Graham Coxon - The Sky Is Too High

Advantages: Great music
Disadvantages: well if your not clever enough...

The Sky Is Too High Graham Coxon (Transcopic 1998) One of the finest albums made. An astonishing moody piece of work. However the listener has to be clever and be prepared to hear noises that are not aesthetically pleasing. If you can do this then you are in for a real treat. The Blur guitarist is an expert at making himself sound very fragile. On these tracks the listener is forced to see things from his point of view and your heart is hollowed ...
...on his guitar. Graham plays all the instruments on the album. Extremely innovative guitar stretching the limits of the guitars emotion inducing ability. The drums are excellent, usually only included on the heavier tracks. Tracks that stick out: Who The F**k? An absolute mental metal angst fuelled rebellion song. Either sarcastically shouting “Who the f**k you looking at?” obviously taking the Mick of ‘Hard people’ or shouting it because that’s ... Read review

Advantages: Charming acoustic songs
Disadvantages: Quality not completely sustained

...is amazing to think that Graham didn't write songs sooner. 'A Day Is Far Too Long', complete with indulgence of using an organ, is quite outstanding and definitely my favourite tracks. It is paradoxically uplifingly sad. 'Where'd You Go?' is another track that I really enjoy and it seems to have been recorded in the hallway. Such is the religious adherence to using acoustic guitars, 'Who The Fuck?' comes as a bolt from the blue. It as almost as ...
...a weekend of detoxification for Graham and you can tell. "I thought pain was clean / I thought hearts were strong / But bones aren't sticks anymore / And A day is far too long". These words epitomise the hung-over lethargic sound of this album. It is a beautiful and charming sound too. It ends with a song recorded on a dictaphone (lo-fi or what?). Graham seems to be aping Robert Johnson with 'Mornin' blues'. One guitar genius impersonating another? ... Read review

Advantages: Great, mind expanding album
Disadvantages: n/a

The Sky Is Too High Graham Coxon (Transcopic 1998) One of the finest albums made. An astonishing moody piece of work. However the listener has to be clever and be prepared to hear noises that are not aesthetically pleasing. If you can do this then you are in for a real treat. The Blur guitarist is an expert at making himself sound very fragile. On these tracks the listener is forced to see things from his point of view and your heart is hollowed ...
...on his guitar. Graham plays all the instruments on the album. Extremely innovative guitar stretching the limits of the guitars emotion inducing ability. The drums are excellent, usually only included on the heavier tracks. Tracks that stick out: Who The F**k? An absolute mental metal angst fuelled rebellion song. Either sarcastically shouting “Who the f**k you looking at?” obviously taking the Mick of ‘Hard people’ or shouting it because that’s ... Read review

Advantages: Good tunes.
Disadvantages: Poor lyrics.

I got this album when it came out, played it quite a bit, liked it, then went off it rather quickly and flogged it. It's not that it's particularly bad; it just started to get on my nerves. For a start, everyone who's ever heard a Blur record (and who hasn't) will know that Coxon is a very talented musician. Yet, he seems to be going out of his way on this album to play in the most incapable, stuttering manner possible. I suppose this was because ...
...heroes from the early-80s US hardcore scene, yet it just makes him sound desperate and pathetic. The other major criticism is the lyrics. A typical couplet goes: "I saw you today/ You were too far away/ And it hurt me to say/ It hurt me to say-ay-ay-ay/ The words/ The words I have to say". These do not sound like the lyrics of someone who has made much of an effort, and they are particularly grating when sung in Coxon's reedy, "I'm so sensitive ... Read review

Advantages: It could make those irritating kids next door cry
Disadvantages: It's like nails down a blackboard

This album has been known to scare cats and small children. Blur, whether you like them or not, have managed to come up with the odd pop song, tunes you can hum, occasionally ones that are sooo irritatingly catchy I scream if I hear them. But here we have an album by the guitarist void of catchy hooks. Instead what you have is noise. Sounding suspiciously like the vocals have been obscured by his snorkel parka. (Is there no end to his pilfering of ... Read review