Blur - 'The Best Of' (Food)
4/5
By: Toby L
It's been over ten years since Blur first plugged in their guitars and felt they had a chance at cracking the world. Does it feel like it? Well, yes and no. Blur's route to success wasn't easy; the early days spawned a US tour that almost made them quit the music-business and a record-company not interested in selling their submission for a second album. However, with the release of 'Parklife', things picked up and the rest, as they always seem to say, is history.
However, just because the early days were harsh on the UK's most consistent guitar ensemble, that doesn't mean that most of the time's finest moments should be omitted on such an album as this. But they have been. Classic single 'Chemical World' and the cult live favourite 'Popscene' aren't on the album, instead making way for a couple of Blur's weaker moments, 'Charmless Man' and 'Stereotypes', both fine pop singles, but not comparable to the former examples. However, with a career spanning six albums and almost twenty five singles, there's always bound to be quips about what should have been on there and what shouldn't so you really must sit back and appreciate what is on this eighteen track compilation.
Expectedly, it's a singles affair, but when you're listening to one of the strongest UK singles band of the last 25 years, then you know it can only be good. The strings in 'The Universal' are swooping, the choir in 'Tender' sublime and the hazy guitar in debut single 'She's So High' timeless. And the anthems: 'There's No Other Way' remains sounding like a festival mosh-up inducer, 'Parklife', the irresistible singalong stomper and even the as-quirky-as-a-Benny-Hill-sketch 'Country House' in all of its brass-tinged panache. The styles on this album are vast; Blur are no stranger to plunging into unchartered territories, which comes to their credit time and time again thanks to their uncanny ability to pen top pop romps. Speaking of which, the disco karaoke classic 'Girls & Boys' - God! It's just begging you to turn up your stereo, pull out the beers from the fridge, plug a mini-mirrorball to the ceiling of your living-room and dance like a gorilla. Blur's music transmits you into a zone that others can't even dream of.
Luckily, sense has been seen and there is a track included which wasn't a single, but has established noteriety in its sheer blissful perfection: 'This is a Low'. Featuring Damon's best vocal duties of the 1994 era, '... Low' satisfies mind and soul in a fashion as to defy anything released by their contemporaries. Before the listener has had time to recover, the package closes on last single 'Music is my Radar', their finest moment to date, confirming this is no greatest hits album. This is simply the best of Blur: part one. Anyone who has heard this astonishing record will raise their glass to part two of their career I'm sure.
Artists in this article: Blur
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