Customer Reviews

Blur - The Best of Blur (Music Videos 1990-2000)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Putting aside that the music is fantastic, as you would expect from Blur, the videos are very interesting both individually and collecitvely. It is enthralling to watch this band develop and mature over the 7-year time period encapsulated in this DVD. The confidence displayed in The Universal and To The End is rare and makes one lament even more the current state of American music. I don't think Matchbox 20 has the gumption to emulate Kubrick.

Coffee and TV may be the best video ever made and the videos for For Tomorrow, Bang and A Chemical World succeed despite their relative simplicity because the songs are that good. That is why this DVD succeeds. Even when the videos are subpar (compared to others on the disc), the songs are more than enough to carry them and watching Damon Albarn grow into his role as front man for a world class band is one of the more interesting things for a fan to see.

This is a fantastic collection of songs and videos from one of the best bands the world produced in the 90's. If you like Blur, you must own it. If you don't like Blur (yet) you must own it, because you will will like Blur. And you should.

For years, Blur fans in the US have had to get Blur videos by taping them from scarce MTV appearances or by trading tapes. Now we can finally have all 22 promo videos in chronological order, free from static and annoying station IDs. There's ten years of great English pop music here - you can watch the band go through all their phases in less than two hours, and very entertaining it is too. The videos themselves range wildly in quality ("she's so high" and "girls & boys" being low points) but there's some great stuff here, from the frenetic "popscene"- the obvious predecessor of the more well-known bouncing-off-the-walls "song 2" video, the charming black-and-white view of london in "for tomorrow",the bleak futurism of "the universal" and the strangely heartwarming (not to mention hilarious) "coffee & TV." Classic.

Perhaps the best enjoyment of this complete video compilation is the 90's britpop nostalgia. These are some of the freshest, catchy tunes from the past decade put over film of variable quality. The bigger gems, 'Parklife', 'The Universal', 'Charmless Man', 'Song 2', 'M.O.R.' and 'Coffee & TV' make this a must have DVD for any Blur fan. The remaining videos are fairly lower peg, but are still great because they allow the viewer to see Blur progress and age as a band. Sure, some reviewers have slagged videos like 'Boys & Girls', but it brings back memories; I can remember what was going on in my life by the Blur videos in rotation at that time.

The DVD is excellently packaged with an incredible menu allowing you to get pertinent information about the singles and videos, a video picker disguised as advertisements on brick walls, and the cover of each single prominently displayed before the video. Over all, very inventive and thorogh. If you like Blur this DVD is a must buy.

I bought this DVD as a new fan of Blur and was not disappointed-just as i had a feeling that their songs were quite special, alot of their filmclips are also great as well...my favourites are 'Charmless Man' which is funny just because the band keep following the charmless man around, 'To the end' is a perfect filmclip for a very nice song as well as the impeccable 'Coffee and TV' which will have you bopping along in no time...i think Damon Albarn is a great actor in terms of making his filmclips and Graham Coxon is very cute (espec in coffee and tv!)...all in all a really nice musical dvd for any collection. I highly recommend buying it even if you have the slightest liking for any of the blur filmclips because chances are you'll like the band and their music even better after viewing it. As a final tip, buy the best of Blur cd too as it obviously has all their best stuff plus the fantastic 'This is a low' which is not avaliable on the dvd!

Blur were the UK's best band of the 90s and also made some of
the best videos of that decade; their character observations made
for good visuals, and lead singer Albarn was a formidable screen presence. As mentioned by others here, this DVD moves in chronological order and charts their progress from the low-budget
look for videos like "She's So High" (still a great psych-pop song) through their acclaimed Britpop period (where they achieved a very classy update of the Kinks/Small Faces sound on tracks like "Sunday Sunday", "For Tomorrow" and "Parklife"), through their one US hit "Song 2" and onto the edgier later material. Each video was unique, with striking imagery that expertly parodied other film styles, such as "Last Year At Marienbad" ("To The End"), "A Clockwork Orange" ("The Universal"), gangsta rap videos ("On Your Own"), concert footage ("End Of A Century") and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" ("Country House"), along with some innovative new ideas (such as the intimate, eerie sleep session in "No Distance Left To Run").

As a huge Blur fan, I found myself singing along to every song; there's not really a duff one in the bunch, although the real
masterpieces include "She's So High", "Popscene", "For Tomorrow", "Parklife", "Stereotypes", "The Universal", "Song 2",
"Tender" and "No Distance Left To Run". The video for "Coffee + TV" is a scream, and won many awards at the time. The group never stood still and watching them progress is a delight, and their success was well-deserved. Albarn was the true heir to Ray Davies' sophisticated lyrical vision and his vocals were infinitely better than his contemporaries (Oasis, anyone?); when combined with his teen-idol looks the package was complete. "The Best Of Blur" is highly recommended and gives one a taste of the best of mainstream UK pop music in the last 15 years: it doesn't get much better than this. Wooh-hoo!

This is the best music video and live performance collection I have ever seen. The videos are fantastic, as well as the choice of songs. This DVD is a MUST HAVE for any true Blur fan.

This dvd may be simple, but for $16.99 you can't beat it. All these videos are great, although sometimes corny. I can't believe what people in the U.S. are missing... blur is more than that "woo-hoo" band. My only complaint is that it is missing the 'Music is my Radar" video, and the menus are somewhat confusing.

As a Briton myself, i must pay homage to this fine group. Although i'd prefer to listen to the CD rather than watch the DVD, this compilation features tracks missed out on the CD such as the unique and chantable "Stereotypes" (an underrated and somewhat forgotten song) and the very British "Sunday Sunday". I love "Parklife" both song and video as it is typical English stereotyping. Also the epic no. 1 "Beetlebum", "Country House (with the forgettable OTT video)", "Charmless Man" and my favourite-"Coffe and TV". Also, "Song 2" and "Girls and Boys" are masterful. Also to take into consideration is the wonderful career-starter "There's no Other Way", even though i didn't get the video...

Having been a Blur fan since Leisure first hit the stores, I was overjoyed to finally see a collection of the videos (and on DVD to boot!) The band's musical vision merges seamlessly with this set of (for the most part) amazing videos. Some of them even managed to reawaken my interest in some of their less-well-known songs (Sunday Sunday, etc.) If you like Blur, run out and get this... if you love Blur, get it at any cost (go sell some blood if you have to!) as it is truly "the best of..."

I like bands with a good sense of humor, bands that don't take themselves too seriously. Blur is one of them, most of the time. Some of the earlier ones are kind of silly, but the later videos are pretty good. I especially like Parklife, Charmless Man, Beetlebum, On Your Own, M.O.R. and Tender. If you like Blur, you'll like this.