release date: Feb. 10, 1997
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Stephen Street
label: Food Records / EMI Japan - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Beetlebum" - 2. "Song 2" (4 / 5) - 3. "Country Sad Ballad Man" - 7. "You're So Great" - 8. "Death of a Party" - 11. "Look Inside America" - 12. "Strange News From Another Star" - 14. "Essex Dogs"
5th studio album by Blur released a year an a half following The Great Escape (Sep. 1995) is band's so far final album with Stephen Street as producer. However, you could have the impression that it was made with another producer as it really introduces a new direction in terms of style. There's a change of balance in terms of spatial relationship when it comes to the instrumentation. There's a bold use of distortion and delay effects applied to guitars and vocals, and drums and bass are played more vigorously - with energy and a sneer. Stylistically, it's difficult to label as britpop, although, a few songs still contain elements of that style, but as a whole, it contains punk rock bits, and I find it more indie rock and alt. rock-shaped than any of their albums, so far.
At first, I found the album less appealing than the more classic Blur releases like Parklife and Modern Times..., but along the way I have really come to appreciate this a great deal more. I see the album as a turning point in the band's career, and it has also been enlisted in various best of lists including NME's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and I fully understand the inclusion of the album in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" as the third (and so far final) by Blur. The single "Beetlebum" is Blur's second single to top the singles chart list, and the album is also the third consecutive Blur album to enter the national albums chart list as number #1.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
