Modern Life Is Rubbish
The record where Blur turned from America toward English pop, made after a failed session with Andy Partridge.
Blur, 1993
- Released
- 10 May 1993
- Recorded
- October 1991 to March 1993
- Studio
- The Church, Crouch End, London (opening sessions)
- Label
- Food
- Producer
- Stephen Street, Blur, John Smith, Steve Lovell
- Length
- 58:52
Sessions began at The Church in Crouch End with Andy Partridge of XTC producing. James called them a disaster. Four songs were recorded and abandoned, and three of them later appeared on the Blur 21 box set. A chance meeting led to Stephen Street producing the rest, and Steve Lovell worked on Sunday Sunday and Villa Rosie.
Food rejected the completed mix in December 1992 and asked for more singles, which led Albarn to write For Tomorrow on Christmas Day. In the US, SBK wanted a stronger sound. Blur recorded Chemical World for that market but refused to redo the album with Butch Vig. The US edition came out in December 1993 and sold about 19,000 copies without charting. In the UK the album reached number 15 and went Gold.
Contemporary reviews were mixed to warm: NME's Paul Moody gave it seven out of ten, and Q's David Roberts called it an energised, infectious romp. Later reviews were stronger, with AllMusic giving 4.5 out of 5 and Uncut and Drowned in Sound both giving nine out of ten. A 2012 reissue added a 19-track bonus disc including Popscene.
Track listing
- For Tomorrow4:21
- Advert3:45
- Colin Zeal3:16
- Pressure on Julian3:31
- Star Shaped3:26
- Blue Jeans3:54
- Chemical World6:33
- Sunday Sunday2:38
- Oily Water5:01
- Miss America5:35
- Villa Rosie3:54
- Coping3:24
- Turn It Up3:22
- Resigned6:12
Personnel
- Damon Albarn vocals, keyboards, melodica
- Graham Coxon guitars, backing vocals
- Alex James bass
- Dave Rowntree drums
- Kate St John oboe, cor anglais, soprano saxophone
- Duke String Quartet strings on For Tomorrow
- Kick Horns horns on Sunday Sunday
- Stephen Street producer
More from Blur
Parklife (1994), The Great Escape (1995), Blur (1997), 13 (1999), Think Tank (2003), The Magic Whip (2015), The Ballad of Darren (2023)
Sources
- Modern Life Is Rubbish, Wikipedia