Blur is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 10 February 1997 by Food Records. Blur had previously been broadly critical of American popular culture and their previous albums had become associated with the Britpop movement, particularly Parklife, which had helped them become one of Britain's leading pop acts. After their previous album, The Great Escape, the band faced media backlash and relationships between the members became strained.

Under the suggestion of the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, the band underwent a stylistic change, becoming influenced by American indie rock bands such as Pavement. Recording took place in London as well as in Reykjavík, Iceland. Drummer Dave Rowntree described the music on the album as being more aggressive and emotional than their previous work. Producer Stephen Street claimed that lead singer-songwriter Damon Albarn had started writing about more personal experiences while Coxon revealed that listening to Albarn's lyrics it became clear to him that "he'd obviously gone off his head a bit more".

Despite worries from Blur's label, EMI, and the music press that the change in style would alienate the band's predominantly teenage fanbase and that the album would flop as a result, Blur, as well as lead single, "Beetlebum", reached the top of the UK charts and the album was certified platinum. The album also reached the top 20 in six other countries. The success of "Song 2" led to Blur becoming the band's most successful album in the US where the Britpop scene had been largely unsuccessful. The album received positive reviews from most music critics, many praising the stylistic change as well as Albarn's songwriting. This is the last album to feature longtime producer Stephen Street, until his return for The Magic Whip (2015).

Background

thumb|left|[[Graham Coxon described himself as going through a "mid pop life crisis" and longed for the band to write music "that scared people again". Blur became perceived as an "inauthentic middle class pop band" in comparison to the "working class heroes" Oasis, which made lead singer-songwriter Damon Albarn feel "stupid and confused". Bassist Alex James later summarised, "After being the People's Hero, Damon was the People's Prick for a short period ... basically, he was a loser—very publicly."

An early 1996 Q magazine interview revealed that relations between Blur members had become very strained; journalist Adrian Deevoy wrote that he found them "on the verge of a nervous breakup". In the 2010 documentary on the band, No Distance Left to Run, Coxon stated that he was getting more influenced by American guitarists as "a lot of them were doing very interesting stuff with guitars and I needed to be nourished I suppose as a guitar player and there was none of that happening in English music although English music was now more popular [so] I started listening to more stuff from the States from smaller labels."

Although he had previously dismissed it, Albarn grew to appreciate Coxon's tastes in lo-fi and underground music, and recognised the need to significantly change Blur's musical direction once again. "I can sit at my piano and write brilliant observational pop songs all day long but you've got to move on", he said. It was in Iceland that the vocals to "Strange News from Another Star", "Essex Dogs", "Beetlebum", and "On Your Own" were recorded. "In the studio, once we got past those first few days, where I felt everyone was treading on eggshells, there was a great atmosphere. I think it was because they didn't want to be competing with anyone on this record, they wanted to make a record that would help keep the band together." Street had acquired a new piece of hardware, described as "muso-ish to talk about but really useful" that enabled him to sample loops and otherwise cut-and-paste entire sections of the band's jam sessions.

According to Mark Redfern of Under the Radar, Blur eschewed Britpop in favour of American indie rock. NME magazine similarly argued that it favoured lo-fi and alternative rock over Britpop. By contrast, Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle characterised its music as "a punchy brand of muscular Brit-pop",

Album opener "Beetlebum" has been described as a "Beatles tribute" by several publications; Erlewine wrote that the song "[runs] through the White Album in the space of five minutes." He also stated that the song describes a complicated emotion, sort of "sleepy" and sort of "sexy". The song's title alludes to the phrase "chasing the beetle", a variation of the phrase, "chasing the dragon", which refers to inhaling the smoke from heated heroin, morphine, or opium that has been placed on a piece of tin-foil. "Song 2" is notable for its hook, which features Albarn yelling "woo-hoo!" The song's intro has been called Coxon's "finest moment".

Blur received generally positive reviews from music critics in the United States, but reviews were mixed in the UK press. The Guardian praised it, whereas The Times was more ambivalent, and The Independent was negative. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said the album highlights "the band's rich eclecticism and sense of songcraft. Certainly, they are trying for new sonic territory, bringing in shards of white noise, gurgling electronics, raw guitars, and druggy psychedelia, but these are just extensions of previously hidden elements of Blur's music." Jonathan Bernstein of Spin also felt that, "despite their traitorous pronouncements, Blur's highlights are consistently British-bred." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was less enthusiastic, and cited only "Song 2" as a "choice cut", indicating "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money". However, there was strong praise from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who awarded the album four out of four stars. Ed Masley wrote that "you can hear the new infatuation with indie rock stylings all over the latest release, with its clattering sonic collages and transistor radio vocals. At times, it's as though they've forgot that they're British. They are British though. It's what makes this eponymous record their greatest."

At the 1998 NME Awards, Blur received a nomination for Best Album, but it lost to Radiohead's OK Computer. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 137 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Q writer Tom Doyle reflected that, with Blur, "it appeared to have dawned on [the band] that as long as they had three or four decent singles, the remainder of an album could become a playground for their art rock imaginations", a development he said paved the way for 13 (1999).

Unlike some of Blur's previous albums, praise from the band members for Blur has remained. "I'm really fond of that record," Coxon said in 2009. "I think it's one of our best." On the 2012 Special Edition, "Dancehall" is a distinct bonus track.

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;Notes

  • The European version of the original release came with a live CD recorded in the Netherlands (also with selected b-sides from the Blur singles) that was also released separately in The Netherlands as simply "Blur Live E.P."
  • The Australian version of the original release came with a second CD featuring the complete Peel Acres sessions (as released in the UK on the "On Your Own" singles).

;Bonus track notes

  • Tracks 1–4 from the single "Beetlebum", January 1997
  • Tracks 5–7, 13–14 from the single "Song 2", April 1997
  • Tracks 8–9 from the single "M.O.R.", September 1997
  • Track 10 from the UK promotional single "Death of a Party", 1997
  • Track 11 from "Dead Man on Campus (Music from the Motion Picture)", 1998

Personnel

;Blur

  • Damon Albarn – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, Hammond organ, acoustic guitar
  • Graham Coxon – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, vocals on "You're So Great", theremin, and "Strange News from Another Star"
  • Alex James – bass guitar
  • Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, drum programming on "On Your Own"

;Technical personnel

  • Stephen Street – producer (except "I'm Just a Killer for Your Love")
  • John Smith – engineer (except "I'm Just a Killer for Your Love")
  • Blur – producer ("I'm Just a Killer for Your Love")
  • Jason Cox – engineer ("I'm Just a Killer for Your Love")
  • Arnþór "Addi 800" Örlygsson – additional engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Blur

!Chart (1997)

!Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)

|align="center"|12

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Estonian Albums (Eesti Top 10)

|align="center"|9

|-

!scope="row"|European Albums (Music & Media)

|align="center"|5

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)

|align="center"|1

|-

!scope="row"|Irish Albums (IRMA)

|align="center"|1

|-

!scope="row"|Italian Albums (FIMI)

|align="center"|7

|-

!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)

|align="center"|7

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)

|align="center"|6

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1997 year-end chart performance for Blur

!scope="col"|Chart (1997)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)

|84

|-

!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)

|89

|-

!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen Soundscan)

|75

|-

!scope="row"|European Albums (Music & Media)

|47

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

|23

|-

!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYPE)

|47

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

|29

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

|174

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1998 year-end chart performance for Blur

!scope="col"|Chart (1998)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

|110

|}

Certifications

References

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  • Blur at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)