Formed: 1989
How I became a fan
It was way back in 1996, I'd just got into music and had heard about the Oasis/Blur thing for quite a while. I knew that Country House was a fantastic song, so took a gamble and bought The Great Escape on cassette. It was the third album I'd ever bought (after (What's The Story) Morning Glory? and Definitely Maybe) and I've never gone off it. The purchase of the rest of their albums followed fairly swiftly.
Comments
Blur's status as a truly great band will probably not be realised for many years when history reappraises them (or SFA, if the world proves totally sane) as the best band of the 90s. Yes, they may had lost out to Oasis for the moment in terms of public perception but it can't be long before their far more consistent, original and varied work is greater appreciated by the masses. And maybe even Country House will be accepted as one of the greatest pop songs ever written, but I'm not holding my breath on that count!
Blur started out on the tail end of Baggy (There's No Other Way being the best song of that genre surely?) before becoming the shining light of Brit-Pop and then proceeding into more experimental territory with mostly musical success. Then Think Tank came along to show that Damon and the band can still write tunes which, if written by a more fashionable act, would have been even more successful. After splitting, the popularity of Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen proved that Damon had not lost any of his abilities in writing incredible pop songs, whereas Graham Coxon is making some great stuff as a solo artist! And, if there were any doubts about their place in history, I think their awesome comeback shows in 2009 settled them!
Bad points
I suppose the often miserable attitude of the band towards some of their songs is a key one - particular Graham on the greatest hits tour! And not everyone likes Damon and you could say his voice isn't very versatile. Also, some of their early stuff is a bit inconsistent and they got pretty lazy with the quantity of releases and tours they did in later years.
Ten songs you really should know before you judge this band
Beetlebum (1997)
Assessment
Tunes: 9/10
Final judgement: 9.0/10
The bottom line
Blur have continually re-invented themselves with impressive consistency and have wrote many fantastic tunes along the way. A very important act.
Coffee And TV (1999)
Country House (1995)
Gene By Gene (2003)
Girls & Boys (1994)
Parklife (1994)
Song 2 (1997)
Sunday Sunday (1993)
There's No Other Way (1991)
To The End (1994)
Accessibility: 8/10
Originality: 8/10
Diversity: 8/10
Rockability: 8/10
Balladability: 7/10
Consistency (of b-sides): 8/10
Consistency (over career): 9/10
Live show: 9/10
Influence: 8/10
Vocals: 8/10
Interestingness: 7/10
Lyrics: 8/10
Work ethic: 7/10
Image: 8/10
