Blur - 13 (13 - Blur)

Member Name: davepridd

Product:	13 - Blur
Date:	06/07/00 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unique, experimental

Disadvantages: Not for everyone

This is a hard album to make an objective opinion about, because some of the sounds are just so unusual and experimental. Whilst some songs are quite easy to listen to, some sound completely random, changing course and paying little attention to traditional song structure. However, it is hard to criticize this as you can't help to congratulate Blur for trying something new in an increasingly commercial and chart based marketplace.

I think this is the sort of album that may be seen as a classic in ten years time when our tastes have changed, and we will appreciate its pioneering spirit, but for now it is quite heavy going. However, there is a fine line between experimentation and self-indulgence which I think this album occassionaly steps a bit to close to, especially in some of the guitar work.

There are still some great moments to this album, namely all of the singles, the hardcore Bugman and the dreamy Battle. At the moment, it is an album that I rarely listen to, but it is worth remembering how alien some of the sounds on Sergeant Pepper or Scott 4 must have sounded when they were released in the late 60s, and I think that the Beatles comparison could be quite appropriate for Blur.

Summary: