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)

Disc 1

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Beetlebum"	Blur (1997)	5:05
2.	"Song 2"	Blur (1997)	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 (1994)	2:47
8.	"No Distance Left to Run"	13 (1999)	3:26
9.	"Tender"	13 (1999)	7:41
10.	"Girls & Boys" (Single edit)	Parklife (1994)	4:18
11.	"Charmless Man"	The Great Escape (1995)	3:33
12.	"She's So High" (Edited version)	Leisure (1991)	3:49
13.	"Country House"	The Great Escape (1995)	3:57
14.	"To the End" (Edited version)	Parklife (1994)	3:51
15.	"On Your Own"	Blur (1997)	4:27
16.	"This Is a Low" (Edited version, not released as a single)	Parklife (1994)	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	5:29
Total length:			77:08

Limited edition bonus disc (Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 11 December 1999)

No.	Title	Length
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
Total length:		40:58

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"

Personnel

Blur

• Damon Albarn – lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, organs, acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "Coffee and TV" and "Tender", xylophone on "To the End"
• Graham Coxon – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Coffee and TV" and parts of "Tender", saxophone on "Parklife" and "Country House", clarinet on "End of a Century" and "To the End", drums on "Song 2"
• Alex James – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, backing vocals, drum machine on "Girls & Boys" and "On Your Own"

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

Weekly charts Chart (2000) Peak position Australian Albums Chart [13] 23 Austrian Albums Chart [14] 25 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) [15] 29 Canadian Albums Chart 14 Danish Albums Chart [15] 29 European Albums Chart [16] 9 French Albums Chart [17] 8 German Albums Chart [18] 35 Irish Albums Chart [19] 3 Japanese Albums Chart [20] 20 New Zealand Albums Chart [21] 6 Norwegian Albums Chart [22] 13 Swedish Albums Chart [23] 22 Swiss Albums Chart [24] 31 UK Albums Chart [25] 3 US Billboard 200 [26] 186

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA) [27] Gold 35,000^ New Zealand (RMNZ) [28] Gold 7,500^ United Kingdom (BPI) [29] 5× Platinum 1,500,000‡ Summaries Europe (IFPI) [30] Platinum 1,000,000* * Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Critic Reviews for The Best of Blur". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Blur: The Best Of at AllMusic
3. "Blur: Best of + live CD". Archived from the original on 1 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
4. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
5. Brunner, Rob (1 December 2000). "The Best of Blur". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
6. Sutherland, Steve (October 2000). "Blur: The Best of Blur". NME . Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
7. Juzwiak, Richard M. (21 November 2000). "Blur: The Best of Blur". Pitchfork . Retrieved 26 August 2017.
8. "The Best of Blur". Q : 120. November 2000.
9. "Blur". Robert Christgau . Retrieved 26 August 2017.
10. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide . New York City: Simon and Schuster. p.  89. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone blur album guide.
11. "Blur: The Best of Blur". Archived from the original on 24 January 2001. Retrieved 24 January 2001.
12. "Blur: The Best Of – album info". Vblurpage.com. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
13. "Australian chart positions". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
14. "Austrian chart positions". austriancharts.at. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
15. "Blur - the Best of - swisscharts.com". Archived from the original on 1 June 2005. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
16. "Billboard". Billboard. 18 November 2000.
17. "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
18. "German album positions". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
19. "Billboard". Billboard. 18 November 2000.
20. "ブラーのCDアルバムランキング" [Blur – best-selling album ranking on the Oricon]. oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style . Retrieved 16 October 2012.
21. "New Zealand chart positions". charts.nz. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
22. "Norwegian chart positions". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
23. "Swedish chart positions". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
24. "Swiss chart positions". hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
25. "British chart positions". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 16 October 2012.
26. "Blur Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
27. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
28. "New Zealand album certifications – Blur – Blur... The Best Of". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 20 November 2024.
29. "British album certifications – Blur – The Best Of". British Phonographic Industry.
30. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2001". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

External links

• Blur: The Best Of at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
• Soundtrack of The Best of Blur at IMDb
• Blur: The Best Of at Metacritic