CD Project Thing #23 - Blur pt. 2

Blur - "Blur"
Blur - "Beetlebum" CD Single (UK Import)
Blur - "Song 2" CD Single (UK Import)
Blur - "On Your Own" CD Single (UK Import)
Blur - "M.O.R." CD Single (UK Import)

Finally, we're out from Britpop. It's all fine and good, but after a week it'll rot your mind. I can't imagine how Blur felt after years of it, but this was their response: an album that mostly sounds nothing like they've previously done, sounding like a lo-fi American indie-rock album more than anything. It's probably not a coincidence that it spawned their biggest US hit, "Song 2" (which I think is the first Blur song I ever knew). Not all of it works, but what does work is really good and a great changeup from the stale Britpop.

The highlight of the singles is a 6 track live peel session on "On Your Own". The band sounds way more interested than they did on the previous live album. It's so good, it would soon be released again...

Blur - "Live" EP (Dutch import)

But, no, not on this, although it's not too different. This was a Dutch radio session recorded like a week after the Peel session, and 4 of the songs are the same, another one had a similar live version released as a b-side on another single, and the last isn't that good. It's a good enough little show, but I hardly need both.

Blur - "Bustin' & Dronin'" (2 discs) (Japanese Import)

The third of Blur's Japanese-only albums, and the weirdest of the three. The first disc is 9 (mostly pretty awful) remixes of songs from "Blur", the second disc is the 6 song Peel session. The Peel session is good enough that it would make the disc worthwhile, but I already own it on the single, so what's the point? Strange, strange, strange.

Blur - "13"
Blur - "Tender" CD Single (UK Import)
Blur - "Coffee & TV" CD SIngle (UK Import)
Blur - "No Distance Left To Run" CD Single (3 discs) (UK Import)

An album sort of like the one before, but not really. There's a few weird rock songs like on "Blur", but my favorite songs on the album are probably the three singles, which are respectively a gospel ballad, a Graham Coxen-sung pop song and the saddest song ever. It's probably their most mature sounding album, and I think it's the last really good album they've done.

The b-sides here aren't so great, though. The big WTF moment is on "Tender", which for some reason as the album version of "Song 2" as a b-side. Uh, yeah. The "Coffee & TV" b-sides are just 4 remixes of "Bugman", one by each member of the band. The singles box set actually came out before "No Distance Left To Run" did, so the version in the box only has one b-side, but it's a really great one - a remix of "Tender" that's among my favorite remixes ever. Because I was trying to continue to get every Blur single ever (a persuit I later abandoned), I went on to buy the 2 part UK single for "No Distance Left To Run", which adds 2 new songs and a remix, but nothing I really need. They might be leaving, hopefully soon.

Blur - "Music Is My Radar" CD Single (2 discs) (UK Import)

The one new single off of "The Best Of Blur". The a-side is a pretty great African sounding track that sounds a lot like "Think Tank" would go on to. I've read that it was meant to be a b-side and "Black Book" (which became a b-side) was going to be an a-side, but I'm glad they changed their mind. The other 3 b-side are old live and peel versions of tracks from the very early 90s. Besides the a-side, not much point to it, and since I have that on the album, I don't think I need them.

Blur - "The Best Of Blur" (2 discs) (Canadian Import)

I'll be honest. For the first time on this list, I didn't listen to a disc here. I skipped the first disc, since I'd heard every song on it at least twice, and I thought I'd kill myself if I heard any more Britpop ever again. The second disc is 10 live versions of singles, and it's pretty decent. The highlight is "Tender", which just gets me every time.