Artist
Alternative Rock (Modern Rock) band from London (England).
Blur formed in 1989 as Seymour in Colchester, composed of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon (1989-2002, 2009- ), Alex James (2), and Dave Rowntree.
Blur's early releases (the singles "There's No Other Way", "Bang", "She's So High", "I Know", and the album "Leisure") were considered indie or alternative rock, heavily influenced by the danceable rhythms of "baggy" bands like The Stone Roses and noisepop bands like My Bloody Valentine, with strains of weirder ideas running throughout, like Syd Barrett (this was often more readily apparent on several single B-sides, where the group let loose its more atavistic, dark side). By 1992, the group was keen on reinventing themselves with a newer, smarter sound and sense of purpose, eschewing the sounds that were coming out of the U.S. specifically, and returning to a retro spectrum of British rock and pop music: British Invasion groups, Mod groups, Psychedelic Rock, even nostalgic music from World War II. They released their second album, "Modern Life Is Rubbish", in 1993, to moderate success and began attracting attention for their stubborn determination to lead Britain out of the miasma that was the grunge years.
Building on the qualified success of "Modern Life Is Rubbish" and its accompanying singles, and aided by groups like Suede, Blur rolled out the carpet for the Britpop cultural movement that would all but engulf the UK for two years, releasing in 1994 what was essentially seen by the general public as the Britpop flagship album, "Parklife". Everything changed culturally, and Blur was riding the crest of that cultural wave. Following rapidly on the heels of the tipping point that was "Parklife", the group's 1995 album "The Great Escape" was a vividly nervy and somewhat cartoonish version of the same formula. It left the group with a hangover that it determined it could only cure by taking several steps back from the Britpop sound and culture. The group re-embraced America, digging into influences like Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., The Pixies.
By the time Blur's fifth studio album, "Blur", came out in 1997, the group had all but severed ties from Britpop and were returning to the same noisy, somewhat spastic experimentalism that was a hallmark of their pre-Blur early days in the late 1980s as a indie artrock group Seymour, only this time the music informed by a broader range of influences. Subsequent albums "13" and "Think Tank" further increased the group's distance from Britpop, eventually encompassing a great diversity of sounds and influences from all over the globe. On February 19, 2015, Blur made a surprise announcement that they'd finished a new album, "The Magic Whip", to be made available to the public on April 25, 2015, and also released a new song, "Go Out".
Noteworthy live & session members:
Wayne Hernandez: lead vocalist with backing choirs since 1997
Simon Tong: guitarist; replaced Coxon for 2003–04 tour
When marked as a copyright holder, use Blur (2).
Tracks
A1
She's So High
A2
Bang
A3
Slow Down
A4
Repetition
A5
Bad Day
A6
Sing
B1
There's No Other Way
B2
Fool
B3
Come Together
B4
High Cool
B5
Birthday
B6
Wear Me Down
C1
For Tomorrow
C2
Advert
C3
Colin Zeal
C4
Pressure On Julian
D1
Star Shaped
D2
Blue Jeans
D3
Chemical World
E1
Sunday Sunday
E2
Oily Water
E3
Miss America
E4
Villa Rosie
F1
Coping
F2
Turn It Up
F3
Resigned
G1
Girls & Boys
G2
Tracy Jacks
G3
End Of The Century
H1
Parklife
H2
Bank Holiday
H3
Badhead
H4
The Debt Collector
H5
Far Out
I1
To The End
I2
London Loves
I3
Trouble In The Message Centre
I4
Clover Over Dover
J1
Magic America
J2
Jubilee
J3
This Is A Low
J4
Lot 105
K1
Stereotypes
K2
Country House
K3
Best Days
L1
Charmless Man
L2
Fade Away
L3
Top Man
L4
The Universal
M1
Mr. Robinson's Quango
M2
He Thought Of Cars
M3
It Could Be You
M4
Ernold Same
N1
Globe Alone
N2
Dan Abnormal
N3
Entertain Me
N4
Yuko And Hiro
O1
Beetlebum
O2
Song 2
O3
Country Sad Ballad Man
O4
M.O.R.
P1
On Your Own
P2
Theme From Retro
P3
You're So Great
P4
Death Of A Party
Q1
Chinese Bombs
Q2
I'm Just A Killer For Your Love
Q3
Look Inside America
Q4
Strange News From Another Star
R1
Movin' On
R2
Essex Dogs
S1
Tender
S2
Bugman
S3
Coffee & TV
T1
Swamp Song
T2
1992
T3
B.L.U.R.E.M.I.
U1
Battle
U2
Mellow Song
U3
Trailerpark
V1
Caramel
V2
Trimm Trabb
V3
No Distance Left To Run
V4
Optigan 1
W1
Ambulance
W2
Out Of Time
W3
Crazy Beat
X1
Good Song
X2
On The Way To The Club
X3
Brothers And Sisters
Y1
Caravan
Y2
We've Got A File On You
Y3
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Y4
Sweet Song
Z1
Jets
Z2
Gene By Gene
Z3
Battery In Your Leg
Releases
Countries
Japan, UK & Europe
Members
Damon Albarn,Graham Coxon,Dave Rowntree,Alex James (2)
