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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It all begins with a music-box noise, not entirely unlike the beginning of Trumpton (you know, the kids' programme with the curiously named firemen). Welcome to yet another new identity for Blur. Gone are the caricatures of bed-and-breakfast owners and bankers, the cockernee knees-ups, football and pub laddisms. 13 is the starkest, most personal Blur album ever, going further in the direction the previous self-titled album hinted at. Dealing, for the most part, with frontman Damon Albarn's broken relationship with Elastica's Justine Frischmann, it's as if Blur have ripped their heart out and left the bloody mess for all to see. "Tender", with its repetitive cycle of a tune and gorgeous gospel choir, must surely remind you of someone special, while "No Distance Left to Run" is pure, unashamed heartbreak. Relief comes in the form of the sweet, Graham Coxon-penned "Coffee and TV" and "B.L.U.R.E.M.I", which recalls their punkier days. Oh, and "Bugman" appears to have utilised the previously untapped musical properties of a vacuum cleaner. "Country House" this is not. --Emma Johnston
Review
Following the blatant reaction to the Britpop hangover in the Essex band's previous album Blur, which saw the four-piece adopt the style of an American lo-fi act, 13 was perhaps the band's most experimental effort. With ambient housemeister, William Orbit, in the producer's chair, the sonic landscape came very much from the mind of guitarist Graham Coxon.
Again it was America that provided the template, mixed in with a healthy dose of Krautrock (Trimm Trabb) and electronica. Tender is mutant gospel that lifts you up while remaining quite cynical. The only thing on offer that really sounded like the band of old was Coffee And TV.
Shot through with the bleatings of a newly-bereft Damon Albarn, nursing a broken heart after his split with Justine Frischman of Elastica, songs like 1992, Caramel or No Distance Left To Run dripped weary disaffection. This was a band now completely out of love with pop.
With hindsight it's easy to see how a greatest hits tour after this could only place a strain on the band that they'd never weather. 13 is the sound of young minds fracturing under the weight of expectation and their own desire to do more than just create three-minute smashes. As Albarn whispers on Caramel, ''I've gotta get better, I've gotta find genius''. But by this time it was too late. Luckily for us the sound of a genius band disintegrating still equals genius. Combined with a tasteful and intricate prioduction job, 13 may one day, be classed as their greatest work. --Dennis O'Dell
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The moment that i heard "tender" on the radio i could not wait to hear the album. When I did finally hear it, i was not dissapointed. Following on from the inspirational "Blur", "13" is simply a perfect album. The singles released from it showed the public the many different sides of Damon Alburns song writing abilities. Every song is different from the one before, and William Orbits input is imeadetely obvious. The best song on the album has to be "Trimm Trabb", because I have never before heard such a wonderfully atmosheric song, the whole song has been "composed" exceptionally well, with many different instruments being used. There is not one song that does not tantalise and engulf your ears and mind. "Bugman" is amazing aswell, with Coxon shining in this mind blowing, pumping song. A top quality album.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've read a couple of reviews for this album and I felt it need some extra input. I've also noticed when people talk about the songs on the album they tend to talk about the singles or the guitar based songs. I dont think they're what this albums about. Dont overlook the albums finest, most experimental tracks. This is not an album for blur fans, this is an album for music fans. I'm certain a lot of people have no idea how good this album is. This is a dark album, an album whos greatest moments are born out of emotional pain. Listen to 1992 and Caramel and tell me there not amazing songs. Thats it...
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
With the feeling that indie music has become more commercial than even R&B in recent years, and having as much stomach for previous Blur songs like Country House and Girls and Boys as a feast of live slugs, I was somewhat amazed by being told I was listening to that very same band when stoned and drifting away to Battle and Mellow Song.
Dispensing with the rather obvious Tender and Bugman that give the album an unfairly weak start, from Coffee and TV onwards, 13 embarks on a fantastic array of relaxed guitar melodies, waves of electronica and Damon Albarn's relaxingly mellow voice to create songs that smell vaguely of Radiohead and Alice in Chains influences but have a very strong identity of their own.
I'm withholding the fifth star mainly because of Tender and Bugman, obvious singles to try and lull in the teenyboppera dn mainstream markets, but 13 is certainly not a mainstream album, and well worth checking out.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Blurs Finest Effort
I love the rest of them but this is my favorite Blur album and one of my all time favorites. It's more downbeat, emotional and personal than their usual fare until then. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ciaran H
"is this where I'm going to? we'll see..."
I remember I got this album back in 99, as a bright eyed and naive schoolboy of 14. "Tender" and "Coffee & TV" had just been released, and I loved (and still do) these, beautiful,... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2010 by Simon Griffiths
Outstanding...
This was a new direction for Blur and one that was sorely needed. I couldn't bear them in their smug mockney phase circa 'Parklife' so it was with trepidation that I approached... Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2009 by Krupskaya
An uneven mess
On the disappointing 13, we witness a radical change of direction (or maybe it's just the logical consequence of Blur?). Read more
Published on 5 July 2009 by Guy Peters
Perhaps my favourite album of all time
This album is like wiggling a wobbly tooth - deliciously painful, and impossible to give up. I have played it thousands of times without ever getting bored. Read more
Published on 25 April 2009 by Suzabella
Differcult and intresting (perhaps their best)
Stripped down lyrically with walls of ambient sound you'd almost think 13 was inspired by Kid A but amazingly the Blurs had this idea first yet didn't get the recognition. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2008 by D. A. Mcculloguh
7/10. 'No More Distance Left to Run'
This album certainly marks the end of an era, whether it be Britpop, the 1990s or Blur in their original formation, before Graham Coxon left the band. Read more
Published on 15 May 2007 by Demob Happy
Best Blur album and one of the 90's best
This album is quite simply, amazing!
I think it takes people a few listens before people share my opinion, but invest the time and you too will think it is one of the... Read more
I think it takes people a few listens before people share my opinion, but invest the time and you too will think it is one of the... Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2007 by gRAVY
exellent
This would be a miles better album than they're previous if only song 2 weren't on it.
Like most alternative/indie albums, for many this will be one of those where it... Read more
Like most alternative/indie albums, for many this will be one of those where it... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2006 by Paul Smithson
Underrated Masterpiece
The critics mauled it, Mogwai hated it so much that they printed a line of t-shirts that perfectly expressed their disgust, and the loyal fanbase seems to be completely divided. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2005 by Elliot Davies
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