There's no denying it: the glory days of Britpop are a thing of the past. The Verve are no more. Oasis are, well, Oasis. Pulp's masterpieces seem to be behind them. But true believers that England was the place to be in the mid-'90s still hoard their out-of-print Boo Radleys records while laughing at the current state of American mainstream music. These fans surely shed a tear when they heard that Blur was to release a greatest hits compilation, for the record stands as living proof that the era has come to a close.

Even the most dedicated of fans will admit that the "beer for breakfast" lads who took shoegazing and baggy sensibilities and turned them into perfect pop on 1990's "Leisure" no longer exist. The days of pub crawls, drunken onstage antics and almost danceable songs are long gone. Even the band members themselves shun their early material in favor of their more experimental recent years-so much so that they were unable to choose the tracks for this album because it would require them to actually listen to "The Great Escape" or "Parklife."

But executives at Food Records did a fine job in compiling 17 of the most amazing pop songs ever recorded. As with any compilation, there are notable exceptions ("Popscene,"

"Chemical World," "Sunday Sunday"), but listening to these singles in succession makes perhaps the most convincing argument that Blur should be remembered as one of the great bands of the '90s. Their constantly evolving sound would make a neophyte question whether all of these recordings were actually done by the same band. From the Manchester beat of their first single, "There's No Other Way," to the social commentary of "Charmless Man" to the disco of "Girls and Boys," there is no doubt that this band has stood as a reflection of every facet of the British national character for the better part of a decade.

Although the band may not agree, the music remains timeless. Damon Albarn's boyish croon on "End Of The Century" is every bit as engaging now as it was when 2000 seemed a long way off. Graham Coxon's guitar lines are every bit as inventive and passionate today as they were in the days when it wasn't cool to like both Oasis and Blur. On every single track here, there comes a point where Alex James' bass and Dave Rowntree's drums fuse, and it seems as if they are coming from the same place.

Yet the band's sole involvement with the record comes in the form of the final track, the recently recorded "Music Is My Radar." Its Talking Heads-ish rhythm and Damon Albarn's vocal mumblings seem to serve as the band's message to fans, asserting that they have no plans to stop evolving. And, even after going on an incredibly nostalgic ride through their more simple Britpop days, we don't want them to ever stop.