Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
Greatest hits album by
Blur
Released15 June 2009 (UK)[1]
28 July 2009 (US)[2]
Recorded1990 – 1998; 2002
GenreBritpop, alternative rock
Length107:46
LabelEMI
ProducerStephen Street, William Orbit, Ben Hillier, Steve Lovell, Steve Power
Blur chronology
Think Tank
(2003) 		Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
(2009) 		All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park
(2009)
Damon Albarn chronology
Journey to the West
(2008) 		Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
(2009) 		All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park
(2009)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The A.V. ClubA[5]
Digital Spy[6]
The Line of Best Fit90%[7]
musicOMH[8]
Pitchfork9.4/10[9]
Q[10]
Record Collector[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Uncut[13]

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur is a two-disc compilation album by Blur, released by EMI Records on 15 June 2009 (2009-06-15). It is Blur's second retrospective collection, succeeding 2000's Blur: The Best Of and coincides with the band's 2009 reunion performances.[14]

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.

Disc one
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."Beetlebum"Blur, 19975:04
2."Girls & Boys" (single edit)Parklife, 19944:19
3."For Tomorrow" (Visit to Primrose Hill extended version)Modern Life Is Rubbish, 19936:00
4."Coffee & TV" (single edit)13, 19995:19
5."Out of Time"Think Tank, 20033:52
6."Blue Jeans"Modern Life Is Rubbish3:53
7."Song 2"Blur2:02
8."Bugman"134:51
9."He Thought of Cars"The Great Escape, 19954:16
10."Death of a Party" (7″ remix)Blur4:15
11."The Universal"The Great Escape3:59
12."Sing"Leisure, 19916:01
13."This Is a Low"Parklife5:00
Disc two
No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."Tender"137:42
2."She's So High" (single edit)Leisure3:50
3."Chemical World" (radio edit)Modern Life Is Rubbish3:53
4."Good Song"Think Tank3:06
5."Parklife"Parklife3:07
6."Advert"Modern Life Is Rubbish3:44
7."Popscene"Non-album single, 19923:15
8."Stereotypes"The Great Escape3:11
9."Trimm Trabb"135:37
10."Badhead"Parklife3:28
11."Strange News from Another Star"Blur4:03
12."Battery in Your Leg"Think Tank3:20

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

References

  1. ^ Michaels, Sean (21 May 2009). "Blur to release comeback compilation". The Guardian.
  2. ^ James Brown, Meg White, Steven Tyler, Blur Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur by Blur". Metacritic.
  4. ^ AllMusic review
  5. ^ Phipps, Keith (28 July 2009). "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  6. ^ "Blur: 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To'". Digital Spy. 19 June 2009.
  7. ^ Down, Lauren (10 July 2009). "Blur - "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  8. ^ "musicOMH review".
  9. ^ "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur Album Review - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com.
  10. ^ At a safe distance from Britpop's glare, Midlife justly represents Blur as national treasures, as emotionally rich and hungry for progress as ardiohead, only catchier. [Aug 2009, p.116]
  11. ^ Draper, Jason (25 July 2009). "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur - Blur". Record Collector. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  12. ^ "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur". Rolling Stone. 22 June 2009.
  13. ^ "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)
  14. ^ "Capitol/EMI to Release Career-Spanning Blur Collection, 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur,' on... – HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/" (Press release). California, England: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "Blur > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  17. ^ "British album certifications – Blur – Midlife". British Phonographic Industry.
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