Blur (Blur album)

Blur
A nurse pushes a hospital bed. A patient, who is in the bed in this scene, is being rushed into the emergency ward of a hospital. The band's name/album title is seen on the center left.
Studio album by
Released10 February 1997 (1997-02-10)
RecordedJune – November 1996
Studio
Genre
Length56:53
LabelFood
Producer
Blur chronology
Live at the Budokan
(1996)
Blur
(1997)
Bustin' + Dronin'
(1998)
Singles from Blur
  1. "Beetlebum"
    Released: 16 January 1997[1]
  2. "Song 2"
    Released: 7 April 1997[2]
  3. "On Your Own"
    Released: 16 June 1997[3]
  4. "M.O.R."
    Released: 15 September 1997[4]

Blur is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 10 February 1997 by Food Records. Blur had previously been broadly critical of American popular culture and their previous albums had become associated with the Britpop movement, particularly Parklife, which had helped them become one of Britain's leading pop acts. After their previous album, The Great Escape, the band faced media backlash and relationships between the members became strained.

Under the suggestion of the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, the band underwent a stylistic change, becoming influenced by American indie rock bands such as Pavement. Recording took place in London as well as in Reykjavík, Iceland. Drummer Dave Rowntree described the music on the album as being more aggressive and emotional than their previous work. Producer Stephen Street claimed that lead singer-songwriter Damon Albarn had started writing about more personal experiences while Coxon revealed that listening to his lyrics it was clear to him that "he'd obviously gone off his head a bit more".

Despite worries from Blur's label, EMI, and the music press that the change in style would alienate the band's predominantly teenage fanbase and that the album would flop as a result, Blur, as well as lead single, "Beetlebum", reached the top of the UK charts and the album was certified platinum. The album also reached the top 20 in six other countries. The success of "Song 2" led to Blur becoming the band's most successful album in the US where the Britpop scene had been largely unsuccessful. The album received positive reviews from most music critics, many praising the stylistic change as well as Albarn's songwriting. This is the last album to feature longtime producer Stephen Street, until his return for The Magic Whip (2015).

  1. ^ "ビートルバム | ブラー" [Beetlebum | Blur] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 5 April 1997. p. 31.
  3. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 14 June 1997. p. 43.
  4. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 13 September 1997. p. 33.