Blur's 13: A Few Great Songs, A Few Awful Songs
Written: May 10 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tender, No Distance Left to Run, a few others...
Cons: A whole bunch of forgettable garbage...
The Bottom Line: Blur tried a few new things and regurgitated a few old things to put together these thirteen tracks. I'm definitely not impressed on the whole.
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| lambchops's Full Review: 13 by Blur |
No band is ever exempt from releasing a bad album—including uber-popular British alt-popsters Blur. Their albums are unpredictable with some being incredible, others being fine, and still others being genuinely and disappointingly forgettable. One such misstep is with their ambitious 1999 album 13.
After releasing a string of albums throughout the 1990s and gaining critical and popular support, Blur was bound to flub up. In some ways, 13 is a great album with some amazing ballads (most notably the album opener Tender). But at the same time, it is also tries a bit too hard to be something it’s not. This is not a deep album and it’s not a far reaching album. Rather, it’s merely the product of a band trying some new hats on for size (and none of them in the end fitting).
13 just does not feel right. The songs are split between those that are uncharacteristically emotionally gripping and stupidly indulgent. It doesn’t help that electronica producer William Orbit had a hand at this work—his style of production isn’t in the least bit fitting to Blur’s music. Most troubling however are the band’s turns toward the trendy on one hand and the dated on the other.
Damon Albarn (vocals), Graham Coxon (guitar), Alex James (bass), and Dave Rowntree (drums) have no business dabbling in trip-hop regardless of how popular it is at this moment. Trailer Park is a messy, ugly lump of musical debris. Orbit’s production is hollow and emphasizes the noise and beat rather than the music and melody. It lacks direction and wears my patience thin—from the stupid spacey keys to the unimportant vocalizations it’s just not worth hearing.
There are other troubling moments spread throughout, a fact which obviously makes 13 a chore to enjoy. B.L.U.R.E.M.I., Swamp Song, Bugman, and album ender Optigan 1 are all bizarre selections. Ranging from the chaotic and unnecessarily noisy B.L.U.R.E.M.I. through the painfully dated and not at all fitting Swamp Song and Bugman through the weird Optigan 1 there’s much too much wrong with 13 to rank it even close to among the band’s “best” offerings.
But what I really have problems with is that 13 includes some of my favorite songs from Blur. Tender is a truly outstanding song—one of the most touching of the band’s long career. From the moment it begins, there is a clear understated and almost acoustic slant. It’s a wide, deep, expansive piece of brilliant music. Albarn’s voice is uneasy and organic and the tune is memorable. Tender stays with me long after it’s ended (keep in mind it goes on for nearly eight minutes). It is so good that I can almost disregard those songs which grate on my nerves.
There are other great moments worth checking out from the jangly and groovy Coffee & TV through the confessional 1992 (which speaks to his relationship with Justine Frischmann of Elastica) and from the touching and heartfelt No Distance Left to Run through Mellow Song. There are some fine moments, but too many inexcusably miserably ones to wholly recommend 13.
I’ve found Blur to be a bit hit and miss in their years of recording. On the hit side you have 1994’s breakthrough Parklife (which I didn’t like as much as some other folks), Blur (1997), and even 1993’s Modern Life Is Rubbish. In contrast there are albums like 13, Leisure, and most recently Think Tank which call into question the lasting power of the band’s discography on the whole. Blur has already proven that they can write a mean hook and entertain, but do yourself a favor and don’t like 13 is all the band has to offer. If you have any question of the band’s validity, I implore of you to listen to Tender because that’s what Blur is all about.
Rating: 3/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Tender
02. Bugman
03. Coffee & TV
04. Swamp Song
05. 1992
06. B.L.U.R.E.M.I.
07. Battle
08. Mellow Song
09. Trailer Park
10. Caramel
11. Trimm Trabb
12. No Distance Left to Run
13. Optigan 1
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Related Reviews:
Parklife (1994)
http://www.epinions.com/content_63337565828
MOR (1997)
http://www.epinions.com/content_117078593156
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
lambchops
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Member: Shelly T.
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
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Bye-bye CL hat. Hopefully I'll write some new reviews some time soon!
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