The Life of Blur

by Martin J. Power

This definitive bio explores the history and debunks the myths around the band formerly known as Seymour: from their art school origins at London's Goldsmith College to the multi-million selling succes of Modern Life is Rubbish, Parklife and The Great Escape. It reveals the darker hues of albums Blur, 13 and 2003's Think Tank - an album that led to the ill-tempered exit of Blur's guitarist Graham Coxon - only to see his return five years later for a reunion tour marked by a triumphant headline appearance at 2009's Glastonbury festival.
Power delves into every detail of Blur's pockmarked history, also shedding new light on the group's various solo activities, including Damon Albarn's experiments with Gorillaz and Graham Coxon's one man assault on the indie charts.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

386 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2013

Reviews

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not awful by any stretch but not great. It's quite obvious it was cobbled together from press clippings, other books, and interviews (but not with the band or their closest confidantes). Quite a lot of minor errors that are obvious to the dedicated fan, as well as several typos and improper grammar (for example, the constant usage of "illicit" instead of "elicit."). Still, for a newer fan, it covers most of the bases.

[Jack Line · Rating 3 out of 5]

Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys. Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys. Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys. Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys. Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys. Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys

[Kasper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge Blur fan and while this may be in many ways a cobbling together of basically every magazine interview they ever gave, I had not read or seen the vast majority of these quotes. I learned a lot more about Blur as I was reading this and I was listening to their music the entire time I was doing so, it was a great time had by myself. The only thing I didn't like was that some of the sales figures given were weirdly incorrect at times.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off strong then sooooooooooooooo sluggish to read once the britpop era ended

[James Kinsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Appalling. By the time I got to the part where we got a history of Colchester starting in Roman times, I realised life's too short to read something this padded out. All quotes from magazines and random childhood incidents billed as prophetic. Seasons In The Sun indeed. Nigh on unreadable.