Blur: The Best Of is a greatest hits album by the English band Blur, released on 30 October 2000 by Food Records. It was released on CD, cassette tape, MiniDisc, double 12" vinyl record, DVD and VHS. The CD includes 17 of Blur's 23 singles from 1990 to 2000, plus the non-single "This Is a Low" and a new recording, "Music Is My Radar". A special edition of the CD version included a live CD. The DVD/VHS version contains the videos of Blur's first 22 singles. In 2000 the album, which has had enduring sales, hit number 3 in the band's native UK, and hit the US charts at number 186. The cover is by artist Julian Opie. The painting on the cover can be found at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.

The album received a positive critical response. Of the reviews collected from notable publications by popular review aggregator website Metacritic, the album holds an overall approval rating of 88%.

It has been certified five-times platinum in the UK, making it Blur's best-selling album in the UK.

Track listing

All tracks written by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree.

VHS/DVD

  1. "She's So High"
  2. "There's No Other Way"
  3. "Bang"
  4. "Popscene"
  5. "For Tomorrow"
  6. "Chemical World"
  7. "Sunday Sunday"
  8. "Girls & Boys"
  9. "Parklife"
  10. "To the End"
  11. "End of a Century"
  12. "Country House"
  13. "The Universal"
  14. "Stereotypes"
  15. "Charmless Man"
  16. "Beetlebum"
  17. "Song 2"
  18. "On Your Own"
  19. "M.O.R."
  20. "Tender"
  21. "Coffee & TV"
  22. "No Distance Left to Run"

Personnel

;Blur

  • Damon Albarn – lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, organs, acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "Coffee and TV" and "Tender", xylophone on "To the End"
  • Graham Coxon – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Coffee and TV" and parts of "Tender", saxophone on "Parklife" and "Country House", clarinet on "End of a Century" and "To the End", drums on "Song 2"
  • Alex James – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, backing vocals, drum machine on "Girls & Boys" and "On Your Own"

;Additional personnel

  • Blur – production
  • Jack Clark – mixing
  • Al Clay – mixing
  • Jason Cox – engineering
  • 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
  • Jeremy Plumb – art direction, design
  • Steve Power – producer
  • Iain Roberton – assistant engineer
  • Andy Ross – engineer
  • John Smith – producer, engineer
  • Sean Spuehler – programming
  • Stephen Street – producer, engineer
  • Greg Williams – photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

!Chart (2000)

!Peak<br />position

|-

!scope="row"|Australian Albums Chart

| 23

|-

!scope="row"|Austrian Albums Chart

| 25

|-

!scope="row"|Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)

| 29

|-

!scope="row"|Canadian Albums Chart

| 14

|-

!scope="row"|Danish Albums Chart

| 9

|-

!scope="row"|French Albums Chart

| 8

|-

!scope="row"|German Albums Chart

| 35

|-

!scope="row"|Irish Albums Chart

| 3

|-

!scope="row"|Japanese Albums Chart

| 20

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums Chart

| 6

|-

!scope="row"|Norwegian Albums Chart

| 13

|-

!scope="row"|Swedish Albums Chart

| 22

|-

!scope="row"|Swiss Albums Chart

| 31

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums Chart

| 3

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| 186

|-

|}

Certifications

References

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • Blur: The Best Of at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)