Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album Leisure (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour. After the group returned from an unsuccessful tour of the United States, poorly received live performances and the rising popularity of rival band Suede further diminished Blur’s status in the UK. Under threat of being dropped by Food Records, for their next album Blur underwent an image makeover championed by frontman Damon Albarn. The band incorporated influences from traditional British guitar pop groups such as The Kinks and Small Faces, and the resulting sound was melodic and lushly produced, featuring brass, woodwind and backing vocalists.
Review:
As a response to the dominance of grunge in the U.K. and their own
decreasing profile in their homeland – and also as a response to
Suede's sudden popularity – Blur reinvented themselves with their second
album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, abandoning the shoegazing and baggy influences
that dominated Leisure for traditional pop. On the surface, Modern Life may
appear to be an homage to the Kinks, David Bowie, the Beatles, and Syd Barrett,
yet it isn't a restatement, it's a revitalization. Blur use British guitar pop
from the Beatles to My Bloody Valentine as a foundation, spinning off tales of
contemporary despair. If Damon Albarn weren't such a clever songwriter, both
lyrically and melodically, Modern Life could have sunk under its own
pretensions, and the latter half does drag slightly. However, the record teems
with life, since Blur refuse to treat their classicist songs as museum pieces.
Graham Coxon's guitar tears each song open, either with unpredictable melodic
lines or layers of translucent, hypnotic effects, and his work creates great
tension with Alex James' kinetic bass. And that provides Albarn a vibrant
background for his social satires and cutting commentary. But the reason Modern
Life Is Rubbish is such a dynamic record and ushered in a new era of British pop
is that nearly every song is carefully constructed and boasts a killer melody,
from the stately “For Tomorrow” and the punky “Advert” to the vaudeville
stomp of “Sunday Sunday” and the neo-psychedelic “Chemical World.” Even
with its flaws, it's a record of considerable vision and excitement.
All Music Guide – Stephen Thomas Erlewine