Think Tank (Blur album)

Think Tank
Studio album by Blur
Released	5 May 2003 (details)
Recorded	March – November 2002
Genre	Alternative rock,[1] experimental rock,[2] post-rock
Length	56:04 (including hidden track) 49:16 (excluding hidden track)
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Blur, Ben Hillier, William Orbit, Norman Cook
Blur chronology
13 (1999) Think Tank (2003) TBA
Singles from Think Tank
"Out Of Time" Released: 14 April 2003 "Crazy Beat" Released: 7 July 2003 "Good Song" Released: 6 October 2003

Think Tank is the seventh studio album by Britpop band Blur, and their last to date. It was released on 5 May 2003 in the United Kingdom via Parlophone. It was 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] NME ranked the album number 20 on its Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade list.^[5]

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.^[6] The sessions in Morocco produced "Crazy Beat", "Gene by Gene", and "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club".^[6] The band approached many producers including The Neptunes, The Dust Brothers, and William Orbit to work on the album in July 2002.^[7] 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"). 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".^[8] A Morrocan orchestra is featured in the lead single, "Out of Time".^[9]

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. Given what Albarn has delivered since, Think Tank is nearer to the sound and feel of a Gorillaz album than a Blur project. 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; Albarn has stated that it is an album about "love and politics".^[9] 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.^[10]

There is a hidden track, "Me, White Noise" in the pregap before track 1 on most CD copies. The song guest features Phil Daniels on vocals. Japanese versions of the album feature the song at track 30, after silent tracks at index points 15–29.

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.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[11]
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	[19]
Uncut	[20]

Think Tank was well-received critically, with a score of 83 on Metacritic,^[21] 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 Albums Chart at number 1. Think Tank is largely seen as one of the greatest of the 2000s decade and has received accolades over the years. According to Acclaimed Music, the album is the 613th most critically acclaimed of all time.^[22][23]

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Eye Weekly	Canada	Albums of the Year	2003	23
PopMatters	US	Albums of the Year	2003	7
Rolling Stone	US	Albums of the Year	2003	*
Slant Magazine	US	Top 250 Albums of the 2000s	2010	145
Spin	US	Albums of the Year	2003	16
Delusions of Adequacy	US	Top 100 Albums of the 2000s	2010	100
BBC	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	*
Drowned in Sound	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	43
Mojo	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	3
NME	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	21
		Top 100 Albums of the 2000s	2009	20
Playlouder	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	18
Q	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	2
		Top 100 Albums of the 2000s	2009	59
Rough Trade	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	86
Uncut	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	62
		Top 150 Albums of the 2000s	2009	22
The Observer	UK	Albums of the Year	2003	1
Fnac	France	The 1000 Best Albums of All Time	2008	799
Les Inrockuptibles	France	The 100 Albums of the 2000s	2010	7
Rolling Stone	France	The 20 Albums of the 2000s	2010	*

Track listing

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

0. "Me, White Noise" (pregap hidden track) – 6:48

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" (Albarn, James Dring, James, Rowntree) – 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

At the end of "Caravan" is a 10-second talking pregap interlude. At the end of "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club" is a 11-second talking pregap interlude.

Personnel

Blur

• Damon Albarn - vocals, backing vocals, guitar, piano, producer
• Alex James - bass guitar, backing vocals, production
• Dave Rowntree - drums, backing vocals, guitar, production
• Graham Coxon - Guitar on "Battery in Your Leg"

Additional musicians and production

• Bezzari Ahmed - rabab
• Moullaoud My Ali - oud
• Mohamed Azeddine - oud
• Norman Cook – producer
• Jason Cox - production assistance, engineer
• Phil Daniels - vocals
• James Dring - engineer, programming
• Ben Hillier - producer, engineer, percussion
• Gueddam Jamal - cello, violin
• Abdellah Kekhari - violin
• Ait Ramdan El Mostafa - kanoun
• Desyud Mustafa - orchestral arrangement
• El Farani Mustapha - tere
• Dalal Mohamed Najib - darbouka
• William Orbit - producer
• Hijaoui Rachid - violin
• M. Rabet Mohamid Rachid - violin
• Mike Smith - saxophone
• Kassimi Jamal Youssef - oud

Release details

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/CD	583434-4
Taiwan			CD	724358343427
United States	6 May 2003	Virgin Records	CD	724358424201
				724358424300	Clean version
				724358424409	Ltd. edition version
Worldwide	2005		Digital Download

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r636814/review
2. ^ "Blur - news, lyrics, pictures, reviews, biography, videos, best songs, discography, concerts, gossip, pictures and tour dates". Nme.com. http://www.nme.com/artists/blur/. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
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. ^ "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade". http://www.nme.com/list/the-top-100-greatest-albums-of-the-decade/158049/page/9. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Blur - Think Tank - album info". Vblurpage.com. 2003-05-05. http://www.vblurpage.com/discography/albums/think.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
7. ^ "The History of Blur - 2001-2003". Vblurpage.com. http://www.vblurpage.com/info/history/0103.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
8. ^ "Unreleased Blur Tracks". Vblurpage.com. http://www.vblurpage.com/info/songlist/unreleased.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "Blur "Think" Up New Album". 2003-2-25. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/blur-think-up-new-album-20030225. Retrieved 2011-11-19. 
10. ^ "10 Things You Never Knew About Damon Albarn". http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/10-things-you-never-knew-about-damon-albarn. Retrieved 2011-11-19. 
11. ^ Allmusic Review
12. ^ Future, Andrew (2003-05-07). "Drowned in Sound Review". Drownedinsound.com. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/3331/reviews/6869-blur-think-tank. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
13. ^ Reviewed by Rob Brunner (2003-05-09). "Entertainment Weekly Review". Ew.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,448988,00.html. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
14. ^ "NME Review". Nme.com. http://www.nme.com/reviews/blur/7097. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
15. ^ "Pitchfork Media Review". Pitchforkmedia.com. 2003-05-05. http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15563/Blur_Think_Tank. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
16. ^ "PopMatters Review". Popmatters.com. http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/blur-thinktank.shtml. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
17. ^ Greenwald, Andy. "link Spin Review". Spin.com. http://www.spin.com/reviews/blur-think-tank-virgin. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
18. ^ "Stylus Review". Stylusmagazine.com. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/blur/think-tank.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
19. ^ "Rolling Stone Review". Rollingstone.com. 2011-02-08. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/309955. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
20. ^ "Uncut Review". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/music/think-tank/critic-reviews. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
21. ^ "Blur: Think Tank (2003): Reviews". http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/blur/thinktank?q=Blur. 
22. ^ "Blur". Acclaimed Music. http://acclaimedmusic.net/Current/Blur.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 
23. ^ "Think Tank". Acclaimed Music. 2003-12-19. http://acclaimedmusic.net/Current/A3927.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-16. 

External links

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

Preceded by Justified by Justin Timberlake

UK number one album 17 May 2003 – 23 May 2003

Succeeded by Justified by Justin Timberlake