Blur

Blur's self-titled third album is the quartet's breakthrough effort, as the success of "Song 2" remains their only hint of a hit in the U.S. Released in 1997, Blur was an answer to Oasis' claims that they were the next Beatles and also reflected Graham Coxon's increasing infatuation with American lo-fi indie rock ("You're So Great," "Song 2," "Chinese Bombs"). Despite the seemingly dissimilar angles, Blur is a mostly streamlined affair thanks, in part, to Damon Albarn's succinct view of pop music ("M.O.R.," "Beetlebum"). Not all of these songs work, but the highs are very good.

Aside from a minor hit three years ago, with the perfect pop single "Girls and Boys,"
England's beloved Blur have never quite killed alternative-era America. The band's 1994
Parklife, with its deft character sketches and musical finesse, may have reminded Britain
how intimately pop can reflect that country's social and political swirl. But by the time the
1995 single "Country House" (off The Great Escape) appeared here, the conflicts... More >