Blur: 'Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To'

Most rock reunions are a load of old tosh. Great as it is for John Lydon's bank balance, does anyone really need to see an ageing punk waddling around the stage singing 'Holidays In The Sun' in his fifties? The idea of hearing Led Zeppelin play together again has a certain nostalgic pull, but you can hardly claim to have watched the band who tore up stadiums in the '70s if you've only witnessed them from the comfort of an O2 Arena seat with an over-priced premium lager in your hand. So what makes Blur's comeback any different? Most probably, it's the fact that their split, which stemmed from disputes over whether to hire Fatboy Slim as producer, seemed so innocuous and half-hearted back in 2002. There were no flying fists or spiteful insults, just a mere shrug of the shoulders that one of the best British best bands of the last 20 years had parted ways.

Alex James proceeded to indulge his country dandy fantasies on a farm and became a cheesemaker. The drummer trained as a lawyer and failed as a politician. Coxon went off and made introverted, awkward solo records, while frontman Albarn continued with his cartoon rock band side-project and produced a Chinese opera. Throw in a few sports cars and 21-year-old blondes and you've got the perfect midlife crisis. However, there was never any real reason why Blur couldn't just kiss, make up and continue making great pop music. They may all have passed 40 and Damon doesn't look much like the cute Smash Hits pin-up of old, but their music has aged gracefully. The idea of the Gallaghers knocking out 'Rock 'n' Roll Star' into their sixties is a horrifying prospect, but there never seemed any reason why Blur couldn't adapt and shift musical focus in their twilight years. Innovators and genre-hoppers, their greatest talent was always their ability to remould and rebrand their guitar-pop sound.

If any proof were needed, this new Midlife collection is surely it. Though each member has achieved personal success outside of the group, as a band they were always greater than the sum of their parts. Rowntree's ordinary bloke-next-door appeal appeased Damon's pretentiousness, while Coxon's shoe-gazing geek-chic cancelled out James's shameless passion for the limelight and a playboy lifestyle. Apart they could go on interesting musical adventures, but together they could do pretty much anything they wanted: raucous, zeitgeist-defining pop ('Parklife', 'For Tomorrow'), murky, fidgety indie ('Beetlebum', 'Trimm Trabb'), guitar-thrashing thrills ('Song 2', 'Stereotypes') and blissful anthems ('The Universal', 'Tender') were all possibilities at the band's ever-creative finger tips.

Fans could argue all day about the track selection here (No 'Tracy Jacks', 'End Of A Century', 'Essex Dogs' or even a 'Country House'?), but over the two discs it covers the bulk of the band's best bits and hidden treasures far more successfully than their commercially-driven 2000 Best Of. It doesn't dodge their hits, but it also treats the uninitiated to the fuzzed-guitar freakout of 'Bugman', gleefully giddy 'Popscene' and graceless heartache of 'Badhead'. For anyone weened upon a bland indie diet of The Kooks and Razorlight, the fact that so many of these treats never graced the top of the charts must be a mystery. If nothing else, this collection can be credited for reminding us how exciting four blokes with guitars, drums and a keyboard can actually sound. Now, we're just keeping our fingers crossed that the "Beginner's Guide" bit in the title is a subtle hint that an exciting new chapter in the band's history is coming.