13 : Blur [Import]

Length of Play - 67:07
After being coddled and caressed by the equisite opener, Tender (has a beat similar to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance"), one would think that "13" would be chock-full of relaxing, mellow, joyous music. That description; however, couldn't be more inaccurate. The bulk of this album is comprised of long, dreary, abrasive, dirge-like numbers. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but at times the downtrodden dissonance is just too much. "Battle" and "Caramel", for instance, are two seemingly endless tracks that carry off into oblivion. On the other hand, downers like "1992", a thrashing ballad that breaks into a Radioheadlike electronic explosion, "Trailerpark", a spooky, noir-sounding tune (think "I'm Just a Killer for your Love"), and "Bugman", a vicious, rocking stomp of a song, are beautifully bleak and stand out as excellent tracks. The highest points of the album though, in my opinion, are found outside of the aforementioned tracks of madness. "Coffee and TV", with its cool, swaggering pace, the morosely delightful "Mellow Song", and the helpless, breathtaking "No Distance Left to Run" are absolutely indispensable tracks. Also, for anyone who enjoys the strange-sounding coda, Optigan 1, check out the album "Spotlight on..." by Optiginally Yours. At times listening to this record can be quite harrowing, but all in all, it is definitely worthwhile music and a must have for Blur fans.

...heart-wrenching break-up with his girlfriend of 8 years, Elastica's Justine Frishmann. 13 is a dark record, produced by William Orbit. Nearly every song is injected with despair, sorrow, bitterness, and an achy, heart-breaking sadness. These moods are encompassed on such tracks as Tender, 1992, Battle, and the tear-jerking No Distance Left to Run. Also included are the trip-hop masterpiece Trimm Trabb, the humourous Trailerpark and B.L.U.R.E.M.I., and Coxon and Albarn's co-written pop-masterpiece, Coffee and TV.

After they'd shed their Britpop image with their self-titled album, Blur felt free to do whatever they wanted with their musical abilities. During this time Damon Albarn broke up with longtime girlfriend Justine Frischmann. Inspired by heartbreak, Blur went into the studio and made 13. In my opinion, this album is light years ahead of anything they had done or will ever do (judging by the dissapointing Think Tank)
It's a difficult first listen, particularly the second half of the disc, but give it your full attention a couple of times with headphones and you'll get into it.

13 contains a variety of styles, just like most other Blur albums. You get gospel on Tender, lo-fi on Bugman, Britpop on Coffee & TV, glam rock with Swamp Song, gloomy krautrock on 1992, punk on BLUREMI, trip hop on Trailerpark and even some sort of silent movie music on Optigan 1.

One song worthy of mention is Battle. Blur take all of Radiohead's Bends and OK Computer production "cliches" and turn them inside out then sling them into outer space. A seven minute track with a trippy beat, a mathmatical sounding keyboard, blaring distortion and mellow vocals. Sounds like it wouldn't work in theory, but it does. And how!

William Orbit produced this, and has done a good job of it. Each of the songs is thick with texture, emotion, experimentation and guitars. Damon sings with his heart on his sleeve, sleep in his eyes and a lump in his throat. Songs like "No Distance Left to Run" are heartbreaking to listen to, and the screaming vocals at the end of "Trimm Trabb" are Damon's angriest to date.

Graham's guitar is the best ever. It's genius. He does conventional, he does wacky, he does angry, he does spooky, he does mellow, he does intimate, he does shaky. It's all on here.

There are cool studio jams tacked onto the end of songs. There is white noise, brown noise, subliminal voices telling you to go to sleep, distortion, computer beeps and clicks, guitars that wail and gurgle like alien beasts, car engines firing up, Japanese crowds calling Blurs name, duck voiced aliens singing choruses. I could go on and on and on. Lots of weird sonic stuff here. There is so much stuff on this album that everytime I listen to it I hear something new, and I have listened to it a lot! With all the detail you will never get sick of the songs.

Not recommended for new Blur fans. This is unusual stuff, and Blur haven't quite done an album like it. If you like music by Radiohead, Yes, early King Crimson or Can, you should love this.

Easily 5 stars!