Blur - 13 - 1999 - Already Been Deluxed!

Already Been Deluxed - Day Two - Blur's album "13"

After the release of all of the Blur Deluxe Editions, I thought that this one was the only one that I couldn't and wouldn't tinker with.  It's complete, and has it all.  Not my favorite of theirs, it is still their most mature and best written.  It's really their most vulnerable, I feel, and definitely an example of their best production (William Orbit, of course)

Again, nothing I could add, but needed to be posted.  If you don't have it already.....

Blur - 13 - 1999 - Disc One

Blur - 13 - 1999 - Disc Two

Starting tomorrow, I will be normalizing all of the tracks that I post.  Makes for a better sounding album, and I just found the software to do it....

Blur - Parklife II -1994

Absolutely cheated.  That's how I felt.  I was a junior in college, struggling to keep up with my studies while working 35 hours a week to make rent and pay for school.  I sacrificed 12 bucks to get a new album that I knew I couldn't afford.  I purchased Parklife, and put it in my CD player when I got back to my apartment.  Boys & Girls blared out of my speakers, and I sat in abject horror, not knowing what had happened to the Blur I knew only from their Leisure album.  This was not There's No Other Way.  This was annoying and twangy and it really pissed me off that the one album I chose to purchase, out of everything else I could have spent my money on, had been this one.  I listened to it twice, and finally sold it back to the used CD store for something else.

Then, Great Escape came out...  Wow.  Then their self-titled... Even better.  Then 13.  FINE!  I get it!  They're fucking awesome, alright?! 

I eventually went back, years later, and repurchased the album to become more acquainted with it.  Honestly, it is a great album, with a lot of great material.  Some of my favorites include This Is a Low, Parklife, End of A Century, and a couple others.  And, their PSB remix of Girls & Boys is spectacular.

My ONLY qualm with these guys is their song Red Necks.  I feel that it is very prejudice and stereo-typical, and condescending.  In today's PC environment, I would say it is borderline on bullying of sorts.  I'm sure they wouldn't want me to sing a song about Brits with ugly teeth, or homosexuals or anything like that.  I am always told and I have always felt that I should accept everyone, regardless of race, religion, orientation, etc.  It's just that society has seemed to find it acceptable to make fun of Christian, white, American males, and then chastising us if we say anything about it.  I find it disgusting. 

Regardless, the track is on this "Disc Two".  I weeded out the redundant demos and radio sessions, as they are unnecessary overall.  Also, no live tracks.  My front cover looks alright, but I hate how the back cover turned out.  Half tempted to scan the original back cover, take out the album tracks and put the new tracks in their place. 

Hope you all like....

Blur - Parklife II -1994

 a little note for future reference...

Old School Techno Rave Week starts on December 12th.  Mark your calendars!

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish & Popscene - 1993

At the time, I thought that Blur's Leisure was an awesome album.  I loved the Madchester-esque sound and the Indie-pop Psychedelia that the band performed and exuded.  So, when Modern Life Is Rubbish came out, I was expecting a continuation of that same style and theme.

Boy was I wrong.

When MLIR came out, I immediately disliked it, and didn't pick up another Blur album again until The Great Escape (and that, only because they were competing with Oasis, and I wanted to make the comparison myself.) After the Great Escape, I did buy their self-title, and then 13.  ONLY THEN did I go back and listen to MLIR and Parklife.  That is when I realized I had missed some great stuff.

I think the reason why I didn't care for the sound of MLIR at the time is because it sounded so different.  But, looking back now, I realize that they were developing their own style separate from Madchester, simply to survive.  The other Mad-Bands didn't grow or mature, so they died when the craze died.  Blur developed a style all their own and wrote some incredible songs on MLIR.  This album also started the awesome cover art for their singles, as well.  All of the single sleeves were unique and art of their own.  I loved them all.

I threw on the Popscene EP as it truly bridged the sound between Leisure and MLIR.  None of the material on Popscene fits on either album, so it's best to keep it on it's own.

I'm pretty sure I got all of the demos, b-sides and outtakes from MLIR.  And I didn't include any remixes.  If there are any good remixes from this era, I would love to have them, but I don't...  Anyhow, I feel that my version definitely cleans up the Deluxe version that they released years ago.  It seemed very muddled and unorganized, and made it difficult to listen to in one setting.  This pulls it into a more unified presentation, and easily makes a great album even greater.  The train covers were a lot of fun to make, too...

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish Disc One - 1993

Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish Disc Two - 1993

 Blur - Popscene - 1993

Blur - The Great Escape II - 1995

My second favorite album by the supergroup Blur, the Great Escape.  When the war between Blur and Oasis broke out, I was already knee-deep in Blur and hadn't listened to Oasis much, because I hated that song Live Forever.  This album was a monster for me.  I played it in the car on the way to Colorado and just had the speakers roaring.  Then, I got into Oasis.

Looking back on it objectively now, we may have been comparing apples to oranges, because Blur was more Pop and Oasis was more Rock.  Regardless, I now feel (and have felt since the late 90s) that Oasis is by far the superior band.  Not to say that Blur is bad by any means.  They're geniuses.  They just couldn't hold up against that Noel Gallagher.  He was just too much for them to handle.

I still love listening to this album.  the b-sides are great, too.  I know that they've released something like this already, but I needed to put my touch on it, and sort of make it an album of it's own.

I used the Universal picture sleeve as it was the easiest to alter.  But, I couldn't match the font.  Looks close enough.  Stereotypes was the best picture sleeve.  A blessed classic.

Blur - The Great Escape II - 1995

Blur - Leisure - 1991

I've heard that Damon and Graham weren't particularly proud of this first official album.  I don't know why.  I remember picking up the There's No Other Way CD single from a music store called Pickles, and being rather impressed.  It seemed that almost everything I picked up from the Food label was pretty sweet. 

Don't know if you would call this Madchester.  Is it "alternative"?  Is it Britpop or Britrock?  What would you call it?  I know that there are quite a few people from Great Britain who check out this site.  What did the British consider it when it came out?  Just Rock n Roll?  Whatever it is, it's attractive and addictive and fun to sing along with.

Obviously used the first two 7-inch single picture sleeves for the covers.  Much more fantastic than that stupid broad in the swimming cap.  Also, sort of jumbled the tracks around a bit, threw in a lot of bonus material from the deluxe set, got some great mixes, and ta-da!  A great collection and rather cohesive arrangement that makes the album itself incredible to listen to.  

Ennnn.....   joy!

Blur - Leisure - Disc 1 - 1991

Blur - Leisure - Disc 2 - 1991

I had trouble uploading these two.  Let me know if they don't work...