Blur - Beetlebum Parklife and The Great Escape are rich and elaborate albums, the Blur of '97 strip away many elements to emphasize others much more heavily: the brass, for example, disappears, the strings too (except for a section in one track), the four return to the sonic attitude of the first two albums. The guitar lines and the tide of effects from Coxon make everything completely different from what they had done before: it's their third twist in five years (after those of Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife), but it's the one that will be the most shocking and decisive, especially since now all eyes are on them. The result is, without beating around the bush, an absolute masterpiece, a perfect record where not even a comma feels out of place. I remember when, in '97, I talked about it with a friend who said to me, "Well, The Great Escape was better," and I said, "You really don't understand a damn thing, my friend." #blur30