A band would be expected to change a fair amount when they lose a quarter of its staff and Graham Coxon, as lead guitarist, was always a pretty major member of the band. But times change and it was with an odd mixture of surprise and expectedness that he left the band. It is actually quite difficult to say what difference this has made to the sound of the newest Blur album as it is always difficult to tell what their next album is going to sound like anyway.
I actually went out and bought the single - Out of Time (my first DVD single) without hearing it and was very pleasantly surprised. A nice simple track with similar qualities to the last two lead Blur singles (Beetlebum and Tender) in that it was a soft slow burner that boded well for the forthcoming album. The greatest strength that Blur possess is, not only their ability to develop from album to album, but also to provide a variety within their albums.
The songs vary from the quick, punky, one-minute "We've Got A File On You" to the slow burning "Out Of Time" taking in the groove of (the excellently named) "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" and simple charm of "Sweet Song". Individually, the songs are fantastic and the album is very well crafted with a nice progression throughout to make a satisfying whole.
There are some similarities between Think Tank and "13" with a lot of different sounds thrown in to make most songs quite complex in terms of pure instrumentation. I have to say the "sound" and production of the album is excellent. The type of noodling evident on both Think Tank and "13" is usually used to obscure a lack of focused songwriting (although I am a fan of soundscapes) but this is not really true of a "pop" band of the calibre of Blur. The beauty of this album is that each track would be similarly brilliant without the instrumentation and production.
I have not felt like this about an album for a long time and I have been repeat playing it for much of the week. Special mention must go to the packaging which is red book styled and similar, though smaller, than that used by Radiohead for thier "Amnesiac" album. It isn't as nice as that and limited edition packaging always causes storage issues but it is still nicer than a standard jewel case.
I actually went out and bought the single - Out of Time (my first DVD single) without hearing it and was very pleasantly surprised. A nice simple track with similar qualities to the last two lead Blur singles (Beetlebum and Tender) in that it was a soft slow burner that boded well for the forthcoming album. The greatest strength that Blur possess is, not only their ability to develop from album to album, but also to provide a variety within their albums.
The songs vary from the quick, punky, one-minute "We've Got A File On You" to the slow burning "Out Of Time" taking in the groove of (the excellently named) "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" and simple charm of "Sweet Song". Individually, the songs are fantastic and the album is very well crafted with a nice progression throughout to make a satisfying whole.
There are some similarities between Think Tank and "13" with a lot of different sounds thrown in to make most songs quite complex in terms of pure instrumentation. I have to say the "sound" and production of the album is excellent. The type of noodling evident on both Think Tank and "13" is usually used to obscure a lack of focused songwriting (although I am a fan of soundscapes) but this is not really true of a "pop" band of the calibre of Blur. The beauty of this album is that each track would be similarly brilliant without the instrumentation and production.
I have not felt like this about an album for a long time and I have been repeat playing it for much of the week. Special mention must go to the packaging which is red book styled and similar, though smaller, than that used by Radiohead for thier "Amnesiac" album. It isn't as nice as that and limited edition packaging always causes storage issues but it is still nicer than a standard jewel case.
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