Think Tank (translated from English - “science center / factory of thought ”) is the seventh studio album of the Blur band, released on May 5, 2003 by Parlophone Records in the UK . The album demonstrates the main musical changes of the group, tied to elements of experimental and world music, included in the ordinary palette of Britpop . This gave the album the opportunity to reach the highest places in the US charts for the entire period of the group's existence. The album cover was re-framed with graffiti by underground artist Banksy . [3] The album cover image was auctioned in 2007 for £ 75,000. [4] New Musical Express Magazine put the record in 20th place on the list of the best albums of the decade. [five]
| Think tank | |||||||||||||
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| Studio Album Blur | |||||||||||||
| Date of issue | May 5, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Recorded by | November 2001 - November 2002 | ||||||||||||
| Genres | Electronic music [1] Alternative rock [1] Indie rock [1] Britpop [2] | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 56:04 (including hidden track ) 49:16 (excluding hidden track) | ||||||||||||
| Producers | Blur, Ben Hiller , William Orbit , Norman Cook | ||||||||||||
| A country |  Great Britain | ||||||||||||
| Label | Parlophone , Virgin , EMI | ||||||||||||
| Blur Timeline | |||||||||||||
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Content
Record History
The recording of Think Tank began in November 2001 at Studio 13 in London and ended a year later in a barn in Devon . Recordings were also made in Morocco , where the group equipped an old barn for a studio. [6] Crazy Beat , Gene By Gene , and Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club were recorded during sessions in Morocco. [6] The group was helped by many producers in their work on the album in July 2002 , including The Neptunes , The Dust Brothers, and William Orbit. [7] The final recording was produced by Blur and Ben Hiller themselves, with various producers including Orbit and Norman Cook (well known by the pseudonym Fatboy Slim). Cook contributed to two tracks (Crazy Beat and Gene by Gene). Graham Coxon only recorded four tracks at Think Tank sessions: Battery in Your Leg , The Outsider , Morricone , and Some Glad Morning ; his contribution to the final recording included only the guitar line on the last track “ Battery in Your Leg ”. The absence of Coxon also reinforced the roles of Alex James and Dave Rountry , who recorded backing vocals in the album. Rountry also played an electric guitar in "On The Way To The Club" and rapped on the demo of " Sweet Song ". [8] The Moroccan orchestra was used in the lead single " Out of Time ". [9]
Music Style
Think Tank continues to experiment with electronic music , and also contains elements of hip-hop , dub , jazz and African music. The sound of the album has become similar to the project of Damon Albarn Gorillaz . Due to the absence of Graham Coxon, the guitar sound became much smaller and was replaced by the simpler guitar parts played by Albarn . Almost completely written by Damon , [10] Think Tank also places great emphasis on backing vocals , acoustic guitar , bass , drums , keyboards and other musical instruments.
Like Parklife , Think Tank is a concept album ; Damon Albarn stated that the album is "about love and politics." [9] Some songs relate to feelings of paranoia and alienation . According to Uncut magazine, the song Sweet Song tells about the relationship between the band members. Other compositions tell about problems in the modern world. On some CD- versions of the album there is a hidden track " Me, White Noise ", in the recording of which Phil Daniels participated. Think Tank is the only Blur album to receive the Profanity logo due to the many drug references in Brothers and Sisters .
Critical Reception
| Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative rating | |
| A source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (83/100) |
| Critics' ratings | |
| A source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [eleven] |
| Drowned in sound | (10/10) [12] |
| Entertainment weekly | C + [13] |
| NME | (8/10) [14] |
| Pitchfork media | (9.0 / 10) [15] |
| Popmatters | (8/10) [16] |
| Spin | (9/10) [17] |
| Stylus | A− [18] |
| Rolling stone | [nineteen] |
| Uncut | [20] |
Think Tank has received many positive reviews from critics. The album took first places on the charts in the UK and USA . [21] In 2004, the disc was nominated for the Brit Awards in the "Best British Album" category [22] and received an award from Q magazine for "Best Album of the Year." Many magazines included him in the lists of the best musical achievements of 2003 and a decade. [23] [24]
| Magazine | A country | Category | Year | A place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eye weekly | Canada | Album of the year | 2003 | 23 |
| Popmatters | USA | Album of the year | 2003 | 7 |
| Rolling stone | USA | Album of the year | 2003 | * |
| Slant magazine | USA | 250 best albums of the decade | 2010 | 145 |
| Spin | USA | Album of the year | 2003 | sixteen |
| Delusions of adequacy | USA | 100 best albums of the decade | 2010 | 100 |
| Bbc | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | * |
| Drowned in sound | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 43 |
| Mojo | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 3 |
| NME | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 21 |
| 100 best albums of the decade | 2009 | 20 | ||
| Playlouder | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 18 |
| Q | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 2 |
| 100 best albums of the decade | 2009 | 59 | ||
| Rough trade | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 86 |
| Uncut | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | 62 |
| 150 best albums of the decade | 2009 | 22 | ||
| The observer | Great Britain | Album of the year | 2003 | one |
| Fnac | France | 1000 best albums of all time | 2008 | 799 |
| Les inrockuptibles | France | 100 best albums of the decade | 2010 | 7 |
| Rolling stone | France | 20 best albums of the decade | 2010 | * |
List of Songs
All the lyrics are Damon Albarn . Music - Albarn / Alex James / Dave Rountry (unless otherwise indicated).
- "Me, White Noise" ( hidden track ) - 6:48
- Ambulance 5:09
- Out of Time 3:52
- Crazy Beat 3:15
- “Good Song” - 3:09
- “On the Way to the Club” (Albarn / James Dring / James / Rountry) - 3:48
- Brothers and Sisters - 3:47
- Caravan - 4:36
- “We've got a file on you” - 1:03
- Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club - 3:03
- Sweet Song - 4:01
- “Jets” (Albarn / James / Rowntree / Mike Smith) - 6:25
- Gene by Gene - 3:49
- Battery in Your Leg (Albarn / Graham Coxon / James / Rountry) - 3:20
Record Members
Blur
- Damon Albarn - vocals , backing vocals , guitar , piano
- Alex James - bass , backing vocals,
- Dave Rountry - drums , backing vocals, guitar
- Graham Coxon - Guitar in Battery in Your Leg
Guest Musicians and Producers
- Bezari Ahmed - Rebab
- Mullaud My Ali - oud
- Mohamed Azzedin - Oud
- Norman Cook - producer
- Jason Cox - Engineer
- Phil Daniels - vocals
- James Dring - engineer, programming
- Ben Hiller - Producer, Engineer, Percussion
- Guaddam Jamal - cello , violin
- Abdullah Kehari - violin
- Ait Ramdam El Mustafa - Eve
- Desid Mustafa - arranger
- Dalal Mohamed Najib - Darbuka
- Hygiou Rashid - violin
- M. Rabet Mohamed Rashid - violin
- Mike Smith - Saxophone
- Kashimi Jamal, Youssef - oud
- William Orbit - Producer
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Blur– Think Tank .
- ↑ Think Tank . Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Banksy artwork sets new benchmark , BBC News (October 26, 2006). Date of treatment June 20, 2009.
- ↑ Elusive artist Banksy sets record price . Reuters UK . Thomson Reuters (April 25, 2007). Date of treatment May 9, 2008. Archived April 22, 2012.
- ↑ Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade . Archived on April 22, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Blur - Think Tank - album info . Vblurpage.com (May 5, 2003). Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived April 22, 2012.
- ↑ The History of Blur - 2001-2003 . Vblurpage.com. Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived April 22, 2012.
- ↑ Unreleased Blur Tracks . Vblurpage.com. Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived April 22, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Blur "Think" Up New Album (February 25, 2003). Date of treatment November 19, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Artist Profile: Blur . VH1 . Date of treatment March 11, 2007. Archived on August 5, 2012.
- ↑ [ Think Tank (album ) on the AllMusic Allmusic Review]
- ↑ Future, Andrew Drowned in Sound Review . Drownedinsound.com (May 7, 2003). Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Rob Brunner. Entertainment Weekly Review . Ew.com (May 9, 2003). Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ NME Review . Nme.com. Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ DiCrescenzo, Brent Pitchfork Media Review . Pitchforkmedia.com (May 5, 2003). Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ PopMatters Review . Popmatters.com. Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Greenwald, Andy link Spin Review . Spin.com Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Stylus Review . Stylusmagazine.com. Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Walters, Barry Think Tank . Rolling Stone (April 22, 2003). Date of treatment May 25, 2012. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Uncut Review . Metacritic.com Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ The Official UK Charts Company: Think Tank . Date of treatment March 11, 2007. Archived September 29, 2007.
- ↑ The BRITs 2004 . BRIT Awards . Date of treatment December 23, 2011. Archived on August 5, 2012.
- ↑ Blur . Acclaimed Music. Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.
- ↑ Think Tank . Acclaimed Music (December 19, 2003). Date of treatment February 16, 2011. Archived on August 8, 2012.