Most Blur-like albums

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The Specials - More Specials (Especially side two)
David Bowie - Lodger
XTC - Black Sea

Post 'em

[TracyJosh]

Always thought Crowded House - Temple of Low Men is quite Blur-like. Similar whacky synth sounds, slightly new wave and also very Beatles and Kinks inspired arrangements. Kaiser Chief's debut deserves a mention unfortunately.

Pink Floyd - Piper at the gates of dawn
The Kinks - Something else by the kinks
The Beatles - Sgt Peppers and The White Album
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

[Mallard No. 22]

Yes, I see what you mean about the Kaiser Chiefs.

[damon008]

lol graham,, actually guests on that chefs album lol

[Mallard No. 22]

Yes and I agree about 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn'. The earlier-Blur work (c. 1991) often sounded under its influence.

I always think that some mid 70s music, in particular Steve Harley (& Cockney Rebel) and David Essex, influenced Blur - particularly the 'cockney vocal' style.

[stephen]

I don't expect anyone to agree with me but Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons sounds like a production of 13 in an alternate universe.

[TracyJosh]

See where you are coming from. I had a wee nostalgia trip with MOTNF recently and I did find it quite Blur-like. Great album. Takes me back to care-free teenage summers of Ecstasy, cheap cider and the scent of female deodorant.

They were one of the main supports for the first big reunion shows were they not?

[stephen]

Yeah they supported in blur's first reunion tour. Although they lost their edge by then a little bit.

[Pavlich]

I used to love Klaxons and thought they were just masters of melody. So many of those songs had two or three hooks in them. It wasn't a deep album or overly complex but it was a great debut and was a bonafide unique, bright sound that shaped a subculture that seeped into plenty of avenues. That's a bit rarer now. But I knew someone who said to me they're all completely talentless – can't play their instruments well, aren't that good at songwriting – and that they'd fail badly and never write a really great song let alone a good album again.

He was completely right. Everything after was shit. Echoes was alright and Twin Flames was a pretty cool song but they took like four years for a follow-up and it wasn't the sculpted, album's album it needed to be after such a long break. Plus they demoed like two full albums and scrapped it. And the third was so bad I don't even know why they bothered because it was so lacking in interest.

[stephen]

Absolutely. It sounds like they really struggled with the second album (second album syndrome). But after the 4 years you would have thought they would have had a really solid album. I've heard the claims that they didn't know their instruments, I don't know how true that is.

There's a really good performance on jools holland of echoes and theres also some earlier stuff of their first album where the guitarist seems very erratic. I'm no expert but just because he's erratic doesn't mean he's no good, in fact surely that would make him better? I dunno.

I think the sound they were trying to produce was probably too difficult in the long run and they had to tailor and change it and it just didn't work out in the end.