Leisure (album)

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Leisure
Studio album by Blur
Released	26 August 1991
Recorded	May 1990–March 1991
Genre	Alternative rock, shoegazing
Length	50:13 (UK version) 47:45 (US version)
Label	Food, EMI, SBK Records
Producer	Steve Lovell, Steve Power, Stephen Street, Mike Thorne, Blur
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Q Magazine link
Blur chronology
Leisure (1991) Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)

Leisure is the debut album by English alternative rock band Blur. The album was released on 26 August 1991 in the United Kingdom, and peaked at #7 in the UK Albums Chart. It was released in the US a month later with a different track listing. The album was certified Gold in the UK.

The U.S. version of Leisure was front loaded with Blur's three UK singles and the song "Sing" was replaced by the B-side "I Know" (see track listings for exact changes). "Sing" was included on the Trainspotting soundtrack in 1996.

The album was released during the waning days of the Madchester period in the UK and as a result Blur and Leisure were seen as catching the end of a trend. With the release of their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish in 1993, Blur would drastically reinvent themselves. In 2007, lead singer Damon Albarn was disparaging of Leisure, opining that "I've made two bad records. The first record, which is awful, and The Great Escape, which was messy." ^[1]

Nonetheless, Coldplay announced upon the release of 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends that "Sing" from Leisure provided a starting point for "Lost!", one of the highlights of the aforementioned Coldplay album.^[2]

Track listing

• UK Release

1. "She's So High" – 4:45
2. "Bang" – 3:36
3. "Slow Down" – 3:11
4. "Repetition" – 5:25
5. "Bad Day" – 4:23
6. "Sing" – 6:00
7. "There's No Other Way" – 3:23
8. "Fool" – 3:15
9. "Come Together" – 3:51
10. "High Cool" – 3:37
11. "Birthday" – 3:50
12. "Wear Me Down" – 4:49

• US Release

1. "She's So High"
2. "There's No Other Way"
3. "Bang"
4. "I Know"
5. "Slow Down"
6. "Repetition"
7. "Bad Day"
8. "High Cool"
9. "Come Together"
10. "Fool"
11. "Birthday"
12. "Wear Me Down"

• Japanese Release

1. "She's So High"
2. "There's No Other Way"
3. "Bang"
4. "I Know"
5. "Slow Down"
6. "Repetition"
7. "Bad Day"
8. "Sing"
9. "High Cool"
10. "Come Together"
11. "Inertia"
12. "Mr. Briggs"
13. "Fool"
14. "Birthday"
15. "Wear Me Down"

Production Credits

• "She's So High" and "I Know" produced by Steve Lovell and Steve Power
• "Fool", "Birthday" and "Wear Me Down" produced by Mike Thorne
• "Sing", "Inertia" and "Mr. Briggs" produced by Blur
• "There's No Other Way", "Bang", "Slow Down", "Repetition", "Bad Day", "High Cool" and "Come Together" produced by Stephen Street

Trivia

• "She's So High" and "I Know" was recorded with Steve Lovell and Steve Power during the World Cup 1990.^[3]
• In December 1990 Blur return to the studio after releasing "She's So High". However, sessions with Steve Power prove to be problematic, with the two songs "Close" and "Bad Day" as a possible follow up single, but it was simply not working. Producer Stephen Street, had seen the band's video for "She's So High" on the BBC and had wanted to work with them.^[4]
• "Repetition" was the only track attempted by both Stephen Street and Mike Thorne, Street's was preferred over Thorne's earlier one.^[5]

References