BLUR "the magic ship"

Career Stats:
Studio Albums.............8
Singles.....................29

after a break of twelve years Coxon,Albarn and Co resurface
with an unexpected reunion....i mean unexpected in that
they were all happy doing their solo stuff and there were no runours
until late last year that there could be something in the pipeline...
anyway, on to the album....
i have a big problem with bands reuniting years,often decades after
their so-called 'glory days'...and these guys are no exception to that IMO...
always a great singles band, this one leaves me thinking just where the
singles are going to come from, theyll certainly alienate their original fanbase
to some extent with this one....
for the most part it just doesnt sound like Blur...the catchy melodies have gone
for the most part as have their quirky lyrics...
sounds more like a Graham Coxon/Damon Albarn solo mash-up here....
only four of the twelve tracks grabbed me on a first up listen, and i cannot see
this album in my cd collection anytime soon...
maybe people of a generation who only know their solo material may love this
album, i dont, i remember the head-to-head chart battles they had for a decade
with Oasis on the UK charts.

score for me a dissapointing 2/5

from the album:

ong ong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shja1fzmPhU live "later...with jools"

ice cream man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAaPyY5YkHQ audio link