with all the blur fans on this board, i'm surprised someone hasn't brought this up sooner. what does everyone think of the album? i've only skimmed it, so i'm not qualified to make a decision yet.

all of the reviews that i have seen have been very very good (pitchforkmedia.com gave it a 9 out of 10)......one review even compared it to the more experimental moments of "combat rock"......im very intrigued....

Think Tank, for me, is like walking in on your long-time girlfriend taking part in a bondage show. You thought you knew her, and then you see her doing this?!! And for a few minutes, you get the feeling that you don't really know this girl at all. And yes, at first you feel really intimidated and shocked and even turned off. But after you've had a chance to catch your breath and really process things, you realize that all of this bizarro contortionism has just made you appreciate her more and love her even more deeply.

Bottom line: it doesn't "sound like Blur" very much at all, but that doesn't stop it from being completely amazing. I love it.

P.S. - It is the most ProTool'd album I have ever heard.

P.P.S. - I still miss Graham.

that's some analogy, jc...

so true. from the parts of hear, i find myself waiting for guitar to kick in, but to no avail.

Basically, I'm just never going to turn on another Blur album and be like, "this is awesome, and I am so into this," like I did when my brother first played "The Great Escape" for me. I've had to give the last few albums more play-time before really getting into them. However, i usually found a few songs that I dug more than the rest, and still treasured them. I'm having a hard time finding that song on this album. I did get the cool threaded version, though. they should make all cds like that...damn cd cases, they are built to crack.

(Edited by Buckley at 8:00 pm on May. 12, 2003)

I actually have one of those "THAT" songs on think tank: "sweet song" is incredible. I listened to it about 10 times in a row last weekend & i can't remember the last time i did that. BUT, that doesn't make up for the rest of the crap on that album--there's a few songs that are absolutely annoying.

yeah, that one sort of appealed to me on the first listen, so I'll have to give that one a more attentive ear. there's one song on there that reminds me of bank holiday..."we've got a file on you" or something..??

they usually have at least one spastic fast song on each album.

The Great Escape is my favorite, too. I don't think that Blur will ever make another album like that. Not that they couldn't, but I just don't think that's where Damon's interests lie these days. They've kind of gotten further and further away from that sound with every album they've made since then. But as much as I love the BritPop days, I can't say that I blame them for continuing to evolve. No one wants to just operate off of a formula. And like Dylan said, "He not busy being born is busy dying."

So while it's not my favorite Blur album, I do like Think Tank a lot. It just sounds so fresh. I actually was really into most of it after one or two listens. There are a couple of songs that I don't like - "We've got a file on you" and "Gene by Gene." Other than those two, I think that the album ranges from pretty good ("Crazy Beat," "Good Song," "Jets") to AMAZING ("Ambulance," "Out of Time," "On the Way to the Club," "Sweet Song"). I'd say it's the best Blur album since the self-titled one in 1997.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 2:34 pm on May. 13, 2003)

i totally agree with your "amazing" picks, but they only get said designation because they're better than everything else on the album.

I'm growing fonder of this album the more I listen to it. I like the song "Out of Time," but it kind of bothers me that he rhymes "time" with "time." I don't think the "mind" in between the two justify it either. I was trying to think of some alternative to saying "you've been so busy lately that you haven't had the time," but I couldn't think of one. Does this bother anyone else?

I saw the "crazy beat" video yesterday.......im a bit skeptical, but i do like "out of time" though.......