Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Blur | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 28, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B002A03IDY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,371 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2009 two CD collection from the Britpop legends, released to coincide with their 20th Anniversary and reunion tour. Midlife: A Beginners Guide To Blur is a unique collection of the best songs from the band's career to date. Standing separate from Blur's previous Best Of, Midlife represents a comprehensive collection of their biggest hits and favorite album tracks. The tracklist has been hand-picked by the band and offers a deeper look into the group's entire musical output, across two discs. 25 tracks including 'Song 2', 'Girls & Boys', 'Sing', 'Parklife', 'The Universal', 'Beetlebum' and 'Popscene', which was originally released in 1992 as a non-album single and unavailable since. EMI.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent title for a Blur collection, August 1, 2009

By 

Andrew Terrick "andyt4579" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur (Audio CD)

I'll admit to being one of those Americans who didn't know much of anything about Blur before Song 2. As so often happens when coming across some music that is enjoyable, I immersed myself in the back catalog, and by that time Blur's was already entailing four studio albums, albums that showcased quite a musical difference from the self-titled LP. And I loved every minute of it. Whereas the Greatest Hits collection showcased the vast amount of singles, this album truly comes across as a beginner's guide...a smattering of hits and album tracks from those five albums and the subsequent two afterward. Its more of a superbly constructed personal mixtape or iTunes playlist for the band than anything, showcasing some extraordinary songs not released on their own like Trimm Trabb, Badhead, This is a Low, and Advert.

Every compilation package for any band comes with its faults, and this is no different. Some big hits are missing (especially for the US audience, Country House and There's No Other Way could've made the cut over some of the other singles). No track from their incredible b-side collection is represented. And there's nothing new to give those of us with the studio albums reason to go out and buy this (maybe that's a good thing...though probably not from a marketing standpoint). But if I were to be on the lookout for a quality introduction to one of the best bands of the 90s, this comes pretty close to how it should be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The anti-Greatest Hits album...., March 10, 2010

By 

H. Jin (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur (Audio CD)

Well, this is different.

Normally with "Greatest Hits" packages, the band emphasises its most commercially successful period, with more interesting and unusual material from their early or late career ignored. 'Midlife' is basically the exact opposite of this: it almost turns its back on Blur's Britpop era in favour of key album tracks and fan favourites. Instead of focussing heavily on 'Parklife' and 'The Great Escape', every album gets a decent representation here, even the much-maligned `Leisure'.


On one hand, this really works. Blur were a lot more varied than casual fans might think, from the Madchester-influenced 'Leisure' to the alternative lo-fi of 'Blur' and '13' and the electronic art-rock of 'Think Tank'. The selections (particularly from the last three albums) seem deliberately chosen to highlight this diversity; distorted rockers, dark introspective ballads, unsettling electronic soundscapes. It certainly wasn't all bright Britpop, so it's good to see that `Midlife' really showcases these different styles, instead of just the big, obvious hits.

Although the songs are not presented in chronological order (which would have been nice), the track listing is excellent. `Beetlebum' and `Tender' are strong openers, while `This is a Low' and `Battery in your Leg' are obvious closers. And both CDs contain a mixture of radio hits (`Parklife', `Song 2', `Girls & Boys', `Coffee & TV') and more challenging material (`Trimm Trabb', `Death Of A Party', `Bugman', `Strange News From Another Star').

But to leave 'Country House' and 'Charmless Man' off is ridiculous; there's no way around that. These songs were not only hits, they virtually defined Blur's sound and image in the mid 90's, and arguably defined the whole Britpop era. If you absolutely must make an artistic statement , leave off some of the lesser hits from the period. But these two songs are essential, particularly considering 'Midlife' is a 2 CD set containing 25 songs. A few other important songs like `Crazy Beat', `End Of A Century', and `There's No Other Way' are missing as well.

I give it four stars. The music itself is probably worth five, but to leave off those important songs means `Midlife' doesn't quite do its job of being `A Beginner's Guide To Blur'.....even if it does contain some excellent cuts, and some of the best music of its era.

5.0 out of 5 stars "Tame" and "End of a Century" would have been nice..., August 22, 2011

By 

M. Spizuco "Twowolves" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur (Audio CD)

I don't blame Blur for leaving off some key songs, but then again, Blur didn't choose the album themselves. The fans helped.