ALBUM REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW
Blur - Blur
Woo hoo! That's Britpop's final death rattle and Blur are here to capture its downfall. Blur have come out of their existential crisis with an experimental album that is both anarchic and radio-friendly. They've mastered the art of popified angst. No longer are they figures of fun lacking menace. Well, not that a man with that nose can ever be properly menacing.
Electronic hedonism, moodiness, idiocy and a hell of a workout. Prodigy are trolls: serious if you say they're joking and vice versa, all just to get under your skin. Fuck the kings, court jesters take the mic. You'll find this album either revolting or revolutionary. Oh, and arson is encouraged, but you didn't hear that from us.
Damn, Thom with an h, it can't be that bad, can it? Sedative in the form of an album. Radiohead are offering some anxiety, paranoia and synth to distance themselves from Britpop. This album has everything, from distortion and noise to delicacy and harmony. Lonely, yet never quite alone.
OK Computer - Radiohead Nimrod - Green Day
Green Day are back with their juvenile sense of humor and cynical punk rush. But we detect something else as well, nervousness and reflection that accompanies stepping into the adult world. Green Day are genre-hopping, testing their boundaries and might just make it out of the 90s more than alive.
Favourites: Nice Guys Finish Last, Hitchin' a Ride, King for a Day
The Fat of the Land - Prodigy Around the Fur - Deftones
Favourites: Smack My Bitch Up, Breathe, Firestarter
Brutal, raw, unforgiving and inherently horny. Around the Fur is a tightly-wound ball of sound and fury. Even the quieter moments sound menacing. It's not always clear what Chino Moreno is singing about, but we can imagine him foaming at the mouth.
Favourites: My Own Summer (Shove it), Mascara, Around the Fur Favourites: Exit Music (For A Film), Karma Police, No Surprises
Homogenic - Björk
Björk offers us the full emotional spectrum with Homogenic. It is a confrontational album, she is a warrior mother fighting wars with love. No one manages to fuse dance rhythms with classical instrumentation quite like Björk. It is an album of extreme contrasts. The kind of music Icelandic volcanoes listen to.
Favourites: Hunter, Bachelorette, All Neon Like
Favourites: Beetlebum, Song 2, Death of a Party
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