Midlife: a Beginner's Guide to Blur

iTunes Review

Throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s, blur challenged and reinvented Britpop to include many unexpected retro and futuristic influences. Midlife isn’t exactly a “Beginner’s Guide” so much as a more nuanced view of their career than The Best Of that serves as their “greatest hits” collection. Here, blur are presented from their artsy side. Singer Damon Albarn’s social commentaries, his cheeky Britpop-stardom vocal swoops in full view, with the band’s psychedelic arrangements (“For Tomorrow,” “He Thought of Cars”), and tougher indie-rock guitar scrums (“Coffee and TV,” “Song 2”), paraded out as testimony to the their diverse artistic goals and abilities. A few genuine hits are included — “Girls and Boys,” “She’s So High” — while others like “There’s No Other Way” and “Country House” have been omitted. If anything this collection should be subtitled “A Tease,” since over its 25 tracks it offers just enough insight into the band to make it obvious that one needs to seek out blur’s individual albums to fully experience the complete conceptual ambitions.