blur

[crashnburn]

Before i start i saw blur live in 98 at glastonbury and they were amazing unless something else great is added i will probably go and see them again thsi year and have a dam good time.

There are 2 main gripes against blur are

1) The inconsistent nature of their albums they alway have a few great songs a few decent ones but the rest of the songs are dull filler dross not reelly annoying songs just non discript. as they seem like to do albums with up to 16 songs on it often means half the albums rubbish, i just reakon they needed to do a few less albums with a few less songs on . a case in point the self titled album was my biggest musical let down and this in a year that saw the seahorses. i even found the best of a bit disappointing

2) often praised for reinventing themselves this often seemed to me to be a case of finding another great band to rip off and copy. Charlatens - kinks - pavement - spiritualised.

They've done a few great tunes but is this enough to make them a great band

I know i'm going to get abuse for this but its waht i feel and wondered if others agreed If you don't coherent arguements please just writing this is a low does not pass muster although it is a great tune.

[fullfathom5]

Totally disagree, the only album that's weak is Leisure, followed by Great Escape. The rest and probably in particular the non-single tracks on those albums are brilliant.

[robith]

Before i start i saw blur live in 98 at glastonbury and they were amazing unless something else great is added i will probably go and see them again thsi year and have a dam good time.

There are 2 main gripes against blur are

1) The inconsistent nature of their albums they alway have a few great songs a few decent ones but the rest of the songs are dull filler dross not reelly annoying songs just non discript. as they seem like to do albums with up to 16 songs on it often means half the albums rubbish, i just reakon they needed to do a few less albums with a few less songs on . a case in point the self titled album was my biggest musical let down and this in a year that saw the seahorses. i even found the best of a bit disappointing

2) often praised for reinventing themselves this often seemed to me to be a case of finding another great band to rip off and copy. Charlatens - kinks - pavement - spiritualised.

They've done a few great tunes but is this enough to make them a great band

I know i'm going to get abuse for this but its waht i feel and wondered if others agreed If you don't coherent arguements please just writing this is a low does not pass muster although it is a great tune.

Edited June 1, 2009 by robith

[Frenchie1973]

blur, great live band but should they really be regarded as a great band

YES

[fullfathom5]

Blur are a national treasure

[niceandfriendly]

blur are great, i'll definately go and see them this year but it was always going to be impossible to better oasis wasn't it? they'd have become much bigger if oasis hadn't been so f**king brilliant but that's life i suppose.

both very good bands.

[amfy]

In a way I think their "hit & miss" nature is part of their strength. It's by being prepared to sometimes make stuff that doesn't work, that they make stuff that really reallly does! i.e. - they are prepared to try stuff and fail.

A bit like evolution in humans etc - it happens by a series of mutations that sometimes work and sometimes don't - but the end result is progress.

That made semse in my head anyway!

[coastal]

Why go see them though? Unless you're an almighty BlurFanboy i wouldn't bother. They won't have done anything new so in my eyes it's like watching a repeat rather than getting out there and finding something you didn't know you enjoyed. If you are a BlurFanboy then i'm not going to help you.

save their tunes for the car journey home.

[Wiggum]

Blur are definitely one of my favourite bands of the last 10-15 years. Maybe even all time (but probably just because I lived through their music, unlike the Clash etc.). I love everyone of their albums to some extent but, I suppose if I look at it objectively, there are some tracks that could be considered filler on some of the albums. In saying that though, I could probably name 35 odd tracks I'd like to hear at Glastonbury.

Damon and Graham are fantastically talented. You just have to look at how varied, good and successfull some of Albarn's output is. He is a lynchpin of recent British music. Also, I really, really hope Coxon does a solo set somewhere.

[Filthy]

Blur have always tried to change whilst keeping a brilliant pop sensibility. There may be some filler on some of their albums but I guess that's better than their mancunian "rivals" 5 and a half albums of filler.

[Messiah Jason]

Don't think I could disagree more, the only album I think has any filler on is 'The Great Escape' but I can still listen to that album all the way through quite happily.

And why go see them? Because they're one of my favourite bands and I've never had a chance to before

[Ice Fatality]

Think everything that needs to be said already has, really, they're a band with 2 geniuses working side by side, and created some of the best pop music of the 90s, whilst still finding room to expand, rework, and even reinvent their sound (although this did, like you said, sometimes lead to them writing some below average to dire album filler and B-sides).

As far as ripping off certain bands for their different sounds, I can't argue that there's a heavy influence from different artists on near enough all of their work, but they do manage to at least put their own mark on the music they're using, unlike a certain manc band who have been releasing the same Beatles songs for 15 years now.

[Petewasbristol]

IMO they were the best band of the 90's, I know that is easy to debate, but I always felt that Blur were doing it for the music and I think this is shown perfectly in the progression they made right from the start with Leisure, right through to Think Tank (Which I think is one of their best - Seconded only to Modern life).

You only have to look at the solo work of Coxon (Spinning top - Fantastic) and Albarns other projects (Mali music, GTBTQ, etc) to understand just how talented these individuals are and why we should all be hoping for more music from these guys in the future (As a group).

I saw them on their last ever gig in B'mouth (I believe) back in 2003, its been too long and I can't wait to see them back, esp with the genius on guitar that is Graham Coxon.

[Monkismo]

Why go see them though? Unless you're an almighty BlurFanboy i wouldn't bother. They won't have done anything new so in my eyes it's like watching a repeat rather than getting out there and finding something you didn't know you enjoyed. If you are a BlurFanboy then i'm not going to help you.

save their tunes for the car journey home.

[mr cambo]

Great band - no, I'm not sure they were. That's not to say I don't like them though (I do), and I'll be at the Pyramid stage on Sunday with loads of you lot no doubt.

Just one reasson why... my memories of the 90's Blur vs Oasis thing was that Blur won the Battle with Country House, but Oasis won the war as regards album and group success.

Out of the group has come a genuine talent though...

Blur

Gorillaz

The Good, the Bad and the Queen

Solo stuff – Monkey, Mali Music

I think Damon's CV is as good as any, especially when you consider the range of music he's done. (sorry to go slightly off topic)

[Filthy]

Depends how you measure success really, coming up with new and interesting albums or selling the same dull record over and over again to the lowest common denominator.

[Ed209]

1) That's a matter of subjective conjecture. The only albums I'd say have filler on are The Great Escape (when they were in a creative lull) and blur (a by product of them experimenting with no sounds.

[coastal]

Are you completely disregarding the fact that many people won't have ever seen the full band play together? Is it 8 or 9 years since Graham Coxon played with them? Either way its still very appealing to a lot of people to see them back together. Me for one!

Blur unfortunately got too big at the time of Country House and The Great Escape which, for me, is their weakest single and album. While Oasis were putting out classics like Wonderwall, Don't Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova, Blur became the band of choice for a lot of the teenage girl market who either fancied Damon Albarn or loved la la la sing alongs like Country House and Charmless Man. If you listen back to the Mile End gig its too painful on the ears in parts due to the abundance of screams from the crowd, no matter how good the music is! By the time the Blur album came out a lot of people had abandoned them for a few reasons. Namely...

a) they now had a reputation of being a cheesy teen pop band

b ) the music had taken a lo-fi twist which was inaccessable for a lot of ears used to the pop sing-alongs and that was still used to hearing feel good anthems from their counterparts

c) Oasis had become stratespherically massive and much "cooler"

d) Radiohead were taking on the experimental angle and peaking with OK Computer

e) The Verve were starting to become everyone's band of choice along with Oasis

By mid 1998 the Britpop market had become far too saturated and imploded leaving the likes of Travis and Stereophonics to release their snooze anthems and the Manics came out with their most radio friendly (safe) work. Sadly not many people were interested anymore and by the time 13 came out they were just far too experimental to gain real commercial success. Think Tank was a slight return to form whilst keeping up the experimental side and saw them slightly increase in popularity but it lacked one key thing - Graham Coxon.

I'll stand by Blur for purely evolving when everything around them was stagnating. They are an institution and an inspiration and I'm very excited about seeing them in 4 weeks - and I'm an Oasis fan!!

Also, on your last point, why should people go to find something new which they might enjoy in favour of going to see something that they know they will enjoy - possibly for the one of the last times ever!

[Walden]

Graham Coxon must be doing a solo set somewhere over the weekend? as he has just released a new album

[robith]

Great band - no, I'm not sure they were. That's not to say I don't like them though (I do), and I'll be at the Pyramid stage on Sunday with loads of you lot no doubt.

Just one reasson why... my memories of the 90's Blur vs Oasis thing was that Blur won the Battle with Country House, but Oasis won the war as regards album and group success.

[Wiggum]

Oasis have left 1 zeitgeist classic, 7 albums of pub rock and the complete retardation of the British music scene

[Monkismo]

Graham Coxon must be doing a solo set somewhere over the weekend? as he has just released a new album

[fullfathom5]

It's really stupid to compare the 2 bands. Thing is, I love Oasis, but I don't class them as anywhere near as good artistically as Blur.

[precious_lillywhite]

It's really stupid to compare the 2 bands. Thing is, I love Oasis, but I don't class them as anywhere near as good artistically as Blur.

[Messiah Jason]

Here I thought the Blur vs Oasis thing would remain in the past... Must they really be compared at every opportunity?