Artist: Blur
Album Title: Blur
Label: Food/Virgin
Bones:
Summary: An intense psychedelic journey
Reviewed By: Kingy

Having failed to make it in the US with four albums, Blur almost broke up in early 1996, instead deciding to retreat to Iceland to work on something new for which they'd receive due recognition. And it's a good thing they did: Blur, their fifth album finally earned them an audience in the US thanks largely to the success of the single Song 2.

After pondering for a while over an angle to take, I concluded that when listened to from start to finish the album could be the soundtrack for a psychedelic experience. Beetlebum immediately establishes a lazy feel, with Damon Albarn and Graham Cox creating an undeniably druggy atmosphere through their combination of keyboards and guitar respectively. Song 2, the second single, is a thrashy composition reminiscent of alternative American rock with a powerful nirvana-esque riff which can be seen to represent the initial intense stages.

The main body of the album is a constantly changing myriad of emotions generated within an otherworldly environment. The druggy atmosphere first really settles in on the third track, Country Sad Ballad Man and is somewhat calming after the first two songs, with a very surreal mood thanks again to the combination of Albarn and Cox. On Your Own is a sing-a-long pop song with twisting guitars and cosmic keyboards, and Youre So Great is a love song with dynamically affecting acoustic guitar work from Graham Coxon. Chinese Bombs is short, fast-paced and noisy with piercing guitars and screaming vocals, and Killer For Your Love kind of drones on with a lazy guitar riff and distant vocals.

Look Inside America and Strange News From Another Star step it down a level to lo-fi acoustic rock, which could represent the beginning of the comedown, and the monotonously disturbing Essex Dogs with its growling bass, tearing guitars and atmospheric keyboards, could be representative of the tedious final stages of a psychedelic experience. A brief yet intricately crafted guitar and keyboard arrangement follows to signify peaceful 'post-popping' slumber.

I believe that the strength of an album can be judged largely by how well it plays and flows from start to finish, making Blur a personal favourite. Whilst possessing many excellent songs which work just fine on their own, (Song 2, Country Sad Ballad Man, Youre So Great, Look Inside America) I believe that this album is best appreciated in one full sitting. It does drag in places, however this only makes it more suited to a party environment, as the mood is allowed to change and fluctuate whilst still remaining devoted to a generating a compellingly surreal psychedelic vibe