The 25 most essential Blur songs

Blur recently brought their supporting tour for their 2023 comeback album The Ballad Of Darren to a close with two appearances at this year’s Coachella. Online discourse suggested the pair of performances didn’t go smoothly, an assessment buttressed by lead singer Damon Albarn saying this “is probably our last gig”—words that would carry more weight if they didn’t echo statements he’s said in the past and if they weren’t delivered onstage in America, a country that has never fully embraced Blur.

America didn’t welcome Blur with open arms, yet that distance between the country and the band inspired Albarn to write Modern Life Is Rubbish, an album instrumental in launching the Britpop era of the mid-90s. As it happens, Parklife—the album that made Blur stars in the UK—was released roughly thirty years prior to the group’s 2024 Coachella gigs. These twin occurrences provide a perfect opportunity to look back at Blur’s career. Spanning their first hit single to their latest album, this list is evidence that Blur assembled a rich, inventive body of work, filled with concept albums and fluke singles that remain captivating years after their release.

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