Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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A collection of 20 CD, which includes all the studio albums by English rock band Blur at the moment, also 2 compilations, 1 live and 8 singles.

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur are an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure (1991) incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change—influenced by English guitar pop groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC—Blur 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".

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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In recording their follow-up, Blur (1997), the band underwent another reinvention, showing influence from the lo-fi style of American indie rock groups. "Song 2", one of the album's singles, brought Blur mainstream success in the US. The last album featuring Blur's original lineup, 13 (1999) found the band members experimenting with electronic music and gospel music, as Albarn wrote more personal lyrics. In May 2002, Coxon left Blur during the recording of their seventh album Think Tank (2003). Containing electronic sounds and more minimal guitar work, the album was marked by Albarn's growing interest in hip hop and African music. After a 2003 tour without Coxon, Blur did no studio work or touring as a band, as members engaged in other projects. In 2009 Blur reunited, with Coxon back in the fold, for a series of successful concerts.

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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"She's So High" and "There's No Other Way" were auspicious debut singles, alternately trancy and melodic, suggesting how shoegazing and baggy beats could be incorporated into pop song structures. Both songs suggested that Blur was capable of a striking debut album, but Leisure wasn't it. Mired by directionless soundscapes and incomplete songwriting, Leisure was nevertheless full of promise. Whenever the group tread close to the warped psychedelia of Syd Barrett, their compositions sprang to life, and "Sing" was an eerie, entrancing minor-key drone reminiscent of the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs." Those moments, however, were few and far between on Leisure, since much of the record was devoted to either naïve pop like "Bang" or washes of feedback and effects. From Leisure, it appeared that Blur was only capable of a pair of fine singles, which is what made the complete reinvention of Modern Life Is Rubbish such a surprise. [For the American release of Leisure, SBK Records lopped off one of the album's best songs, "Sing," and shuffled the running order for no apparent reason other than having "She's So High" and "There's No Other Way" appear first.]

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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As a response to the dominance of grunge in the U.K. and their own decreasing profile in their homeland – and also as a response to Suede's sudden popularity – Blur reinvented themselves with their second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, abandoning the shoegazing and baggy influences that dominated Leisure for traditional pop. On the surface, Modern Life may appear to be an homage to the Kinks, David Bowie, the Beatles, and Syd Barrett, yet it isn't a restatement, it's a revitalization. Blur use British guitar pop from the Beatles to My Bloody Valentine as a foundation, spinning off tales of contemporary despair. If Damon Albarn weren't such a clever songwriter, both lyrically and melodically, Modern Life could have sunk under its own pretensions, and the latter half does drag slightly. However, the record teems with life, since Blur refuse to treat their classicist songs as museum pieces. Graham Coxon's guitar tears each song open, either with unpredictable melodic lines or layers of translucent, hypnotic effects, and his work creates great tension with Alex James' kinetic bass. And that provides Albarn a vibrant background for his social satires and cutting commentary. But the reason Modern Life Is Rubbish is such a dynamic record and ushered in a new era of British pop is that nearly every song is carefully constructed and boasts a killer melody, from the stately "For Tomorrow" and the punky "Advert" to the vaudeville stomp of "Sunday Sunday" and the neo-psychedelic "Chemical World." Even with its flaws, it's a record of considerable vision and excitement.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam, but its follow-up, Parklife, revealed the depth of that transformation. Relying more heavily on Ray Davies' seriocomic social commentary, as well as new wave, Parklife runs through the entire history of post-British Invasion Britpop in the course of 16 songs, touching on psychedelia, synth pop, disco, punk, and music hall along the way. Damon Albarn intended these songs to form a sketch of British life in the mid-'90s, and it's startling how close he came to his goal; not only did the bouncy, disco-fied "Girls & Boys" and singalong chant "Parklife" become anthems in the U.K., but they inaugurated a new era of Britpop and lad culture, where British youth celebrated their country and traditions. The legions of jangly, melodic bands that followed in the wake of Parklife revealed how much more complex Blur's vision was. Not only was their music precisely detailed – sound effects and brilliant guitar lines pop up all over the record – but the melodies elegantly interweaved with the chords, as in the graceful, heartbreaking "Badhead." Surprisingly, Albarn, for all of his cold, dispassionate wit, demonstrates compassion that gives these songs three dimensions, as on the pathos-laden "End of a Century," the melancholy Walker Brothers tribute "To the End," and the swirling, epic closer, "This Is a Low." For all of its celebration of tradition, Parklife is a thoroughly modern record in that it bends genres and is self-referential (the mod anthem of the title track is voiced by none other than Phil Daniels, the star of Quadrophenia). And, by tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-'90s zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Like most big U.K. bands in the '90s, Blur had a plethora of non-album tracks surface on singles, which remained a much more viable format in Europe than in the U.S. in terms of actual chart activity and placement. Special Collectors Edition, a Japanese-only release, does a fairly good job in collecting many, though by no means all, of those B-sides and extra tracks from the band's first singles through the Parklife era. As a parallel history of Blur's development from semi-Madchester/semi-shoegazer art school rock to Brit-pop flag wavers, it's manna for fans as well as being interesting in its own right. A fair number of songs could easily have ended up on the group's albums based on overall quality, while other tunes, if not as strong, often have a certain standalone charm. Among the earliest tracks, "Luminous" is noteworthy for its slightly stoned and zoned flavor, Dave Rowntree's percussion almost echoing early Pink Floyd jams, while "Mace," originally a B-side to "Popscene," shows Blur starting to come to grips with a catchier form of whimsy. The Modern Life B-sides are an interesting mixed bag, ranging from the sweet electric psych/acoustic folk drift of "Peach" to the trebly art-punk blast of "Fried." The Parklife tracks show the increasingly ambitious group fully coming into their own, with everything from the goofy carousel-music romp "Anniversary Waltz" to the sweeping, gently self-mocking "Theme from an Imaginary Film." A lovely final touch is the version of "Bank Holiday" at the very end – the song itself is an album cut from Parklife, but the rough kazoos-only performance is in fact by seven female fans at Tokyo Airport. Edition's humorous packaging also deserves special notice – prepared by the U.K. design firm Stylorouge, it consists of a series of advertisements for kitsch British products, including a Blur commemorative plate.

Review by Ned Raggett, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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In the simplest terms, The Great Escape is the flip side of Parklife. Where Blur's breakthrough album was a celebration of the working class, drawing on British pop from the '60s and reaching through the '80s, The Great Escape concentrates on the suburbs, featuring a cast of characters all trying to cope with the numbing pressures of modern life. Consequently, it's darker than Parklife, even if the melancholia is hidden underneath the crisp production and catchy melodies. Even the bright, infectious numbers on The Great Escape have gloomy subtexts, whether it's the disillusioned millionaire of "Country House" and the sycophant of "Charmless Man" or the bleak loneliness of "Globe Alone" and "Entertain Me." Naturally, the slower numbers are even more despairing, with the acoustic "Best Days," the lush, sweeping strings of "The Universal," and the stark, moving electronic ballad "Yuko & Hiro" ranking as the most affecting work Blur has ever recorded. However, none of this makes The Great Escape a burden or a difficult album. The music bristles with invention throughout, as Blur delves deeper into experimentation with synthesizers, horns, and strings; guitarist Graham Coxon twists out unusual chords and lead lines, and Damon Albarn spits out unexpected lyrical couplets filled with wit and venomous intelligence in each song. But Blur's most remarkable accomplishment is that it can reference the past – the Scott Walker homage of "The Universal," the Terry Hall/Fun Boy Three cop on "Top Man," the skittish, XTC-flavored pop of "It Could Be You," and Albarn's devotion to Ray Davies – while still moving forward, creating a vibrant, invigorating record.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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In front of a quite appreciative audience – if they don't generate the same level of hysteria as Cheap Trick did in the same venue some years before, they get close – Blur recorded this Japanese-only two-disc effort. It's an album hardcore fans will definitely want to find and more casual followers should also keep an eye out for, drawing mostly from Modern Life is Rubbish onward (aside from a somewhat pedestrian run-through of "She's So High"). Recorded during the group's 1995 tour for The Great Escape – the set itself starts with a delightful marching band gone art-punk version of the original movie's main theme – Live conclusively demonstrates that in concert Blur is Coxon's band, not Albarn's. Even at his most economical, Coxon demonstrates a fine ability to spike up a song's energy. When given the opportunity on louder numbers, he blasts out feedback power like nobody's business. James and Rowntree's rhythm section doesn't falter in the slightest either, and together, the three simply go for it in grand style, pumping up calmer studio cuts with vigor and transforming rockers like "Popscene" into thrashy monsters. They know when to play it cool and calm, though, so songs like "To the End" and an affecting, appropriate take on "Yuko and Hiro" benefit from the combination of live bite and arranged drama. Albarn in contrast seems somewhat tired at points and a parody of himself at his most English at others, undercutting what should have been an all-around commanding show. He does have moments to shine, though, including winning renditions of "Girls and Boys" and "This is a Low." Special note should be given to the all-around packaging, based on an airport/flying theme in the style of The Great Escape's design. The live shots inside are all quite fine, including a quite lovely one of pin-up bassist James.

Review by Ned Raggett, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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The Great Escape, for all of its many virtues, painted Blur into a corner and there was only one way out – to abandon the Britpop that they had instigated by bringing the weird strands that always floated through their music to the surface. Blur may superficially appear to be a break from tradition, but it is a logical progression, highlighting the band's rich eclecticism and sense of songcraft. Certainly, they are trying for new sonic territory, bringing in shards of white noise, gurgling electronics, raw guitars, and druggy psychedelia, but these are just extensions of previously hidden elements of Blur's music. What makes it exceptional is how hard the band tries to reinvent itself within its own framework, and the level of which it succeeds. "Beetlebum" runs through the White Album in the space of five minutes; "M.O.R." reinterprets Berlin-era Bowie; "You're So Great," despite the corny title, is affecting lo-fi from Graham Coxon; "Country Sad Ballad Man" is bizarrely affecting, strangled lo-fi psychedelia; "Death of a Party" is an affecting resignation; "On Your Own" is an incredible slice of singalong pop spiked with winding, fluid guitar and synth eruptions; while "Look Inside America" cleverly subverts the traditional Blur song, complete with strings. And "Essex Dogs" is a six-minute slab of free verse and rattling guitar noise. Blur might be self-consciously eclectic, but Blur are at their best when they are trying to live up to their own pretensions, because of Damon Albarn's exceptional sense of songcraft and the band's knack for detailed arrangements that flesh out the songs to their fullest. There might be dark overtones to the record, but the band sounds positively joyous, not only in making noise but wreaking havoc with the expectations of its audience and critics.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur released Bustin' + Dronin', a limited-edition Japanese-only remix album, after completing the supporting tour for Blur. Apparently, this has become a group tradition, since Japanese-only albums appeared after the Parklife and Great Escape tours – the B-sides compilation Special Collectors Edition and the double-disc Live at Budokan, respectively. The difference this time around was the fact that Bustin' + Dronin' was imported heavily in the U.K. and U.S., because of the success of Blur. Ironically, it's the weakest of the three Japanese albums the group has released and the one least worth acquiring. The main problem is that only a handful of songs on Blur lend themselves to inventive remixes. In particular, the spooky dirge "Death of a Party" and the clomping Mott the Baggy "On Your Own" are ripe for new treatments, and that's why both are here numerous times. Unfortunately, they're not interesting at all, likely because they're not helmed by name producers. Then again, William Orbit doesn't fare that well with "Moving On," and Moby's mix of "Beetlebum" (first released as a B-side to the single) sounds identical to the original, so maybe the key isn't remixers, either. That leaves only Thurston Moore's contemptuous, cacophonous remix of the silly, pretentious "Essex Dogs" and John McEntire's recasting of "Theme from Retro" as a lost cut from Millions Now Living Will Never Die. It might be amusing to hear Moore's cut once, and McEntire's work is genuinely exceptional, but that's not quite enough to make Bustin' + Dronin' worthwhile. And the second disc, a collection of six songs recorded at John Peel's home for broadcast on the DJ's show, is strong, proving that Blur live is a dynamic, intoxicating force, but its release is pointless, since all of the songs were released once as B-sides for the "On Your Own" singles, and once again on the "MOR" single. In other words, the collectors, who are the only ones who need this disc, already own this material twice, which makes its very inclusion puzzling and useless.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur's penitence for Brit-pop continues with the aptly named 13, which deals with star-crossed situations like personal and professional breakups with Damon Albarn's longtime girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of Elastica, and the group's longtime producer, Stephen Street. Building on Blur's un-pop experiments, the group's ambitions to expand their musical and emotional horizons result in a half-baked baker's dozen of songs, featuring some of their most creative peaks and self-indulgent valleys. Albarn has been criticized for lacking depth in his songwriting, but his ballads remain some of Blur's best moments. When Albarn and crew risk some honesty, 13 shines: on "Tender," Albarn is battered and frail, urged by a lush gospel choir to "get through it." His confiding continues on "1992," which alludes to the beginning – and ending – of his relationship with Frischmann. On "No Distance Left to Run," one of 13's most moving moments, Albarn addresses post-breakup ambivalence, sighing, "I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe while you sleep." While these songs reflect Albarn's romantic chaos, "Mellow Song," "Caramel," and "Trimm Trabb" express day-to-day desperation. Musically, the saddest songs on 13 are also the clearest, mixing electronic and acoustic elements in sleek but heartfelt harmony. However, "B.L.U.R.E.M.I." is a by-the-numbers rave-up, and the blustery "Swamp Song" and "Bugman" nick Blur's old punky glam pop style but sound misplaced here. "Trailerpark" veers in yet another direction, a too-trendy trip-hop rip-off that emphasizes the band's musical fog, proving that William Orbit's kitchen-sink production doesn't serve the songs' – or the band's – best interests. 13's strange, frustrating combination of expert musicianship and self-indulgence reveals the sound of a band trying to find itself. With some closer editing, this could have been the emotionally deep, sonically wide album Blur yearns to make.

Review by Heather Phares, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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As Blur commenced recording on Think Tank, their seventh album, things got a little weird. Tensions between vocalist/songwriter Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon reached a boiling point following Albarn's success with his dance-oriented side project, Gorillaz, leading him to assert dominance over the band, all of which was at odds with a newly sober and somber Coxon, whose solo records were doggedly designed to appeal to small audiences. According to most press reports, the breaking point was Albarn bringing Fatboy Slim in for production work in Morocco (it's hard to write those words without believing them to be parody), leading toward Coxon's acrimonious departure and the turgid mess that is Think Tank. Given the Gorillaz and Fatboy Slim (who, after all the brouhaha, only produced two tracks) connections, it's easy to assume that Albarn is pushing Blur toward a heavy, heavy dance album, which isn't strictly true, partially because the band always have traded in alternative dance. Still, there's been a shift in approach. Where they used to use disco and house beats as a foundation (see "Girls and Boys" or "Entertain Me"), Blur now borrow modern dance's fondness, even reliance, on atmosphere over song and structure – which is kind of ironic, of course, since the group have always excelled at song and structure in the past. In the post-Coxon era, all that's tossed aside as Albarn turns his attention to electronic art-rock as thin as a dime. Make no mistake, even if bassist Alex James and Dave Rowntree are along for the ride, this is the sound of Albarn run amuck, a (perhaps inevitable) development that even voracious Blur supporters secretly feared could ruin the band – and it has. Why? Because Albarn's talents cry out for a collaborator. He has great ideas but he needs help not just in the execution, but sorting out what ideas are good. The problem is, he's charismatic enough to coast by on his book smarts and good looks, until somebody – Coxon, Stephen Street, Dan the Automator – calls him into check, and now that he's had enough success, he's convinced he can do it on his own. So, Think Tank is the Damon Show, and it reveals that the emperor has no clothes or sense. Apart from the fine, deliberate opening gambit of "Ambulance" and "Out of Time" – the first a perfectly arranged, ominously lush mood piece; the other a hushed, melancholic elegy in the same vein as "To the End" and "Tender," though not as good as either – Think Tank sounds for all the world exactly like Blur B-sides from Parklife to Blur, complete with the hiccupping analog synths and meandering instrumentals, but without the sense of songcraft and with less imaginative arrangements (remember, elastic codas with a noodling saxophone line do not equal experimental; it's lazy focus). Those songs that do sound more substantial than B-sides are severely hurt by Coxon's absence: Witness the pleasantly sweet "Good Song," built on a Pro-Tools acoustic guitar loop which drains the song of emotion, when Graham would have let the song breathe, or how the creepy crawl of "Battery in Your Leg" winds up eating its own tail through its hermetically sealed arrangement. These problems all derive from one simple thing – since Albarn has nobody to challenge him, he's unwittingly pawning off an album of half-baked demos and unfinished B-sides. And this isn't the result of a musical departure, unless you count the departure of songwriting – this is the sound of Blur without the hooks, smarts, tunes, or even the sense of adventure. Sure, it might be easier to accept if it was called a Damon Albarn solo album, but that's splitting hairs. A lousy album is a lousy album, no matter who gets credit.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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Blur – Complete Studio Albums Collection 1991-2003 [Japanese Releases] 20 CD [Re-Up]

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