At the time, I thought that Blur's Leisure was an awesome album. I loved the Madchester-esque sound and the Indie-pop Psychedelia that the band performed and exuded. So, when Modern Life Is Rubbish came out, I was expecting a continuation of that same style and theme. Boy was I wrong. When MLIR came out, I immediately disliked it, and didn't pick up another Blur album again until The Great Escape (and that, only because they were competing with Oasis, and I wanted to make the comparison myself.) After the Great Escape, I did buy their self-title, and then 13. ONLY THEN did I go back and listen to MLIR and Parklife. That is when I realized I had missed some great stuff.
I think the reason why I didn't care for the sound of MLIR at the time is because it sounded so different. But, looking back now, I realize that they were developing their own style separate from Madchester, simply to survive. The other Mad-Bands didn't grow or mature, so they died when the craze died. Blur developed a style all their own and wrote some incredible songs on MLIR. This album also started the awesome cover art for their singles, as well. All of the single sleeves were unique and art of their own. I loved them all.
Explore releases and tracks from Blur at Discogs. Shop for Vinyl, CDs and more from Blur at the Discogs Marketplace. Blur - The Great Escape album art.
I threw on the Popscene EP as it truly bridged the sound between Leisure and MLIR. None of the material on Popscene fits on either album, so it's best to keep it on it's own. I'm pretty sure I got all of the demos, b-sides and outtakes from MLIR. And I didn't include any remixes. If there are any good remixes from this era, I would love to have them, but I don't.
![Blur Blur](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125408156/791213687.jpeg)
![Blur The Great Escape Rar Blur The Great Escape Rar](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125408156/322602596.jpg)
Anyhow, I feel that my version definitely cleans up the Deluxe version that they released years ago. It seemed very muddled and unorganized, and made it difficult to listen to in one setting. This pulls it into a more unified presentation, and easily makes a great album even greater. The train covers were a lot of fun to make, too.
'The Great Escape is, in my humble opinion, the best and most underrated pop album of the 90's. It is an album where each song doesn't necessarily flow together and yet to the listener, it feels like the album created a world. In that world are characters that are pretty bummed out.
Damon Albarn sympathizes with these characters, it's as if he makes fun of them and becomes friends with them at the same time. He narrates what they do, but understands why they do them. He treats them as if they just took the wrong path by mistake and now they're paying for it. But what I love most about The Great Escape is how diverse the themes are.
This album has everything: humor ('Mr. Robinson's Quango', 'Dan Abnormal'), wit ('Charmless Man', 'Top Man'), optimism ('Could Be You'), pessimism ('Fade Away', 'He Thought of Cars'), fantasy ('The Universal'), and desperation ('Entertain Me', a perfect gem and Blur's crowning achievement). The songs are tight and structured; there's nothing indulgent about The Great Escape. The real true great escape of the album is the final minute of carnival music at the end. It's as if Dan Abnomal, Ernold Same, and Mr. Robinson (and everybody else) actually decided on going to a carnival and forget about their problems for a day.
If you love this album the way I do, it will probably make you watery-eyed. Rarely ever have songs so simple sounded so profound. The Great Escape is Blur's Revolver, a wide-ranging and stunning masterpiece that should be considered vital. 'Of Blur's english trilogy 'The Great Escape' has alway struck me as the less inspired record probably because of the two or three annoying songs it has in it(the Ray Davies aping 'Ernold Same'at the top of them) and at the same time for sounding less fresh and a bit more designed for success than previous efforts. While far from being a bad record 'The Great Escape'doesn't seem to recapture 'Modern Life is Rubbish's innocence or to present a band at the absolute top of their game as 'Parklife'did. But all this is forgotten in the presence of the several cuts that do honor their name.And they're not as few as one might think since there's about 8-9 songs that are actually compelling and, as usual with Blur, fun to listen to(Stereotypes,Entertain me,He thought of Cars,Top Man and Fade Away among my favorites).
A more than worthy addition to their catalog though not the best starting place for beginners.