Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | 15 June 2009 (UK)[1] 28 July 2009 (US)[2] | |||
Recorded | 1990 – 1998; 2002 | |||
Genre | Britpop, alternative rock | |||
Length | 107:46 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Producer | Stephen Street, William Orbit, Ben Hillier, Steve Lovell, Steve Power | |||
Blur chronology | ||||
| ||||
Damon Albarn chronology | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (86/100)[3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Digital Spy | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
musicOMH | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork Media | (9.4/10)[7] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur is a two-disc compilation album by Blur, released by EMI Records on 15 June 2009 . It is Blur's second retrospective collection, succeeding 2000's Blur: The Best Of and coincides with the band's 2009 reunion performances.[10]
Background
Spanning the breadth of Blur's recorded history from its inception, Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur features a larger sampling of material from 1993's Modern Life Is Rubbish (including the single-only "Popscene" from the same era) than on Blur: The Best Of, in addition to material from 2003's Think Tank.
Track listing
All songs written by Blur (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree), except for "Out of Time" and "Good Song", which were written by Albarn/James/Rowntree.
No. | Title | Original album | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Beetlebum" | Blur, 1997 | 5:04 |
2. | "Girls & Boys" (single edit) | Parklife, 1994 | 4:19 |
3. | "For Tomorrow" (Visit to Primrose Hill extended version) | Modern Life Is Rubbish, 1993 | 6:00 |
4. | "Coffee & TV" (single edit) | 13, 1999 | 5:19 |
5. | "Out of Time" | Think Tank, 2003 | 3:52 |
6. | "Blue Jeans" | Modern Life Is Rubbish | 3:53 |
7. | "Song 2" | Blur | 2:02 |
8. | "Bugman" | 13 | 4:51 |
9. | "He Thought of Cars" | The Great Escape, 1995 | 4:16 |
10. | "Death of a Party" (7″ remix) | Blur | 4:15 |
11. | "The Universal" | The Great Escape | 3:59 |
12. | "Sing" | Leisure, 1991 | 6:01 |
13. | "This Is a Low" | Parklife | 5:00 |
No. | Title | Original album | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tender" | 13 | 7:42 |
2. | "She's So High" (single edit) | Leisure | 3:50 |
3. | "Chemical World" (radio edit) | Modern Life Is Rubbish | 3:53 |
4. | "Good Song" | Think Tank | 3:06 |
5. | "Parklife" | Parklife | 3:07 |
6. | "Advert" | Modern Life Is Rubbish | 3:44 |
7. | "Popscene" | Non-album single, 1992 | 3:15 |
8. | "Stereotypes" | The Great Escape | 3:11 |
9. | "Trimm Trabb" | 13 | 5:37 |
10. | "Badhead" | Parklife | 3:28 |
11. | "Strange News from Another Star" | Blur | 4:03 |
12. | "Battery in Your Leg" | Think Tank | 3:20 |
Personnel
Musicians
- Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar
- Graham Coxon – guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Coffee & TV", co-lead vocals on "Tender" (not featured on "Out of Time" or "Good Song")
- Alex James – bass
- Dave Rowntree – drums
Other personnel
- Blur – Producer
- Jack Clark – Mixing Assistant
- Al Clay – Mixing
- Jason Cox – Engineer
- Tom Girling – Assistant Producer
- Stephen Hague – Producer, Engineer
- Ben Hillier – Producer, Mixing
- Jeff Knowler – Assistant Engineer
- Damian leGassick – Programming
- Steve Lovell – Producer
- Gerard Navarro – Assistant Engineer
- William Orbit – Producer, Engineer
- James Oliver – Design
- Steve Power – Producer
- Iain Roberton – Assistant Engineer
- Andy Ross – Engineer
- John Smith – Producer, Engineer
- Sean Spuehler – Programming
- Stephen Street – Producer, Engineer
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
|
Certifications
|
References
- ^ Michaels, Sean (21 May 2009). "Blur to release comeback compilation" – via The Guardian.
- ^ James Brown, Meg White, Steven Tyler, Blur Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur by Blur".
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "Blur: 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To'". 19 June 2009.
- ^ "musicOMH review".
- ^ "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur Album Review - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com.
- ^ "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur".
- ^ "Album review: Blur - Midlife: A Beginner's - Review - Uncut.co.uk". 5 December 2010. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Capitol/EMI to Release Career-Spanning Blur Collection, 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur,' on... – HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/". California, England: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
- ^ "ミッドライフ/ブラー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック" [Highest position and charting weeks of Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur by Blur] (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- ^ "Blur > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ "British album certifications – Blur – Midlife". British Phonographic Industry.
External links
- Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
- Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur at Metacritic