exclusive rsd blue vinyl edition of original album + bonus tracks + remixes. deluxe sleeve gatefold, matt varnish, hot foil (blue). the blue notebooks is one of max richters most successful albums to date and it was originally composed in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of iraq. richter has described it as a protest album about iraq, a mediation on violence both the violence that i had personally experienced around me as a child and the violence of war, at the utter futility of so much armed conflict. the album was recorded about a week after mass protests against the war. it features readings from franz kafka s the blue octavo notebooks and czesł,,,,,,,aw mił,,,,,,,oszs hymn of the pearl and unattainable earth. both readings are by the british actress tilda swinton.