"Chemical World" is a song by English alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Blur

Blur (band)

Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

, featured on their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish

Modern Life Is Rubbish

Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album Leisure had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour...

(1993). It was released on 28 June 1993 as the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from that album, equalling their previous release "For Tomorrow

For Tomorrow

"For Tomorrow" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It is the lead track to their second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish . Released 19 April 1993 as the first single from the album, "For Tomorrow" charted at number 28 in the UK Singles Chart...

" at number 28 in the UK Singles Charts. In the United States, the song reached number 27 on the Modern Rock Tracks

Modern Rock Tracks

Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 chart, becoming the only single from Modern Life Is Rubbish to chart there. The song was commissioned by Blur's American record label, SBK Records

SBK Records

SBK Records was a record label of the EMI Group that was founded in 1988.Stephen Swid, Martin Bandier, and Charles Koppelman formed the production company SBK in 1989 after they purchased the music publishing division of CBS Records in 1986....

, to increase the album's appeal for the American market. The version on the SBK version on the album though is the demo version, which was also called the "reworked" version, on the single.

The single is notable because of the two single releases, the first contained a double case with two trays, the second of which was empty. This tray was intended to hold the second CD of the singles.

The first of the two CDs released for the single contains the song "Never Clever" (recorded live at Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

, June 1992) which was originally intended as the follow-up single to Blur's fourth single, "Popscene

Popscene

"Popscene" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released 30 March 1992 as a single. The low chart placing came as a confidence blow for the band, who were struggling financially at the time...

". However, the commercial death of "Popscene" prompted those plans to be abandoned. The studio version of "Never Clever" was eventually released on a promo CD

Promotional recording

A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...

 to celebrate Food Records' 100th release. The 7" vinyl of "Chemical World" has a cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

's "Maggie May

Maggie May

"Maggie May" is a song written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton and recorded by Stewart in 1971 for his album Every Picture Tells a Story....

", which was also featured on Ruby Trax, a 3-CD compilation of cover versions issued by the NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

on its 40th birthday and on Blur's The Special Collectors Edition

The Special Collectors Edition

The Special Collectors Edition is a collection of B-sides by Blur. It was released in Japan in 1994. The B-sides are from singles from the albums Leisure, Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife...

.

B-side "Young and Lovely" was hailed as one of the greatest "lost tracks" by Q

Q (magazine)

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 in 2007.

The music video shows the band in a grassy field surrounded by wildlife. On Beavis and Butt-head

Beavis and Butt-Head

Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...

, when the video was reviewed, Beavis said that he wanted to urinate all over the band and the wildlife, including a snail and Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...

.

The track appeared in Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur is a two-disc compilation album by Blur, released by EMI Records on . Designed as a sampler for casual listeners, and with a greater focus on the band's career highlights rather than their hit singles, it is Blur's second retrospective collection, succeeding...

.

Track listings

7"

1. "Chemical World" (edit)
2. "Maggie May"

CD1 (live tracks from Glastonbury Festival 1992)

1. "Chemical World" (Reworked) (uncredited on sleeve that it is the reworked version)
2. "Never Clever" (live)
3. "Pressure On Julian" (live)
4. "Come Together" (live)

CD2

1. "Chemical World"
2. "Young & Lovely"
3. "Es Schmecht"
4. "My Ark"

12"

1. "Chemical World"
2. "Es Schmecht"
3. "Young & Lovely"
4. "My Ark"

Personnel

• "Chemical World" and "Young & Lovely" produced by Stephen Street
• "Es Schmecht"produced by Blur
• "My Ark" produced by Blur and John Smith
• "Maggie May" produced by Steve Lovell
• "Chemical World" (reworked) produced by Blur, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley

Trivia

On the American version of the album, the original version of the song was replaced with a demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

.

External links

• Allmusic reviews: [ CD1], [ CD2]