Think Tank (album)

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Think Tank
Studio album by Blur
Released 5 May 2003
Recorded March–November 2002
Genre Alternative rock,[1] experimental rock[2]
Length 49:16
Label Parlophone
Producer Blur, Ben Hillier, William Orbit, Norman Cook
Professional reviews
Blur chronology
13
(1999)		 Think Tank
(2003)		 Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
(2009)

Think Tank is the seventh album by the English alternative rock band Blur, released on 5 May 2003 in the United Kingdom. It represented a major musical change for the group with experimental and World Music elements being added to the usual Britpop palette. It also gave them their highest charting album in the United States. The album cover was stenciled by the graffiti artist Banksy.[3] The album's cover art sold at auction in 2007 for £75,000.[4]

Contents

[edit] Recording history

The recording for Think Tank started in November 2001 at 13 Studio in London and was finished a year later in a barn on National Trust land in Devon. Recording also took place in Morocco where the band equipped an old barn with a studio.[5] The sessions in Morocco produced "Crazy Beat", "Gene By Gene" and "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club"[5]. The band approached many producers including The Neptunes, The Dust Brothers and William Orbit to work on the album in July 2002.[6] The final record was produced by Blur and Ben Hillier with various other producers including Orbit and Norman Cook (better known by his recording alias Fatboy Slim). Cook contributed to two tracks ("Crazy Beat" and "Gene by Gene"); supposedly his presence as producer was a contributing factor in Graham Coxon's departure from the group.[citation needed] Coxon only contributed to four tracks for the Think Tank sessions, "Battery in Your Leg", "The Outsider", "Morricone" and "Some Glad Morning" with his only significant appearance on the final record being a guitar line on the last track, "Battery in Your Leg". Coxon's absence also bolstered the role of Alex James and Dave Rowntree who provided backing vocals throughout the album. Rowntree also played the electric guitar on "On The Way To The Club" and provided a rap on a demo version of "Sweet Song".[7] A Morrocan orchestra is featured in the lead single, "Out of Time".

[edit] Musical style

Jettisoning the Britpop sound of Blur's early career as well as the lo-fi indie rock of Blur (1997), Think Tank continued the jam-based studio constructions of 13 (1999). The album expanded on the use of sampled rhythm loops and brooding, heavy electronic sounds. Influences from dance music, hip hop, dub, jazz and African music permeated the recording sessions, an indication of Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests and his control over the group's creative direction. Albarn also cited The Clash as an inspiration. Founding member Graham Coxon quit the band early in the recording of the album, resulting in little of his electric guitar work familiar from Blur's earlier albums. Almost entirely written by Albarn, Think Tank placed more emphasis on lush backing vocals, simple acoustic guitar, drums, bass guitar and a variety of other instruments. According to Uncut magazine "Sweet Song" was written by Albarn about the fallout between Coxon and the rest of the band.

Like Blur's breakthrough album Parklife, Think Tank is a loose concept album; its songs deal with similar themes without a definite story arc or continuous characters. Some of the songs are concerned with a sense of paranoia and alienation in British club culture.[citation needed] Other lyrics, and the album's artwork and videos, alluded to the state of the world. Think Tank was recorded during 2002, a year in which the United States and the United Kingdom governments began to threaten Iraq with possible invasion, which would later take place in March 2003. Several critics saw the album as timely, in part due to its being recorded in the Arab world where US and UK policies were unpopular. Albarn was involved in the anti-war movement and participated in marches during this time.[citation needed]

Think Tank is the only Blur album to get the Parental Advisory logo, because "Brothers and Sisters" contains many drug references. Also, the hidden track "Me, White Noise" is one of the few Blur songs to contain an expletive.

[edit] Reception

Think Tank was well received critically, with a score of 83 on Metacritic,[8] which equates to a tag of "Universal Acclaim". The album was nominated for Best British Album at the 2004 BRIT Awards, and won the Q Album of the Year award. It entered the UK Album Chart at #1.

[edit] Track listing

All lyrics by Damon Albarn. All music by Albarn/Alex James/Dave Rowntree unless otherwise stated.

  1. "Me, White Noise" – 6:48
    • Hidden track on CD release (however, it is available to buy separately on iTunes) which requires manual rewind.
  2. "Ambulance" – 5:09
  3. "Out of Time" – 3:52
  4. "Crazy Beat" – 3:15
  5. "Good Song" – 3:09
  6. "On the Way to the Club" (Albarn/James Dring/James/Rowntree) – 3:48
  7. "Brothers and Sisters" – 3:47
  8. "Caravan" – 4:36
  9. "We've Got a File on You" – 1:03
  10. "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" – 3:03
  11. "Sweet Song" – 4:01
  12. "Jets" (Albarn/James/Rowntree/Mike Smith) – 6:25
  13. "Gene by Gene" – 3:49
  14. "Battery in Your Leg" (Albarn/Graham Coxon/James/Rowntree) – 3:20

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog Notes
United Kingdom 5 May 2003 Parlophone CD 5829972
Enhanced CD 5829970 Special edition book sleeve. Also contains four live videos in enhanced section
Double LP 5829971
March 2003 CD sampler THINK 1 Alternate version of hidden track "Me, White Noise" featuring vocals by Damon Albarn
April 2003 12" vinyl sampler THINK 3 4-track sampler featuring "Crazy Beat", "Brothers and Sisters", "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" and "Gene by Gene"
China Universal CD HDCD-050
Japan 21 April 2003 Toshiba CD TOCP-66153 Includes bonus track "The Outsider"
Korea CD EKPD-1055
Malaysia EMI Malaysia Cassette 583434-4
Taiwan CD 724358343427
United States 6 May 2003 Virgin Records CD 724358424201
724358424300 Clean version
724358424409 Ltd. edition version
Worldwide 2005 Digital Dowload

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lqf8zfg3ehok~T1
  2. ^ http://www.nme.com/artists/blur/
  3. ^ "Banksy artwork sets new benchmark". BBC News. 2006-10-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6087120.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-20. 
  4. ^ "Elusive artist Banksy sets record price". Reuters UK. Thomson Reuters. 2007-04-25. http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2531915420070425. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  5. ^ a b http://www.vblurpage.com/discography/albums/think.htm
  6. ^ http://www.vblurpage.com/info/history/0103.htm
  7. ^ http://www.vblurpage.com/info/songlist/unreleased.htm
  8. ^ "Blur: Think Tank (2003): Reviews". http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/blur/thinktank?q=Blur. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Justified by Justin Timberlake		 UK number one album
17 May 2003 – 23 May 2003		 Succeeded by
Justified by Justin Timberlake
v • d • e
Blur
Damon Albarn · Graham Coxon · Alex James · Dave Rowntree
Studio albums
Leisure · Modern Life Is Rubbish · Parklife · The Great Escape · Blur · 13 · Think Tank
Other albums
Singles
Live personnel
Related articles
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