A woo hoo! Blur's "Song 2" is forever embedded in the American psyche. It was their biggest song in the US and helped launch the success of their eponymous fifth studio album on this side of the pond. But there's so much more to the band and the album than the tension and release of that fuzzed out, hook filled song. After epitomizing Britpop with The Great Escape the band had only one choice, change things up and embrace the weird. They turned toward American indie rock bands like Pavement and Sonic Youth for inspiration. Their sound became infused with raw emotion as their guitars grew ever more distorted. Bowie and the Beatles pop up in different places, as the band embraces their inherent eclecticism. They even enlisted Brian Eno for some help with production. Whatever inner tensions there may have been the rest of the band was right to listen to Graham Coxon when he said they should change direction. Blur is arguably the band's most successful effort.

• 180 gram pressing
• includes free download
• music label: Food 1997 / 2012

reviewed by Hank Ohs 02/2015