1995. 09. 'the great escape' - blur

so, so much has been written about this album over the years that there's probably very little i can add... i agree that it gets suburban life very, very right -- i used to live in a house, a very big house, in the 'country' for years before i got so fed up with the sameness of it all that i came to live in a house, a very small house, in the city... i've worried about the size of my behind, and all those age lines, and made peace with my ageing body and my humdrum life... and this album says it -- straightforwardly, snarlingly, snidely, sincerely... this albarn chap knows from whence he speaks...

at the time, i didn't appreciate the lyricism fully -- i was a long way from suburbia, living in urban manchester and sheffield where pulp and oasis were more the order of the day... this sounded like a dissatisfied millionaire sending up his own existence with more of that 'we're smarter down south' nonsense that i wanted to torch at every turn... and indeed, they were dissatisfied millionaires... but sometimes, when they were out gallivanting with banksy and keith allen and damien hirst, they weren't... and i was agitated that so much of this ripped off the kinks and the specials... but now i can live with that...

really, overall, this album is exactly what i read in an interview with damon albarn a few years back when blur were having a reunion do -- it's messy... 'modern life is rubbish' and 'parklife' were so spot on that, of the trilogy, this is the longest and most redundant to listen to... but it has gems -- besides the singles, 'top man' will have you thinking of every footballer you can think of, and 'mr robinson's quango' could be retitled 'mr robinson's super-PAC' for US listeners right now and still hold relevance... and the heartbreaking last song, 'yuko and hiro' can make you cry -- when you love someone, but you just have to say goodbye...

if you have time, listen... it was one of the most intriguing albums of 1995... but approach with caution -- it's kinda all over the place, a little fascinated with that power world that we all thought we were a part of (but later found out we weren't) when tony blair took office, and in some cases derivative... 'parklife' would still be the recommendation for the newbie...