.
Still, this album shocked the majority of Blur's fanbase and surprised their critics at the time of it's release. Some of the songs have a demo feel to them and the so-called 'Lo-fi' production helps the album to flow well and give it a unique character no matter how diverse each of the songs are from each other.
It's my personal favourite Blur album and was the first that I bought by them. I'd heard the singles 'Parklife', 'Girls And Boys' and 'Country House' along with everyone else in the country at the height of Britpop mania but I wasn't a big fan of indie till 1997, year zero for me in terms of developing my own taste in music beyond my parent's taste's!
So this album truly introduced me to the world of Blur and I revelled in it from start to finish. Graham Coxon instantly became my teenage idol and has inspired me as a guitarist ever since i heard this for the first time. He might disagree but I would say that this is his album more than Damon's even if he only actually wrote just one of the songs (the chirpy acoustic strum of 'You're So Great'). It was Graham who became sick of the Britpop scene they inspired and the member who most fought for a change of direction. His guitar playing dominates this album and gives it a playful, sloppy one take feel that no Blur album previously had (including 'Modern Life...).
As for the songs themselves, there is a variety of styles on here from short punk blasts ('Song 2', 'Chinese Bombs', 'Movin' On') to haunting pieces (the instrumental 'Theme From Retro', 'Death Of A Party' and my favourite song on the album 'Strange News From Another Star') to eccentric pop (the under-rated single's 'M.O.R' and 'On Your Own'). 'Beetlebum' has to be one of the most unusual and therefore brilliant number one singles of the last ten years! 'Look Inside America' is the only track that harks back to their Britpop sound which is ironic considering it's subject matter! 'Country Sad Ballad Man', 'I'm Just A Killer For Your Love' and 'Essex Dogs' are the songs that require more than one listen to get into but are worth it once you do get your head round them.
You can trace the roots of '13', 'Think Tank', Graham's first four solo album's and even Gorillaz here on this album.
Blur were the nineties Beatles and this is their 'White Album'.

I first discovered Blur through Damon Albarn's side project, Gorillaz. Needless to say, Blur sounded completely different from the "zombie hip-hop" of Gorillaz, but I liked it - a lot. This is the third Blur CD I have, after their greatest hits album and "Parklife."

1. Beetlebum - great song, jams for a bit too long at the end 9/10
2. Song 2 - Whoo-hoo! Like Nirvana on ecstacy. 10/10
3. Country Sad Ballad Man - extremely catchy. One of the more experimental ones - 10/10
4. M.O.R. - kind of...eh. grows on you after a while, though. 7/10
5. On Your Own - catchy, nothing spectacular. 6/10
6. Theme from Retro - average. This is where I begin to get worried. 5/10
7. You're So Great - YES!!! This song is so great. And the reason it doesn't sound like Damon is because it's sung by Graham Coxon. 10/10
8. Death of a Party - spooky, but extremely beautiful. 9/10
9. CHINESE BOMBS - hated it first listen, got better, not nearly on par with Song 2. 8/10
10. I'M JUST A KILLER FOR YOUR LOVE - great guitar. 9/10
11. LOOK INSIDE AMERICA - very pretty piece. Damon could tone down the vocal gymnastics, though. Sounded like he was warbling in some parts. 9/10
12. STRANGE NEWS FROM ANOTHER STAR- another very pretty song. Probably the calmest one on the CD. 10/10
13. MOVIN' ON - not bad, not memorable - 7/10
14. ESSEX DOGS - personally, I love this one, but it's an acquired taste. 10/10

I might be wrong, but I really think that the problem with Blur is that any kind of music they try to play, someone plays it better.They almost invented britpop, and were about to become superstar; but there came Oasis, they lost the fight and turned alternative. And here they found Radiohead: another defeat, no contest. So now they are nothing more than a good band. Good, not great, and sometimes even overlooked, and maybe they don't really deserve it, at least judging by this album.
In fact, this is a damn good album, the best of theirs, in my opinion.
Self titled (but it's not the debut album, as often happens), it marks the passage I was just talking about before. A successful passage: almost every song has something to tell, no fillers, you can listen to it straight from the beginning to the end without skipping any track: you will get 1 hour of good music, with few disappointing moments.
Now let's rate the songs, in the hope it will be useful for those who are interested in this item.

1.Beetlebum - 8.5/10
Great opener. I love the guitar riff.
2.Song 2 - 9.5
Maybe Blur's best song, certainly the most famous. 2 minutes punk (someone says metal, I don't really think) tune: short, essential, simply beautiful
3.Country Sad Ballad Man - 8
Weird alternative lo-fi country ballad. Totally crazy
4.M.O.R. - 6
Not bad, but I don't like the backing vocals
5.On Your Own - 6.5
Just to remind you of the past britpop-era

6.Theme from Retro - 4
Instrumental track, the only which really annoys me. Unbearable. Try again.
7.You're so Great - 8
Could have been a great single, but they chose to play it very very lo-fi.
8.Death of a Party - 6
Back to the alternative side, but nothing special
9.Chinese Bombs - 7
Supershort lo-fi-punk song. A classic in Blur's repertory ("Bank Holiday", "We've Got a File on You"). I usually hate these tracks, but this one is quite good.

10.I'm Just a Killer for Your Love - 6
Not the first song that will come to your mind when you think of this album
11.Look Inside America - 7.5
Old Britpop makes its appearance again, but you won't complain. Great melody. Features strings.
12.Strange News from Another Star - 6
Slow ballad, not a masterpiece, a bit on the filler side.
13.Movin' on - 7
The rhythm turns fast again. Catchy indie tune.
14.Essex Dogs - 8
The longest track (6' 15'') due to the long outro. Dark, gloomy atmosphere, spoken vocals, trip-hop flavour. Really worth listening. It would be really hard to end the whole thing in a better way.

The average is 7. Not bad, if you consider that I'm not a big fan. My advice is: purchase it.

Who are all these stupid people who either say A)"Oh God, Blur sold out! This album's so Americanized!Eeeew I've got sell out cooties!" OR "Wow, dude, I bought it for Song #2, and the rest of the album ...! I took it back! It didn't sound like Stink 182!"
Hear me & HEAR ME LOUD & CLEAR as a fan of Blur albums previous to this album: this album is great ALONG with earlier Blur albums AND Song #2 is great AND all the tracks on this album kick ass!
Got that?

I weep for all the Blur fans who thought they would never change & grow as artists by trying something new. Do you want them to just release the same album over & over? What the hell is the point of that? You might as well just keep releasing different rehashed greatest hits packages like The Smiths did.
You're all just a bunch of spoiled mama's boys who can't appreciate something new!

With that out of the way, this is the album that got me into Blur. I found it in a cut out bin in a store (probably cast off by one of the a-holes who only liked Song #2)(Oh, by the way, thanks for the album!). I'd seen it given a good review somewhere, so I bought it out of curiosity.

I LOVE this album. Every song (including Song #2, yes it does kick ass despite its overexposure) is a gem in itself.
Beetlebum, Death of A Party, Chinese Bombs, Essex Dogs,etc. ALL
good. The genius here is that each song is a little sonic experiment in itself and should be taken as such. What others fail to hear under all the sonic experimentation is something they themselves don't have: a wry, worldly sense of humor.

I DO also own Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife, etc. and you know what? Though classics in themselves, they were leading up to this album. As someone older who grew up with Kinks, Zeppelin, Sex Pistols,etc. I can compare this to what happened when The Clash released London Calling. Same uproar. And ALL the complainers were wrong THEN, too; the first Clash album was great AND London Calling was great! For...sake, let artists grow! How many other bands besides AC/DC can release the same album done slightly different and get away with it? Blur has my utmost respect for changing.

By the way, I like 'Gorillaz', too. Rock on, Damon!

After three albums of pure britpop, Blur decided it was time for a change. This self-titled album is the result; the lavish arrangements of those past albums are replaced by a much rawer, stripped down sound.

The swirling, psychedelic/late 60's vibe of "Beetlebum" opens up the album on a great note. It's challenging, yet catchy at the same time. Then of course, there's the smash hit "Song 2" (aka "Whoo-hooo!") - two minutes of punk/pop perfection.

"Country Sad Ballad Man" is lo-fi folk rock at its best..not too dissimilar from Mellow Gold-era Beck. And "Look Inside America" is a great mid-tempo tune with a soaring chorus. It sounds like something from the brit pop era put into this stripped down, indie-ish environment.

They also tackle infectious dance-pop (the insanely catchy "On Your Own"), ambient instrumentals ("Theme From Retro"), glam rock (the David Bowie inspired "M.O.R."), and lo-fi accoustic ballads ("You're So Great").

The experimental "Essex Dogs" closes the album, a challenging mixture of white noise and spoken word passages. Unlistenable at first, fascinating later.

Other highlights include the spacey "Strange News From Another Star", the punk assault, "Chinese Bombs", feedback soaked fun of "Movin' On", and the creepy "Death of a Party".

"Blur" is an excellent album, and a great change in sound for the band. If the brit-pop stuff was a little too sugary for you, this one might be right up your alley.

Best Songs: Beetlebum, Theme From Retro, Look Inside America, Movin' On, Death of a Party, Essex Dogs.

I kept searching for this BLUR cd since the first time I heard "Song 2". The radio-stations kept playing the song but they never said the name or who sang it. When I finally got a hold of this cd I couldn't stop listening to it. When you heir songs like "Song 2" on this record, you expect the rest of the record to be like it, but the rest of the record reminds me of "Beatles" or "R.E.M" type beats. But they are still great. The thing that amazes me no one from the band is credited in the booklet or cd case. This pop-rock british band really puts the effort in creating this cd. I highly recommend it.

I read in several places that they were being inspired by Pavement's lo-fi stylings at the time. Now, I don't know if that's true or not, but this album definitely has a different vibe from their prior releases, and it is, once again, an excellent record. Damon, Graham, and the rest seem to be able to do any style they want and do it well. Incredibly strong from front to back.

Its wrong to critique this album to the tiniest note, because it was wonderfully composed, and thats that. Even though the songs were not created in a typical style (for example, the last song is 14 minutes long and barely any vocals) it was so cleverly done, and so soft and melodious and alternative and modern (yes all at the same time). All the songs had something very distinct about them,yet just because you dont understand it doesnt mean you cant enjoy it. Trust me, listen to some songs, it simply brilliant. There is not one song you wont like. After three years I still cant put this album down.

as good as their original brit-pop sound was, blur was perhaps coming to the realization that they'd worn the genre out, which may explain the shock of the album so different, so un-british, found in "blur". to their credit though, "blur" didn't come out of absolutely nowhere - there were hints that the band would take this path into american lo-fi and hazy, murky psychedelia as early as "modern life is rubbish". the difference is that all that suppressed weirdness finally boils to the top on this disc. listen to "essex dogs" and you'll see what i mean - it's just not a pop song. for such an album, it's best to just look at the songs: aside from "look inside america" (which sounds much more conventional, akin to "this is a low", a melodic transition from soft verse to pop-py chorus), the last 9 songs here are dark and haunting, especially "theme from retro" with its wails in the background. "you're so great" is hushed lo-fi, sort of the predecessor to "coffee and tv", and "chinese bombs" is a rapid-fire punk song of sorts. perhaps the best of these is "i'm just a killer for your love" which is a slow but extremely distorted tale of loss. now, what happened to those first 5 songs? well, they're not at all like the rest of the album. it's a little more what you're used to from blur, but not quite. "beetlebum" is the best song the beatles never wrote, and the chorus may never leave your head. "mor" and "on your own" are also singalong, upbeat, yet still different, guitar-driven tunes. finally, "country-sad ballad man" is a strange trip through one man's perpetual lethargy. the music certainly highlights that theme. everyone knows "song 2" but most do for all the wrong reasons. after hearing the rest of the album, you'll understand what blur was doing writing such a song after their pop-oriented success. this is an inspiring record that proves a devoted and talented band can successfully change its direction.