Happiness in Magazines [ENHANCED] [IMPORT]

Graham Coxon

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 2004)
• Original Release Date: May 25, 2004
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced, Import
• Label: Trans Copic
• ASIN: B0001KZM48
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #292,034 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Spectacular

2. No Good Time

3. Girl Done Gone

4. Bittersweet Bundle of Misery

5. All Over Me

6. Freakin' Out

7. People of the Earth

8. Hopeless Friend

9. Are You Ready?

10. Bottom Bunk

11. Don't Be a Stranger

12. Ribbons and Leaves

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When Graham Coxon started creating solo works when he was still with Blur, they seemed a willful reaction against the often poppy and tuneful albums he was helping produce while at his day job. They weren't bad records, but they occasionally seemed needlessly opaque, as if there was something inherently corrupting about melody. The good news about Happiness in Magazines, Coxon's fifth solo outing, is that now that his split from Blur appears permanent, he seems more relaxed about their legacy, which, after all, he helped build. Happiness in Magazines, is riddled with glorious pop songs, and in a sane world would yield several hit singles.

That Coxon is no longer shying from popular appeal is confirmed by his decision to work with producer Stephen Street, who worked on Blur's mid-90s commercial apexes Parklife and The Great Escape. The results are splendid, both Coxon and Street setting about their work like men liberated. "Freakin' Out" is an amiable punky rave-up evocative of the Jam, "Spectacular" an unbridled and joyous declaration of desire and, best of all, the first full single "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery" is a brash appropriation of Blur's "Coffee & TV." Coxon has done remarkably well here. If he can keep this standard up, his time with Blur may one day be regarded as little more than a promising start. --Michael Turner

Product Description

The Former Blur Guitarist's Fifth Solo Album and Second Since his Departure from the Band. With Stephen Street in the Producer's Chair, this Album Elicited the Best Reviews Ever of his Solo Catalog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's honestly surprising how good this record is., August 25, 2004

By	J.E. Beal (Wrentham MA USA) - See all my reviews

It might be sad, it might not, but the best Blur album since 'Parklife' is probably Graham Coxon's new album 'Happiness in Magazines.' It's a guitar frenzy of 3 minute pop songs that make his contributions to Blur extraordinarily obvious--he wasn't just guitar riffs, he was also melody and movement.

Graham's solo albums up until now have been indie-rock experiments with only a nod or two to his populist past, though you could feel him starting to become comfortable with actually recording "songs" on his last one, 'The Kiss of Morning.' But now that he's officially out of Blur and Damon's smoking a ton of weed and fooling around with drum machines, Graham isn't afraid to cut away the fat and stake a claim to the legacy by hiring Stephen Street to polish up some (dare I say?) "fun" guitar jaunts like the roller coaster melodic "No Good Time" and the driving-rock-yell-the-chorus-from-the-rafters anthems "Spectacular" and "Freakin' Out." And "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery" will have you smiling and singing along while reaching for the coffee and TV. Graham's having a lot better time being an ex-member of Blur than he had as a member of the post-Britpop-borderline-art-rock band who recorded '13'--I mean, who would have thought the miserable looking sod would end an album by singing "Life, I love you...?"

Graham one-man-band's it on the majority of tracks but the sound is tighter than "Song 2"--his voice has gained confidence and strength and his guitar playing is loud and raucous without being stupid and reminds you of why even NOEL FREAKIN'GALLAGHER said that Graham was one of the best of his generation (hopefully John Squire is paying attention after forgetting to play guitar and attempting to "sing" on his recent solo albums.) Graham is retro without being sad, reminiscent without being cloying, rock that rolls without selling it's soul to the new garage trend. 'Think Tank' was a bong load of tomorrow coming today, 'Happiness in Magazines' is an old friend that you didn't realize you missed until they sit down and steal your cigarettes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Comeback, February 17, 2005

By	Hapworth (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) - See all my reviews

Where Graham Coxon, former Blur guitarist, returns to writing simple songs and learns that writing simple songs isn't so simple but kind of succeeds anyway. After three solo outings where Coxon chafed at the pop accessibility Blur perverted yet flaunted, Coxon decided it was time to return to basics, so he hired Blur producer Stephen Street to help out and penned a bunch of three-minute punk-pop ditties.

God bless Coxon! The world needs fewer six-minute dirges and more three-minute pop songs. Elvis knew this, the Beatles knew this, and the Ramones did, too. "Spectacular," with its Elastica-like rapid-fire guitar riff is a noisy straightforward rocker. "No Good Time" features catchy verses that target poseurs of all sorts. "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery," the first single, combines Velvet Underground rhythm guitar with a bubbly chorus. On "Freakin' Out," Coxon sounds a bit like Johnny Rotten as Greenday frontman. "All Over Me" and "Are You Ready?" are somber, string-laden, 60's-style pop ballads. Not every song flies, but most feature a strong hook or two or three.

(...)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coxon shows his true songwriting skill, makes a great album, July 27, 2004

By	T. Osborne (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Happiness In Magazines is without question Graham Coxon's best album yet, and shows him writing songs that sound similar to the work he did while in Blur. Trust me, every song is good on this album. "Spectacular" starts things off right as is a tight rocker with great catchy lyrics. "No Good Time" is a great tune as well, which bashes many different types of people. "Girl Done Gone" has a very bluesy sound, and some of Graham's best guitar playing on the album. "Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery" is an awsome song, with Graham singing with mixed feelings about a girl. "All Over Me" is a slow ballad, but still very good. "Freakin' Out" and "People Of The Earth" are aggressive songs with great guitar work. "Helpless Friend" is a very Blur-sounding tune, with great lyrics. "Are Your Ready?" is one of the most interesting songs of the album. It is a shadowy sounding ballad, with great lyrics and Middle-Eastern strings in the background. "Bottom Bunk" and "Don't Be A Stranger" are also very Blur-like, which is a good thing, and feature some great guitar playing. The final track "Ribbons And Leaves" is a powerful and haunting song with great piano playing and haunting lyrics. Happiness In Magazines is one of the best albums i've heard in a long time, and I can't wait to hear what Coxon does next.