Blur 21
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Blur 21'' is a CD, DVD and vinyl
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
encompassing the vast majority of music by Blur. It was released on 30 July 2012, commemorating the 21st anniversary of the release of ''
Leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...
'', 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 The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry representing Queen Elizabeth II. The closing cerem ...
. 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 studio albums released at the time, with the first five remastered, and with each album receiving a new second disc of
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
material; as well as four 'rarities' discs containing mostly previously unreleased material. The DVDs contain ''
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
'', ''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 Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...
'', 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' Bustin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Beverly Bustin (born 1936), American politician from Maine *Debra Bustin (born 1957), artist from New Zealand *G. T. Bustin (1903–1995), American preacher, pastor, evangelist and miss ...
'' 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. 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

''Blur 21'' received positive reviews. On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, it has a score of 92 out of 100, based on 17 reviews.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote, "There were plenty of other great British bands of the '90s but none of their peers –
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentSuede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...
,
Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...
,
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
– covered as much stylistic ground or wound up with a catalog as rich as this ridiculously generous box set handily proves."
Allmusic review AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...
/ref>


Track listing


References

{{Authority control 21 2012 compilation albums B-side compilation albums