rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

Country House image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

The Universal "The Universal" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur (band), Blur and is featured on their fourth studio album, ''The Great Escape (Blur album), The Great Escape'' (1995). It was released on 13 November 1995 by Food Records, Food and ...

Stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentRoll with It", in a high-profile chart rivalry dubbed " The Battle of Britpop". Released at the height of Britpop and the band's popularity in the UK, the album was a major commercial success in the UK and Europe, becoming the band's second consecutive album to debut at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and being certified triple platinum in the UK in less than a year. The album received widespread critical acclaim upon its initial release, with praise for its songwriting and eclectic themes, though some retrospective reviews have been more negative, viewing it as a less cohesive, uninspired follow-up to ''

Parklife ''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994, by Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in ...

'' (1994). ''The Great Escape'' is often considered to be the final album of a trio of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

albums released by Blur in the mid-1990s, after ''

Modern Life Is Rubbish ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' is the second studio album by the 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 afte ...

'' (1993) and ''Parklife'' (1994). With Blur's 1997 self-titled album, the band would change direction and move away from Britpop in favour of a more

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

sound.

Background and recording

Concept

On 17 June 1995, lead singer

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

and bassist Alex James spoke on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

about coming up with a title for the album; "We've got until this Wednesday, our record company inform us, to come up with it", said Albarn. "We've been trying to get ''

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' into it, but nothing was very good – ''Wifelife'', ''Darklife'', ''Nextlife''", added James. The album is in the style of a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, that is, most of the songs are linked by a similar theme—loneliness and detachment. Albarn subsequently revealed that much of ''The Great Escape'' is about himself (e.g. "Dan Abnormal" is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of "Damon Albarn").

Songs

"Mr. Robinson's Quango" was the first song recorded for the album and "It Could Be You" was the last, in May 1995. The title of the latter was taken from the original

advertising slogan Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etymo ...

of the United Kingdom's multimillion-pound-prize National Lottery, which had drawn much public interest after its inception the previous year. "Yuko and Hiro" was originally titled "Japanese Workers", and "The Universal" was first attempted during the ''Parklife'' sessions as a

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

number. During the making of ''The Great Escape'' the song was resurrected by James, who notes in his autobiography, ''Bit of a Blur'', that the band had almost given up on getting it to work when Albarn came up with the string section. One song on the album, "Ernold Same", features then-MP

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

. He is credited in the sleevenotes as "The Right-On" Ken Livingstone. Producer Stephen Street commented, "It was my idea to get him in because I’m not a huge fan of his. We needed somebody with a really nasal, boring voice doing the commentary and I suggested him. He came in thinking he was the bee’s knees and we were fans – we weren’t at all! (''Laughs'') I couldn’t stand him and my preconceptions were confirmed when he insulted the pastel jumper I was wearing that day! But his voice suited the song." As with Blur's previous two albums, the liner notes also contain guitar chords for each of the songs along with the lyrics.

Singles

The album spawned four hit singles for the band with "Country House", "The Universal", "Stereotypes" and "Charmless Man". "Stereotypes" made its debut at a secret gig at the

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...

in London and was considered as the album's lead single, but "Country House" got a bigger reaction from fans. "Country House" gave the band their first number one single, beating Oasis to the top spot. "The Universal" and "Charmless Man" both reached the top 5, whilst "Stereotypes" peaked at number 7. In Japan, "It Could Be You" was released as a four-track single, featuring B-sides recorded live at the Budokan.

Reception and legacy

''The Great Escape'' was met with widespread acclaim from critics.

David Cavanagh David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist. He was editor of '' Select'' magazine in the 1990s and wrote ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'' (2000), which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records. Cavanagh was born in D ...

in '' Select'' called it "a funny, brave and heartbroken record" that "has everything you could want", while ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' reporter Johnny Cigarettes wrote: "''The Great Escape'' is so rammed with tunes, ideas, emotions, humour, tragedy, farce, and edgy beauty that it's utterly beyond contemporary compare." ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''s

Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, Hertfordshire. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', '' 20/20'', '' Sky Maga ...

awarded the album an unconventional 12/10 and deemed it superior to celebrated predecessor ''

Parklife ''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994, by Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in ...

'', while noting that "Blur understand the geometry of the song, and the basic principles of pop, better than anyone today". In response to "album of the decade" claims from ''Melody Maker'', J. D. Considine of ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' said: "''The Great Escape'' may not be the defining work of the '90s, but it is the best Brit-rock release this year." Less enthused was ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' journalist

Chuck Eddy Chuck Eddy (born November 26, 1960) is an American music journalist. Life and career Chuck Eddy was born in Detroit, Michigan. After starting his journalism career with ''The Village Voice'' and ''Creem'', where he published one of the first nati ...

, who felt the LP ranged from "wonderful" to "detached and emotionally stiff". ''The Great Escape'' was named as one of the 10 best records of 1995 in ''Melody Maker'', ''NME'', '' Q'', '' Raw'' and ''Select''. ''NME'' readers voted it the third-best album of the year. Support from the music press soon tapered off, however, and ''The Great Escape'' gained many detractors. The greater commercial success of rival band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

writer James McMahon recalled how the "critical euphoria" surrounding the album lasted "about as long as it took publishers to realise Oasis would probably shift more magazines for them". ''Q'' would issue an apologia for its five-star review of the record, while Graeme McMillan in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' remarked that it lacks the "breadth and heart" of ''Parklife'', feeling "cynical and uninspired in comparison". Drowned in Sound reporter Marc Burrows felt the LP had been overrated and then underrated, writing: "Reality is somewhere in between... ''The Great Escape'' reveals itself as flawed, melancholy, occasionally stunning and utterly bonkers." Other journalists retained an unapologetically favourable stance: the album was described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

as "a vibrant, invigorating record" that "bristles with invention", while Brian Doan of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

dubbed it a "masterpiece" whose content examines the costs of "trusting in stasis".

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

has expressed distaste for the album in later interviews, describing it as "messy" and one of the two "bad records" he has made in his career (the other being Blur's debut album ''

Leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

''). ''Select'' named the record the 34th-best of the 1990s, while ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' placed it 70th. It was ranked by

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

as the sixth-best album of the

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

era. ''The Great Escape'' also placed at number 725 in the 2000 edition of the book, ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''. In October 2023, the

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

revealed that ''The Great Escape'' was the twenty-first most streamed album from the 1990s in the United Kingdom.

Commercial performance

''The Great Escape'' continued the commercial success of previous album ''Parklife''. While the latter was more of a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, ''The Great Escape'' registered strong first-week sales of 188,000. In its first year, the album sold 68,000 copies in the US. By late 1996 the album had sold approximately 600,000 units in continental Europe. According to Food managing director Andy Ross, it "comfortably outsold ''Parklife'' everywhere except the UK. The total figure was up 400,000 and the balance came mainly from Europe and Southeast Asia." Sales in France up to late November 1996 were 125,000 units, compared with 69,000 for ''Parklife''. In Italy, sales were 83,000 compared with 16,000 for ''Parklife''.

Track listing

All lyrics by

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

. All music by

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

/

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all of Blur' ...

/ Alex James/

Dave Rowntree David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English musician, politician, solicitor, composer and animator. He is best known as the drummer for the rock band Blur (band), Blur. In his political career, Rowntree served on the Norf ...

. * "Yuko and Hiro" ends at 3:50. After 30 seconds of silence, at 4:21 into "Yuko and Hiro" is a minute long instrumental

reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

of "Ernold Same". Although officially untitled, it is sometimes erroneously referred to as "A World of Difference" because these words appear in a separate box below the track list in the booklet. Bonus track notes *Tracks 1–2, 12–15 from the single "

Country House image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

", August 1995 *Tracks 3–5, 19 from the single "

The Universal "The Universal" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur (band), Blur and is featured on their fourth studio album, ''The Great Escape (Blur album), The Great Escape'' (1995). It was released on 13 November 1995 by Food Records, Food and ...

", November 1995 *Tracks 6–8 from the single "

Stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

", February 1996 *Tracks 9–11 from the single " Charmless Man", April 1996 *Tracks 16–17 from the Japanese single "It Could Be You", May 1996 *Track 18 from the War Child compilation ''Help'', September 1995

Personnel

Blur *

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

– vocals, piano, keyboards, organ, synthesiser, handclaps *

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all of Blur' ...

– electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, saxophone, backing vocals, handclaps * Alex James – bass guitar, handclaps, backing vocals on "Top Man" *

Dave Rowntree David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English musician, politician, solicitor, composer and animator. He is best known as the drummer for the rock band Blur (band), Blur. In his political career, Rowntree served on the Norf ...

– drums, percussion, handclaps, backing vocals on "Top Man" Additional musicians * Simon Clarke – saxophone * Tim Sanders – saxophone * J. Neil Sidwell – trombone *

Roddy Lorimer Roddy Lorimer (born 19 May 1953) is a Scottish musician who plays trumpet and flugelhorn. He has performed with Blur, Gene, the Rolling Stones, Draco Rosa, the Who, the Style Council, Eric Clapton, Suede, Supergrass, Beyoncé, Jamiroquai, D ...

– trumpet * Louise Fuller – violin * Jennifer Berman – violin * Richard Koster – violin * John Metcalfe – viola * Ivan McCermoy – cello *

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

– narration on "Ernold Same" * Teresa Jane Davis – backing vocals on "The Universal" * Angela Murrell – backing vocals on "The Universal" * Cathy Gillat – backing vocals on "Yuko and Hiro" * Stephen Street – handclaps Technical personnel * Jason Cox – studio manager * John Smith – engineering * Julie Gardner – assistant engineering * Tom Girling – assistant engineering * Nels Israelson – photography * Tom King – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''The Great Escape''
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

(streamed copy where licensed) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Escape (Blur album), The 1995 albums Blur (band) albums Albums produced by Stephen Street Albums produced by Damon Albarn 1990s concept albums Food Records albums Virgin Records albums