Blur: The Best Of

Blur: The Best Of
Greatest hits album by Blur
Released 30 October 2000
Recorded 1990–2000
Genre Britpop, alternative rock, indie rock
Length 77:08 (CD1)
43:38 (CD2)
89:35 (VHS/DVD)
Label Food/Virgin/Parlophone
Producer Stephen Street, William Orbit, Steve Lovell, Steve Power, Ben Hillier
Blur chronology
The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set
(1999)		 Blur: The Best Of
(2000)		 Think Tank
(2003)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(88/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Billboard(favorable)[1]
Drowned in Sound(6/10)[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[4]
NME(9/10)[5]
Pitchfork Media(8.6/10)[6]
Q[7]
Robert ChristgauA−[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Wall of Sound(86/100)[10]

Blur: The Best Of is a greatest hits compilation album by English Britpop band Blur, first released in late 2000 and is the final Blur album by Food Records. It was released on CD, cassette tape, MiniDisc, double 12" vinyl record, DVD and VHS. The CD album includes 17 of Blur's 23 singles from 1990 to 2000, plus non-single, "This Is a Low". A special edition of the CD version included a live CD. The DVD/VHS version contains the videos of Blur's first 22 singles. The album, which has had enduring sales, hit number 3 in the band's native UK in the autumn of 2000, while denting the US charts at number 186. The cover is by artist Julian Opie. The painting of this Blur album can be found at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. The album's cover bears some similarity to that of Queen's 1982 Hot Space.

The album received a positive critical response. Of the reviews collected from notable publications by popular review aggregator website Metacritic, the album holds an overall approval rating of 88%.[1]

On the chart ending 7 March 2009, it was reported by Music Week that the album passed over one million unit sales in the United Kingdom.

A proposed title for the album was Best Blur Album in the World Ever,[11] in reference to the compilation album series The Best... Album in the World...Ever! (which often contained songs by Blur).

Track listing

Disc one

All tracks written by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree.

No. TitleOriginal album Length
1. "Beetlebum"  Blur, 1997 5:05
2. "Song 2"  Blur 2:02
3. "There's No Other Way" (Edited version)Leisure, 1991 3:14
4. "The Universal"  The Great Escape, 1995 4:00
5. "Coffee & TV" (Single edit)13, 1999 5:18
6. "Parklife"  Parklife, 1994 3:07
7. "End of a Century"  Parklife 2:47
8. "No Distance Left to Run"  13 3:26
9. "Tender"  13 7:41
10. "Girls & Boys" (Single edit)Parklife 4:18
11. "Charmless Man"  The Great Escape 3:33
12. "She's So High" (Edited version)Leisure 3:49
13. "Country House"  The Great Escape 3:57
14. "To the End" (Edited version)Parklife 3:51
15. "On Your Own"  Blur 4:27
16. "This Is a Low" (Not released as a single)Parklife 5:02
17. "For Tomorrow" (Visit to Primrose Hill extended version)Original, shorter version on Modern Life is Rubbish, 1993 6:02
18. "Music Is My Radar"  Previously unreleased, 2000 5:29

Disc two (Limited Edition)

Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 11 December 1999.

  1. "She's So High" – 5:24
  2. "Girls & Boys" – 4:21
  3. "To the End" – 4:08
  4. "End of a Century" – 3:00
  5. "Stereotypes" – 3:27
  6. "Charmless Man" – 3:31
  7. "Beetlebum" – 6:09
  8. "M.O.R." – 3:09
  9. "Tender" – 6:20
  10. "No Distance Left to Run" – 4:09

VHS/DVD

  1. "She's So High"
  2. "There's No Other Way"
  3. "Bang"
  4. "Popscene"
  5. "For Tomorrow"
  6. "Chemical World"
  7. "Sunday Sunday"
  8. "Girls & Boys"
  9. "Parklife"
  10. "To the End"
  11. "End of a Century"
  12. "Country House"
  13. "The Universal"
  14. "Stereotypes"
  15. "Charmless Man"
  16. "Beetlebum"
  17. "Song 2"
  18. "On Your Own"
  19. "M.O.R."
  20. "Tender"
  21. "Coffee & TV"
  22. "No Distance Left to Run"

Both the CDs and the DVD were released as a box set in the United States in November 2007, but this release has since been removed from distribution.[12]

Personnel

Blur
with

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[13] 23
Austrian Albums Chart[14] 25
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[15] 29
Canadian Albums Chart 14
Danish Albums Chart[15] 29
European Albums Chart[16] 9
French Albums Chart[17] 8
German Albums Chart[18] 35
Irish Albums Chart[19] 3
Italian Albums Chart[20] 15
Japanese Albums Chart[21] 20
New Zealand Albums Chart[22] 6
Norwegian Albums Chart[23] 13
Swedish Albums Chart[24] 22
Swiss Albums Chart[25] 31
UK Albums Chart[26] 3
US Billboard 200[27] 186

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] 3× Platinum 900,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Critic Reviews for The Best of Blur". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Blur: The Best Of at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Drowned in Sound review
  4. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  5. ↑ NME review
  6. ↑ Pitchfork Media review
  7. ↑ Q, Nov 2000 p.120
  8. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  9. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City: Simon and Schuster. p. 89. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. ↑ Wall of Sound review
  11. ↑ "Blur: The Best Of – album info". Vblurpage.com. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  12. ↑ Amazon.com details for "Blur: The Best Of"
  13. ↑ "Australian chart positions". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  14. ↑ "Austrian chart positions". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  15. 1 2 http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Blur&titel=The+Best+Of&cat=a
  16. ↑ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0BAEAAAAMBAJ&lr=&rview=1
  17. ↑ http://www.infodisc.fr/Albums_Detail.php
  18. ↑ "German album positions". musicline.de. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  19. ↑ http://books.google.co.uk/books?lr=&rview=1&id=0BAEAAAAMBAJ&q=blur#v=snippet&q=blur&f=false
  20. ↑ http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1995a.htm
  21. ↑ "ブラーのCDアルバムランキング" [Blur – best-selling album ranking on the Oricon]. oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  22. ↑ "New Zealand chart positions". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  23. ↑ "Norwegian chart positions". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  24. ↑ "Swedish chart positions". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  25. ↑ "Swiss chart positions". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  26. ↑ "British chart positions". chartstats.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  27. ↑ "Blur Album & Song Chart History". billboard.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  28. ↑ "British album certifications – Blur – The Magic Whip". British Phonographic Industry. Enter The Magic Whip in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

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