Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
Greatest hits album by Blur
Released	15 June 2009 (UK); 28 July 2009 (US)
Recorded	1990 – 1998; 2002
Genre	Britpop, alternative rock
Length	107:46
Label	EMI
Producer	Stephen Street, William Orbit, Ben Hillier, Steve Lovell, Steve Power
Blur chronology
Damon Albarn chronology

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100^[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
The A.V. Club	A^[5]
Digital Spy	^[6]
The Line of Best Fit	90%^[7]
musicOMH	^[8]
Pitchfork	9.4/10^[9]
Q	^[10]
Record Collector	^[11]
Rolling Stone	^[12]
Uncut	^[13]

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur is a two-disc compilation album by Blur, released by EMI Records on 15 June 2009 (2009-06-15). It is Blur's second retrospective collection, succeeding 2000's Blur: The Best Of and coincides with the band's 2009 reunion performances.^[14]

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.

Disc one
No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Beetlebum"	Blur, 1997	5:04
2.	"Girls & Boys" (single edit)	Parklife, 1994	4:19
3.	"For Tomorrow" (Visit to Primrose Hill extended version)	Modern Life Is Rubbish, 1993	6:00
4.	"Coffee & TV" (single edit)	13, 1999	5:19
5.	"Out of Time"	Think Tank, 2003	3:52
6.	"Blue Jeans"	Modern Life Is Rubbish	3:53
7.	"Song 2"	Blur	2:02
8.	"Bugman"	13	4:51
9.	"He Thought of Cars"	The Great Escape, 1995	4:16
10.	"Death of a Party" (7″ remix)	Blur	4:15
11.	"The Universal"	The Great Escape	3:59
12.	"Sing"	Leisure, 1991	6:01
13.	"This Is a Low"	Parklife	5:00

Disc two
No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Tender"	13	7:42
2.	"She's So High" (single edit)	Leisure	3:50
3.	"Chemical World" (radio edit)	Modern Life Is Rubbish	3:53
4.	"Good Song"	Think Tank	3:06
5.	"Parklife"	Parklife	3:07
6.	"Advert"	Modern Life Is Rubbish	3:44
7.	"Popscene"	Non-album single, 1992	3:15
8.	"Stereotypes"	The Great Escape	3:11
9.	"Trimm Trabb"	13	5:37
10.	"Badhead"	Parklife	3:28
11.	"Strange News from Another Star"	Blur	4:03
12.	"Battery in Your Leg"	Think Tank	3:20

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

Chart	Position
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart^[15]	66
UK Albums Chart^[16]	20

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[17]	Gold	100,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Michaels, Sean (21 May 2009). "Blur to release comeback compilation". The Guardian.
^ James Brown, Meg White, Steven Tyler, Blur Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur by Blur". Metacritic.
^ AllMusic review
^ Phipps, Keith (28 July 2009). "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
^ "Blur: 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To'". Digital Spy. 19 June 2009.
^ Down, Lauren (10 July 2009). "Blur - "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
^ "musicOMH review".
^ "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur Album Review - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com.
^ At a safe distance from Britpop's glare, Midlife justly represents Blur as national treasures, as emotionally rich and hungry for progress as ardiohead, only catchier. [Aug 2009, p.116]
^ Draper, Jason (25 July 2009). "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur - Blur". Record Collector. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
^ "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur". Rolling Stone. 22 June 2009.
^ "Album review: Blur - Midlife: A Beginner's - Review - Uncut.co.uk". 5 December 2010. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Capitol/EMI to Release Career-Spanning Blur Collection, 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur,' on... – HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/" (Press release). California, England: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
^ "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.
^ "Blur > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
^ "British album certifications – Blur – Midlife". British Phonographic Industry.

External links

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur at Metacritic

[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] "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur by Blur". Metacritic.

[4] AllMusic review

[5] Phipps, Keith (28 July 2009). "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 May 2025.

[6] "Blur: 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To'". Digital Spy. 19 June 2009.

[7] Down, Lauren (10 July 2009). "Blur - "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 8 May 2025.

[8] "musicOMH review".

[9] "Blur: Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur Album Review - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com.

[10] At a safe distance from Britpop's glare, Midlife justly represents Blur as national treasures, as emotionally rich and hungry for progress as ardiohead, only catchier. [Aug 2009, p.116]

[11] Draper, Jason (25 July 2009). "Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur - Blur". Record Collector. Retrieved 8 May 2025.

[12] "Midlife: A Beginners Guide to Blur". Rolling Stone. 22 June 2009.

[13] "Album review: Blur - Midlife: A Beginner's - Review - Uncut.co.uk". 5 December 2010. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[14] "Capitol/EMI to Release Career-Spanning Blur Collection, 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur,' on... – HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/" (Press release). California, England: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 1 March 2012.

[Jachart-15] "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.

[Ukchart-16] "Blur > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.

[United_KingdomBlurMidlifealbumCertRef-17] "British album certifications – Blur – Midlife". British Phonographic Industry.

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v t e Blur
Damon Albarn Graham Coxon Alex James Dave Rowntree
Studio albums	Leisure Modern Life Is Rubbish Parklife The Great Escape Blur 13 Think Tank The Magic Whip The Ballad of Darren
Live albums	Live at the Budokan All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park Parklive
Compilations	The Special Collectors Edition Bustin' + Dronin' The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set Blur: The Best Of Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur Blur 21
Singles	"She's So High" / "I Know" "There's No Other Way" "Bang" "Popscene" "For Tomorrow" "Chemical World" "Sunday Sunday" "Girls & Boys" "To the End" "Parklife" "End of a Century" "Country House" "The Universal" "Stereotypes" "Charmless Man" "Beetlebum" "Song 2" "On Your Own" "M.O.R." "Tender" "Coffee & TV" "No Distance Left to Run" "Music Is My Radar" "Out of Time" "Crazy Beat" "Good Song" "Fool's Day" "Under the Westway"/"The Puritan" "Go Out" "Lonesome Street" "The Narcissist"
Other songs	"This Is a Low"
Video albums	Starshaped Showtime No Distance Left to Run To the End
Related groups	Gorillaz The Good, the Bad & the Queen Rocket Juice & the Moon Fat Les Me Me Me WigWam The Ailerons The Waeve
Related articles	Discography Songs Awards and nominations Rollercoaster Tour
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