Think Tank (album)

Think Tank
Studio album by Blur
Released	May 5, 2003
Recorded	March 2002 - November 2002
Genre	Alternative rock Electronica
Length	49:16 (excl. "Me, White Noise") 55:58 (incl. "Me, White Noise")
Label	Parlophone Virgin
Producer	Blur, Ben Hillier, William Orbit, Norman Cook
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Drowned in Sound link Music Emissions link musicOMH.com (Positive) link NME link Pitchfork Media (9.0/10) link Rolling Stone link Stylus Magazine (A-) link Uncut
Blur chronology
Blur: The Best of (2000) Think Tank (2003)

Think Tank is the seventh studio album by English rock band Blur, released on May 5, 2003 in the United Kingdom and on May 6 in the United States. It represented a major musical change for the group and also gave them their highest charting album in the United States.It is also famous due to the fact that the cover was stenciled by the famous graffiti artist Banksy. Instead of the pop music of their early career or the alternative rock Blur made in their previous albums, Think Tank was filled with brooding, atmospheric, heavy electronic sounds, a testament to both Damon Albarn's increasing interest in electronica and his control over the group's creative direction. The album was recorded after Graham Coxon quit the band; because of this, it features almost no electric guitar in the style of Blur's earlier albums, largely relying on backing vocals and other instruments to fill the void. Coxon's absence also meant that the album was almost entirely written by Albarn. This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

Recording history

Think Tank was recorded in Morocco with Fatboy Slim contributing 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. Coxon's only significant contribution to the record was a guitar line on the last track, "Battery in Your Leg". Like Blur's breakthrough album, Parklife, Think Tank is a loose concept album, in that its songs all deal with similar themes without a definite story arc or continuous characters. Most of the songs are concerned with a sense of paranoia and alienation in British club culture. Think Tank is also known for being the only Blur album to get the parental advisory logo.

Reception

The album was nominated for Best British Album at the 2004 BRIT Awards, and won the Q Album of the Year award. A special edition of the album was released in a red booklet. The enhanced CD included four live videos. The artwork for the album was produced by the graffiti artist Banksy. The album's cover art sold at auction in 2007 for £75,000. ^[1] Think Tank was also very well received critically, with a score of 83 on Metacritic ^[2], which equates to 'Universal Acclaim'. It is widely regarded that, despite the absence of Graham Coxon, the album still sounds very strong and is among Blur's best work. Several of the album's songs were used in episodes of the television show Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Track listing

All tracks written by Damon Albarn, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree, except where noted.

0. "Me, White Noise" (Albarn, James, Rowntree, Phil Daniels) – 6:48
   • Hidden track which requires manual rewind before track 1. This can make some computers crash and iTunes hang.
1. "Ambulance" – 5:09
2. "Out of Time" – 3:52
3. "Crazy Beat" – 3:15
4. "Good Song" – 3:09
5. "On the Way to the Club" – 3:48
6. "Brothers and Sisters" – 3:47
7. "Caravan" – 4:36
8. "We've Got a File on You" – 1:03
9. "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" – 3:03
10. "Sweet Song" – 4:01
11. "Jets" (Albarn, James, Rowntree, Mike Smith) – 6:25
12. "Gene by Gene" – 3:49
13. "Battery in Your Leg" (Albarn, Graham Coxon, James, Rowntree) – 3:20

References

External links

• Blur 'Think Tank' Track By Track - interview with Damon, Alex and Dave talking about Think Tank track by track at Xfm Online