Blur Album: “Modern Life Is Rubbish”

the little i've heard from blur's true first album, "leisure", i did not like, and many will agree that "modern life is rubbish", being so markedly different, is their first recording of true significance. maybe that's harsh, but it's also a testament to how good this record is. not as immediately enjoyable as "parklife", and not as complex as "the great escape", their other two "british" releases, "mlir" accomplishes a quasi-perfect balance that mapped out their musical direction for the next 3 years. the songs here all reek of british culture and that's a good thing, because albarn paints wonderful pictures of british life through his characters' words. as many have pointed out, blur was undergoing a sort of image makeover as they'd grown sick of the madchester, shoegazing scene that my bloody valentine and the stone roses had made so popular. this album, in many ways, ushered in the brit-pop sound of the 90s - that's a tremendous feat given blur's insignificance and the fact that critics ignored them at the time. songs like "chemical world", maybe the best here, bring back the meaningful pop hook-chorus days of the 60s, and incorporate the musical weirdnesses of bowie and the kinks. the first 9 tracks on the album are great and never let up, especially "for tommorow" and "star shaped". there's that genuine brit-feel i was talking about. the latter half of the album sags a little, but there are interesting tracks that recapture the spirit of the earlier songs, like "villa rosie" and "popscene". this is certainly an important album for blur fans and those interested in the roots of current brit-pop. casual fans of blur may not be thrilled with the album though, because it is difficult to grasp without giving it ample time to sink in, much like "great escape" and even "13".

Not a new release by any means, but spinning in my head for good reason.

Blur's second album, released in 1993, was a direct invite into the stormy world of Britpop, which was about to explode into mainstream. In the United States, the extension of Britpop leads only to Oasis and very early Radiohead (which is a shaky comparison at best), and often gets bogged into the sugar-pop of the Spice Girls or the alt-grunge of Bush before being recognised as its own separate and definitive category.

Blur remain the lone symbols of what was once Britpop, having just released a 7th album to number one sales and singles and receiving a recent vote of album of the year by Q magazine (surprisingly ahead of Radioheads latest). Where Suede have disbanded, reformed, disbanded, and now are allegedly reforming again, Oasis have declined to repetitive schlock, and Radiohead have turned their heads to the left-field, Blur have survived through the gentle art of constant reinvention, while still retaining a core sound.

Listening to Modern Life is Rubbish is like looking at an oil painting. It captures perfectly a sense of living in the city - London, specifically - conjuring up all sorts of different atmospheres, from travelling on the Tube to strolling down Portabello Road. The music is wonderful, as finely sculpted as any Baroque chamber work - the strings on For Tomorrow perfectly capture the poignancy and sadness of the song. Blur occcasionally delve into The Clash etc, but the album is far more than simply a pastiche of 70s rock. This album is something deeper than Leisure, that doesn't delve into the cynicism of Parklife and The Great Escape, or the obscurity of Blur and 13. It shows much more humanity and perhaps vulnerability?

This is, in my opinion, the best album Blur has ever recorded. Its sound is most similar to that of The Great Escape ... this is a polished, well-thought album with (unlike Leisure) good production and (unlike Parklife) soul. The songs are, for the most part, slow-paced and relaxing, with sharp social commentary. I'd list standout tracks if there weren't so many ... this is an album you can listen to the way through -- and then press play again! (Plus, in the days of 12 or 14 track albums, who can resist the bargain of the N. American version -- boasting 19?)

Forget about the lame excuse for a debut Leisure was, as Modern Life Is Rubbish is where Blur, & more importantly Britpop, has really begun. I think that Blur is one of the few bands in the world who managed to release three successive albums all in the same vein (Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife & The Great Escape) without sounding redundant or repetitious. With an intro song reminiscent of "For Tomorrow" it really is hard to miss, & the album never quite does. All of the songs here are catchy, noisy, exuberant & fun to listen to- Just the way Britpop's supposed to sound. Unlike voluntary rivals Oasis Blur's lyrics (Or more accurately, Damon's lyrics) were throughout the entire trilogy listed above focused, poignant & furthermore- They really managed to seize those ickle insipid moments in life so exquisitely, which is something Noel Gallagher's easilyrhymed, predictable couplets could never compete with. "Intermission" & "Commercial Break" are classic Blur travesties (There's @ least one on each of their albums so give heed), whilst "Miss America" is delightfully enjoyable, albeit somewhat eerie ("Jemima ho ho"? This line ain't gonna leave my head for a month or so!). Standout tracks are the aforementioned "For Tomorrow", "Colin Zeal" & "Star Shaped"; However my personal favourite would just have to be "Sunday Sunday", a song you just have to be thoroughly stupid, demented or deaf to not like.

(The songs' chords could be found on each of the three albums' sleeve. This way you can not only play those wonderful tunes yourself, but also astonishedly realise that an appealing song needn't to be formulative.)