Blur 21
Box set by
Blur
Released30 July 2012
Recorded1989–2012
GenreBritpop, alternative rock, indie rock, experimental rock
LabelFood/Virgin/Parlophone
ProducerStephen Street, William Orbit, Steve Lovell, Steve Power, others
Blur chronology
All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park
(2009) 		Blur 21
(2012) 		Parklive
(2012)
Damon Albarn chronology
Dr Dee
(2012) 		Blur 21
(2012) 		Parklive
(2012)

Blur 21 is a CD, DVD and vinyl box set encompassing the vast majority of music by Blur. It was released on 30 July 2012, commemorating the 21st anniversary of the release of Leisure, the band's first album. The release took place before the band's performance at Hyde Park as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. One version of the box-set consists of eighteen CDs, three DVDs, one vinyl 7" record (of the early Seymour track "Superman") and a hardcover book acting as a complete biography of the band. The CDs contain all seven Blur albums, with the first five remastered, with each album receiving a new second disc of B-side material; as well as four 'rarities' discs containing mostly previously unreleased material. The DVDs contain Showtime, The Singles Night and an all-new rarities disc. It is the band's most complete retrospective release.

Another boxset, Blur 21 Vinyl Edition, was released at the same time, featuring the band's seven studio albums on heavyweight vinyl, each of the LPs repackaged as a double album except for Leisure, a single album. The vinyl edition does not, however, include any previously unreleased material. As above, the Blur 21 CD/DVD/7" single pack contains many previously unreleased recordings, including the long-awaited releases of previously known-about songs like "Pap Pop," "Beached Whale" and "Sir Elton John's Cock."

Yet some previously released songs by the band have not been listed as featuring on the box set, such as "Colours," a Think Tank outtake released as a fan club single in 2003. Likewise, some unreleased songs are not featured on the box set, like "Death Metal," a jam session from the 13 sessions in 1998, and "For Old Time's Sake," recorded in 1993 for The Sunday Sunday Popular Community Song CD, but left off the EP, due to it possibly being deleted or lost. Also missing from The Sunday Sunday Popular Community Song CD are the b-sides "Dizzy", "Fried", "Shimmer", "Long Legged" and "Tell Me, Tell Me". Additionally, no material from the band's 1998 live recording and remix album Bustin' + Dronin' appears on the box set. Rarities 4, one of the bonus albums in the box set, features an early mix of "Under the Westway" with some differences between it and the 2012 single version.[1] They also neglected to include instrumental versions of "Under the Westway" and "The Puritan", which were available on the CD when the single was released.

The box set also includes a special code to download all the music content as MP3, along with all the Blurb magazine issues and extra content with audio commentary and unreleased footage per album.

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2012)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic92/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Austin Chronicle[4]
The A.V. ClubB+[5]
The Daily Telegraph[6]
The Guardian[7]
Paste8.9/10[8]
The Phoenix[9]
Pitchfork Media8.5/10[10]
Popmatters9/10[11]
Under the Radar[12]

Blur 21 received positive reviews. On Metacritic, it has a score of 92 out of 100, based on 17 reviews.[2] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "There were plenty of other great British bands of the '90s but none of their peers – Oasis, Suede, Pulp, Radiohead – covered as much stylistic ground or wound up with a catalog as rich as this ridiculously generous box set handily proves."[3]

Track listing

Disc 1: Leisure
No.TitleLength
1."She's So High"4:46
2."Bang"3:37
3."Slow Down"3:11
4."Repetition"5:26
5."Bad Day"4:24
6."Sing"6:01
7."There's No Other Way"3:25
8."Fool"3:14
9."Come Together"3:52
10."High Cool"3:38
11."Birthday"3:50
12."Wear Me Down"4:52
Disc 2: Leisure (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."I Know (Extended Mix)"6:31
2."Down"5:59
3."There's No Other Way (Extended Version)"3:59
4."Inertia"3:49
5."Mr Briggs"3:59
6."I'm All Over"2:00
7."Won't Do It"3:20
8."Day Upon Day (Live)"4:14
9."There's No Other Way (Blur Remix)"4:57
10."Bang (Extended Version)"4:26
11."Explain"2:45
12."Luminous"3:14
13."Berserk"6:43
14."Uncle Love"2:31
15."I Love Her (Demo Version) (Fan Club Single)"3:36
16."Close (Fan Club Single)"3:03
17."High Cool (Dub)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)3:41
Disc 3: Modern Life Is Rubbish
No.TitleLength
1."For Tomorrow"4:21
2."Advert"3:45
3."Colin Zeal"3:16
4."Pressure on Julian"3:32
5."Star Shaped"3:27
6."Blue Jeans"3:55
7."Chemical World" (Includes Intermission)6:34
8."Sunday Sunday"2:38
9."Oily Water"5:01
10."Miss America"5:35
11."Villa Rosie"3:55
12."Coping"3:25
13."Turn It Up"3:23
14."Resigned" (Includes Commercial Break)6:13
Disc 4: Modern Life Is Rubbish (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."Popscene"3:15
2."Mace"3:26
3."Badgeman Brown"4:48
4."I'm Fine"3:04
5."Garden Central"6:00
6."For Tomorrow (Visit to Primrose Hill Extended Version)"6:01
7."Into Another"3:55
8."Peach"3:58
9."Bone Bag"4:04
10."Hanging Over"4:28
11."When the Cows Come Home"3:50
12."Beachcoma"3:38
13."Chemical World (Reworked)"3:45
14."Es Schmecht"3:37
15."Young and Lovely"5:03
16."Maggie May"4:06
17."My Ark"5:57
18."Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Made for Two)"2:48
19."Let's All Go Down the Strand"3:42
Disc 5: Parklife
No.TitleLength
1."Girls & Boys"4:51
2."Tracy Jacks"4:20
3."End of a Century"2:46
4."Parklife"3:05
5."Bank Holiday"1:42
6."Badhead"3:26
7."The Debt Collector"2:11
8."Far Out"1:38
9."To the End"4:05
10."London Loves"4:15
11."Trouble in the Message Centre"4:09
12."Clover Over Dover"3:22
13."Magic America"3:38
14."Jubilee"2:48
15."This Is a Low"5:17
16."Lot 105"1:19
Disc 6: Parklife (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."Magpie"4:16
2."Anniversary Waltz"1:23
3."People in Europe"3:28
4."Peter Panic"4:22
5."Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 12" Remix)"7:17
6."Threadneedle Street"3:18
7."Got Yer!"1:48
8."Beard"1:45
9."To the End (French Version)"4:06
10."Supa Shoppa"3:02
11."Theme From An Imaginary Film"3:35
12."Red Necks"2:54
13."Alex's Song"2:45
14."Jubilee (Acoustic)"2:33
15."Parklife (Acoustic)"3:00
16."End of a Century (Cadena 40 Principales Acoustic Version)"2:44
17."Girls & Boys (Demo)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)4:55
Disc 7: The Great Escape
No.TitleLength
1."Stereotypes"3:11
2."Country House"3:57
3."Best Days"4:49
4."Charmless Man"3:34
5."Fade Away"4:19
6."Top Man"4:01
7."The Universal"3:59
8."Mr. Robinson's Quango"4:01
9."He Thought of Cars"4:16
10."It Could Be You"3:13
11."Ernold Same"2:07
12."Globe Alone"2:23
13."Dan Abnormal"3:24
14."Entertain Me"4:19
15."Yuko and Hiro"5:24
Disc 8: The Great Escape (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."One Born Every Minute"2:19
2."To the End (La Comedie)"5:06
3."Ultranol"2:43
4."No Monsters in Me"3:38
5."Entertain Me (Live It! Remix)"7:17
6."The Man Who Left Himself"3:23
7."Tame"4:47
8."Ludwig"2:24
9."The Horrors"3:18
10."A Song"1:45
11."St Louis"3:14
12."Country House (Live at Mile End)"4:58
13."Girls & Boys (Live at Mile End)"5:03
14."Parklife (Live at Mile End)"3:43
15."For Tomorrow (Live at Mile End)"7:02
16."Charmless Man (Live at the Budokan)"3:22
17."Chemical World (Live at the Budokan)"4:12
18."Eine Kleine Lift Musik"4:19
19."It Could Be You (Live at The BBC)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)3:07
Disc 9: Blur
No.TitleLength
1."Beetlebum"5:05
2."Song 2"2:01
3."Country Sad Ballad Man"4:50
4."M.O.R."3:27
5."On Your Own"4:26
6."Theme from Retro"3:37
7."You're So Great"3:36
8."Death of a Party"4:34
9."Chinese Bombs"1:25
10."I'm Just a Killer For Your Love"4:12
11."Look Inside America"3:50
12."Strange News from Another Star"4:03
13."Movin' On"3:43
14."Essex Dogs" (Includes Interlude)8:10
Disc 10: Blur (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."All Your Life"4:12
2."A Spell (For Money)"3:30
3."Woodpigeon Song"1:43
4."Dancehall"3:11
5."Get Out of Cities"4:03
6."Polished Stone"2:43
7."Bustin' + Dronin'"6:32
8."M.O.R. (Road Version)"3:02
9."Swallows in the Heatwave"2:33
10."Death of a Party (7" Remix)"4:19
11."Cowboy Song"4:07
12."Beetlebum (Live Acoustic Version)"4:34
13."On Your Own (Live Acoustic Version)"4:11
14."Country Sad Ballad Man (Live Acoustic Version)"4:44
15."This Is a Low (Live Acoustic Version)"3:32
16."M.O.R. (Live in Utrecht)"3:18
17."Death of a Party (Live in Utrecht)"4:16
18."Song 2 (Live in Utrecht)"2:07
19."Movin' On (Mario Caldato Jr. Mix)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)3:46
Disc 11: 13
No.TitleLength
1."Tender"7:41
2."Bugman"4:48
3."Coffee & TV"5:59
4."Swamp Song"4:37
5."1992"5:29
6."B.L.U.R.E.M.I."2:52
7."Battle"7:44
8."Mellow Song"3:57
9."Trailerpark"4:27
10."Caramel"7:38
11."Trimm Trabb"5:38
12."No Distance Left to Run"3:28
13."Optigan 1"2:34
Disc 12: 13 (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."French Song"8:21
2."All We Want"4:33
3."Mellow Jam"3:56
4."X-Offender (Damon/Control Freak's Bugman Remix)"5:38
5."Coyote (Dave's Bugman Remix)"3:50
6."Trade Stylee (Alex's Bugman Remix)"5:58
7."Metal Hip Slop (Graham's Bugman Remix)"4:16
8."So You"4:11
9."Beagle 2"2:54
10."Tender (Cornelius Remix)"5:23
11."Far Out (Beagle 2 Remix)"3:58
12."I Got Law (Demo)"2:43
13."Music Is My Radar"5:29
14."Black Book"8:31
15."Caramel (Remix)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)4:54
Disc 13: Think Tank
No.TitleLength
1."Ambulance"5:09
2."Out of Time"3:51
3."Crazy Beat"3:15
4."Good Song"3:09
5."On the Way to the Club"3:48
6."Brothers and Sisters"3:47
7."Caravan"4:36
8."We've Got a File on You"1:02
9."Moroccan People's Revolutionary Bowls Club"3:03
10."Sweet Song"4:01
11."Jets"6:25
12."Gene by Gene"3:49
13."Battery in Your Leg" (Includes Me, White Noise)11:35
Disc 14: Think Tank (Bonus Material)
No.TitleLength
1."Money Makes Me Crazy (Marrakech Mix)"2:53
2."Tune 2"3:48
3."The Outsider"5:14
4."Don't Be"2:40
5."Morricone"4:50
6."Me, White Noise (Alternate Version)"6:44
7."Some Glad Morning (Fan Club Single)"4:19
8."Don't Be (Acoustic Mix)"2:39
9."Sweet Song (Demo)"3:50
10."Caravan (XFM Session)"4:15
11."End of a Century (XFM Session)"2:41
12."Good Song (XFM Session)"3:31
13."Out of Time (XFM Session)"3:36
14."Tender (XFM Session)"6:21
15."Crazy Beat (Jo Whiley BBC Session)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)3:12
Disc 15: Rarities 1: Seymour & Leisure era
No.TitleLength
1."Dizzy (Seymour Rehearsal & Demo)"3:34
2."Mixed Up (Seymour Rehearsal & Demo)"3:52
3."Birthday (Seymour Demo)"4:33
4."Sing (To Me) (Sing Demo) (Fan Club Single)"5:29
5."Fool (Seymour 4-Track Demo)"2:37
6."She's So High (Seymour Rehearsal)"11:33
7."Won't Do It (Demo) (Fan Club Single)"3:12
8."I Know (Falconer Studio Demo)"3:56
9."Repetition (Falconer Studio Demo)"5:13
10."High Cool (7" Master)"3:40
11."Always (I'm Fine Early Version)"2:58
12."Come Together (Demo) (Fan Club Single)"3:34
13."I'm All Over (Demo)"1:52
14."Wear Me Down (Demo)"5:33
Disc 16: Rarities 2: Modern Life Is Rubbish era
No.TitleLength
1."I Love Her (Alternative Version)"3:40
2."Popscene (1991 Demo)"3:45
3."Beached Whale (4-Track Demo)"3:24
4."Death of a Party (Demo) (Fan Club Single)"3:41
5."Pap Pop (4-Track Demo)"2:25
6."Pressure on Julian (Demo)"4:27
7."Colin Zeal (Demo)"3:32
8."Sunday Sunday (Demo)"2:12
9."Never Clever"2:52
10."Advert (Demo)"3:45
11."Star Shaped (Demo)"3:05
12."She Don't Mind (Blue Jeans Demo)"3:52
13."Coping (Andy Partridge Version)"3:22
14."Sunday Sunday (Andy Partridge Version)"3:31
15."7 Days (Andy Partridge Version)"3:42
16."Kazoo (Turn It Up Early Version)"3:16
17."The Wassailing Song (The 7" Give-Away at Hibernian Club, Fulham)"3:24
18."When the Cows Come Home (Demo)"3:26
19."For Tomorrow (Mix 1 – Early Demo)"4:15
20."Magpie (Early Demo)"2:05
21."Turn It Up (Demo)" (Japan Exclusive Bonus Track)3:12
Disc 17: Rarities 3: Parklife & The Great Escape era
No.TitleLength
1."Parklife (Demo)"3:09
2."Clover Over Dover (Demo)"2:55
3."Jubilee (Demo)"2:51
4."One Minute (One Born Every Minute Demo)"2:14
5."Badhead (Demo)"3:07
6."Far Out (Electric Version)"3:17
7."The Debt Collector (Demo)"2:12
8."Trouble in the Message Centre (Demo)"3:37
9."Rednecks (Take 1)"2:46
10."Rednecks (Take 2)"1:00
11."Alex's Song (Demo)"3:10
12."Cross Channel Love (Home Demo)"3:17
13."Ernold Same (Demo)"1:20
14."Saturday Morning (Demo)"4:33
15."Hope You Find Your Suburb (Eine Kleine Lift Musik Demo)"4:13
16."Rico (Fade Away Demo)"5:08
17."Bored House Wives (Entertain Me Early Version)"4:57
Disc 18: Rarities 4: Blur, 13, The Best Of & Think Tank era
No.TitleLength
1."Beetlebum (Demo)"3:00
2."On Your Own (Mario Caldato Jr. Mix)"4:21
3."Woodpigeon Song (Original Full Version)"3:01
4."Battle (Jam, Mayfair Studios 11 August 1998)"5:46
5."Caramel (Ambient version)"7:47
6."So You (Alternate Version)"3:46
7."Squeezebox (Music Is My Radar Alternate Version)"6:34
8."Jawbone (Black Book Alternate Version)"5:33
9."1 (Bill Laswell Session, 2000)"3:39
10."3 (Bill Laswell Session, 2000)"4:50
11."Sir Elton John's Cock"1:24
12."Avoid the Traffic"1:30
13."Money Makes Me Crazy (Deepest Darkest Devon Mix)"2:29
14."Don't Bomb When You're the Bomb"3:59
15."Nutter"2:42
16."Piano"3:19
17."Kissin Time (Marianne Faithfull Featuring Blur)"5:39
18."Fool's Day"3:29
19."Under the Westway (early mix)[13]"4:18
Disc 19: DVD: Showtime (Parklife era)
No.TitleLength
1."Lot 105" 
2."Sunday Sunday" 
3."Jubilee" 
4."Tracy Jacks" 
5."Magic America" 
6."End of a Century" 
7."Popscene" 
8."Trouble in the Message Centre" 
9."She's So High" 
10."Chemical World" 
11."Badhead" 
12."There's No Other Way" 
13."To the End" 
14."Advert" 
15."Supa Shoppa" 
16."Mr. Robinson's Quango" 
17."Parklife" 
18."Girls & Boys" 
19."Bank Holiday" 
20."This Is a Low" 
Disc 20: DVD: The Singles Night (10 Yr Boxset era)
No.TitleLength
1."I Know" 
2."She's So High" 
3."There's No Other Way" 
4."Popscene" 
5."For Tomorrow" 
6."Chemical World" 
7."Girls & Boys" 
8."To the End" 
9."Parklife" 
10."End of a Century" 
11."Country House" 
12."The Universal" 
13."Charmless Man" 
14."Beetlebum" 
15."Song 2" 
16."On Your Own" 
17."M.O.R." 
18."Tender" 
19."Coffee & TV" 
20."No Distance Left to Run" 
Disc 21: DVD: Live 13 & Bonus Footage (tracks 1–9: 13 era)
No.TitleLength
1."B.L.U.R.E.M.I. (Live at The Depot)" 
2."No Distance Left to Run (Live at The Depot)" 
3."Tender (Live at The Depot)" 
4."Battle (Live at The Depot)" 
5."Beetlebum (Live at The Depot)" 
6."Bugman (Live at The Depot)" 
7."Trimm Trabb (Live at The Depot)" 
8."Mellow Song (Live at The Depot)" 
9."Song 2 (Live at The Depot)" 
10."Dizzy" 
11."There's No Other Way (Live on Eggs N Baker)" 
12."To the End (La Comedie)" 
13."It Could Be You" 
14."Music is My Radar" 
15."Out of Time" 
16."Crazy Beat" 
17."Good Song" 
Disc 22: 7": Superman (Seymour era)
No.TitleLength
1."Superman (Live at The Square)" 

References

  1. ^ "Forums.blur.co.uk :: View topic - blur21 annoucement [sic] - Discuss here". forums.blur.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Blur 21 – Blur". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  3. ^ a b Allmusic review
  4. ^ Hernandez, Raoul (14 December 2012). "Blur 21: The Box (EMI)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. ^ Zaleski, Annie (31 July 2012). "Blur: Blur 21: The Box". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  6. ^ Brown, Helen (27 July 2012). "21, Blur, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. ^ Petridis, Alexis (26 July 2012). "Blur: 21 – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  8. ^ Ferguson, Jason (31 July 2012). "Blur: Blur 21". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  9. ^ Lundy, Zeth (24 July 2012). "Blur | 21". The Phoenix. Phoenix Media/Communications Group. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  10. ^ Lindsay Zoladz (31 July 2012). "Blur: Blur 21". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  11. ^ Fiander, Matthew (30 July 2012). "Modern Life Is Repetition: Blur's Spare Lexicon and Endless Atmosphere". Popmatters. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  12. ^ Valish, Frank (30 July 2012). "Blur: Blur 21: The Box (Virgin)". Under the Radar. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Under The Westway Update | blur | Official website". blur.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012.
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