''Leisure'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band Blur, released in August 1991 by record label

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

Content

The original version of "Sing", entitled "Sing (To Me)", was recorded as a demo in late 1989 under the band's former name, Seymour, and can be heard on the ultra-rare

promo Promo or promos may refer to: Promotions and advertising *Promo (media), a form of commercial advertising used to promote television or radio programs *Promo (professional wrestling), a televised interview in which a wrestler's on-screen personali ...

-only single which was released over a decade later in February 2000 and on the first of a 4-disc set with rare material in the ''

Blur 21 ''Blur 21'' is a CD, DVD and vinyl box set encompassing the vast majority of music by Blur. It was released on 30 July 2012, commemorating the 21st anniversary of the release of ''Leisure'', the band's first album. The release took place befor ...

'' box set. The cover photograph was taken in May 1954 by Charles Hewitt, for a

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

fashion feature on bathing hats, "Glamour in the Swim".

Release

The album was released on 26 August 1991 in the United Kingdom by record label

. It was released in the US a month later with a different track listing: this version is frontloaded with Blur's three UK singles, and the song "Sing" was replaced by "I Know", previously an A-side with "She's So High" (see track listings for exact changes). The Canadian version has the same track listing as the UK version. ''Leisure'' peaked at number 7 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The album was certified Gold in the UK. As part of the album's 21st anniversary, ''Leisure'' was

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed and reissued along with the band's other studio albums on 30 July 2012. The album was reissued a second time, on coloured vinyl, on August 26, 2016.

Reception and legacy

''Leisure'' received mixed reviews from the British music press. A highly enthusiastic David Cavanagh wrote in '' Select'' magazine that "The four Blur boys have guaranteed themselves a hefty leg-up in the being-taken-seriously stakes with the thrills they've carved into the grooves of ''Leisure''." He concluded that "''Leisure'', in short, is one of those happy occasions when the hype is dead right." '' Q'' magazine's Paul Davies rated the album four out of five stars, and felt it fulfilled the early promise Blur showcased: "This latest bunch of floppy-fringed pop cadets in baggy clothing should consummate their burgeoning pop romance in fine style", Davies elaborated, "for ''Leisure'' is a substantially stocked treasure-chest of hit singles just waiting to happen."

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

however, stated that "on the evidence of this album, they don't appear to know what they're doing and as a result make appalling mistakes all over the place". He also described the lyrics as "bad". Petridis, Alexis. "Blur - ''Leisure''". ''Lime Lizard''. October 1991. p. 53. In a 2007 interview, lead singer

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

expressed distaste for the album, describing it as "awful" and being one of the two "bad records" he has made in his career (the other being Blur album '' The Great Escape''). Albarn further expanded on the album's recording in 2014, explaining that "it wasn't a particularly happy experience" and suggested the band were too keen to please the record label by capitalising on a sound that was popular at the time. The band rarely played tracks from the album live in later tours, with only the singles "There's No Other Way" and "She's So High" being frequently included in setlists. "Sing" was included on the ''Trainspotting'' soundtrack in 1996. In 2008,

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

announced upon the release of ''

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'', often referred to as simply ''Viva la Vida'', is the fourth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 12 June 2008 on the Parlophone label. "Viva la vida" is a Spanish phrase that tra ...

'' that "Sing" provided a starting point for "

Lost! "Lost!" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. It was co-produced with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs for the band's fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends''. The song was released on 10 November 2008 as the third offici ...

".Coldplay Give Track-By-Track Tour of Viva La Vida
MTV, 9 June 2008.

Track listing

*Note: The US and Japan editions of the album have different track listings.

Personnel

;Blur *

– lead vocals, keyboards,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

on "Sing", "Inertia" and "Mr. Briggs" *

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

– guitars, backing vocals, production on "Sing", "Inertia" and "Mr. Briggs" * Alex James – bass, production on "Sing", "Inertia" and "Mr. Briggs" * Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, production on "Sing", "Inertia" and "Mr. Briggs" ;Technical * Steve Lovell – production on "She's So High" and "I Know" * Steve Power – production on "She's So High" and "I Know" * Mike Thorne – production on "Fool", "Birthday" and "Wear Me Down" * Stephen Street – production on "There's No Other Way", "Bang", "Slow Down", "Repetition", "Bad Day", "High Cool" and "Come Together"

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Leisure''
at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed) * {{Authority control 1991 debut albums Blur (band) albums Albums produced by Stephen Street Albums produced by Damon Albarn Albums produced by Mike Thorne Shoegazing albums by English artists Baggy albums Food Records albums