Blur: The Studio Albums
Prologue
Hello you. Make a cup of tea. Put a record on.
Between 1991 and 2023, Blur released nine studio albums. Some arrived in the eye of Britpop. Others surfaced quietly years later. The sound changed, the context shifted, but the records always made sense when you lived with them. This is the studio story. Album by album. No myths. No skip button.
1. Leisure (1991)
Released 26 August 1991
Debut reached number 7 in the UK charts and certified Gold
A blend of shoegaze textures and baggy rhythms
2. Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)
Released 10 May 1993
Peaked at number 15 in the UK and certified Gold
The start of Blur's shift to British guitar pop with social detail and brass sections
3. Parklife (1994)
Released 25 April 1994
Number 1 in the UK, four times Platinum
Tracks include "Girls and Boys", "End of a Century", and the title song with Phil Daniels
Stephen Street recalled: "We thought the song needed a voice that sounded like a Londoner. Phil nailed it"
4. The Great Escape (1995)
Released 11 September 1995
Number 1 in the UK, triple Platinum
Included "Country House", "The Universal", and "Charmless Man"
Street described the sessions as intense but productive. "We were at the top and everyone knew it"
5. Blur (1997)
Released 10 February 1997
Number 1 in the UK, Platinum in several territories
A looser, rawer sound. Known for "Beetlebum" and "Song 2"
Damon Albarn later said: "That record was us getting rid of the noise and finding something smaller"
6. 13 (1999)
Released 15 March 1999
Number 1 in the UK, Platinum certified
Produced by William Orbit. Features "Tender", "Coffee and TV", and "No Distance Left to Run"
Graham Coxon noted the sessions were difficult. "We were barely speaking but we played like mad"
7. Think Tank (2003)
Released 5 May 2003
Number 1 in the UK, Gold certified
Coxon appears only on one track. The rest leans into dub, loops, and abstraction
Albarn called it "a postcard from a period where things fell apart but something good still came through"
8. The Magic Whip (2015)
Released 27 April 2015
First full reunion since 2003. Number 1 in the UK
Recorded in Hong Kong and London
Stephen Street returned as producer. The mood was "reflective but tight", according to him
9. The Ballad of Darren (2023)
Released 21 July 2023
Number 1 in the UK and multiple European charts
Produced by James Ford. Shortest Blur album to date
Albarn described it as "an aftershock. A reflection of where we find ourselves now"
The Fade Out
Nine records. Each one a different shape. From indie outsiders to pop figureheads to fractured experimentalists and back again. The line-up faltered, reformed, then deepened. Blur never chased one sound for long, and they never needed to. The catalogue is not neat, but it is complete. And it still listens back.
