The BLUR Time Team

[Rob McCow]

Leisure (1991)



Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)



Parklife (1994)



The Great Escape (1995)



Blur (1997)



13 (1999)



Think Tank (2003)

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blur_(band)

Check out Blur on Spotify!

[Rob McCow]

Leisure (1991)
She's So High
Bang
Slow Down
Repetition
Bad Day
Sing
There's No Other Way
Fool
Come Together
High Cool
Birthday
Wear Me Down

[Rob McCow]

She's So High
Blur get off to a pretty good start. This is a decent, well rounded song. For the most part they keep things simple with a repetitive riff and chorus, although there is a more complicated psychedelic section in the middle. The break back into the chorus is exciting too. Damon's vocals are a little weak in the mix, but he's got a pleasant voice and he's boosted for the chorus.

The song could have been a hit, but in 1991 I think a lot of indie bands sounded like this so it was probably lost amongst the general morass of music. Perhaps they should have stopped it after two minutes, to make the whole thing a bit tighter.
7/10

Bang
This is the single that time forgot, it was left off from all of Blur's 'Best Ofs' and I don't think they play it live. Ever.

Which is a bit of a shame, it's a pacey little track with some good guitar work and a driving rhythm. At this point in their career, I reckon it's Dave Rowntree who's doing the most for the Blur sound. His drumming on this track in particular is superb. It's very rooted to it's time, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
5/10

Slow Down
Given Blur's pop credentials, it's a bit of a surprise to me how heavy an album Leisure is. When 'Song 2' was released, it felt like a new departure for Blur but they've always had that edge. They've definitely got the chops as a hard rock band.

That said, Slow Down is rather dirge-ey. There's some interesting changes in rhythm, but any attempt at an actual 'tune' is quite heavily buried.
3/10

Repetition
Ah, this is the one that sounds like a very slowed down version of 'She's So High'. The song is dominated by that repetitive top guitar line. Damon is lost and distorted in the verses and boosted in the chorus again, though it's hard to make out what he's singing at any point.

And this one just goes on and on and on... not that great really.
3/10

Bad Day
Another great drum line, while Graham Coxon familiarises himself with the different FX pedals for his guitar. To be honest I'm wondering if Graham was the weak link in the chain. Everything in these songs suggests they want to be tuneful, but they keep overloading the distortion and smothering everything in heavy and indistinct guitar playing.

I like the harmonica bits on this track.
4/10

Sing
Now this one is a bit different, which is good! A very melancholy song with a thudding, plodding piano line and some strange guitar noises. This one's familiar as it made it onto 'Midlife', but I think it's a better song as well. It's more of a mood piece than a tuneful number, which I think suits the Blur sound of the time better.

I can imagine listening to this on a stormy, overcast day.
7/10

There's No Other Way
And I can imagine listening to this one on a bright, sunny day!

This is a great piece of psychedelic pop, if a little on the repetitive side. Something you can pick up after a first listen and is still enjoyable to come back to later. It also works pretty well on the dance floor.

Best of all, Damon's 90's bob hairdo in the video is a hoot:



Yeah, we all had it.
8/10

Fool
A bright and breezy pop track totally lost in a torrent of drums and heavy guitar. I tell you what, if Blur sorted themselves out with a decent producer and reigned in Graham a bit, they'd have a few hits on their hands! They're even showing off some good harmonies on this one.
4/10

Come Together
A lot of bands have released songs called 'Come Together', from The Beatles to Primal Scream and Spiritualized. Blur's stab at it is sort-of-alright and I've basically got the same comments as for their previous songs. Could have been better with a bit more control.

There are some great stops towards the end of the track.
5/10

High Cool
"If you come here, which you sometimes do, don't think that, I really want you to."
The lyrics are quite fun on this one and for a change they're all very clear. Yeah, I quite like this one.
6/10

Birthday
The sole slow/quiet one on the album, a bit of a precursor to some of their sounds on the later albums, Blur and 13. It captures the feeling of being a bit depressed on your birthday very well, I reckon.

Turning down the guitars gives Damon a bit more of a chance to shine too. It builds up to a much rockier ending. I think it would be interesting to hear this one live.
5/10

Wear Me Down
And so we close with a rock tune that isn't substantially better than or different from most of the other rock tunes on the album. By this point however, I've given up being nice.
2/10

Now Leisure doesn't have very high scores from me but I quite like it as an album. At least it's coherent. Blur have a grungy sound in 1991 that's probably unique to this album. Despite a couple of strong singles, they're really not going to make any waves continuing like this!

1991 would be my second year at Secondary School, before I properly discovered music in 1993 (the year New Order released Republic). So I would have been blissfully unaware of this album and it's existence!

[Perry Vale]

Despite a couple of strong singles, they're really not going to make any waves continuing like this!

I hear this opinion a lot these days, but it doesn't ring true with how I remember it being received at the time. The album got generally positive reviews, and charted at No.7, which was no mean feat in the musical climate of the day.

I've revisited Leisure a few times in recent months, and I still love it. I loved it at the time, and it holds some dear memories. It reminds me of a lads holiday I went on to Newquay, and this was on constant rotation all week (along with R.E.M.'s Out Of Time).

I still recall seeing the first single (She's So High) on the BBC's Jukebox Jury, and can still hear Robert Smith's comments on the band!

Damon Albarn was lodging with a friend of mine at the time, while he was attending acting school nearby. I still remember the evening my friend came in to the pub and told us that Damon was leaving because he'd quit acting school to concentrate on his band, called "Blur"!

[SiHart]

I shall be reporting back with my thoughts later this week. Nice to read your reviews so far.

[Rob McCow]

I hear this opinion a lot these days, but it doesn't ring true with how I remember it being received at the time.

I think Blur would still be fairly well remembered if they'd done more albums along similar lines to Leisure, but it would be as a mid-to-top range indie band rather than as a cultural icon of the 90's. That's the difference between Suede and Blur for me. Although I reckon Suede were a much better band, they'll never have the popular attention that Blur had. It's about being in the right place at the right time.

I think Blur return to the Leisure sound to an extent for the 'Blur' album and there are hints of it on 'The Good, The Bad and The Queen'. Not sure about Coxon's solo stuff as I haven't heard much of it.

[SiHart]

She's So High

"I wanna crawl all over her."

And so on a wave of reverb guitar we begin. What's apparent right from the start is that Graham is a rather brilliant guitarist and his playing on this makes the song. Damon's dreamy vocals fit the slightly psychedelic feel of the song (nice backwards guitar in the instrumental section!) and the lyrics (which are rather creepy when you stop and think about them) give the whole song a rather dreamlike and otherworldly feel. A nice, solid start. 7

Bang

"I don't need anyone but a little love will make things better."

And a tube train arrives with some another catchy guitar line from Graham (very 1991- a bit Jesus Jones) and Damon's vocals are clearer and this feels like we're listening to the Blur that is to come to the fore. For some reason the band were rather embarrassed by this song, but I'm not sure. It's simple, catchy and effective, and sometimes that's all you want. 7

Slow Down

"All you have to do is slow it down"

This album is somewhat heavier guitar-wise than I remember. This is a good thing, i think. Again, lyrically this isn't overpoweringly clever or satirical or insightful as they would be at times later on, but there's a bit of universal sentiment that we can all understand. This works with Damon's earnest vocals, but again he's being outclassed by the instrumentation- crunchy and ironically quite grungy guitars, lots of noise and some excellent drumming. Nothing special. 5

Repitition

"Try, try, try"

Interesting drumming on this one. Dave is really holding it together for this one. That may be the only remarkable thing about this song. It's not bad exactly, it's just that the title is rather apt- it's quite repetitious and there doesn't seem to be any development for the song beyond the first verse. Try again seems to be a fair epitaph for it. 5 and half minutes is pushing it for this one. It definitely outstays its welcome 3

Bad Day

"Do you love anyone anyone you've ever loved?"

Blissed out lyrics, it sounds like most indie tracks from 1990/1991. The harmonica opening reminds me of bits of Primal Screams' Screamadelica. It's a nice song and again, Graham is at the forefront here with a melodic is heavy guitar track heavily reverbed and distorted. It creates a nice atmospheric, but again the lyrics aren't particularly strong. Ultimately it's pleasant, but forgettable. I like the backwards guitar outro. 5

Sing

So what's the worth in all of this?

Piano, echoey guitars, a melancholy mood. I really like this song. It's quite possibly the highlight of Blur's early output (singles aside). It creates an atmosphere and runs with it. It feels quite trippy and odd and this suits the distorted-not-quite-there vocals really well. Later it would be used really effectively in the film Trainspotting. A bit of a minor triumph I reckon. 8

There's No Other Way

"All that you can do is watch them play!"

Their first great song. Bright, breezy disposable pop and a worthy number top ten hit. It has an infectious guitar line, and it just makes you want to jump around and dance to it. It sounds like a petulant teenager raging against the world lyrically, offset by a bouncy tune. It works very well! Yeah, it's a good song! 8

Fool

"The things you say, they make no sense at all."

Gosh, someone has mixed Damon's vocals to the front. That's a bit of a novelty. Shame that just highlights another set of weak lyrics. Strange stuff with the tempo in the middle of the song going into the instrumental break sounds jarring rather than clever and it just feels a bit weak and insipid. Not a classic. 5

Come Together

"So why, why don't we come together?"

Another lead guitar riff that just fits with the indie of the time. Graham is giving it his all again and it's quite exciting, love the fade in the middle of the song into the second verse. That's quite a thrilling moment, as are the ahhhs just after this verse. I'm rather taken with this track- it bounces along nicely and but the outro outstays its welcome. 7

High Cool

"Is that all I give you?"

A riff that sounds like the Stone Roses, full of jangly guitar and a baggy beat. Repetitious lyrics circle round the strong backing track and it's all fine if a little derivative. It jangles on quite nicely and then stops. Fine. 6.5

Birthday

"It's my birthday, no-one here day."

The piano is very welcome on this track- it makes it stands out from the other songs around it. Pleasantly melancholy and it's good to hear Damon right at the front. I love the way the rocky ending just crashes in, stamping its identity on the song. That's a good moment- should have had a small pause before it maybe to give it greater impact. Good stuff! 7.5

Wear Me Down

"My defences are down now"

The start of this song feels like it belongs on the Blur album- the instrumentation here anticipates that album quite well and indeed for a moment I thought of Bugman from 13. It's OK. 4


Lesiure is a heavier sounding album than I remember. Graham is clearly having some influence here. It's a better album than I remember too. Not their best, but probably not their weakest either. There's some weak moments, but nothing, aside from Repetition that is really dire. It's very much like like a lot of early 90s indie stuff, crunchy and reverbed guitars and distorted, lost vocals. I wouldn't have liked it much in 1991, but it liked more in 2013 than I was expecting to. Not an outstanding start, but there's potential here. And they'll more than fulfill it in the albums to come. 6

[Paul Monk]

Will catch up with my thoughts soon. Generally though I like this album.
The mum in the Theres No Other Way Video is the lady who play Miss Booth (I think) in Grange Hill.

And will you be including the singles that aren't on albums in this? Popscene, the Wassailing Song and the comeback one the name I forget.

[SiHart]

I will attempt to be as complete as possible! Popsecen is essential really to show the Blur that could have been.