Top 10 Blur songs

For those who don't know, Blur is an alternative rock band that have been around since the early '90s, with the exception of a few years of hiatus, which ended with a reunion in 2008. They've since released a couple of successful singles and toured around the world, notably headlining last year's Coachella Music Festival.

Although they've yet to release an LP since their reunion, frontman Damon Albarn is releasing his first solo LP Everyday Robots this April. Despite never releasing any solo singles of albums, Albarn has proven a successful songwriter even after Blur, working as the man behind the virtual band Gorillaz and frontman of supergroup The Good, The Bad, & The Queen.

But for this list, we're going back to Albarn's roots, and the enduring '90s band that made him famous. Here are the top 10 Blur songs.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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10. Stereotypes
A highlight from Blur's 1995 release The Great Escape, "Stereotypes" contains the kind of rollicking chorus that makes for some of the best Blur songs, plus the kind of cheeky humor that gave them such personality. It's also a good melding of their earlier, more melodic efforts, and the noise experimentation of their later albums.

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9. Charmless Man
Another from The Great Escape, "Charmless Man," apparently inspired by graffiti in a railroad station bathroom, is great for many of the same reasons "Stereotypes" is.

The song was the fourth and final single from the album that proved to be one of their most successful.

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8. No Distance Left to Run
This track comes from my personal favorite Blur album, 13, their 1999 album that was already pointing to Albarn's growing interest in electronic instrumentation, which would play a major part in his songwriting for Gorillaz.

This song, however, is a sobering guitar ballad, and Albarn sings with a sort of heartbroken carelessness that renders the downtempo, but still musically interesting, ballad even more poignant.

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7. Music Is My Radar
Released as a single to support the band's 2000 best of compilation, "Music is My Radar," perhaps more than any other Blur song, points directly to Albarn's work with Gorillaz.

It's a song as strange as its incomprehensible music video, and although it's more electronically tinged than many Blur songs, it still has their unique mixture of guitar noise and melody. Plus, it's strangely danceable, and that never hurts.

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6. Parklife
This song, one of Blur's most well remembered singles, comes from Blur's album of the same name. It's distinguished by spoken word verses, narrated by actor Phil Daniels, speaking in an exaggerated cockney accent. The verse gives way to one of the catchiest choruses Blur ever recorded. I'd go so far as to say one of the catchiest choruses anyone ever recorded.

The song peaked at number 10 on the charts, but has proven more enduring than its chart position might have you believe.

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5. The Universal
One last one from The Great Escape, "The Universal," much like its title, is a song that just sounds important. It has this grand, absorbing chorus, and the instrumentation, complete with horns, choirs, and violins, to match.

Although it only peaked at number 5 on its initial release, it's since been voted the second best of all Blur singles by a Blur fansite. Because, come on, just listen to that chorus!

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4. Beetlebum
In terms of Albarn's vocal performance, this one might be my favorite. He gets full use of his falsetto and normal singing voice, and it's well used on these lyrics.

The song, from Blur's self-titled 1997 album, contains one of their best riffs, and it just feels like a song where everything comes together, like every part of the band is so perfectly in sync. Whatever the reason, it's an effortlessly creative and catchy rock song.

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3. Tender
Like "No Distance Left to Run," "Tender" is first and foremost a ballad, but it's one of the most epic ballads you're ever likely to hear. It's Blur's "Hey Jude." Clocking in at nearly 8 minutes, "Tender" becomes grander as it goes on, adding a slew of backup vocalists to add to Albarn's heartfelt crooning.

Although Blur wasn't much for love songs, "Tender" proved they could write just as poignant and catchy a love song as the best crooners. In fact, it's so catchy, it feels as if the songwriters had five or six different, really catchy choruses, and decided to mash them all into one song. "Tender" deservedly made it to number 2 in the charts.

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2. Song 2
"Song 2" from Blur's self-titled release, is, appropriately, our pick for the second best Blur song. Although it only reached number 6 on the Billboard charts, it's now maybe Blur's most recognizable song. It's the polar opposite of "Tender," a quick paced rocker that barely reaches the two minute mark.

There's really one reason alone that "Song 2" is on here. That riff--just listen to it. It could stand up against "Sunshine of Your Love" or "Smoke on the Water" as one of the catchiest riffs of all time, as far as I'm concerned. Plus, it's really fun to sing "Woo-hoo!" with Albarn right as the chorus kicks in.

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1. Coffee & TV
Here's another great riff, but put into a song that has a little more content than "Song 2." Another from Blur's 1999 album 13, "Coffee & TV" contains just about anything you might want from a Blur song. The wry humor, the catchy chorus, the feedback-soaked instrumental breaks, interesting instrumentation that builds up throughout the song, and affecting lyrics about alienation.

The song didn't get any higher than number 11 on the charts, but it gained new life on the radio, since becoming one of their more popular singles. And it's not at all hard to see why.