The band did a successful tour in 2003, with former Verve guitarist Simon Tong filling in for Coxon.
concerted work started in June 2002, with the sessions moving to Marrakesh , Morocco soon after, and then to Devon back in the UK.
Early in 2002, Blur recorded a song that would be played by European Space Agency ‘s Beagle 2 lander once it touched down; however, attempts to locate the probe after it landed on Mars were fruitless.
Recording for Blur’s next album began in London in November 2001
In October 2000, the group released the compilation Blur: The Best Of , which debuted at number three in the UK and went 4× Platinum due to 1,200,000 copies being shipped. Dismissed by the band as “the first record we have seen as product”, the track listing and release dates…
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In July 1999, in celebration of their tenth anniversary, Blur released a 22-CD limited edition box-set of their singles. The accompanying tour saw Blur play the A-sides of the 22 singles in their chronological order of release.
Released in March 1999, Blur’s sixth studio album 13 saw them drift still further away from their Britpop-era attitude and sound. Orbit’s production style allowed for more jamming, and incorporated a “variety of emotions, atmospheres, words and sounds” into the mix. 13 was creatively dominated by Coxon, who “was simply…
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After 13 and the subsequent tours in 1999–2000, band members pursued other projects. Graham Coxon recorded a string of solo albums, while Damon Albarn dedicated his time to Gorillaz , the animated band he had created with Jamie Hewlett . Alex James worked with Fat Les and co-wrote several songs…
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In February 1998, a few months after completing the tour, Blur released Bustin’ + Dronin’ for the Japanese market. The album is a collection of Blur songs remixed by artists such as Thurston Moore , William Orbit and Moby . Among the tracks, the band were most impressed by Orbit’s…
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The result was Blur , the band’s fifth studio album, released in February 1997. Although the music press predicted that the lo-fi sonic experimentation would alienate Blur’s teenage girl fan-base, they generally applauded the effort. Pointing out lyrics such as “Look inside America/She’s alright”, and noting Albarn’s “obligatory nod to…
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