Think Tank - Blur

When your band is fronted by the most Earnest man in the World, it obviously makes for a hard time when in the studio. Blur have always been a band who have struggled internally with the twin creative forces of singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon, and it was less of a surprise than it should have been when Coxon finally announced he was quitting the band so he could focus on releasing crappy music as a solo artist. More surprising was the decision by the rest of the band to continue without him and record a seventh album in Morocco. With help from William Orbit and Fatboy Slim, amongst others, the remaining three bandmembers slowly put together their new ...  Read the complete review

This album has its moments. The track opener, 'Ambulance' is superb, the drumming, bass line and guitar all create a beautiful sound which is only enhanced by Damon's stunning delievery of the lyrics 'cos I love you' The album continues its strong start with the fantastic 'Out of Time' which features great lyrics and a great guitar riff. The next track, 'Crazy Beat' is one of the many dirges this album offers, I get the impression that if an unknown band recorded this song and sent it to a record company as a demo, it would be thrown in the bin, so how this song was released as a single totally fails me! 'Good Song' lives up to its name, just about. It has a pleasant ...  Read the complete review

Think Tank saw the departure of Graham Coxon from Blur to pursue his frankly distinctinctively average solo career leaving Damon Albarn basically to do whatever he wanted, the only opposing creative force in Blur now gone. Graham does features on Battery In Your Leg however but the track does not stick out on the album. I've picked out a few of my favourite tracks. Out Of Time Multi-cultural acoustic ditty, there's guitar, double bass, bongos and some odd electronic noises. It sounds a bit like some of the Gorillaz stuff right? I think Think Tank was a more muted version of Damon's artistic vision for Gorillaz. Its a great song though, the intro drags on ...  Read the complete review

More than fours years have passed since Blur's '13'. The band that defined the Brit-Pop genre and filled the gap between the Smiths and Radiohead has finally resurfaced. Each member went on their own during their extended hiatus and promise of a new album. Not surprisingly, the most successful member has been Damon Albarn (lead singer). the rest is on u-rate-it.com More than fours years have passed since Blur's '13'. The band that defined the Brit-Pop genre and filled the gap between the Smiths and Radiohead has finally resurfaced. Each member went on their own during their extended hiatus and promise of a new album. Not ...  Read the complete review

"Think Tank" saw the (sad) departure of Graham Coxon from the band, but it didn't stop Damon and the guys from producing a strong album. "Out of time" is a beautiful and romantic song, featuring an awesome east european sounding solo from Damon! "Good Song" is one of my favourite Blur tracks, its laid back and melodic. But my favourite track off the album is "Battery In Your Leg", this includes the last contribution from Graham Coxon, a guitar riff. This song is written about the band, and if you can catch any footage of the band performing this you can see how emotional this is for Damon, Graham is his best friend and he obviously ...  Read the complete review