More than four years have passed since Blur’s
\n13<\/i>. The band that defined the Brit-pop genre and filled the
\ngap between the Smiths and Radiohead has finally resurfaced. Each
\nmember went on their own during their extended hiatus and promise
\nof a new album. Not surprisingly, the most successful member has
\nbeen lead singer Damon Albarn.<\/p>\n
Albarn co-created the hip-hop cartoon disguised as a group with
\nThe Gorillaz. Their album sold more world-wide than any other Blur
\nalbum and was actually Albarn’s only big break in the U.S. Since
\nhis work and touring with the most creative and uber-successful
\nvisual band was not enough, he invaded Paul Simon’s territory and
\ngrouped with Africa African musicians to create Mali Music.<\/p>\n
What were the other members up to?<\/p>\n
Graham Coxon (lead guitarist) continued on with a modest solo
\ncareer and has settled into relative obscurity. Alex James
\n(bassist) and David Rowntree (drummer) seemed to be waiting around,
\nfor they have not hitched onto another band, made any solo albums
\nor done anything notable. Coxon was the only member that decided
\nnot to return as a full-time player on
\nThink Tank<\/i>, but did contribute to the final track, “Battery
\nIn Your Leg.”<\/p>\n
Before I tear a gaping hole in this album, it is my privilege to
\npoint out the positive. There are a few excellent recordings here
\nthat should be considered definite grabs. “Ambulance” contrasts
\nprogressively-layered monotonous vocals and dynamic electronica to
\ncreate a melodic neo-shoegazing tune. There are some off-the-wall
\nsounds (like a squeaky bed and rhythmic clatter), but when “Gene by
\nGene” is pumped with a funk and drum beat, amazing and unorthodox
\npop developed. “Out of Time” is sung with an aching melancholy,
\nwhile it boasts fun experimental (drum and flamenco guitar combo
\nverses an “alien invasion” soundtrack) support.<\/p>\n
*Breathes*<\/p>\n
On with the negative…<\/p>\n
\nThink Tank<\/i> has no coherent sequence; the songs fail to build
\noff each other. If there was a worse possible order, it would be
\ndifficult to create. For example, “Crazy Beat” is a jarring and
\nunnecessary jolt that removed any of the satisfying energy received
\nfrom the first two tracks. In the middle, the predominately
\nhookless\/slow tempo songs drag you into a slumber that only a die
\nhard fan would or could wish to work him\/herself out of.<\/p>\n
For the first time in their career, Blur has deliberately
\ndepended on production tricks rather than extending them as a tool
\nfor art with commercial accessibility. The Blur formula does not
\nequate without the Coxon element.<\/p>\n
There was only one other notable member of Blur outside of
\nAlbarn and that is the man who left. The other members are session
\nplayers for practical purposes. No overall sense of a band
\nperformance was evident without Coxon’s balance and great riff
\ncreations. Most of the rock element oozed down the drain as he
\nclosed the door behind him. Since I learned that Graham Coxon has a
\nquiet yet strong personality, he was likely the reality check to
\nDamon’s ego and the balance to his creative diarrhea.<\/p>\n
\nThink Tank<\/i> has solid moments, but is a major disappointment
\ndue to its jumbled production, excessive filler, poor execution and
\njust plain dull songs. Dear readers, if you walk past this in the
\nrecord store and see this record; just pass through. If the money
\nis still burning a hole in your pocket, we can make
\narrangements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":26403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6868],"rating":[5616],"class_list":["post-37735","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-blur","rating-rating-d"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37735"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37735"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}