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)
Damon Albarn chronology
Ordinary Decent Criminal
(2000) 		Blur: The Best Of
(2000) 		Gorillaz
(2001)
Singles from Blur: The Best Of
  1. "Music Is My Radar"
    Released: 16 October 2000
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 88/100
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
Drowned in Sound 6/10
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Entertainment Weekly A−
NME 9/10
Pitchfork 8.6/10
Q
Robert Christgau A−
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Wall of Sound 86/100

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 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.

No. Title Original 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" (Edited version, not released as a single) Parklife 5:02
17. "For Tomorrow" (Visit to Primrose Hill extended version) Modern Life Is Rubbish, 1993 6:02
18. "Music Is My Radar" Non-album single, 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 together as a box set in the United States in November 2007, but this release has since been removed from distribution.

Personnel

Blur
Additional personnel
  • Blur – production
  • Jack Clark – mixing
  • Al Clay – mixing
  • Jason Cox – engineering
  • 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
  • Jeremy Plumb – art direction, design
  • Steve Power – producer
  • Iain Roberton – assistant engineer
  • Andy Ross – engineer
  • John Smith – producer, engineer
  • Sean Spuehler – programming
  • Stephen Street – producer, engineer
  • Greg Williams – photography

Charts and certifications