Blur (band)

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Blur are an English alternative rock band that formed in Colchester in 1989. The four members of the band are: Damon Albarn (vocals), Graham Coxon (guitar), Alex James (bass guitar) and Dave Rowntree (drums). Blur's debut album Leisure (1991) incorporated the influence of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change in 1992—influenced by English guitar groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC—they released Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a famous chart battle with rival band Oasis dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".

By the late 1990s, with the release of Blur (1997), the band underwent another reinvention, influenced by the indie rock and lo-fi style of American bands such as Pavement, in the process finally gaining success in the U.S. with the single "Song 2". The last album featuring the band's original lineup, 13 (1999) found Blur experimenting with electronic music and gospel music. In May 2002, Coxon was invited to leave Blur during the early recording of their seventh album Think Tank (2003). The album contained electronic sounds, simpler guitar playing, and was largely marked by Albarn's growing interest in African music. Since the 2003 tour, Blur have done no studio work or touring as a band, with band members engaging in other projects. Band members maintain that while relations within the group are now amicable, they have no concrete plans of working together.

[edit] History

[edit] Formation and early success: 1988-1991

Childhood friends Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon met Alex James when they began studying at London's Goldsmiths College in 1988. Albarn was in a group named Circus, which was joined by drummer Dave Rowntree that October.^[1] Circus requested the services of Coxon after the departure of their guitarist. That December Circus fired two members and James joined as the group's bassist. This new group named themselves Seymour, inspired by J.D. Salinger's Seymour: An Introduction.^[2] Seymour performed live for the first time in summer 1989.^[3] In November, Food Records' A&R man Andy Ross attended a Seymour performance that convinced him to court the group for his label. The only concern held by Ross and Food was that they disliked the band's name. Food drew up a list of alternative names, from which the band decided on "Blur". Food Records finally signed the newly-christened Blur in March 1990.^[4]

 Music sample:

"There's No Other Way"

Sample of "There's No Other Way", illustrating the band's early influences: Madchester and Shoegazing.

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

From March to July 1990, Blur toured the UK, testing out new songs. After their tour was over, Blur released "She's So High" in October 1990, which reached number 48 in the UK. The band had trouble creating a follow-up single, but they made progress when paired with producer Stephen Street. The resulting single release, "There's No Other Way", became a hit, peaking at number eight.^[5] As a result of the single's success, Blur became pop stars and were accepted into a clique of bands that frequented The Syndrome club in London dubbed "The Scene That Celebrates Itself".^[6] NME magazine wrote in 1991, "[Blur] are [the] acceptable pretty face of a whole clump of bands that have emerged since the whole Manchester thing started to run out of steam."^[7]

Blur's initial success was shortlived. The band's third single, "Bang", performed disappointingly, reaching only number 24.^[8] Andy Ross and Food owner David Balfe were convinced Blur's best course of action was to continue drawing influence from the Madchester genre. Blur attempted to expand their musical sound, but the recording of the group's debut album was hindered by Albarn having to write his lyrics in the studio. The resulting album Leisure (1991) peaked at number seven on the British album charts, but the album "could not shake off the odour of anti-climax", according to journalist John Harris.^[9]

[edit] The Britpop years: 1992-1996

After discovering they were £60,000 in debt, Blur journeyed to the United States in 1992 as part of the Rollercoaster tour in order to recoup their financial losses.^[10] The group released the single "Popscene" to coincide with the start of the tour. "Popscene" was a turning point for the band musically.^[11] However, upon its release it only charted at number 32. "We felt 'Popscene' was a big departure; a very, very English record," Albarn told the NME in 1993, "But that annoyed a lot of people [. . .] We put ourselves out on a limb to pursue this English ideal and no-one was interested."^[12] As a result of the single's lacklustre performance, plans to release a single named "Never Clever" were scrapped and work on Blur's second album was pushed back.^[13]

During the two-month American tour, the band became increasingly unhappy, often venting frustrations on each other, leading to several physical confrontations.^[14] The band members were homesick; Albarn said, "I just started to miss really simple things [. . .] I missed everything about England so I started writing songs which created an English atmosphere."^[12] Upon the group's return to the United Kingdom, Blur (Albarn in particular) were upset by the success rival group Suede had achieved while they were gone.^[15] After a poor performance at a 1992 gig that featured a well-received performance by Suede on the same bill, Blur were in danger of being dropped by Food.^[16] By that time, Blur had undergone an ideological and image shift intended to celebrate their British heritage in contrast to the popularity of American grunge bands like Nirvana.^[17] Although skeptical of Albarn's new manifesto for the band, Balfe gave assent for the band's choice of Andy Partridge of the band XTC to produce their follow-up to Leisure. The sessions with Partridge proved unsatisfactory, but a chance reunion with Street resulted in him returning to produce the group.^[18]

The band completed their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish in December 1992, but Food Records said the album required more potential hit singles and asked them to return to the studio for a second time. The band complied and Albarn wrote "For Tomorrow", which became the album's lead single.^[19] "For Tomorrow" was a minor success, reaching number 28 on the charts.^[20] Modern Life Is Rubbish was released in May 1993. The announcement of the album's released included a press photo featuring the phrase "British Image 1" spraypainted behind the band (who were dressed in a mixture of mod and skinhead attire) and a pitbull. At the time, such imagery was viewed as nationalistic and racially insensitive by the British music press; to quiet concerns, Blur subsequently released the "British Image 2" photo, which was "a camp restaging of a pre-war aristocratic tea party."^[21] Modern Life Is Rubbish peaked at number 15 on the British charts, yet it did not make much of an impression in the U.S.

 Music sample:

"Parklife"

Sample of "Parklife", title track from Blur's third album, which features narration by Phil Daniels, the star of the film version of The Who's Quadrophenia.

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

The success of Parklife (1994) revived Blur's commercial fortunes. The album's first single "Girls & Boys" found favour on BBC Radio 1 and peaked at number five on the singles chart.^[22] Parklife entered the British charts at number one and stayed on the album charts for 90 weeks.^[23] The album generated further hit singles, including the ballad "To the End" and "Parklife". Blur won four awards at the 1995 BRIT Awards, including Best Band and Best Album for Parklife^[24]

Blur began working on their fourth album The Great Escape (1995) at the start of 1995.^[25] Building upon the band's previous two albums, Albarn's lyrics for the album consisted of several third-person narratives. James reflected, "It was all more elaborate, more orchestral, more theatrical, and the lyrics were even more twisted [. . .] It was all dysfunctional, misfit characters fucking up."^[26] The release of the album's lead single "Country House" became part of a rivalry with Manchester band Oasis termed "The Battle of Britpop". Partly due to increasing antagonisms between the groups, Blur and Oasis ultimately decided to release their new singles on the same day, an event the NME called "The British Heavyweight Championship". The debate over which band would top the British singles chart became a media phenomenon, and Albarn appeared on the News at Ten.^[27] At the end of the week, "Country House" ultimately outsold Oasis' "Roll With It" by 274,000 copies to 216,000, becoming Blur's first number one single.^[28] Although The Great Escape entered the UK charts at number one, it was subsequently outsold by Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?.

[edit] Reinvention after Britpop: 1997-2000

Despite their success in the Battle of Britpop, Blur became perceived as an "inauthentic middle class pop band" in comparison to the "working class heroes" Oasis, which Albarn said made him feel "stupid and confused".^[27] Coxon became uncomfortable with the band's success. The guitarist struggled with drinking problems and, in a rejection of the group's Britpop aesthetic, made a point of listening to noisy American alternative rock.^[29] The band took a brief hiatus between the end of their tour in March and the beginning of new recording sessions, which would begin in June 1996, Blur began recording their new album. The album was finished in November 1996.

The group's fifth album Blur (1997) featured the influence of American lo-fi and indie rock on the band. Albarn explained to the NME in January 1997 that "We created a movement: as far as the lineage of British bands goes, there'll always be a place for us", but added, "We genuinely started to see that world in a slightly different way."^[30] Blur's reinvention earned them much praise in the UK; the album and its first single, "Beetlebum" debuted at number one. In the U.S. also, the record received strong reviews as the album and its second single "Song 2" became a hit. The album reached number 61 on the Billboard 200 and achieved Gold status, while "Song 2" peaked at number six on the Modern Rock chart. After the success of Blur, the band embarked on a worldwide tour. However, at the conclusion of their tour, the band announced that they would take a different approach to their next album, and parted ways with long-time producer and collaborator Stephen Street.

Blur hired William Orbit to replace Street as producer. The resulting album, 13, was musically dominated by Orbit's electronic production. 13 was preceded by the single "Tender", which marked a new era of sonic experimentation for Blur, with its mix of gospel and electronic music. The album also spawned another hit single, "Coffee & TV", which featured lead vocals by Coxon.

Exhausted by incessant recording and touring through the world, Blur took a hiatus, releasing a box set of singles in August 1999 to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary.

[edit] Hiatus and Coxon's departure: 2001-2003

Early in 2002, however, Blur temporarily broke its hiatus to record a song that would be played for the European Space Agency's Mars Lander, however, the plan fell through when the lander was lost.^[31]

Recording for Blur's next album, Think Tank, got under way in Marrakesh, Morocco in mid-2002. Tensions surfaced, however, when Coxon began to appear emotionally and creatively distant to his band mates, reportedly failing to attend recording sessions. Two of the main causes for this has been cited as the choice of dance DJ Fatboy Slim as the album's producer and also Coxon's alleged alcohol problems. After several weeks of uncertainty, Coxon confirmed that he had been asked to leave the band for reasons connected with his "attitude."^[32] His last contribution to the band was a guitar line on the final track of Think Tank, "Battery in Your Leg" which Albarn said was the only song he ever wrote about the band.^[33]

Before the album was released, Blur released a new single, "Don't Bomb When You're The Bomb" as a very limited white label release. A largely electronic song, sporting a chorus consisting of "Don't bomb when you're the bomb-ba-bomb-bomb-bomb" the single and the band's startling reinvention was a shock to Blur fans, who were expecting a return to the catchy pop tunes of the band's early career.^{[citation needed]} Albarn, however, attempted to assuage fans' fears by explaining the impetus behind the song and providing reassurances that the band's new album would be a return to their roots.^[34]

Think Tank, released in May 2003, was filled with atmospheric, brooding electronic sounds, featuring simpler guitar lines played by Albarn, and largely relying on other instruments to replace Coxon. Coxon's absence also meant that Think Tank was almost entirely written by Albarn. Its sound was seen as a testament to Albarn's increasing interest in African music, Middle Eastern music and electronic music, and to his control over the group's creative direction.^[35] For the following tour the band hired Simon Tong, former guitarist and keyboardist of The Verve, who also played with Albarn in his Gorillaz project.

While Think Tank was received well by critics and fans,^[36] a minority of critics didn't warm to it.^[37] However, Think Tank was yet another UK number one and managed Blur's highest US position of number 56.^[38] The album was also nominated for best album at the 2004 BRIT Awards. The band supported the album with a tour and three singles: "Out of Time, "Crazy Beat" and "Good Song".

[edit] Solo, reunion and hiatus: 2004-present

In early 2004, the band announced, through XFM news, that they would be recording an EP, and there were also rumours that Coxon would return to Blur, which proved untrue. But in the news, the band explained that the workload on Albarn would be significant, as he was working on the second Gorillaz album, among other projects. In mid-2005, Blur recorded a couple of songs, without Coxon, conceived mainly acoustically by Albarn. In an interview with the NME, Albarn said that if Coxon wasn't to return to the band, he was not comfortable with reforming Blur. "Why don't I get another guitarist? Because there's none better than Coxon," was Albarn's reply.

After Coxon significantly thawed about rejoining the band,^[39] James announced^[40]in April and August 2007 that the band will reunite and will likely be recording a new album in October ^[41]. However, in early October 2007, the official band site revealed that although band members all met for "an enjoyable lunch", they had no intentions of Blur work in the near future and that the media drew out the reunion talks far too much. ^[42] An official statement about the future of the band has yet to be released.

James maintains that "It would be a disaster thinking there would never be another Blur record. And anyone who has ever been in a band thinks they can get back together and make the best album ever."^[43] Albarn is more pessimistic about the possibility of a band reunion: "You'd be very unwise to put money on it. I'm starting my own betting service and I'll just keep feeding things to the press saying 'Maybe, maybe'. It's like the polar ice-caps staying frozen: unlikely."^[44] Coxon said that beside the lunch the band never discussed potential recording: "We met for a catch-up and it was great, but there was no real talk of recording."^[45] In an article published in NME on 1 February, 2008, Albarn ruled out a Blur reunion in the near future due to his commitments to his solo projects.^[46]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Blur discography

• Leisure (1991)
• Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)
• Parklife (1994)
• The Great Escape (1995)
• Blur (1997)
• 13 (1999)
• Think Tank (2003)

[edit] References

• Harris, John. Britpop! Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock, 2004. ISBN 0-306-81367-X
• Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop. Passion Pictures, 2004.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• blur.co.uk Official Blur website