Blur: Modern Life Is Rubbish (2LP) [PARLOPHONE]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set spreads the remastered album across four sides, with printed inner sleeves carrying the lyrics. It's widely regarded as one of the defining records of Britpop, and it set up the chart-topping run of Parklife and The Great Escape.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Remastered
• Gatefold jacket
• Printed inner sleeves with lyrics
• 180g vinyl

About the album

By 1992 Blur needed a new direction, and Damon Albarn found it close to home. He stopped looking at Manchester and America and turned instead to the Kinks, the Small Faces and the dreams, traditions and quirks of suburban England.

Stephen Street produced most of it, adding brass, woodwind and backing singers to the band's guitars. "For Tomorrow" is a sweeping London postcard, "Colin Zeal" and "Advert" bristle with wit, "Star Shaped" and "Villa Rosie" bounce, and "Blue Jeans" and "Resigned" show the softer side that would bloom later. Graham Coxon's guitar, Alex James's bass and Dave Rowntree's drums give Albarn's character sketches plenty of muscle, and Blur produced a handful of tracks themselves with John Smith.

Writer David Cavanagh praised its poignant humour and its Ray Davies style characters, and the music press took to it straight away, with every single from it making the UK Top 30. Despite the title, it's turned out to be one of the more reliable cheerer-uppers of modern life, which we suspect was the point all along.

Also at Kops: more Blur on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Food / Parlophone (cat# FOODLPX9), a reissue of the 1993 album.