Modern Life Is Rubbish

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Modern Life Is Rubbish

Studio album by Blur
Released	May 10, 1993
Recorded	1992
Genre	Britpop
Length	58:57
Label	Food Records
Producer(s)	Blur, Stephen Street, Steve Lovell, John Smith
All Music Guide link
Blur chronology
Leisure (1991)	Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)	Parklife (1994)

Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album by the English rock band Blur released on May 10, 1993 in the UK. It spun off several minor hit singles in the UK, including "For Tomorrow", "Chemical World" and "Sunday Sunday".

With Modern Life Is Rubbish, Blur incorporated more pop and grunge influences into their sound, causing the album to have a better reception than that of Leisure, their previous album. Modern Life Is Rubbish's perception as the first Britpop album^[1] has aided its considerable growth in popularity since its release, highlighted by its recent placement at #6 on the NME's "Best Albums Ever" list. ^[2]

1 Recording history
2 Trivia
3 Track listing
4 Notes

[edit] Recording history

After the success of Blur's previous album, Leisure, the band toured America to promote the album there, where it had not caught on yet. During their tour of America, however, Blur were increasingly disheartened with what they saw of the country, and on their return, formulated the idea of an album against American culture, entitled Blur vs. America.

However, their producer Stephen Street talked them out of the idea, pointing them instead towards recording an album influenced heavily by classic English pop groups such as The Beatles and The Kinks. The name of the album also was later changed to Modern Life is Rubbish, reportedly taken from graffiti Albarn saw on London's Edgware Road.^[3]. This also seems to be a nod toward the 1960s modernism movement (qv mods).

When the album was released, Albarn was rumoured to graffiti the album name spray paint can to reproduce the title in public places such as toilets in public houses and on walls to raise the profile of the new album.^[4]

[edit] Trivia

The single "Popscene", released earlier in the UK, was dropped from the UK release of the album, but later reinstated for the American and Japanese. It is only available in the UK on the DVD version of Blur: The Best Of.

The album cover features a painting by Paul Gribble of a LNER Class A4 steam locomotive No. 22 Mallard. The engine is in post-war condition, circa 1947.

The tracks "Intermission" and "Commercial Break" were originally used at the beginning and end of Blur's early live performances as "Intro" and "Outro", respectively.

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree.

"For Tomorrow" – 4:19
"Advert" – 3:45
"Colin Zeal" – 3:16
"Pressure on Julian" – 3:31
"Star Shaped" – 3:26
"Blue Jeans" – 3:54
"Chemical World" – 3:45
- "Intermission" – 2:29
"Sunday Sunday" – 2:38
"Oily Water" – 5:00
"Miss America" – 5:34
"Villa Rosie" – 3:55
"Coping" – 3:24
"Turn It Up" – 3:21
"Resigned" – 5:14
- "Commercial Break" – 0:55

The Japanese release includes "Young And Lovely" (and "Popscene" in a re-release).
The US version includes "Popscene", "When The Cows Come Home" and "Peach". It also has a different version of "Chemical World".

[edit] Notes

^ Stylus Magazine: The Rise and Fall of Britpop [1]
^ NME "Best albums ever" [2]
^ BBC profile of Blur. [3]
^ As reported in a 1993 NME feature by journalist John Harris.

Discography
Blur
Damon Albarn \| Alex James \| Dave Rowntree
Graham Coxon \| Simon Tong
Albums: Leisure \| Modern Life Is Rubbish \| Parklife \| The Great Escape \| Blur \| 13 \| Think Tank
Compilations: The Special Collectors Edition \| Live at the Budokan \| Bustin' + Dronin'
The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set \| Blur: The Best of
Singles: See Blur Singles
Other projects
The Ailerons \| Fat Les \| The Good, the Bad and the Queen \| Gorillaz \| Me Me Me \| WigWam
Related articles
Food Records \| Honest Jon's \| Stephen Street \| Transcopic
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