20 years ago, on February 10th, 1997, Blur released their self-titled album - their 5th. It's the record that everyone knows because it features their biggest hit "Song 2"...but let's take a minute to dig deeper surrounding it's 20th anniversary.The album was recorded mostly in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1996 away from the britpop scene they were such a huge part of- and it marked a shift in the way the band approached making music. Graham Coxon was given much more creative freedom and control, and Damon Albarn started writing from a more 1st person/personal perspective.
The album opener "Beetlebum, " which was also the first single, has been described by critics as a "Beatles tribute." There are numerous references to the sound of this album being inspired....or even ripping off the band Pavement, which spawned a bit of a feud between Stephen Malkmus (Pavement's frontman) + Blur. When the album was released, Rolling Stone gave it 4/5 stars saying, "what still makes them great is their deep grasp of style and genre."Check out videos from the album and a great interview from that same year below - and yeah, it's a good time to go back and give a listen to this gem start to finish.