Ignored             Obscured              Restored

In 1997, Blur released their fifth album, simply titled Blur.  The album departed from the Britpop genre on which they built their significant fanbase and positive, critical reputation.  But it was time for a change.

The band’s guitarist, Graham Coxon said “The Blur album was a bit like us walking up a road and seeing what’s up ahead and wanting to try another route before we’d gone too far, a route that was more difficult and challenging, a more worthwhile route for us as musicians.”

So they decided to rough things up a little and scored a #1 album in the UK, though it only reached #61 in the US.  But the album’s “Song 2” made an impression on the US audience and rose all the way to #6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The track features a catchy acoustic guitar riff and simple lyrics.  It also employs the soft/loud tactic used so effectively by the Pixies and Nirvana.  Then there’s that distinctive “woo hoo” chorus that you must admit is quite infectious!

The band may have demoed the song to their record label as a joke but it has had a lasting impact.

Enjoy… until next week.