[rating=4.50]
For me, the whole NME-hyped feud between Oasis and Blur was a total mismatch. It was like Mike Tyson going up against Glass Joe. Andre the Giant vs. Lord Littlebrook. Let It Bleed vs. Dirty Work. You get the point…
Sure Oasis may have had some bigger instances of commercial success over their quirky counterparts, but Blur had them wiped in factors of coolness, creativity and song-craft. And if music is more than mere sonic wallpaper to you, those traits go a lot further than merely being able to vapidly churn out hits by swallowing huge chunks of the British Invasion and regurgitating them for the 1990s and 2000s to be played in some shithole bar or pub somewhere.
Blur did things against the grain. Their primary influences existed way far left of the radio dial, where the likes of Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock and early XTC were being ignored by the contingency of Britpop hopefuls flooding the market in the wake of the early 90s "Baggy" movement. But Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and David Rowntree embraced these odd fellows of modern rock as voraciously as Oasis hailed all things Lennon/Macca, weaving pure English gold on their first three albums, Leisure, Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife.
When the band wanted to make their mark on America, they did so by channeling the scrappy energy of its underground rock scene and seeking inspiration in the music of Pavement, Archers of Loaf and Sonic Youth for their mesmerizing eponymous fourth LP in 1997. For 1999’s 13, they went even deeper into that chasm of sound, adding elements of Albiniesque post-hardcore and Spacemen 3-type head jams to their uncanny brand of Britpop. By the time Blur called it quits in 2005, they were working as a three-legged dog in the absence of Coxon–who either left on his own accord or was fired by Albarn depending on who you talk to–and their last studio effort Think Tank came off as more of an extension of Damon’s increased sequestering into the confines of his now-defunct Gorillaz project with animator Jamie Hewlett than Blur…not exactly a bad thing, especially after digging it out seven years later, but not exactly what one expected from this group in the wake of 13’s experimental greatness (well, maybe just a little if you consider Albarn’s swan dive into the global groove these past few years).
When you look at the entirety of the Blur catalog, however, as you can upon the release of this exhaustive reissue celebrating the group’s 21st year, you will rediscover why Blur should always be considered–pound for pound–the best London rock band of the last two decades. And for those who cannot afford the $150 for the 18-CD, 3-DVD super deluxe shebang online or at your finer local record shop, obtaining it piecemeal is just as noble, if not more so in the fortunate event you have enough spare cash to invest in new music altogether let alone upgrades of your favorite records growing up. The only thing that sucks is that if you don’t plunk down the big bucks for the box, you won’t be privy to the four CDs of mouth watering rarities from all periods of the band’s career, from demos of their super early salad days as Seymour to material from an aborted recording sessions with Andy Partridge and Bill Laswell to the infamous "Sir Elton John’s Cock".
But there’s something about these stand alone re-mastered Blur albums, all of which have been amended with bonus discs stuffed with rare and unreleased material from its accompanying era, that commands the fan’s attention, especially those who still value the importance of tangibility. And these individual sets are beauts, I tell you, complete with all sorts of b-sides, remixes, alternate takes, live cuts, radio sessions and fan club one-offs pertinent with the original release campaign for each work. Also within the confines of these classic EMI-style lift-top box jobs are four exclusive Blur artwork postcards and an expanded booklet that includes previously unseen photos and liner notes based on a brand new interview with all the band members, giving fans the most insightful and expansive overview of each one of these titles to date. It would be cool if EMI eventually made the exclusive box rarities available as its own release as well, don’t you think?
The group has supplemented this reunion beyond the box in recent weeks as well, offering their first smattering of new music since Think Tank with the "Under the Westway" b/w "The Puritan" 7-inch as well as an outstanding two-CD live document of their uber-patriotic comeback concert at the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, flanked by transcendent performances of such crowd faves as "Boys & Girls", "Beetlebum" and "Tender".
If you’ve always been on the right side of that whole Blur-Oasis dustup back in the Tony Blair days, you will not have a better time revisiting the madcap genius inside the catalog of England’s single best band of the last 20 years. Now all we can do is sit and wait for that new album to come through the chute.
