Track Listing
1. Beetlebum
2. Song 2
3. There's No Other Way
4. Universal
5. Coffee And TV
6. Parklife
7. End Of A Century
8. No Distance Left To Run
9. Tender
10. Girls And Boys
11. Charmless Man
12. She's So High
13. Country House
14. To The End
15. On Your Own
16. This Is A Low
17. For Tomorrow
18. Music Is My Radar
| Details | | Number of CDs: | 1 | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Distributor: | EMI Operations/CEVA Logistics | | Recording Mode: | Stereo |
Album Notes
Initial pressings of THE BEST OF included a live bonus disc.Blur: Damon Albarn (vocals, keyboards); Graham Coxon (guitar); Alex James (bass); Dave Rowntree (drums).Producers include: Stephen Street, William Orbit, Steve Lowell, Steve Power, Stephen Hague.Oasis may feature more prominently on the radar of mainstream American pop fans with their overt Beatle-isms, but quintessential Britpop band Blur ultimately took a much more interesting path throughout the '90s. This 18-track compilation skips around in tracing the band's origins as part of the Madchester movement ("There's No Other Way," "She's So High") through flirtations with Euro-funk ("Girls and Boys"), American indie rock ("Song 2"), and XTC-like pop ("For Tomorrow").Although Damon Albarn's distinctively English-accented phrasing and Ray Davies-like penchant for writing about distinctly English scenarios makes for brilliant pop songs like "Parklife" and "Country House," it also explains the disinterest of notoriously fickle American music fans. Other intriguing compositions featured here include a pair of tracks from 1999's criminally overlooked 13--the singalong chant "Tender," with its accompanying gospel choir, and the irresistibly jangly "Coffee and TV." Also recorded specifically for inclusion on this collection is the hypnotic "Music is My Radar," featuring plenty of harmonies, fuzz guitar, and a militaristic groove. The limited edition version of THE BEST OF features a second disc of 10 live tracks recorded at London's Wembley Arena in December 1999, during Blur's 10th Anniversary Singles Night Tour.
Editorial Reviews
...Some of the best singles of the '90s... - Rating: A-Q (1/01, p.95) - Included in Q's 5 Best Re-Issues of 2000.Q (11/00, p.134) - 4 stars out of 5 - ...A bloody good group...whizzing through the history of Blur in fractionally under 80 minutes...Mojo (11/00, p.108) - ...Cherry-picks from the singles....it's all pretty essential stuff....But you've probably got them anyway, rightNME (12/30/00, p.79) - Ranked #1 in NME's Top 5 Compilations Of The Year.NME (10/28/00, p.39) - 9 out of 10 - ...Brilliant....monuments to the power of pop...Melody Maker (11/7/00, p.56) - 4.5 stars out of 5 - ...16 fantastic tracks....they could justifiably call themselves the most important band of the '90s...
Entertainment Weekly (12/01/2000)
| |
|
All rights reserved.
