 The back cover and inside sleeve by Paul Postle depict sulphur fields in Iceland , where much of the album was recorded . Postle also took photos of the band rehearsing for the gatefold . Blur is also the group 's first album not to have lyrics and chords printed in the liner notes , instead having a composite photo of the band in the studio spread out over three panels . When questioned on this decision , Albarn revealed they " didn 't wanna have to go through explaining what the lyrics are about because they 're quite odd to explain , " although he stated that " ' Death of a Party ' and ' Strange News From Another Star ' are [ both ] pretty clear . " 
