In February 1996, when Coxon and James were absent for a lip-synced Blur performance broadcast on Italian television, they were replaced by a cardboard cutout and a roadie, respectively. Blur biographer Stuart Maconie later wrote that, at the time, “Blur were sewn together very awkwardly”.
An early 1996 Q magazine interview revealed that relations between Blur members had become very strained; journalist Adrian Deevoy wrote that he found them “on the verge of a nervous breakup”. Coxon, in particular, began to resent his bandmates: James for his playboy lifestyle, and Albarn for his control over…
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The Great Escape , which Albarn told the public was the last installment in the band’s Life Trilogy, was released in September 1995 to ecstatic reviews. The NME hailed it as “spectacularly accomplished, sumptuous, heart-stopping and inspirational”, while Mojo argued “Blur are the very best that ’95 Britpop has to…
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Blur began working on their fourth album The Great Escape at the start of 1995. Building upon the band’s previous two albums, Albarn’s lyrics for the album consisted of several third-person narratives. James reflected, “It was all more elaborate, more orchestral, more theatrical, and the lyrics were even more twisted…
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Blur won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards , including Best Band and Best Album for Parklife .
The success of Parklife (1994) revived Blur’s commercial fortunes. The album’s first single, the disco-influenced ” Girls & Boys “, found favour on BBC Radio 1 and peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 59 in the US Billboard Hot 100 where it remains the band’s…
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Modern Life Is Rubbish was released in May 1993. The announcement of the album’s release included a press photo which featured Blur, dressed in a mix of mod and skinhead attire, posing alongside a mastiff with the words “British Image 1” spraypainted behind them. At the time, such imagery was…
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“We felt ‘Popscene’ was a big departure; a very, very English record”, Albarn told the NME in 1993, “But that annoyed a lot of people … We put ourselves out on a limb to pursue this English ideal and no-one was interested.”
Blur completed their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish in December 1992, but Food Records said the album required more potential hit singles and asked them to return to the studio for a second time.
After discovering they were £60,000 in debt, Blur toured the United States in 1992 in an attempt to recoup their financial losses.