Leisure (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Leisure
Type = studio
Artist = Blur


Released = 26 August 1991
Recorded = May 1990 – March 1991
Genre = Alternative rock, shoegazing
Length = 50:13 (UK version) 47:45 (US version)
Label = Food, EMI, SBK Records
Producer = Steve Lovell, Steve Power, Stephen Street, Mike Thorne, Blur
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:aifoxqq5ldhe link]
*"Q Magazine" Rating|4|5 [http://vblurpage.com/articles/albums/leisure_q.htm link]
Last album =
This album = "Leisure"
(1991)
Next album = "Modern Life Is Rubbish"
(1993)

"Leisure" is the debut album by English alternative rock band Blur. The album was released on 26 August 1991 in the United Kingdom, and peaked at #7 in the UK Albums Chart. It was released in the US a month later with a different track listing. The album was certified Gold in the UK.

The U.S. version of "Leisure" was front loaded with Blur's three UK singles and the song "Sing" was replaced by the B-side "I Know" (see track listings for exact changes). "Sing" was included on the "Trainspotting" soundtrack in 1996.

The album was released during the waning days of the Madchester period in the UK and as a result Blur and "Leisure" were seen as catching the end of a trend. With the release of their second album "Modern Life Is Rubbish" in 1993, Blur would drastically reinvent themselves. In 2007, lead singer Damon Albarn was disparaging of "Leisure", opining that "I've made two bad records. The first record, which is awful, and "The Great Escape", which was messy." [cite web | url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a46469/damon-albarn-criticises-blur-albums.html?rss | title=Digital Spy - Albarn cusses own albums. | accessdate=2007-05-11 |]

Nonetheless, Coldplay announced upon the release of 2008's "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" that "Sing" from "Leisure" provided a starting point for "Lost!", one of the highlights of the aforementioned Coldplay album. [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1589032/20080609/coldplay.jhtml?rsspartner=rssColdFusion Coldplay Give Track-By-Track Tour of Viva La Vida - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News ] ]

Track listing

*UK Release
#"She's So High" – 4:45
#"Bang" – 3:36
#"Slow Down" – 3:11
#"Repetition" – 5:25
#"Bad Day" – 4:23
#"Sing" – 6:00
#"There's No Other Way" – 3:23
#"Fool" – 3:15
#"Come Together" – 3:51
#"High Cool" – 3:37
#"Birthday" – 3:50
#"Wear Me Down" – 4:49

*US Release
#"She's So High"
#"There's No Other Way"
#"Bang"
#"I Know"
#"Slow Down"
#"Repetition"
#"Bad Day"
#"High Cool"
#"Come Together"
#"Fool"
#"Birthday"
#"Wear Me Down"

*Japanese Release
#"She's So High"
#"There's No Other Way"
#"Bang"
#"I Know"
#"Slow Down"
#"Repetition"
#"Bad Day"
#"Sing"
#"High Cool"
#"Come Together"
#"Inertia"
#"Mr. Briggs"
#"Fool"
#"Birthday"
#"Wear Me Down"

Production Credits

*"She's So High" and "I Know" produced by Steve Lovell and Steve Power
*"Fool", "Birthday" and "Wear Me Down" produced by Mike Thorne
*"Sing", "Inertia" and "Mr. Briggs" produced by Blur
*"There's No Other Way", "Bang", "Slow Down", "Repetition", "Bad Day", "High Cool" and "Come Together" produced by Stephen Street

Trivia

*"She's So High" and "I Know" was recorded with Steve Lovell and Steve Power during the World Cup 1990. [Blur 3862 days. official history by stuart mcconie]
*In December 1990 Blur return to the studio after releasing "She's So High". However, sessions with Steve Power prove to be problematic, with the two songs "Close" and "Bad Day" as a possible follow up single, but it was simply not working. Producer Stephen Street, had seen the band's video for "She's So High" on the BBC and had wanted to work with them. [http://www.vblurpage.com/info/history/8991.htm]
*"Repetition" was the only track attempted by both Stephen Street and Mike Thorne, Street's was preferred over Thorne's earlier one. [Select 1995 (How did they do that) by David Cavanagh and Stuart Maconie]

References