Blur, Parklife. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Editions. Album Review.

Originally Published on L.S. Media. 30th July 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Parklife was Blur’s third studio album and from the moment the listener heard the now classic beginning, they realised that not only was it a winner, a piece of recoding history given to the fans by the musical equivalent of Prometheus, but that it also set the band finally on the road to being a class act. What nobody foresaw, no-one at all, was how it would go on to define a decade and a generation aching the get away from the pop driven banality of the last couple of years and endless soap opera stars turned singers.

Blur, Parklife. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Editions. Album Review. full post

(982 words, 1 image, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

Blur, The Great Escape. 21st Anniversary Edition. Album Review.

Originally Published on L.S Media. 30th July 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

It may have led to the most over-hyped moment in music since the Beatles/Stones battle to win fans in the sixties but Blur’s The Great Escape, the fourth studio album to get the 21st Anniversary edition make over, stands out as possibly the most cohesive, most entertaining and slyest dig at British life that the band produced.

Blur, The Great Escape. 21st Anniversary Edition. Album Review. full post

(828 words, 1 image, estimated 3:19 mins reading time)

Blur, 13. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Edition. Album Review.

First published on L.S. Media. 31st July 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Dave Rowntree, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Damon Albarn had been playing together for the best part of a decade and for the sixth studio album, the change of direction that had seeped and bled through on Blur had now become the norm for the band. The spectre of Brit-Pop was fully behind them and 13 showed that new level of maturity had come to fruition.

Blur, 13. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Edition. Album Review. full post

(694 words, 1 image, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

Blur, Blur. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Edition. Album Review.

Originally published on L.S. Media. 31st July 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ****

Another transformation for Blur for the self-titled 1997 fifth album, gone was the cheekiness, the underhand scathing appeal of the last two records and in its place something darker, more agile and strong sounding took hold.

Blur, Blur. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Edition. Album Review. full post

(639 words, 1 image, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

Blur, Think Tank. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Edition. Album Review.

Originally first published on L.S. Media 31st July 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

This is the next century…

Think Tank, the last studio album, so far, by Blur is one that for all the best will in the world is one that is confusing for Blur fans. Yes it’s Blur, the magic of Damon Albarn’s lyrics were still there and the musical talent of Alex James and Dave Rowntree were evident. What was missing was vital ingredient of Graham Coxon, without him Blur were a threesome for the first time in their career and it unfortunately showed as without his compatriot for all but one song, Damon Albarn sounds tired and it could be suggested that the pull of side project, Gorillaz, was too much for the talented song-writer to cope with.

Blur, Think Tank. 21st Anniversary Box-Set Edition. Album Review. full post

(505 words, 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Welcome To The New Site

Hi, welcome to my brand new site. I’m Ian D Hall and I am a writer, broadcaster, columnist and reviewer.

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(125 words, estimated 30 secs reading time)