Great Escape

This is my favorite Blur album for how over the top and British it is. As an American, I cannot think of any music from my side of the pond that sounds like this.So why the 3 star rating?Well it has nothing to do with the disc, the sound of the music, or the music itself. This took over a month to get shipped over here, which is not my problem. The problem is that the case was damaged...the teeth that make up the peg in the middle that holds the disc in place were broken when I opened it for the first time. There were only 3 left intact so I broken them off as well, which was not hard at all to do. So now the disc is just loose in the case, and I have to be careful when I open it. Did I mention I bought a new copy? I still love this album, and I don't think this was the fault of the seller. It's likely that this is just an old edition made with cheap plastic that got damaged and rattled while in the mail. Luckily it's pretty easy to replace a jewel case....it's just a matter of finally buying replacement jewel cases.

If "Modern Life is Rubbish" was "A New Hope" or "Revolver", and if "Parklife" is "The Empire Strikes Back"/"Sgt. Pepper's", then one might say that "The Great Escape" is inevitably "Return of the Jedi"/"Magical Mystery Tour." As in many great trilogies, this bookend goes further than the previous two in nearly every way...and as a result, becomes rather indulgent. But the album works in ways that many similar ones do not. The Great Escape is more than an album: it is a musical, a satire, and an overlooked masterpiece. Over the 15 songs we meet 15 different characters...each of them disillusioned, immature yet affluent young people who embody the postmodern.Highlights include "Stereotypes", a prologue that perfectly sets the mood; "Country House," the seminal britpop single; "Charmless Man," one of my favorite Blur singles, a humorously scathing slab of pop satire; "Top Man", with Blur in top form weirdness; "The Universal", a grand space opera of a song; "He Thought of Cars", one of the more melancholic songs on the album; "Entertain Me", a sort of "Boys and Girls" doppelganger, only this time with a certain darkness and sadness to it; and the final track, the gorgeous "Yuko and Hiro".

The remastering here brings out some amazing details. It still keeps the dynamics while being a touch louder and there definitely more detail from the old tapes. The packaging is the same as all the Blur SEs in that you get a really nice box with everything contained with in. It's small enough not to be distracting, and the booklets and CD encased inside are quality products. Blur got the deluxe treatment here and this is the first album they actually sounded like a proper band. A great "debut" if you will, and a definite step into their heyday as the greatest new British band. The Great Escape is where you probably should start if you are getting into this band.

Allow me to sum up my history with this album; bought it, sold it, missed it, bought it again, and now I'm tempted to sell it again.That's the thing about this album: a lot of it is catchy and essential as far as understanding Blur as a whole, but at the same time, to steal from Noel Gallagher, it's chimney sweep music. Exhibit A: "Mr Robinson's Quango", quite possibly the most irritating moment they've put on tape.I bought this one again because I thought "Stereotypes" was a great peice of guitar music and "The Universal" a lovely peice of music in general. I even liked "Globe Alone" which hinted at their "lo-fi" direction they would later embrace in full on "Blur." Yet with each listen, I find myself fast-forwarding more and more through another track oozing with "quirky" character sketches. If I wanted character sketches from East London, I would have rented either "Long Good Friday" or something. Exhibit B: "Top Man"; infintely more annoying than "Ernold Same" though only just.I'm confused by the show of support this album garners here, as a lot of people (Blur included if I'm not mistaken) have distanced themselves a great deal from it. I'm more content to listen to their first three albums than anything else, because they had everything to prove back then, but this is just going through the motions. Exhibit C: "He Thought Of Cars" is a re-hash of "This Is A Low".I'll give it three stars (two for the music and a third for the packaging concept) but highly recommend their first three if you're looking for Blur's best.

This album was pleasantly surprising to me. I say "album" because I bought it after hearing the main singles like "Charmless Man", "Stereotypes", "The Universal" and "Fade Away". The other songs on the album are also enjoyable, for the most part. I can't decide if the overall sound is different than the two previous albums, as they share a mix of mostly poppish songs with some ballads and more rock-like songs. I really like the bass and percussion of Blur, and Damon's vocals are great, he sings over a broad range and pitch. Some of the songs like "Mr. Robinson's Quango", are hit or miss, the lyrics can get a bit repetitive and I find that irritating.Other songs like "Dan Abnormal" and "Ernold Same" are kinda boring to me, just sad songs that do fit the mood of the album.

i love this album!!! the vinyl cover came kind of damaged in the corners and top but the record itself is top quality!!!

What I like, is very good fills my heart with joy. And some subjects leave my head. Hahaha!!!They are a good alternative for the days you need them.

My daughter loves this record!

Of all of Blurs albums and re-releases The great escape is my favorite.Mainly because its the most energetic album by them, the most atmospheric and also the most lively.Many people criticized this (Justine Frichmann) for being an awful record, a lazy copy of the one before Parklife.Well I don't agree, I think this album is much better than Parklife.I suppose the sillyness and dizzyness of it all was inspired by that albums success.And perhaps it could of been better thought out, its not completely off the rails....Sometimes going off the rails is what is needed.It has some great songs, and the b sides are good fun too.Best Days is a forgotten Blur classic, Globe Alone is brilliant.Perhaps the b sides Ultranol and No monsters in me might of helped it out more, as some of the songs are very short paced and atmospheric but its all part of the picture of this albums sound perhaps.No doubt some of the b sides could of made it a better record, but its still the most colorful and less serious album by Blur, so I think its overlooked and really is just jolly good fun...mostly.

Seemingly the album in Blur’s discography that has faired the worst in escaping the confines of Britpop and the 90s (perhaps apart from leisure), it should still be remembered as a pinnacle of songwriting and instrumentation from Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree. The opening track, ‘Stereotypes’, sets the pace and grand scale of the album with an opening riff from Graham Coxon and a spiralling set of synth notes. A fun, fast paced and energetic track to kick things off culminating in one of Blur’s best openers. And now onto ‘Country House’, the track that looms over all the other songs. It is to put it quite simply: bad. The chart battle that killed Blur’s momentum despite them winning. Unfortunately all the other brilliant tracks are overlooked just because of this song. We then get the slower, methodical and catchy ‘best days’, followed by the track that has likely aged the worst of the lot: Charmless man. You may be able to describe it as cheesy or irritating, but it is undeniably a well crafted and written, catchy pop song. As this review maybe going on a little long, let’s do a quick fire round of some other tracks of note. Fade Away - one of Blur’s more underrated and well written tracks, Mr Robinson’s Quango - a bouncy, cinematic ska track, It could be you - again following the fast paced, fun pop mould of many other tracks on the album, Globe alone - More indicative of where blur would later go and finally, Dan abnormal - a fascinating character study. Now onto what I consider the two best tracks of the album: ‘The Universal’ and ‘He thought of Cars‘. ‘The Universal’ is undoubtably a masterpiece and earns its place as one of the best tracks in Blur’s discography, but you most likely already know that. Instead I’d like to highlight what I consider to be Blur’s most wrongfully overlooked and underrated track: ‘He thought of cars’. A melodic, grand track that leaves such a magnificently haunting and isolating impression that earns it a place amongst my favourite Blur songs. In Short: when you listen to this album you won’t get a timeless classic like you do with Parklife; but instead you’ll get a fun, enjoyable collection of songs worthy of high praise that you’ll find yourself revisiting for years to come.

The trouble when it comes to the great escape is it was eclipsed by oasis what's the story morning glory.I think people's opinions are clouded to say the least.I always have thought oasis are a better band but blur are the second biggest band of the so called brit pop era and even there weaker work is better than most bands best work.The trouble with this album is it is too long by about 3 songs.The album is great up until song 8 or 9 but then the quality dips and the last 5 or 6 songs are boring and not there best.I do think this album will get the praise it deserves one day instead of being compared to morning glory two different bands with very different styles.

The album is great and has some fab songs in it. Plenty of Mockney charm to it.Not sure I will be using Amazon warehouse again though. The sleeve is damaged and it also has a stupid amazon warehouse sticker that won't come off without ruining the sleeve

I loved this back in 1995 or was it 1996. Some say Blurs worst album but it had some great singles. Go to entertain me....some bass 🔊