Think Tank [Import] [Limited Edition]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Compared to the brash pop of Damon Albarn's Gorillaz side project and 1999's overtly emotional 13, Think Tank is a soulful and subtle affair—its tone possibly traceable to the departure of founding member Graham Coxon midway through its recording. There are classic Blur rock moments here, notably "Crazy Beat," which is cut from the same cloth as the classic "Song 2," and the painfully short but brilliant "We've Got a File On You," which sounds like agitprop punks Crass mixed up with a Moroccan snake charmer. But while Albarn still has an ear for a melody, without Coxon's guitars to subvert them, most of these songs sound like the work of a new band. "Caravan"'s sleepy rhythm plods at a camel's pace, while "Gene by Gene" employs cross rhythms to evoke desert images. Blur is now more about textures rather than standard rock rhythms. Some will find their evolution oft-putting, but for fans who appreciate a band that refuses to sit still, Think Tank is a rewarding listen. --Caroline Butler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Album Description
2003 album on 2 LPs from Capitol. --This text refers to the LP Record edition.

Tracks:

Ambulance
Out Of Time
Crazy Beat
Good Song
On The Way To The Club
Brothers And Sisters
Caravan
We've Got A File On You
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Sweet Song
Jets
Gene By Gene
Battery In Your Leg

Amazon.com

Compared to the brash pop of Damon Albarn's Gorillaz side project and 1999's overtly emotional 13, Think Tank is a soulful and subtle affair—its tone possibly traceable to the departure of founding member Graham Coxon midway through its recording. There are classic Blur rock moments here, notably "Crazy Beat," which is cut from the same cloth as the classic "Song 2," and the painfully short but brilliant "We've Got a File On You," which sounds like agitprop punks Crass mixed up with a Moroccan snake charmer. But while Albarn still has an ear for a melody, without Coxon's guitars to subvert them, most of these songs sound like the work of a new band. "Caravan"'s sleepy rhythm plods at a camel's pace, while "Gene by Gene" employs cross rhythms to evoke desert images. Blur is now more about textures rather than standard rock rhythms. Some will find their evolution off-putting, but for fans who appreciate a band that refuses to sit still, Think Tank is a rewarding listen. --Caroline Butler

Album Description

2003 album on 2 LPs from Capitol.

Album Details

A Strictly Limited Edition of the Former UK #1 Album that features Special Packaging (Burgundy Linen Hardback Book with Gold Embossment) and Live Versions of Four "Think Tank" Tracks that were Recorded at MTV Studios.

Customer Reviews:

Think Tank.......2007-06-17

Think Tank~ Blur is an ok recording of experimetal pop/rock/advantgarde music. The lyrics are way out there and the sound reminds of nothing I have heard so far. But if one asked me and I had to give an answer then it would be a bit like a mix between the cure, einsturzende and everyday pop. The book-let is a travesty and the cover looks like someone spent five minutes on a sketch and then in their infinite wisdom decided that was all the work that was needed. Not a good decision. Still do not get me wrong here. It is not a bad album at all. It is just a little odd and not in a really amazing way and therefore it gets 3 well deserved stars. Ok but nothing more.

Great Blur Album.......2007-06-09

So many have said that Blur is not the same with Graham Coxon, which is true. But, the remaining members of the band have proven that they can adapt and reinvent their sound-even with the absence of a key member.
I enjoy the album from start to finish.

The importance of Graham revealed in his absence.......2006-08-15

"Think Tank" reinvented Blur for me, or my view of their previous material. I like Blur. I can't say that they are my favorite band -- but they definitely have a place of their own in my collection, especially albums # 2-4 (Modern Life..., Parklife, and Great Escape). The unabashed use of pop to convey anti-pop messages. The sarcastic storytelling. Blur was a good time party band that could also engage anyone who actually sits down and listens to the words........ more than meets the eye. That was something to be proud of.

I started to like Blur less the more sophisticated and artistic they got. I didn't like Blur (self-titled album) much, with the direction of the songwriting..... and I really disliked 13......... but just the same, I oddly respect these albums, as they live and breathe, even if they are over-ambitious and/or less accessible. If Damon Albarn wants to "grow up" as a songwriter, he has that right........ even at the expense of "alienating" fans like myself. Whatever it was he was going for, he seemed to hit it right between the eyes.

And then came Think Tank. Instrumentally and stylistically, this was a natural progression from the increasingly more-serious last two albums. More computers are used. More instruments are experimented with. The songs are less direct, more searching. All the pieces are in place for a solid, if not as listenable, neo-Blur album. Which would be admirable, even if non-adaptable people like me do not like it as much.

That's Fine............. the only problem is: it's not solid, and not listenable.

And thus I came upon the revelation of what made Blur "Blur"............. Of course. It was the one palpable thing missing from Think Tank that everything else before it had had. The only thing that could explain going from good experimentation to aimless experimentation. The guitar. The guitar was gone. The abstract, vernacular lead guitar........ hard to describe but impossible to mistake. Ladies in gentlemen, what made Blur "Blur" was Graham Coxon, I reckon...

Without Coxon, Think Tank loses focus and musicality both. Albarn and the rhythm section are left making music that sounds like it were generated by "Garage Band" or a similar computer program. For most of the songs, there is no distinguishing one part from another. It literally sounds as though Albarn and the band could have played the hook once and just looped it the rest of the song. The samples are promising but the songs are basically Gorillaz clones: beat-driven, without melody or variation. Nothing to even make them worth listening to, unless the lyrics grab you............. and the lyrics are not bad, which makes the ineptitude of the music even more unfortunate.

Think Tank could have been a very good album. Some of the songs are catchy and border on good. "Out of Time" is very pretty. "Good Song" is a drone's lazy summer hymn. "Sweet Song" is a basic but convincing little ballad. "On My Way to the Club" is a possessed reflection on rock and roll trappings. Albarn shows that he has grown up into quite the sociopolitical visionary, actually. He lyrics have an abstract depth that make them worth studying. But the songs are still skeletons, barely even real songs -- even these borderline-good ones. And sadly, this drags the poetic prowess down with it.

Not much need be said about the songs I did not mention. Most drag on like jam sessions to nowhere, as Damon tries to be understated and thus nothing gets stated, since if not words, the music certainly isn't going to say it. When they finish one almost feels cheated for having listened to them expecting something to happen. There is one exception. "Battery in Your Leg." This is the one very good song on the album........ it is no coincidence that it also is the only song that features Graham Coxon. It is almost too ironic that Albarn apparently finished with this song as a message to Coxon that the two could reconcile. On a musical level, this song says even more: they need to reconcile.

Blur's career may depend on it. In essence, this song takes the same kind of songwriting from the rest of the album and gives it melody and direction. What actually makes the song, in fact, is Coxon's eerie descending chord progression after Albarn's sincere "You can be with me"... plummeting right into Alex James' base. The end result is pretty breathtaking... even for someone who likes recent Blur less than old Brit-pop Blur. When Albarn's imagination and Coxon's flare come together, good things still happen..........

But while Coxon's vibrant guitar-playing can stand alone, as his solo works prove, Albarn needs Coxon badly. Likely more than Coxon needs him. Albarn is a freewheeler without the musical aptitude to make his idea's work......... and Coxon is his structure. In accommodating Coxon, Albarn actually accommodates himself...... and what he is capable of. That didn't happen on Think Tank.

Outstanding.......2005-10-14

While it took a while to get used too, (ive been a big Blur fan for some time now) I do believe that this album is one of Blurs strongest. My highest recommendation.

good enough to buy for 4 dollars.......2005-08-12

Err...this album is very strange. Well let's just say different. That sounds better. I really don't know a whole lot about blur (this was my first cd of theirs) except they are a brit pop/rock outfit with carismatic Damon Albarn at the reigns as the lead singer (also with the gorillas). This assessment is going to be very short. Think Tank seems more like an experimental studio session than a well constructed body of work. That's not neccisarily a bad thing but this album seems to have almost no cohesiveness. Each track is really it's own world. And some strange worlds they are. Blur seems utterly committed to using every sound effect and crazy noise within their grasp, sometimes complimenting the track; other times ruining it. There are a handful of good songs and a handful of just plain throwaways. Songs I'd recommend are "Out Of Time" "Good Song" "Sweet Song" and "Battery in Your leg." These are all slower more melancholy songs but thats what seems to work best on here. "On The Way to The Club" is also ok but forgettable. "Crazy Beat" would be a good straightforward rock song if it wasn't for this munchkin voice saying "crazy beat" over and over again throughout the song (It's soooo annoying). You should go into this with an open mind because there are some classic songs here. You just have to wade through the sometimes unlistenable music to get to em. Since this CD is so different though, picking out the good and bad tracks is a very subjective process. I had fun listening to Think Tank but i wouldn't pay full price for it. Perhaps check out Blur's earlier stuff? I know I will.

Average customer rating:

The Thinking Persons Entertainment
Mr. Efficiency
ticket master
Why would you buy this here?
Henry's Other Job...

Think Tank (Spoken Word)
Henry Rollins
Manufacturer: MCA International
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Hardcore & Punk | Live Albums | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Spoken Word | Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Stories | Children's Music | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Boxed Life
Henry Rollins - Shock and Awe
Talking From the Box/Henry Rollins Goes to London
A Rollins in the Wry
Henry Rollins: Live at Luna Park

ASIN: B00000C2CU
Release Date: 1998-12-15

Tracks:

How I Got Here
Airport Hell
Television
World Peace
El Nino
Weatherman
The Gay Thing
Vegas

Tracks:

Nothing Can Go Wrong
Brazil
Russia
Marius
No One Is Fax Exempt

Amazon.com

For his DreamWorks debut, spoken-word artiste Henry Rollins turns the funny-dude charm way up on 13 jocular monologues. Recorded live at 1997 and 1998 gigs in Chicago and Australia, Think Tank presents a far lighter side than Rollins previously has recorded. He shows another side here, one different from the counterculture icon--the guy with so much pain, he had to tattoo it all over his body and scream it out through rad punk tunes as the human throat for Black Flag and the Rollins Band--and, surprisingly, the lighter Rollins isn't Rollins Lite. The 30-something performer has found his ultimate calling as a caring but angry über-punk who's on your side in the fight against evil. Channeling his rage into prosaic humor, Rollins details the really big problems of life (homophobia, lyrics to Journey songs, racism, vegetarians) and small everyday bummers (the cast of Friends, idiots everywhere, fax machines) alongside detailed postcards from the rock-star life. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews:

The Thinking Persons Entertainment.......2007-01-10

For those Rollins fans that have already seen my previous review I will mix this up. The following tracks are a "must hear":

^Airport Hell
^World Peace
^El Nino
^Marius
and No One is Fax Exempt

Rollins with his self depracating wit once more says all of those things that any of us with one iota of intelligence are thinking!!!

Mr. Efficiency.......2004-11-06

Henry Rollins. The hulking frontman of Rollins Band, known for stripping to his shorts and stalking a stage while screaming and flexing. Most people don't realize that the ultra-aggressive alpha male seen onstage is, at heart, startlingly intelligent and insightful. Those who knew that from reading his books might have been shocked to discover what I discovered - he's hilarious!

This album was my first real introduction to Rollins as a spoken word artist. I was looking up comedy albums and came across Think Tank; I recall thinking at the time, "What? ROLLINS does comedy?" So I took a shot and got it . . . and now I have a new hero. Henry takes you through the adventures of touring (he once accidentally knocked himself out while performing!), his contempt for television, his take on gay people (he gets a little intense in this part - he's totally supportive of them and he's got some great observations, but many people get uncomfortable listening to him talk about it), and - my personal favorite - his bit about El Nino made me laugh until my sides hurt.

He also gets a bit poignant when he talks about the other side of the business . . . a true story about one of his fans - a young man named Marius - who had a terminal illness. It sounds like it'd be depressing but you'll end up smiling and admiring the strength Marius showed in the face of death.

In a nutshell, Henry Rollins uses Think Tank to take you on the rollercoaster of rage, frustration, sorrow, and awe that is life - and he'll make you laugh the whole time. If you like to learn something while you laugh, this is for you.

ticket master.......2004-10-26

Oh yeah, screw Ticketmaster too!... was they cry of someone further up.

These lot are known as ticket Bas**rd in Dublin.

ps when i saw rollins back in 88 in London, there was no ticket b then. You just went down to the venue and bought the F***er.

The end of silence is by far the best thing hez done since drive by shooting ep.

more of a b flag fan ////

Why would you buy this here?.......2004-01-27

Dude, if you want to buy a Rollins CD, go to his website and buy it direct. Why pay $16 for a $10 CD, just to pay for corporate overhead. Henry would not approve!
Oh yeah, screw Ticketmaster too!

Henry's Other Job..........2003-06-14

When not fronting Rollins Band or hosting the carnage on TLC's "Full Metal Challenge", Henry tours the globe with his comic act. By this point, the material is professional and polished - until you get to "Marius". This story, of a fan who taught Henry a major life lesson, is the best and most honest bit on the cd.

While I truly prefer Henry's earlier work - the less well-honed sets - this is a very good cd. However, if you really want the Rollins experience, a ticket to his show is required.

Gemini
Average customer rating:

Sit back, put your feet up, and breathe in the serenity

Gemini
Lana Lane
Manufacturer: Think Tank Media
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Somewhere Else

Sola Scriptura

Fear of a Blank Planet

Hommage Symphonique

Revolution Road

ASIN: B000LPR0WA
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Tracks:

White Room
White Rabbit
Long Long Way from Home
You Can Never Go Home
Pink Moon Suite: Breathe Introduction
Pink Moon Suite: Johnny Moon
Pink Moon Suite: Breathe in the Air
Pink Moon Suite: On the Run
Pink Moon Suite: Time
Pink Moon Suite: Breathe Reprise
Dream of the Archer
Starrider
Sunshine of Your Love
Wooden Ships
Nights in White Satin

Customer Reviews:

Sit back, put your feet up, and breathe in the serenity.......2007-02-15

The Good
Lane's presentation of Creams' "White Room" and The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" are not quite as dark and dreary as the originals. With her serene and melodic vocals, the songs become a bit more romantic and uplifting. "Long Way From Home" (Foreigner) is a great AOR number with smooth, fuzzy guitars leading the charge. For her second Foreigner track Lane goes for the beautiful balladry of "Starrider." "Pink Moon Suite" combines Heart's "Johnny Moon" with almost the entire first side of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The marriage of the two makes it seem the songs were cut from the same mold. As with most of the album, Lane is the star of the Heart track, but it's the backing band, and most notably keyboardist Erik Norlander's chance to shine on the Floyd tracks. If you are familiar with Lana Lane, then it's no surprise that she covers yet another Heart classic, "Dream of the Archer." Lana cites Nancy Wilson as a major influence.

The Bad
Not particularly an era of music I am all too familiar with or fond of.

The Verdict
I have been a fan of Lana Lane since the first time I heard her angelic voice. Although most Lana Lane albums are a little harder in the music department, all of Lana's beautiful melodies have followed her to this colorful venture. Sit back, put your feet up, and breathe in the serenity.

Average customer rating:

Groovin' Roy

Drunkard in the Think Tank
Roy Loney & the Longshots
Manufacturer: Career Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Roots Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Traffic and Weather
Live at Massey Hall (CD/DVD)

ASIN: B0001XAKB0
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Tracks:

House of Games
One Track Mind
You Don't Owe Me
He Talks to Himself
Nobody Does It
Doggone Fine
Grape Wine
Steam
Five Times a Fool
Jennifer Whenever
She's the One
Such a Nice Boy
Hang With Me
Move It Baby [*]
Unoriginal Sin [*]
Let Me Be [*]

Amazon.com

Roy Loney, a founding member of the Flamin' Groovies, has remained true to his original impulses. Leaving that band after a three year tenure in 1971 he's ridden along on the commercially dubious but artistically unblemished path of a cult artist. His band the Phantom Movers morphed into the Longshots with most of the Young Fresh Fellows on board. Drunkard In The Think Tank is their first new studio album in a decade and it takes no prisoners from the word go. Shades of Rick Nelson, Roy Orbison, Kinks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and countless lesser known foot soldiers from the era of rock & roll's early danger-fueled innocence inform and empower this fully committed set. --David Greenberger

Customer Reviews:

Groovin' Roy.......2004-08-21

Roy Loney is back and he is better than ever ! This long awaited CD brought to us by the perfectly classy Career records is far better than expected compared to Roy's previous release ("full grown head"). We have here everything to delight the true Roy fans who have followed him since his old Flamin Groovies days and later whith his fantabulous power band, the Phantom Movers.
On "Drunkard in the Think Tank" you have the impression you are listening to some lost song from "Flamingo" or from "Out after dark" and "The scientist bombs away". The longshots are the backing band,they sound like enjoying themselves.
This CDs contains true rockers like the opening "House of Games" or "steam", but my true favourite is the mid tempo "five times a fool" which has such a Roy Orbison touch. "He talks to himself" and "Doggone fine" are classic Loney tunes which will not disappoint the afficionados. It is a positive CD which makes you smile, Roy is out of time just himself singing his little pieces of rock nuggets. I highly recommend this CD.

Average customer rating:

An uneven cover album tribute with interesting passages...
Fire the bassist.

Hommage Symphonique
Erik Norlander
Manufacturer: Think Tank Media
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Revolution Road
Sola Scriptura
Fear of a Blank Planet
Gemini
Spock's Beard

ASIN: B000LPR0WK
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Tracks:

Conquistador
Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight
Turn of the Century
Pirates
Clasp
Ocean Breakup/King of the Universe
Children of Sanchez Overture
Starless

Customer Reviews:

An uneven cover album tribute with interesting passages..........2007-06-24

Well usually I don't like any tribute album introducing classing symphonic rock like this one, especially as I'm fond of such a classic and new experimental symphonic progressive music in the vein of bands such as After Crying or Isildurs Bane. Moreover - as a fun of the old Yes - I've been very curious listening to another different version of "Turn of the Century", which can be another bad emulation...naturally I'm still just a little bit perplex about the present music project, nevertheless you can find some interesting passages within, by forgetting the performance of the bass player as well as the oddest vocal break through, sometimes strident in a couple of songs... of course it's not an hard rock album and the style of the vocalist is closer to that style, but at the end you can appreciate the honest approach by Erik and for me that's enough!

Make your own choice!

Fire the bassist........2007-04-13

This is a pretty good covers album with an excellent group of songs from the "difficult to play" prog genre. Hard rock singer Kelly Keeling shows tremendous range in making these tunes come to life, often with real sensitivity in his voice. Norlander's analog keyboard sounds are right at home with this material. He is perhaps most successful in arrangements of unexpected tunes such as Chuck Mangione's "Children of Sanchez." However, the album comes to a clumsy close on what should have been a climactic version of King Crimson's "Starless." The song is absolutely ruined by a terrible performance from the bass player is badly sharp in many sections, particularly during the long, slow-building middle section that features the bass extensively. These parts are just excruciating to listen to, like fingernails on a blackboard.

Average customer rating:

Music Machine
Erik Norlander
Manufacturer: Think Tank Media
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Revolution Road
Threshold
Milliontown
Second Life Syndrome

ASIN: B0000A0I9E
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Tracks:

Project Blue Prince (Prologue)
Music Machine
Turn Me On
Heavy Metal Symphony
Tour of the Sprawl
Andromeda
Letter from Space
Lost Highway
Soma Holiday
Return of the Neurosaur
Project Blue Prince (Reprise)

Tracks:

Fanfare and Interlude
Beware of the Vampires
Fire of Change
Fall of the Idol
Metamorphosis
One of the Machines
Fallen
Johnny America
Music Machine (Reprise)
Sky Full of Stars (Epilogue)

Album Description

Keyboard virtuoso and producer extraordinaire Erik Norlander proudly announces the release of his 2003 rock opera, Music Machine, a double CD concept album about the dramatic rise and fall of a genetically engineered rock star. With a full compliment of world-class musicians including Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult), Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio), Gregg Bissonette (ELO, David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani, etc.), Virgil Donati (Steve Vai, Planet X, Ring of Fire), Mark Boals (Yngwie, Ring of Fire), Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder, Whitesnake), Kelly Keeling (MSG, Blue Murder, Heaven and Earth) and many others, Erik's Music Machine project is epic both in scope and sound. Limited edition set packaged in a deluxe gatefold digipak. Think Tank Media.

Average customer rating:

Running in Circles
Forest Glen
Manufacturer: Think Tank Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BX7KXG
Release Date: 2002-01-15

Tracks:

Harp Start
Running in Circles
Down
Up in Found
Hold On
Tunnel Track Blues
Fast for You
Jimmy d's Chicken Pickin' Boogie
You Take Me (Higher)
That Ain't Right

Product Description

10 songs

Average customer rating:

Great starter album for Gorillaz fans.
Blur locks into the groove...and it feels good...
Best Blur yet

Think Tank
Blur
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0000931OK
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Tracks:

Ambulance
Out of Time
Crazy Beat
Good Song
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Brothers And Sisters
Caravan
We've Got A File On You
Sweet Song
Jets
On The Way To The Club
Gene By Gene
Battery In Your Leg

Customer Reviews:

Great starter album for Gorillaz fans........2005-06-24

I happen to be a very big fan of Gorillaz,buying their new album,Demon Days off of Amazon.com,and I think that this is a great "Starter Album",to people who have never heard Blur(Although,you would have to be living in a cave,not to have heard Song 2),but are big fans of Damon Albarns side project,Gorillaz. The songs themself,arent as good as Demon Days,but,then again,what is?(I told you,im a BIG Gorillaz fan)
Old Blur fans wouldnt enjoy this one as much,but Gorillaz fans will think that it (Excuse me for using stupid internet language) PWNS.

Blur locks into the groove...and it feels good..........2003-05-15

Blur. Not only one the greatest pop groups of the nineties, but perhaps ever. "Modern Life is Rubbish", "Parklife", and "Great Escape" were all milestone pop albums, with Albarn narrating stories of British life and Coxon providing precise, chiming guitar work. But something happened to Blur. Their self-titled was an adventurous foray into a more sonic-focused direction. They started to emphasize more on soundscapes, and "13" proved this even more. But "Think Tank" is Blur's new direction fully realized. And it feels good. Real good.

Coxon's guitar work will be sorely missed, but Blur's new bass-and-drum focus is equally exciting. "Ambulance" kicks things off with a locked-in groove, echoing the No-Wave funk groups of the early eighties like Liquid Liquid and ESG. The group's continuing focus on soundscapes is present, as their epic final track, "Battery in Your Leg", uses atmospheric My Bloody Valentine-esque guitar work, while "Brothers and Sisters" recalls the electronic ambience of David Bowie's "Low". Tracks like "Crazy Beat" and "We Got a File on You" prove that Blur have not completely abandoned their pop sensibilites, as they sound similar to something you would hear on their self-titled and "Parklife", respectively. "Gene by Gene" combines old Blur with new, using unique, alien sounds to give new life to Blur's perfected pop formula. With this new focus on more groove based, soundscape music, it's suprising that the best tracks on "Think Tank" are the personal, melodic ones. "Good Song" is a simple in its instrumentation and premise yet is one of the most lasting tracks on the album. "On the Way to the Club" is equally simple yet perhaps is the standout track, with Peter Gabriel-esque harmonies and warm synthesizers swelling to the point of blissful, gorgeous noise. "Sweet Song" is heavenly in tone, with Albarn's voice and elegiac piano work providing it's beautiful backbone. "Caravan" is a lo-fi masterpiece, with Albarn's distorted voice exposing him at his most personal on the album. Blur's Clash influence pops up with "Morrocan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club", a fun track that recalls "London Calling". Free jazz even enters "Think Tank", with "Jets" coupling lo-fi production with free saxophone improvisation.

"Think Tank" is perhaps Blur's most mature work. Albarn's work on "Mali Music" did Blur some good, as the world influences really give "Think Tank" color and character. But with a greater focus on bass and drums and soundscapes, Blur are traveling down a new and foreign road that will, and already has, ravaged fans and critics universal acceptance of this ever-changing group. The immediacy of Blur's previous pop masterpieces is definitely gone, but the mature, varied sound of "Think Tank" proves to the world that something more than Beatles-esque pop craftmanship is cooking in this group's head.

Best Blur yet.......2003-05-09

Blur's getting less electric guitar-ey since Graham Coxon left and uses more varied instruments. This is a natural progression from 13 and is more mellow with Damon Albarn's vocals getting more attention.