# Think Tank (Blur album)
**Think Tank** is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 5 May 2003 on [Parlophone](https://www.edgepedia.org/parlophone)[1](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/album-by-album-blur/). It is the only Blur album recorded largely without founding guitarist [Graham Coxon](https://www.edgepedia.org/graham-coxon), who plays on a single track, and it draws heavily on the African and Middle Eastern musical interests of singer [Damon Albarn](https://www.edgepedia.org/damon-albarn)[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/think-tank/699832440). It was the band's last album for twelve years, until *The Magic Whip* in 2015[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / album | Blur's seventh studio album, released 5 May 2003 on Parlophone[1](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/album-by-album-blur/) |
| Line-up change | Recorded as a trio after Graham Coxon's departure; he plays guitar only on the closing "Battery in Your Leg"[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/think-tank/699832440) |
| Recording | Sessions in London, Marrakesh, and Devon over roughly 18 months[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-blur-9023482.html) • [5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Sound-on-Sound-UK/2003/Sound-on-Sound-2003-07.pdf) |
| Production | Ben Hillier, with additional production by Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) and William Orbit[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty) |
| Singles | "Out of Time" (UK No. 5), "Crazy Beat" (UK No. 18), "Good Song" (UK No. 22)[6](https://www.thestudentplaylist.com/brief-history-of-blur/) |
| Critical reception | Metascore of 83 on Metacritic from 26 critic reviews, 22 positive and 4 mixed[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/think-tank/blur/critic-reviews) |
| Length | 13 songs, 57 minutes[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/think-tank/699832440) |
## Coxon's departure and the recording
Blur reconvened in the second half of 2001 to discuss a new record after the members had spent time on separate projects, most prominently Albarn's virtual band Gorillaz, whose 2001 debut had sold widely[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty). Recording began in London in late 2001 as a quartet, before Coxon's departure was announced in June 2002[8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2003/MM-2003-04-19.pdf). Coxon had been treated for alcoholism, and friction with his bandmates grew during the early sessions; Albarn later said that "Graham got to a position where he just wasn't comfortable with me calling the shots"[8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2003/MM-2003-04-19.pdf). Coxon himself described the sessions as difficult, reflecting years later on the period that led to his leaving[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/graham-coxon-blur-drinking-anxiety-b1908749.html).
The remaining trio of Albarn, bassist Alex James, and drummer [Dave Rowntree](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-rowntree) completed the album, working in London, Marrakesh, and Devon[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-blur-9023482.html). According to a 2003 report, Blur recorded 28 songs Albarn wrote for the album, of which 13 made the final cut[8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2003/MM-2003-04-19.pdf). Coxon's sole contribution is the guitar line on "Battery in Your Leg", a song Albarn said was the only one he had written about the band[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/think-tank/699832440).
## Sound and production
With Coxon's abrasive guitar absent, the album leans on electronics, dub, jazz, and worldbeat textures rather than the guitar-driven sound of its predecessor *13* (1999)[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty). Albarn's growing interest in Middle Eastern and African music shapes the record, most visibly on "Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club"[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/think-tank/699832440). His 2002 solo project Mali Music, recorded with Malian musicians including Afel Bocoum, fed directly into the album's atmosphere; the Pitchfork critic Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that Albarn seemed to have picked up more guitar from Bocoum than from Coxon[10](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/828-think-tank/).
Ben Hillier produced, with additional production from Norman Cook, the dance producer known as [Fatboy Slim](https://www.edgepedia.org/fatboy-slim), and [William Orbit](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-orbit), who had co-produced *13*[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty) • [5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Sound-on-Sound-UK/2003/Sound-on-Sound-2003-07.pdf). Cook worked on "Crazy Beat" and "Gene by Gene", and Orbit on "Sweet Song"[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-blur-9023482.html). Reviewers noted that the outside producers' touch was light; TIME wrote that their involvement quelled fears that this would be "Blur's dance album"[11](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0%2C33009%2C901030512-449794%2C00.html).
## Songs and singles
"Out of Time", the first single, reached No. 5 in the UK and showed that Albarn could take Coxon's place on guitar; its arrangement links country-blues steel guitar with West African guitar modes[6](https://www.thestudentplaylist.com/brief-history-of-blur/) • [4](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-blur-9023482.html). Follow-up singles "Crazy Beat" (UK No. 18) and "Good Song" (UK No. 22) charted lower[6](https://www.thestudentplaylist.com/brief-history-of-blur/). The album opens with "Ambulance" and closes with "Battery in Your Leg", which NME's review called "a hugely apt and moving epitaph" for the four-piece lineup[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty). Albarn described the album's subject matter as "love and politics", and several songs carry an anti-war stance[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty).
## Reception and aftermath
Critics received the album well overall: its Metacritic Metascore of 83 rests on 26 reviews, of which 22 were positive and 4 mixed, with none negative[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/think-tank/blur/critic-reviews). Uncut named it Album of the Month for June 2003, calling it "the sharpest, most imaginative and downright listenable album of Blur's career to date"[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/think-tank/blur/critic-reviews). Some reviewers measured it against the band's earlier work rather than on its own terms, a habit the AllMusic reviewer flagged as unfair to the record[12](https://www.allmusic.com/album/think-tank-mw0000026126).
The album entered the UK Official Albums Chart with a first chart date of 17 May 2003[13](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/blur-think-tank/). After its release Blur went on a long hiatus, and Coxon reconciled with the band for live performances in 2009, with the reunited band releasing *The Magic Whip* in 2015[3](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty) • [16](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/sep/26/graham-coxon-interview-i-was-a-mardy-brat-in-my-20s-blur). Retrospective assessments vary: Pitchfork's 2012 review of the *Blur 21* box set argued that *13* now sounds like the definitive statement and *Think Tank* "more like a post-script", while other critics have called it an overlooked album worthy of reappraisal[14](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16877-blur-21/) • [1](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/album-by-album-blur/). Of the album's songs, "Out of Time" is the one the band has played regularly since reuniting, in a new arrangement featuring Coxon[15](https://aplaylisthistory.com/blur/).
## References
1. [Album By Album – Blur, Classic Pop](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/album-by-album-blur/)
2. [Think Tank – Album by Blur, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/think-tank/699832440)
3. [We've Got a File on You: Blur's Think Tank at Twenty, Music Musings & Such](https://www.musicmusingsandsuch.com/musicmusingsandsuch/2023/4/20/feature-weve-got-a-file-on-you-blurs-think-tank-at-twenty)
4. [Album: Blur, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-blur-9023482.html)
5. [Recording Blur, Sound on Sound, July 2003](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Sound-on-Sound-UK/2003/Sound-on-Sound-2003-07.pdf)
6. [A Brief History of Blur, The Student Playlist](https://www.thestudentplaylist.com/brief-history-of-blur/)
7. [Critic Reviews for Think Tank, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/think-tank/blur/critic-reviews)
8. [Music & Media, 19 April 2003](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2003/MM-2003-04-19.pdf)
9. [Graham Coxon interview, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/graham-coxon-blur-drinking-anxiety-b1908749.html)
10. [Blur: Think Tank Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/828-think-tank/)
11. [Blur in Focus, TIME](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0%2C33009%2C901030512-449794%2C00.html)
12. [Blur: Think Tank Review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/think-tank-mw0000026126)
13. [Think Tank – Blur, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/blur-think-tank/)
14. [Blur: Blur 21 Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16877-blur-21/)
15. [Blur – A Playlist History](https://aplaylisthistory.com/blur/)
16. [Graham Coxon Interview I Was a Mardy Brat in My 20s Blur, theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/sep/26/graham-coxon-interview-i-was-a-mardy-brat-in-my-20s-blur)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Indie and alternative albums › Studio albums of the 2000s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license