The Magic Whip

WOW! I have now listened to this 4 times back to back.I am a massive Blur fan and this sent shivers down my spine (in the good way!) from the first chord of the first song. What a feel good album and has had me smiling all day!Ong Ong is my favorite song but there are already instant classics on there too, Lonesome Street (love the beginning - reminds me a little of the ending of London Loves with the news extracts playing in the background), Ghost Ship and the 'haunting' Pyongyang are just superb!I really don't understand the 2 start reviews. No guitars?? Can you not hear them? Very strange comment in my mind. But I guess not everyone can have the same tastes. I'd urge you to read all the 5 star comments.I've been nervously waiting for this album as I was not a huge fan of Think Tank - although its grown on me. But this, this is just something else! Blur back in the Park life days, the crazy Great escape tracks and the cool sounds of Leisure... in fact i'm going to listen to it again for a 5th time right now!!

Twelve years waiting for a new Blur studio album finds the band on excellent form, blending sounds from much of their past history to produce something slightly different but still very much classic Blur. The genesis of this album started in 2013 thanks to a festival cancellation and five days with time to kill in Hong Kong. That's the basis of these tracks, with Graham Coxon tinkering with them in 2014 and Damon Albarn finally coming up with lyrics early in 2015. With Stephen Street back in the production booth it adds elements of early Blur, particularly on album opener "Lonesome Street" which is an instant classic. But there's the later, experimental Blur of "Think Tank" in here too, especially apparent on "Ice Cream Man". The changes of style make for a varied album, but one that hangs together extremely well, perhaps echoing elements of Albarn's other band, Gorillaz, reminding me in particular of the way "The Fall" was quickly conceived and recorded. I've listened to the album five times now and as it becomes more familiar it gets better and better. A triumphant return, especially with great contributions from Graham Coxon. This is an album that doesn't disappoint one bit.

Blur are my favourite band and I have loved them for 20 years. A new album has been a fantasy for over half of that time. There have been tantalising teasers with a few new songs since the return of Graham Coxon in 2009 - my favourite being 'Fool's Day' - a surprise single for Record Store Day in 2010. Then there were two new tracks in 2012.It seems these were worthy water-testers and probably made being couped up in a studio in Hong Kong for 5 days in mid 2013 a little less weird than it would've been. But the resulting album doesn't sound as nostalgic and introspective as the warm up singles - it sounds as though the band are a whole lot less self-conscious about making new music.There are elements from all of blur's post debut album work here. Lonesome Street does sound like it would've been happy on Parklife or The Great Escape, while the noisy Go Out, cheeky I Broadcast and the wistful Mirrorball could've been on Blur or 13. There's an exotic feel to the whole record just like the North African vibe on Think Tank, but this time it's China/Hong Kong.And then there are songs that only really belong on a blur album made by a highly successful indie-rock god (Coxon) and globally recognised musical magpie (Albarn) - safe in their own identities. Thought I was a Spaceman, Ghost Ship and Pyongyang only really belong on a mature blur album. These are songs where you can tell the four chaps have nothing to proove and really know how to serve a song together.It's possibly a minor complaint, but the album does play it a little safe. Only Go Out and ...Spaceman really remind us that this band are capable of such incredible depth as found on Blur and 13 in particular. This is therefore a more song based album than jam/soundscape as the late 90s blur was so good at. Even Think Tank took more risks. But, the songs are excellent and the essential elements of blur are all in good shape. Coxon has held back in order to let the overall effect be more about the whole sound. But it's certainly not easy to compare Magic Whip with Everyday Robots - the presence of Coxon, James and Rowntree lift Albarn's songs into musical excellence and nuance that allhis work without them lack so much. You can't replace that chemistry, and for that reason I hope that this is not a final blur album. Together, they are the greatest British group since The Beatles in my opinion.

To me, this is my favourite album of the year so far. I am a huge Oasis and Paul Weller fan...and was always more Oasis than Blur back in 'the day'. However, I think this album is superior to Noel's latest solo effort and provides a lot more depth and variety to anything new I have listened to so far in 2015. This is a well worked album with old classic Blur versus some new experimental material. Songs like 'Thought I Was A Spaceman' (give it time, it will grow on you), Ghost Ship and Ong Ong really show how these guys have grown, matured and show the world that they are actually very good musicians who can knock out a fantastic record. Trust me, it takes 4-5 listens to fall in love with it. After that, you'll look forward to listening to it each time and will not shelve it like the shallow reviewers on here who have given it only 1 or 2 stars.

Blur's return is a real success. I was not expecting such great songs since Damon Albarn had several times said that he was not against a few live sets but not ready for studio sessions and a new LP. Damon's story with Blur was over, so it was stated many many times. So, never say never again! Such a brilliant idea! Based on Damon lyrics written in different hotel rooms during their last Asian tour, with tunes recorded vaguely on basic recorders there and then, Graham Coxon decided to arrange that somehow and thereout came this LP after the usual studio sessions. Not Blur's best but marginal, and a very good return in shape. In a way, it is a back to basics album ('Lonesome street' sounds like a modern and revisited 'There's no other way') but with a very modern and tailored-produced sound. Some jewels on the album ('There are too many of us' being my favorite).

A caixa veio com a bandeja preta, sendo que o fundo da bandeja é estampado, em relação à isso, apenas troquei o berço do disco. Não sei se nas primeiras edições, o encarte era impresso em papel fosco, mas não é um problema. Gostei da sonoridade do disco, já que conhecia apenas 2 faixas, comprado em promoção na Amazon.

come da descrizione

El regreso de una banda histórica. Dieron en el clavo superándose una vez más con su nuevo material, gran disco.

久しぶりにBlur聴いたけど、やっぱりBlurはBlurだった。

Perfect