Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
Greatest hits album by Blur
Released	15 June 2009 (UK)[1] 28 July 2009 (US)[2]
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
Think Tank (2003) Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur (2009) All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park (2009)
Damon Albarn chronology
Journey to the West (2008) Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur (2009) All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park (2009)

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

Japanese edition bonus track^[15]

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Tender" (Cornelius Remix)	5:22

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[16] 66 UK Albums Chart[17] 20

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Gold 100,000^‡ ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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. "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.
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.
15. "Blur – Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur (Japanese Edition)". Discogs.
16. "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.
17. "Blur > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
18. "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