release date: Aug. 27, 1991
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,58]
producer: Stephen Street
label: Food Records / EMI Japan - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "She's So High" - 2. "Bang" - 7. "There's No Other Way"
Studio album debut by London-based four-piece Blur originally released on the small independent label Food Records. Blur consists of the two Essex-friends vocalist and keyboardist Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon who teamed up with bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree in the fall of 1988 under the name of Seymour, which at some point in 1990 was exchanged for Blur.
The majority of the tracks are produced by Stephen Street, track #1 and the bonus track #13 are produced by Steve Lovell and Steve Power, tracks #8 and #11-12 are produced by Mike Thorne, and track #6 and the two bonus tracks #14-15 are produced by Blur.
Although, one can't really say britpop without mentioning Blur this is stylistically without typical britpop traits. In fact it's much more in the tradition of a soft version of alt. rock and more so inspired by the Manchester origins of baggy / Madchester style, exemplified by Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and The Charlatans with bits of what should be labelled dream pop.
I didn't realise the album until after coming across "Girls & Boys" in '94, when Oasis came around and the historical UK battle of best britpop band began. I do recall the cover though, as it caught my attention back then, but that's probably the best thing about it, I guess. I never touched on their music until after Parklife (1994), and I have to confess that I didn't quite understand what the fuss was all about. I mean: I didn't find it all that spectacular, anyway. Time considered, everything then was about indie rock, grunge and power pop at this point in music history, or: that was where a great portion of my attention lay. Listening to Blur was like "silly pop meant for a younger audience", in my mind. And listening to it at various stages since then, I haven't really altered my initial conclusion, although, I admit that it's not entirely bad. I just never found it appealing, and I still find it hard to pin out a really good track here. It's all very mediocre, really. Middle of the road 2.5 / 5, yeah.
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 2,5 / 5 stars ]
