Blur
21

The feeling is that this is truly the last phase of their career as a group, between a world tour (by the way, in Italy there are two dates: Milan on July 28 and Rome on July 29), the recording of a new album between one stop and another (some time ago they declared that if they were to record a new album, it would be the last one from Blur anyway), and the release of this "21" – like their years and like the twenty-one discs of this massive box set (available in CD and vinyl). In other words, as if to say: "if we have to end, let's do it with fireworks."

The amount of material contained is something impressive: apart from obviously all the studio albums, there are all, and I mean all the b-sides they have produced (divided by period and therefore placed as the second disc alongside the various studio albums), and we're talking about roughly a hundred new songs, if you know what I mean, previously only available in the numerous EPs they released between '91 and '03 (those between '91 and '99 were collected in the "10 Year Anniversary Box Set" of '99 indeed); each (now double) studio album is also available individually outside of the box.

And yet, two double discs of rarities with a lot of never-before-published material, also divided by periods, featuring demos, alternative versions, jam sessions (the streams of consciousness from the "13" phase are fabulous), further unreleased tracks, and the last two singles ("Fool's Day" and "Under The Westway").

Cherries (so to speak) on the cake: a triple live DVD (one from the "Parklife" period and two from the "13" period, also never published before), a hardback book with interviews and unpublished photos divided here too by period, a vinyl with the first track recorded by the band when they were still called "Seymour", and an exclusive code to download all the content of the box in HQ mp3 (plus other extra bonuses) from the band's website. Everything is remastered (apart from "13" and "Think Tank", go figure why) and with digipack packaging; the box itself is aesthetically truly beautiful, well-crafted, and elegant.

In short, both music and object are splendid, perfect for celebrating the entire journey of an eclectic, creative, versatile, genius group that is ever-evolving, able to traverse a vast variety of genres with enviable talent and personality: those who know them well will have the opportunity to listen to the band's second discography (a hundred pieces not included in the seven studio albums make at least another seven indeed) and so much more, those who don't know them will find pretty much everything here.

And now let's analyze each piece of the box one by one:

I see you turning pale, just kidding :D