The Magic Whip
The Magic Whip | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 April 2015 | |||
Recorded | May 2013, November 2014 – January 2015 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 51:42 | |||
Label |
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Producer | ||||
Blur chronology | ||||
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Damon Albarn chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Magic Whip | ||||
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The Magic Whip (stylised in
The album received acclaim from music critics. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, marking Blur's sixth UK number-one album. It has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 100,000 copies. It is the first album by the band in North America under Warner Bros., after Blur were transferred from Virgin Records in 2013, following the purchase of EMI and its assets by the Universal Music Group in 2012.
Background
In May 2013, Blur were set to play Japan's Tokyo Rocks Music festival. However, the entire festival was canceled for unknown reasons, leaving the band stranded in Hong Kong for an extra five days. In an attempt to distract themselves, they worked on new material in Avon Studios, as announced by lead singer Damon Albarn during the gig at AsiaWorld–Expo, Chek Lap Kok. Albarn later stated he was unsure whether the resulting music would ever be released. In July 2014, he commented, "There are about 15 songs...the annoying thing is, if I'd been able to write the lyrics there and then about being there, we'd have finished the record. But sometimes, if you can't do it all at once, it dissipates really and I don't know what I'd sing about now with that record. There's some great tunes on there, but it may just be one of those records that never comes out."[3]
In November 2014,
Artwork and title
The album
Promotion
The video for "Go Out" was uploaded to
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.6/10[16] |
Metacritic | 81/100[17] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [18] |
The A.V. Club | B−[19] |
Chicago Tribune | [20] |
The Daily Telegraph | [21] |
The Guardian | [22] |
NME | 8/10[23] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10[24] |
Q | [25] |
Rolling Stone | [26] |
Spin | 8/10[27] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 81, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 35 reviews.[17]
DIY magazine critic Stephen Ackroyd stated: "Their magic remains as strong as ever."[28] Helen Brown of The Telegraph stated that the album "turns out to be a triumphant comeback", and noted that "it retains the band's core identity while allowing ideas they'd fermented separately over the past decade to infuse their sound with mature and peculiar new flavour combinations."[21] Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album a positive review, calling it "a beautiful comeback".[29] Spin writer Andrew Unterberger gave the album an 8/10 rating and said, "Magic Whip is a fun album, nearly as much as any Gorillaz LPs," adding, "Magic Whip finds enough majesty and intrigue in the band's more meditative days to remain worthy company to any of the band's classic LPs."[30] Writing for the Rolling Stone magazine and giving the album four out of five stars, David Fricke called the album "A dark, seductive set that cements a legacy", stating that "Blur have returned with inspiration to spare."[26]
Accolades
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank |
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NME | NME's Albums of the Year 2015 | 2015 | 15[31]
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Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 2015 | 23[32]
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Rolling Stone | 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 2015 | 10[33]
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Track listing
All tracks are written by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Lonesome Street" | 4:23 |
2. | "New World Towers" | 4:03 |
3. | "Go Out" | 4:41 |
4. | "Ice Cream Man" | 3:25 |
5. | "Thought I Was a Spaceman" | 6:16 |
6. | "I Broadcast" | 2:51 |
7. | "My Terracotta Heart" | 4:05 |
8. | "There Are Too Many of Us" | 4:25 |
9. | "Ghost Ship" | 5:00 |
10. | "Pyongyang" | 5:46 |
11. | "Ong Ong" | 3:08 |
12. | "Mirrorball" | 3:39 |
Total length: | 51:42 |
No. | Title | Length |
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13. | "Y'all Doomed" | 3:57 |
Total length: | 55:39 |
Personnel
Blur
- Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, iPad, acoustic guitar
- Graham Coxon – electric guitar, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Lonesome Street", "Thought I Was a Spaceman", and "Y'all Doomed"
- Alex James – bass guitar
- Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Additional personnel
- Stephen Street – production, programming, percussion, drum machine, "saxophones" (synthesizers) on "Ghost Ship"
- James Dring – drum machine, drum programming
- Demon Strings – orchestration
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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References
- ^ Prevost, Dinorah (13 May 2015). "Review: With 'The Magic Whip' Blur doesn't miss a beat". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ a b Thorpe, Vanessa (1 March 2015). "Graham Coxon on the Blur reunion: 'Pop doesn't have to be a fleeting thing'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ "Damon Albarn Interview – NME (29–07–14)". NME. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ "Blur Interview – BBC Radio 6 Music, Steve Lamacq (19-02-2015)". 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015 – via YouTube.
- ^ Sinclair, Mark (17 March 2015). "The Magic Whip – the making of Blur's new album cover". Creative Review. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Krep, Daniel (20 March 2015). "Hear Blur's Majestic New Doom-and-Gloom Song "There Are Too Many of Us"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ Payne, Chris (2 April 2015). "Join a Magic Line Dancing Crew For Blur's New 'Lonesome Street' Video". Billboard. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ Vincent, Alice (19 February 2015). "Watch Blur's new video: Go Out". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz (8 September 2015). "Blur Collage Tons of Fan Movies for 'I Broadcast' Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (3 June 2015). "Watch Blur Go 8-Bit in Zany "Ong Ong" Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ Britton, Luke Morgan (20 April 2015). "Blur premiere new track 'Ong Ong' – listen". NME. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ "'Y'all Doomed' 7" vinyl available at HMV UK". Blur.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Blur. "Ghost Ship" (sleeve). Parlophone, Warner Music Group. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Blur. "I Broadcast" (sleeve). Parlophone, Warner Music Group. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "The Magic Whip by Blur reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Reviews for The Magic Whip by Blur". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Magic Whip – Blur". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (28 April 2015). "With The Magic Whip, Blur remains stubbornly iconoclastic". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ Kot, Greg (24 April 2015). "Blur's comeback isn't just for show". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- ^ a b Brown, Helen (1 April 2015). "Blur, The Magic Whip, album review: 'a triumphant comeback'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (22 April 2015). "Blur: The Magic Whip – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ Beaumont, Mark (13 April 2015). "Blur – 'The Magic Whip'". NME. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ^ Jenkins, Craig (28 April 2015). "Blur: The Magic Whip". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ Harris, John (May 2015). "For Tomorrow". Q (346): 98. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ a b Fricke, David (28 April 2015). "The Magic Whip". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ Unterberger, Andrew (28 April 2015). "Review: Blur Cruise Comfortably Into Their Second Act with 'The Magic Whip'". Spin. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
- ^ Ackroyd, Stephen. "Blur – The Magic Whip". DIY. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ Gill, Andy (31 March 2015). "Blur, The Magic Whip, album review: 'A beautiful comeback'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ Unterberger, Andrew (28 April 2015). "Blur, 'The Magic Whip' (Parlophone)". Spin. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ^ "NME'S Albums of the Year 2015". NME. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". Stereogum. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ "50 Best Albums Of 2015". Rolling Stone. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.[dead link]
- ^ "ブラー : ザ・マジック・ウィップ – 音楽" (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Blur – The Magic Whip" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Blur – The Magic Whip" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Blur – The Magic Whip" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Blur Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Blur – The Magic Whip" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 18. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Blur". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "ザ・マジック・ウィップ | ブラー" [The Magic Whip | Blur] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- . Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- Circle ChartRetrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Blur – The Magic Whip". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Blur Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Blur Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2015 – Albums" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2015" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ "British album certifications – Blur – The Magic Whip". British Phonographic Industry.
External links
- The Magic Whip at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
- The Magic Whip at Discogs (list of releases)