Virgin Records Us
1999
13
About This Album
Blur's penitence for Britpop continues with the aptly named 13, which deals with star-crossed situations, including personal and professional breakups with Damon Albarn's longtime girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of Elastica, and the group's longtime producer, Stephen Street. Building on the un-pop experiments they began on 1997's Blur, the group's ambitions to expand their musical and emotional horizons result in a half-baked bakers' dozen of songs, featuring some of their most creative peaks and self-indulgent valleys.

Though Albarn has been criticized for lacking depth in his songwriting, Blur's ballads remain some of their best moments, revealing their often-overlooked emotional side -- when Albarn and crew risk some honesty, 13 shines. The chorus of the album's opener, "Tender," finds Albarn "waiting for that feeling," battered and frail, supported by a lush gospel choir urging him to "get through it." His confiding continues on "1992," which alludes to the beginning -- and ending -- of his relationship with Frischmann; on "No Distance Left to Run," one of 13's most moving moments, Albarn addresses post-breakup exhaustion with ambivalence, sighing, "I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe while you sleep.
Track List (try tracks 2,4,6,8 and 13)

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