Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
greatest
ArtistBlur
CoverMidlife blur.jpg
Released15 June 2009 (UK)[1]
28 July 2009 (US)[2]
Recorded1990 – 1998; 2002
GenreBritpop, alternative rock
Length107:46
LabelEMI
ProducerStephen Street, William Orbit, Ben Hillier, Steve Lovell, Steve Power
Prev year2003
Next year2009

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur is a two-disc compilation album by Blur, released by EMI Records on 15 June 2009. It is Blur's second retrospective collection, succeeding 2000's Blur: The Best Of and coincides with the band's 2009 reunion performances.[3]

Background

Spanning the breadth of Blur's recorded history from its inception, Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur features a larger sampling of material from 1993's Modern Life Is Rubbish (including the single-only "Popscene" from the same era) than on Blur: The Best Of, in addition to material from 2003's Think Tank.

Track listing

All songs written by Blur (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree), except for "Out of Time" and "Good Song", which were written by Albarn/James/Rowntree.

Personnel

Musicians

  • Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar
  • Graham Coxon – guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Coffee & TV", co-lead vocals on "Tender" (not featured on "Out of Time" or "Good Song")
  • Alex James – bass
  • Dave Rowntree – drums

Other personnel

  • Blur – Producer
  • Jack Clark – Mixing Assistant
  • Al Clay – Mixing
  • Jason Cox – Engineer
  • 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
  • James Oliver – Design
  • Steve Power – Producer
  • Iain Roberton – Assistant Engineer
  • Andy Ross – Engineer
  • John Smith – Producer, Engineer
  • Sean Spuehler – Programming
  • Stephen Street – Producer, Engineer

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

ChartPosition
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[4]66
UK Albums Chart[5]20

References

  1. ^ Michaels, Sean (21 May 2009). "Blur to release comeback compilation". The Guardian
  2. ^ James Brown, Meg White, Steven Tyler, Blur Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Capitol/EMI to Release Career-Spanning Blur Collection, 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur,' on... – HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/". California, England: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  4. ^ "ミッドライフ／ブラー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック" [Highest position and charting weeks of Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur by Blur] (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Blur > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.