Blur (Blur Album) - Release and Promotion

Release and Promotion

The music press predicted that the lo-fi sonic experimentation would alienate Blur's fan-base. These fears were also shared by James who revealed that the front rows of the gigs that the band were performing at during the Britpop years were primarily attracting 15 year old girls and that he thought the change in style was a "fucking big balls move." Andy Ross, who was running Food Records at the time, admitted that when he first heard it he was "taken aback. We'd won Brits, we'd won two consecutive Q magazine Albums Of The Year and my initial reaction was it's awkward and difficult. My immediate reaction was will you sell as many records? Where's my royalties? Everyone’s first reaction to it was that it was a departure: that’s clear from the artwork onwards." Albarn dismissed the EMI's concerns calling them "The usual thing—'It's got no singles on it'. Meanwhile, they're giving Radiohead the full marketing works. That hurt for a while because we've done so well for then. We were trying to be really brave. But it was all made up pretty quickly." Parlophone MD Tony Wadsworth was enthusiastic however as Coxon recalls, "We played him 'Song 2' as a bit of a test of whether he was on our wavelength. We told him this was the second single. Course, we had no idea that it would be. He sat there, grinning—'Definitely! Definitely a single!'"

Worries of "commercial suicide" were eased when the lead single, "Beetlebum", debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Blur topped the UK Albums Chart when it was released in February, knocking White on Blonde by Texas of the topspot. Blur eventually went on to be certified Platinum. Although the album could not match the sales of their previous albums in the UK, Blur became the band's most successful internationally, reaching the Top Twenty in Switzerland, France, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and Japan. In the US, the album peaked at number sixty-one on the Billboard 200, Blur's highest charting album at the time, and was certified gold. The album's U.S. success has been attributed partially to the popularity of the "Song 2" single, which peaked at number six on the Modern Rock chart. After "Song 2" was licensed for use in soundtracks, advertisements and television shows—it became the most-recognisable Blur song in the U.S. After the success of Blur, the band embarked on a nine-month world tour.