Blur 21: The Box [Bonus Three DVD's and One 7" LP Record] [Box set]

It's only right that a band of Blur's stature and history finally gets a reissue package they deserve. Much care has been taken over the albums that have been remastered (the first 5), bringing out textures and subtleties previous lost in the original mixes. The vocals in particular sound wonderful, and if you already have these albums, the remastering does make them sound fresh, whilst respectful at the same time. Producer Stephen Street oversaw the process so the catalogue was in safe hands.

Each album is packaged with an additional disc featuring the associated singles and b-sides and released and hard to find tracks, and if you are unfamiliar with them, as most fans will tell you, some of Blur's greatest material is amongst their flip-sides. The rollicking Explain, the poignant and beautiful Young & Lovely (any other band would have made this an a-side), the cinematic Theme From An Imaginary Film, the experimental Bustin' + Dronin'.

The big draw for the hardcore fans is the 4 discs of rarities, most of them unreleased - from very stripped down lo-fi demos of classics recorded by Damon only (For Tomorrow/ Beetlebum) to fleshed out early takes of classic album tracks - the Modern Life Is Rubbish early versions being particularly brilliant. And finally Blur fans get to hear the much talked over Andy Partridge sessions (slickly produced and psychaedelic) and the almost mythical Sir Elton John's Cock (actually a tender but fleeting ballad). Some alternative versions included are, in my opinion, far superior to those originally released (Always/I'm Fine, High Cool, Come Together, Far Out, Bored Wives/Entertain Me, Coping) - the discs providing further enriching our knowledge of the band and the way they work together. The DVDs (the long overdue re-issue of Showtime - Blur's 1994 Alexandra Palace show, a brilliantly filmed document of their Wembley Singles Night show from 1999, a live performance of "13" tracks and a collection of promo videos, including a quirky home made promo for a Seymour track) add to the rich bounty.

Complaints I've read here about the packaging seem a little odd - the box itself is pretty luxurious, and although there are no booklets, there is a 100page+ hardback book featuring the album credit and imagery, rare photos and a revealing and honest interview with the band. If you buy the separate studio album reissues you get an additional case, but I'm not sure I'd welcome those here - it would be over packaging, like some CD equivalent of Russian dolls. It would be cumbersome, unwieldy. No thanks. The package comes with bonus content allowing you to download high quality mp3's of all the songs therein, allowing you to leave the box proudly on the shelf to remain pristine anyway. There is also the added unadvertised bonus of all 33 issues of the band's Blurb fanzine available to download and read as pdf's - a good few months of reading there.

All in all, a great package for a great band! Blur just need to add to this brilliant back catalogue with a new album now. I live in hope...

If you are a fan (and believe me, I am) you must own this. The remasters do improve the audio quality (although it isn't a black and white leap, just an overall improvement) but the strength lies in the additional material and the sumptuous packaging. There are some genius forgotten gems from my mis-spent youth here (Badgeman Brown / Mace / Young & Lovely (brilliantly ressurected live by the band!) / People in Europe / Cowboy Song / Black Book) as well as some fascinating early versions and rough cuts of other songs with the early version of "Trouble In The Message Centre" being my favourite. True, you may not actually need 3 versions of "Rednecks" but, hey, this is the box set. I've seen a few grumbles about missing tracks and so forth and it's true there are some odd bits and bobs not on here (of which the most puzzling in my view is the omission of "The Puritan" from the Westway single although please note Mr. official reviewer Under The Wstway is certainly on my copy) but the stuff not here is pretty small beer and should already be in the possession of the die-hards at whom this aimed at. I guess the groans about the missing CD booklets might also be fair enough although the enclosed book is a thing of beauty (How about sending the booklets to us EMI in recognition of our devotion in buying the box!). Including a download code is a nice touch (bit of a faff to do it though!!). But overall how can you go wrong - Take a day off work, fake an infectious illness to keep everyone away, start at "Leisure Disc 1" and lose yourself in endless hours of genius!

If your a blur fan you've gotta get one of these. It's beautiful, fantastic extras a real treat x x