Blur: The Best Of

Blur: The Best Of
Greatest hits album by Blur
Released	30 October 2000
Recorded	1990 - 2000
Genre	Alternative rock, Britpop, lo-fi, experimental rock
Length	77:08 (CD1) 43:38 (CD2) 89:32 (VHS/DVD)
Label	Food/Virgin/Parlophone
Producer	Stephen Street, William Orbit, Steve Lovell, Steve Power
Blur chronology
The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set (1999) Blur: The Best Of (2000) Think Tank (2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Drowned in Sound	(6/10)
NME	(9/10)
Pitchfork Media	(8.6/10)
Q
Robert Christgau	A−

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 new track "Music Is My Radar". 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 #3 in the band's native UK in the autumn of 2000, while denting the US charts at #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%.

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, 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.

1. "Beetlebum" (from Blur) – 5:05
2. "Song 2" (from Blur) – 2:02
3. "There's No Other Way" (from Leisure) – 3:14
4. "The Universal" (from The Great Escape) – 4:00
5. "Coffee & TV" (Edit) (from 13) – 5:18
6. "Parklife" (from Parklife) – 3:07
7. "End of a Century" (from Parklife) – 2:47
8. "No Distance Left to Run" (from 13) – 3:26
9. "Tender" (from 13) – 7:41
10. "Girls & Boys" (Edit) (from Parklife) – 4:18
11. "Charmless Man" (from The Great Escape) – 3:33
12. "She's So High" (Edit) (from Leisure) – 3:49
13. "Country House" (from The Great Escape) – 3:57
14. "To the End" (Edit) (from Parklife) – 3:51
15. "On Your Own" (from Blur) – 4:27
16. "This Is a Low" (From Parklife) – 5:02
17. "For Tomorrow" (Visit To Primrose Hill Extended) (from Modern Life Is Rubbish) – 6:02
18. "Music Is My Radar" (album exclusive track) – 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 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.

Personnel

• Damon Albarn – Vocals, keyboards, guitar.
• Blur – Producer
• Jack Clark – Mixing Assistant
• Al Clay – Mixing
• Jason Cox – Engineer
• Graham Coxon – Guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on Coffee and TV and Tender.
• Tom Girling – Assistant Producer
• Stephen Hague – Producer, Engineer
• Ben Hillier – Producer, Mixing
• Alex James – Bass
• Jeff Knowler – Assistant Engineer
• Damian LeGassick – Programming
• Steve Lovell – Producer
• Gerard Navarro – Assistant Engineer
• William Orbit – Producer, Engineer
• Jeremy Plumb – Art Direction, Design
• Steve Power – Producer
• Iain Roberton – Assistant Engineer
• Andy Ross – Engineer
• Dave Rowntree – Drums
• John Smith – Producer, Engineer
• Sean Spuehler – Programming
• Stephen Street – Producer, Engineer
• Greg Williams – Photography

External links

• The Best of Blur at the Internet Movie Database