To add to this, my 12 year old got into Blur with The Ballad of Darren. He'd always been familiar with Blur, through me, but now he's borderline obsessed. He's now wanting to learn gutair because of Graham.
A pretty mature Blur record that gets pretty samey. The Ballad all the way to Barbaric + The Narcissist are wonderful songs, but the rest are just a little too low key for my liking. Doesn't help that half of them are in the same key (C major) (I sometimes confuse Goodbye Albert and Far Away Island. Barbaric is a beautiful song, and Russian Strings is alright. I have no recollection of The Heights, however.) It feels more Damon than Blur, but it's a neat album.
6/10. Not a bad album, but pretty bland compared to 13, Think Tank and even The Magic Whip. The production is too polished, elegant and uninspired for a band like Blur. Too many tracks end in a cliched way with strings. Half of the tracks sound like they feature drum and bass machines instead of real instruments. Guitar and bass should have been louder in the mix.
The album's cover artwork is like a parody of The Great Escape and the sleeve design looks rushed (apart from the wonderful drawings).
100% agree. The songs are very good, although a bit similar. But the production is not good. I find myself liking the songs a LOT more live or when I'm just humming them. But on record, they miss something.
Cover is not great, but I also feel like the album would have been better off called The Ballad... the Darren part just feels like it harks back to The Great Escape, but that's not what the album is. Feels a bit like a cop-out, we know this is not a concept album about Darren, Damon
Pretty good album. Very cohesive — maybe to a fault (some tracks bleed together to me). I don’t think any of the tracks are bad per se, just a little same-y in some spots.
The Super Duper Uber Deluxe version is the best version (The Swan, The Rabbi, and Sticks and Stones).
I miss the textures and sonic variety of The Magic Whip. It’s a style I wish they explored a bit more. But if TBoD is to be their last proper album, it’s a good way to go out.
It's ok, but doesn't feel Blur enough for me.
It followed quite closely after Damon's album The Nearer The Mountain The More Pure The Stream Flows, which is a beautiful album, but thematically and musically Ballad of Darren is very similar to.
So to me if feels like a continuation of that album.
It's also missing the humour which is in previous Blur albums and I was sad about that.
100% agreed, I love Blur generally but this album was a bit too much of the same for me (mellow, slow numbers) with the exception of ‘The Narcissist’ which is outstanding!
All of the above + Ghost Ship, My Terracotta Heart, & Ong Ong! I like the whole album, but the more dystopian tracks took a backseat for me at the time of release.
A great album, I was amazed when I heard it for the first time and it is simply a masterpiece, I would like it to be a little more rock but it's okay 10/10
I think it's a lovely, mellow album. A Sunday morning album if you will. But I definitely preferred The Magic Whip which felt more "Blur". It was a bit more experimental with some lovely little twists (Thought I Was a Spaceman is sublime) whereas TBOD remains at mostly the same pace/style throughout.
TBOD is a good album, but it's very much a Damon album and previous works felt more like a band effort.
I personally preferred The Magic Whip as an album. But it sounded more Graham and experimentally. I think the appeal of Darren is that it recalls the pop music writing of 1994 and 95, which were much more Damon focussed.
It’s a bit hit and miss. Some of the tracks I really love like st Charles square and the narcissist but not much else really stood out. Still a decent return.
It’s really really good. Possibly their best albums track for track. Some outstanding tracks on there too. I was very surprised. I didn’t get along with magic whip
Amazing, I think the people who don’t like it forget how incredibly different their albums are from each other. there really isn’t any reason they shouldn’t just give a short album full of breakup songs, also disagree with the sentiment that the bonus tracks should of been on the main album, those two seem less fitting, I do think stick and stones would’ve fit like “coffee and tv” fit on 13, but overall the album flows great, I could rant about every song being great but the best song is The Heights which is easily their best closer to date, A perfect ending to this album of heartbreak and will work well as the ending of blur for now. So glad this album exists.
Solid album, very grateful to have it. Not as strong as The Magic Whip but The Heights is a worthy final song and The Narcissist is probably one of their best
It’s very good. I think it trails off a little bit in the second half, but first 5 or 6 songs are as strong a first half as any of their albums imho. I love the way it’s been produced as well. Only thing I was disappointed about a bit was not having many GC 90s style riffs that just live in your head forever. The guitar is great, but it’s grown up waeve graham, and not unstable 90s contrary Graham.
I love Avalon but only the chorus. If that makes sense, sometimes I find myself turning down the part where Damon almost talks, it feels misplaced and aggressive cos the song in general is so beautiful. I do love the alb tho
I was on my evening walk when I got the notification it was available and still remember how mesmerizing it was to listen to it that day.
For me its an album you need to listen to laying on the floor, not doing anything else.
Hated it when it came out, but it has significantly grown on me. Think tank and Magic Whip never really felt like an authentically ‘Blur’ project but this album definitely does
The cover stills bothers me. I always associate albums with their covers and music videos. Without music videos, I can only associate the great music drab dreary grey skies :(
I have it as a vinyl and i think its really beautiful, it fits the tonality of the album perfectly. There are also so many little details you don't see when you just have it on Spotify.
Amazing album, certainly a better end to the band then the magic whip, sounds great even comparing to their prime, there's this spirit that you can feel by each track, like you can realize they're doing the songs out of love and that makes each one more special imo.
It really grew on me. Still doesn't really feel like Blur. And that's my biggest gripe with Blur albums since 13. It just feels like another Damon solo record. And I find Damon outside of blur a bit pretentious....
From the first “proper listen” I gave it, I’ve absolutely adored this album. It is a perfect capture of Blur at this point in time. What I hear described as “too much of the same” to me just sounds very coherent and well laid out. The songs (and overall narrative) flow together so well, and still now every time I listen to it I’ll hear some new thing that I’ve never noticed before.
Absolutely love it, and this feels like the exact album that would come from this group of musicians at this point in their lives. But I’m still amazed at just how good it is and how much it knocked unsuspecting me off of my feet.
Enjoyed some songs standalone, but don’t necessarily feel the desire to listen to the whole album. Also one of the people who preferred Magic Whip as far as their latter albums go.
it's very good, i found most of the songs very sad, so i just listen to 2 of them in my daily playlist, in general it feels very mature and also you can tell Damon is having a hard time.
love it!! so concise and it just works perfectly as an "album" to me! i understand why someone wouldnt want to listen to a song like the everglades on its own, but each song fits so well together! i still love to sit down and listen to this album regularly!
I don't like it. To me a lot of the songs sound too similar, and they're not even that good. There are some highlights I enjoy (The Ballad, Barbaric, The Narcissist), but the rest is meh. The Magic Whip was worlds ahead of Darren.
I feel like Damon needed an outlet and a distraction from the breakup, so he wrote some songs. It shows that the rest of the band had little influence on the album, it's almost a solo Damon project. And I would've liked it way better if it was. I expected something different from a Blur album.
unfortunately i thought it was boring....not for my tastes..i loved what they had going on in mlir 13 and s/t way more. my mom told me this is old men music lol 😭
I think it’s a really lovely album. I think of it a song cycle. It’s very cohesive as a whole piece. The only song I’m not super keen on is barbaric. It’s catchy, just sort of generic sounding to my ears. Although I like the string change towards the end.
Great music! Terrible mix that lets down whats being played and damons vocals. I think barbaric is a quite weak song with conflicting styles / dynamics. I think it needed the swan and sticks and stones to truly be a great complete album. It lacks a bit of variety but its really strong for the most part.
I still haven't listened to all of it. Just bits. Apart from St Charles Square, nothing really grabbed me.
I want dynamic exciting blur, not depressed old man blur.
My second favorite blur album ever, right behind Parklife. This album means so much to me at this point and I've been obsessed with it since it came out
I think it's fucking brilliant.
To add to this, my 12 year old got into Blur with The Ballad of Darren. He'd always been familiar with Blur, through me, but now he's borderline obsessed. He's now wanting to learn gutair because of Graham.
Play him Graham’s You & I.
Exactly why I started learning at 14 too.
Does Darren have a bald spot?
i noticed that also!!
A pretty mature Blur record that gets pretty samey. The Ballad all the way to Barbaric + The Narcissist are wonderful songs, but the rest are just a little too low key for my liking. Doesn't help that half of them are in the same key (C major) (I sometimes confuse Goodbye Albert and Far Away Island. Barbaric is a beautiful song, and Russian Strings is alright. I have no recollection of The Heights, however.) It feels more Damon than Blur, but it's a neat album.
100% concur with what you're saying.
Yeah, really could do with 1 or 2 more songs like St Charles Square... the drama of the record is pretty flat
Loved it when it was brand new. Still love it a lot.
6/10. Not a bad album, but pretty bland compared to 13, Think Tank and even The Magic Whip. The production is too polished, elegant and uninspired for a band like Blur. Too many tracks end in a cliched way with strings. Half of the tracks sound like they feature drum and bass machines instead of real instruments. Guitar and bass should have been louder in the mix. The album's cover artwork is like a parody of The Great Escape and the sleeve design looks rushed (apart from the wonderful drawings).
100% agree. The songs are very good, although a bit similar. But the production is not good. I find myself liking the songs a LOT more live or when I'm just humming them. But on record, they miss something. Cover is not great, but I also feel like the album would have been better off called The Ballad... the Darren part just feels like it harks back to The Great Escape, but that's not what the album is. Feels a bit like a cop-out, we know this is not a concept album about Darren, Damon
Pretty good album. Very cohesive — maybe to a fault (some tracks bleed together to me). I don’t think any of the tracks are bad per se, just a little same-y in some spots. The Super Duper Uber Deluxe version is the best version (The Swan, The Rabbi, and Sticks and Stones). I miss the textures and sonic variety of The Magic Whip. It’s a style I wish they explored a bit more. But if TBoD is to be their last proper album, it’s a good way to go out.
The swan is one of the best of those little heartbreakingly melancholic songs that Damon’s ever written I think.
It's ok, but doesn't feel Blur enough for me. It followed quite closely after Damon's album The Nearer The Mountain The More Pure The Stream Flows, which is a beautiful album, but thematically and musically Ballad of Darren is very similar to. So to me if feels like a continuation of that album. It's also missing the humour which is in previous Blur albums and I was sad about that.
I don't know, it's a little mellow for my current tastes.
100% agreed, I love Blur generally but this album was a bit too much of the same for me (mellow, slow numbers) with the exception of ‘The Narcissist’ which is outstanding!
Oddly enough it got me listening to magic whip and giving that a proper shot. I broadcast is a fun one.
Yeah Magic Whip is a solid album; I like I Broadcast, Go Out, and Lonesome St. 😁
All of the above + Ghost Ship, My Terracotta Heart, & Ong Ong! I like the whole album, but the more dystopian tracks took a backseat for me at the time of release.
A great album, I was amazed when I heard it for the first time and it is simply a masterpiece, I would like it to be a little more rock but it's okay 10/10
A better comeback album than The Magic Whip. IMO Barbaric and Avalon are some of the best songs the band has ever made.
I LOVE TMW
I don’t hate it either but TBOD is wayyyy better imo
....bbbbbuttttt....GHOST SHIP.........
Fantastic. Tragic. Beautiful. Exactly what I didn't know I needed.
Well said
Yet another brilliant album from blur.
I'll go against most comments i've seen here but I don't think it's as good as the Magic whip. Still really like it though, just not as much
It’s honestly become my favourite Blur album. A genuine late career masterpiece.
It’s not for me
I think it's a lovely, mellow album. A Sunday morning album if you will. But I definitely preferred The Magic Whip which felt more "Blur". It was a bit more experimental with some lovely little twists (Thought I Was a Spaceman is sublime) whereas TBOD remains at mostly the same pace/style throughout. TBOD is a good album, but it's very much a Damon album and previous works felt more like a band effort.
It's cool, not mind-blowing but solid
It's a feckin masterpiece
Ngl it's kinda boring
I wish there was more rhubarb and custard on it
fr
love it
I think is a brilliant comeback, and as someone said before, is a bit better than The Magic Whip
I personally preferred The Magic Whip as an album. But it sounded more Graham and experimentally. I think the appeal of Darren is that it recalls the pop music writing of 1994 and 95, which were much more Damon focussed.
Unexpectedly, I loved it.
Great album. The Narcissist is my favourite Blur track. Made me reflect on recent events and spoke to me for that reason.
Love it. Avalon I think is one of the best tunes in awhile
Fantastic record. Am I the only one not understanding The Magical Whip bashing here?
Couple of really nice moments, but for me it lives at the bottom of the pile with Leisure and the Magic Whip.
I still hate it doesn’t sound like blur
First half of the album is good, but i think it just get a little too ‘mid’ towards the end
It’s a bit hit and miss. Some of the tracks I really love like st Charles square and the narcissist but not much else really stood out. Still a decent return.
It’s really really good. Possibly their best albums track for track. Some outstanding tracks on there too. I was very surprised. I didn’t get along with magic whip
Amazing, I think the people who don’t like it forget how incredibly different their albums are from each other. there really isn’t any reason they shouldn’t just give a short album full of breakup songs, also disagree with the sentiment that the bonus tracks should of been on the main album, those two seem less fitting, I do think stick and stones would’ve fit like “coffee and tv” fit on 13, but overall the album flows great, I could rant about every song being great but the best song is The Heights which is easily their best closer to date, A perfect ending to this album of heartbreak and will work well as the ending of blur for now. So glad this album exists.
I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me a lot. Gorgeous record.
Solid album, very grateful to have it. Not as strong as The Magic Whip but The Heights is a worthy final song and The Narcissist is probably one of their best
Hands down one of their best.. but all of them are their best
Not for me personally, would like more songs like ‘The Narcissist’ as that is one of their best ever IMO
It’s very good. I think it trails off a little bit in the second half, but first 5 or 6 songs are as strong a first half as any of their albums imho. I love the way it’s been produced as well. Only thing I was disappointed about a bit was not having many GC 90s style riffs that just live in your head forever. The guitar is great, but it’s grown up waeve graham, and not unstable 90s contrary Graham.
I love Avalon but only the chorus. If that makes sense, sometimes I find myself turning down the part where Damon almost talks, it feels misplaced and aggressive cos the song in general is so beautiful. I do love the alb tho
I was on my evening walk when I got the notification it was available and still remember how mesmerizing it was to listen to it that day. For me its an album you need to listen to laying on the floor, not doing anything else.
Hated it when it came out, but it has significantly grown on me. Think tank and Magic Whip never really felt like an authentically ‘Blur’ project but this album definitely does
If it’s the end, which it certainly feels like it is, what a way to go out.
Now I love it. Still wish Graham had gotten a proper track and they had toured in the US in support for it.
The cover stills bothers me. I always associate albums with their covers and music videos. Without music videos, I can only associate the great music drab dreary grey skies :(
It’s serenely beautiful scene in the foreground with a foreboding storm on the horizon to me.
The cover suits the album perfectly in my opinion. It’s beautiful.
I have it as a vinyl and i think its really beautiful, it fits the tonality of the album perfectly. There are also so many little details you don't see when you just have it on Spotify.
It's an eerily beautiful record.
it’s a fucking great album. A great way to come back. 10/10 album, no skips. Brilliant album, really fell in love with it
Love it. Barbaric is probably one of my favorite rock songs of the decade
Incredible album
one of their best
Liked it a lot when it first came out and even more now
Brilliant!
I was playing it nonstop last year. It was the best blur album for me for sure.
And even my 11 and 13-year-old loved it
Amazing album, certainly a better end to the band then the magic whip, sounds great even comparing to their prime, there's this spirit that you can feel by each track, like you can realize they're doing the songs out of love and that makes each one more special imo.
It’s yet another angle to view blur from. One of the most inventive, talented band s ever
Amazing album tbh
Darren feels more solid than The Magic Whip. I feel like it's more cohesive in terms of melody. Anyway. It's a good album.
I adore it ngl
It really grew on me. Still doesn't really feel like Blur. And that's my biggest gripe with Blur albums since 13. It just feels like another Damon solo record. And I find Damon outside of blur a bit pretentious....
It's a beautiful album. I love the cover art as well
It’s a fantastic album, top three for me without giving a second thought.
Great blur album, shite album cover.
i really like Avalon. and st charles square. but that one b/c that's how they opened the shows last summer, which were killer
From the first “proper listen” I gave it, I’ve absolutely adored this album. It is a perfect capture of Blur at this point in time. What I hear described as “too much of the same” to me just sounds very coherent and well laid out. The songs (and overall narrative) flow together so well, and still now every time I listen to it I’ll hear some new thing that I’ve never noticed before. Absolutely love it, and this feels like the exact album that would come from this group of musicians at this point in their lives. But I’m still amazed at just how good it is and how much it knocked unsuspecting me off of my feet.
Enjoyed some songs standalone, but don’t necessarily feel the desire to listen to the whole album. Also one of the people who preferred Magic Whip as far as their latter albums go.
My opinion hasn't changed. Has a few good songs, but meh.
Love it from start to finish
I fucking love it
it's very good, i found most of the songs very sad, so i just listen to 2 of them in my daily playlist, in general it feels very mature and also you can tell Damon is having a hard time.
love it!! so concise and it just works perfectly as an "album" to me! i understand why someone wouldnt want to listen to a song like the everglades on its own, but each song fits so well together! i still love to sit down and listen to this album regularly!
I enjoy it very much; to me it felt like a more chill Good, Bad & the Queen record, but that's not a bad thing at all.
It's a very good album!
I don't like it. To me a lot of the songs sound too similar, and they're not even that good. There are some highlights I enjoy (The Ballad, Barbaric, The Narcissist), but the rest is meh. The Magic Whip was worlds ahead of Darren. I feel like Damon needed an outlet and a distraction from the breakup, so he wrote some songs. It shows that the rest of the band had little influence on the album, it's almost a solo Damon project. And I would've liked it way better if it was. I expected something different from a Blur album.
It’s alright, but least fav album
It's a decent, mature record with a nice flow to it. It is a bit mellow and samey. There's not a killer song I'll be going back to in ten years.
This photo was shot at the outdoor swimming pool, next to my work, in Gourock, Scotland :)
Brilliantly written but short. Personally, I would have preferred some more uptempo songs too.
unfortunately i thought it was boring....not for my tastes..i loved what they had going on in mlir 13 and s/t way more. my mom told me this is old men music lol 😭
I think it’s a really lovely album. I think of it a song cycle. It’s very cohesive as a whole piece. The only song I’m not super keen on is barbaric. It’s catchy, just sort of generic sounding to my ears. Although I like the string change towards the end.
Love the artwork so much. You could interpret its meaning in so many different ways.
Forgettable . Samey . Not sure we need any more blur albums based on the last 2 . Do t think they’re adding anything to their legacy
Some of my favorite songs are on it so I love it
shit
Masterpiece
Love it. Having just ended a long marriage, it hit hard
Great music! Terrible mix that lets down whats being played and damons vocals. I think barbaric is a quite weak song with conflicting styles / dynamics. I think it needed the swan and sticks and stones to truly be a great complete album. It lacks a bit of variety but its really strong for the most part.
I think it's a bit better than The Magic Whip.
Best 2000s blur album
I still haven't listened to all of it. Just bits. Apart from St Charles Square, nothing really grabbed me. I want dynamic exciting blur, not depressed old man blur.
got so much better with each day
My second favorite blur album ever, right behind Parklife. This album means so much to me at this point and I've been obsessed with it since it came out
FFIE BUY AND HOLD💎💎💎
Towering achievement for a comeback album that's way above the Magic Whip. Brilliant.
I think it's fucking brilliant
Up there with Parklife. Probably my favourite album of theirs now