Classic albums #7 Blur Parklife

[thehitparade]

When I first realised I had to choose one of these things I glanced at the list of albums and made the quick choice that I've never talked myself out of: the first album I ever bought for myself. Conveniently, it's also an album that reaches its 20th anniversary later this year, and one that I've since rebought in a deluxe version so have found myself reconsidering. 

Blur's third album became the first of their five consecutive (studio) Number Ones. It spawned four Top 20 singles.
Tracks are as follows:

1. Girls & Boys 4:51 [single peaked at 5]
2. Tracy Jacks 4:20
3. End Of A Century 2:46 [single peaked at 19]
4. Parklife (starring Phil Daniels) 3:05 [single peaked at 10]
5. Bank Holiday 1:42
6. Badhead 2:46    
7. The Debt Collector 2:11
8. Far Out 1:48

9. To The End 4:05 [single peaked at 16]
10. London Loves 4:15
11. Trouble In The Message Centre 4:09
12. Clover Over Dover 3:22
13. Magic America 3:38
14. Jubilee 2:48
15. This Is A Low 5:17
16. Lot 105 1:19

All tracks have the writing credit "Song: Coxon Music: Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree" except 'Far Out' where the "Song" credit is to Alex James


Deezer
Spotify
Available for purchase here (and elsewhere)

[o]

Good choice as have heard a lot about their albums but don't own any. Didn't like girls and boys or parklife, preferred the other minor singles, so wonder what the other album tracks are like?

[Shireblogger]

I look forward to reviewing this. Another good choice.

[o]

We need reviews as we almost enter the last week of January...

[borneoman]

finally a good choice why oh why they never release This is a Low as a single!!??!

[o]

Damn has said they should have released this is a low as the 4th single instead of the one they did, but I'm not sure it would have done any better in the charts

Blur – Parklife
1."Girls & Boys" - Disliked this when it first came out, liking it a little bit more now. 5/10
2."Tracy Jacks" - Slightly better, but annoyingly repetitive. 6/10
3."End of a Century" - Much better, always preferred the slower hits. Love the trumpet/horn. 8/10
4."Parklife" (featuring Phil Daniels) – Another of my pet hates at the time, but I find my toe tapping along now. 5/10
5."Bank Holiday" – A punkish interlude, a window into what was to come in a few years. 6/10
6."Badhead" - Laid back track, with orchestration, like it. 7/10
7."The Debt Collector" - Instrumental time. 3/10
8."Far Out" – Feels like album filler, prefer the beagle 2 version, more upbeat. 4/10
9."To the End" – Another gorgeous slower number, hauntingly sad. 8/10
10."London Loves" - Does nothing for me. 4/10
11."Trouble in the Message Centre" – A bit darker and heavier, 6/10
12."Clover Over Dover" – Back to the fluffy stuff, 5/10
13."Magic America" – Time for some “la la la las!” S’ok 6/10
14."Jubilee" – Humm, album filler 4/10
15."This Is a Low" – A high point for me. So laid back it’s lying down, and then it soars! 8/10
16."Lot 105" – Pointless instrumental, should have ended the album with This is a low, 3/10
=88/16=5.5

[vastar iner]

Cor, luvaduck me old china, we’re in a right 2 and 8 ere. It’s a proper knees-up to start, all cheeky choppy writ large for the 1990s, once upon a time the best one could hope to roll out was a barrel, rather than of a bed in Marbella after a night giving it large. It’s interesting now to listen to “Girls And Boys” given the total sh*te like Vengaboys which followed, as this has the similar sort of ear worm effect, obviously with far more going on, as one would expect. There are twinkly bits in the backing and the shoutalong chorus, it’s a mixture of Essex, casual, wannabe and Madness. It also shows just how little imagination is applied to the Eurotrash and how moronic the public are…

“Tracy Jacks" instantly sounds like filler. There are attempts to recover from it, but in truth they never quite work. It’s a Kinks wannabe, a pale imitation of the album opener with the similar staccato beat and constant repetition of theme. But without the snide humour.

“End Of A Century”. Wow, this doesn’t half point to “Country House”. It’s almost identical in ethos. I would put it down as a cover of one of the Beatles’ lesser 1966ish tracks had I not known it was a 1990s album; or an Innes pastiche updated to nos jours. The problem is, having got those thoughts in my head, I can’t get them back out of it again. So I can’t treat the song on its own terms.

And then “Parklife”. It’s a track that ought to be intensely irritating, but there’s just enough swaggering humour in it to carry it off. Phil Daniels does a better job than I think Albarn could have done - Damon would not be able to come across as such a Jack-the-lad.

“Bank Holiday”. This is quite the change. Rattles off at a breakneck pace. Reminiscent of one of the speed punk bands of the late seventies, someone like The Dickies or The Lurkers. Also lends credence to the hypothesis that Albarn was the creative genius behind Elastica…this though is a fun career of a track, cheerfully gonzo.

“Badhead” starts as if it’s a television station ident, somewhere like Anglia. It’s the best bit of it as it fades into what sounds like a late sixties pastiche.

“The Debt Collector”. Blimey, what’s going on here? An oompah band, you can almost see the pearly kings, or maybe the lederhosen. Well, that was unexpected.

“Far Out”, one of those songs that builds up, another pastiche, this time glam rock. Nice to hear a reference to Wolf 359. But it’s only a surface parody, underneath it is disconcertingly similar to the first couple of tracks. The album is beginning to remind me of the Golf GTi now, it’s the same basic thing but it’s been tweaked in a myriad slightly different ways.

Until we get the startling change of pace (again) with “To The End”. This is close to epic, the full orchestra and big-budget video and sussurated French. Albarn’s voice does not entirely suit, but that gives it an Alfie quality; a would-be grand, the someone out of place, a kazoo in a war requiem. Would have liked a lot more of this, perhaps a bridge and a crescendo.

“London Loves”. “Parklife” without the charm. Gets interesting in the last 30 seconds or so. But otherwise next please.

“Trouble In The Message Centre”. First world problems. Has an electro experimental start before the typical guitar stab comes in. A Numan pastiche. But gets boring.

“Clover Over Dover”. Surprise, it starts with what sounds like a harpsichord. Less of a surprise, it is overwhelmed by guitars. Another one in the theme of having an intro to get you interested and then becoming a lot more mainstream. This is a fairly workmanlike track. The lyrics on this one in particular are banal. Many pop lyrics don’t make sense, but these are a sort of Stanley Unwin story-wise, it’s a mixture of stuff that ought to make sense and has the vague overall notion of making sense, but when analysing it they are nonsensical.

“Magic America”. See above - but only without the interesting introduction. And it goes on far too long. Yes, yes, we GET it. Now shut up and give us another one.

“Jubilee”. More Elasticesque sounds, with the staccato guitar and shoutalong chorus. I seem to have said that before. But perhaps he best track in the second half.

“This Is A Low” balances out “To The End”, but aimless, meandering and boring. Then it finishes with a bit of nonsense at the end. Hidden track? Or a key to the whole album? As it sounds to me like an homage to the closing of Monty Python & The Holy Grail, until it turns into a lock-in.


Would be a better album with some pruning; less sometimes is more and it goes on beyond its welcome, the second half could have had lots cut out and the overall impact would have been better. Many tracks could make passable singles, and the ensemble reminds me of the Innes Book of Records, a whizzbang tour through popular music viewed through a cynical prism, with attempts to tell stories like Ray Davies or Lennon/McCartney. I wouldn’t say it ought to get the kudos it tends to get. It comes across as being very forced, very calculated, and probably deliberately so given that Blur had seemingly lost their way, having got their entry via being to shoegaze what the Wee Papa Girl Rappers were to UK house, and then going leftfield with Modern Life Is Rubbish. They were walking a tightrope, so came up with a nod to the music critics. The audio equivalent of the arrow in the FedEx label. Tempted to give it a 5.5, but I will give it the benefit of the doubt and go all the way to 6.

[raliverpool]

I've got a sore throat, and am fed up with all the rain, so rather than write a (semi) proper review I thought I'd try something different ....... Imagine this was being "performed" in the voice of Paul Daniels and rather than Phil Daniels ....

The public were getting bored of grunge, then developed a preference for something British, old yet new otherwise known as ....(BRITPOP)
Britpop bands were influenced by British guitar music of the past, particularly movements and genres such as the 60s British Invasion, glam rock, The Smiths and (POST-PUNK)
Its emphasis was on good times and catchy songs providing a 90s soundtrack to Cool Britannia.

[Chorus]
ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL WENT HAND IN HAND
HAND IN HAND AND BOUGHT ... PARKLIFE

There's a lot of The Who
A lot of The Small Faces, a fair bit of The Kinks, some Ziggy, The Buzzcocks, and My Old Man's A Dustman when I listen to ...
(Parklife)
(parklife)
And then I'm happy for the rest of the day safe in the knowledge they went back to the past to create mostly the future on (parklife)

[Chorus]
ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL WENT OFF THE BAND
WHEN THEY RIPPED OFF CHAS N'DAVE SINGING THE KINKS'
APEMAN

Parklife (parklife)
Parklife (parklife)

This album's not a patch on Dog Man Star, Definitely Maybe, or Urban Hymns you know
And it's not even Blur's best album as that was their second album Modern Life Is ...
Rubbish (Rubbish)

ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL WENT OFF THE BAND
OFF THE BAND WHEN THEY RELEASED THE GREAT ..ESCAPE

ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL PREFERRED THAT MANCHESTER BAND
MANCHESTER BAND WITH THE FEUDING BROTHERS WHEN THEY RELEASED ....
...Welllllll What's The Story Morning Glory, need a little time to wake up, wake up, need a lit...

Track Rating:

1."Girls & Boys" 8.5
2."Tracy Jacks" 7.0
3."End of a Century" 7.0
4."Parklife" (featuring Phil Daniels) 9.5
5."Bank Holiday" 6.0
6."Badhead" 9.0
7."The Debt Collector" 5.5
8."Far Out" 5.0
9."To the End" 8.0
10."London Loves" 5.0
11."Trouble in the Message Centre" 8.5
12."Clover Over Dover" 7.5
13."Magic America" 9.0
14."Jubilee" 9.0
15."This Is a Low" 10.0
16."Lot 105" 4.5

Personally, I think Blur were actually more inconsistent with their material, even though they were far more inventive than their Manchester arch rivals.

Overall 7 (119 / 16 = 74.375% (70%-76%) category).


My recommendation for a similar album just has to be The Small Faces - Ogdens´ Nut Gone Flake (1968) www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBOFm96rTsg


The Blur Studio album rates:

Leisure (1991) 3
Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993) 9
Parklife (1994) 7
The Great Escape (1995) 6
Blur (1997) 7
13 (1999) 5
Think Tank (2003) 4

[-Big Dan-]

Modern Life Is Rubbish is definitely their finest hour.

[wonderwall]

Track Rating:

1."Girls & Boys 6/ 10
2."Tracy Jacks 6/10
3."End of a Century" 7/10
4."Parklife" (featuring Phil Daniels) 5/10
5."Bank Holiday 5/10
6."Badhead 8/10
7."The Debt Collector 5/10
8."Far Out 5/10
9."To the End" 7/10
10."London Loves 6/10
11."Trouble in the Message Centre 4/ 10
12."Clover Over Dover 5/10
13."Magic America 5/ 10
14."Jubilee 4/10
15."This Is a Low 7/10
16."Lot 105 3/10


Never have been a big fan of parklife or many of there other studio albums apart from blur and 13 badhead end of a century are decent enough but to much like a chas and dave singalong for me if rate parklife 6/10 not a fan .I don't even think it's there best album to be honest much prefer the experimental blur on the self titled and 13 albums.

[o]

I think it is supposed to be Meister doing February, but if he doesn't reply to my pm today, then we will move down the list to borneoman...

[Shireblogger]

Blur – Parklife

Context
I bought Parklife on its week of release, based on my love for “Girls & Boys”. Prior to that single, Blur had washed over me, as just another also-ran Baggy band. By 1994 I was living in Basildon and felt a connection with these art school Essex boys made good. It finished the year as my favourite album, and although it has since drifted to 4th best, listening to any of the tracks on it bring back vivid memories of what I was doing 20 years ago.
10/10

General Overview
The major problem with Parklife is it is so front-end loaded. Track 6, “Badhead” comes along just in time to bring some melancholy to the music hall knees up that precedes it. But, thereafter, there are a few tracks which could have been dropped, without any adverse impact on the whole. A 12-track version would have become one of my Top 10 albums of all-time.
8/10

Intro & Outro
“Girls & Boys” is the standout track, and was my #1 single of 1994. One of the very best pop songs of the 1990s, and impossible to improve upon. “Lot 105” is the an ideal end point for this album. Short, sweet, and a reminder of what Parklife’s best moments sound like.
10/10

Music
Graham Coxon is an unsung hero. Blur discussions always focus on Damon Albarn, but just like Morrissey / Marr, it wouldn’t have worked without a guitarist who was prepared to experiment, and put in so much effort. Albarn’s harpsichord on “Clover Over Dover” is rather wonderful. Nothing remarkable came from Alex James or Dave Rowntree, but maybe it would have been too much if they’d also wanted bigger roles in the band.
7/10

Lyrics
Damon at his smart alec best. “You should cut down on your porklife mate, and get some exercise”; and the interwoven chorus of “Girls & Boys” are right up there with the best pop lyrics. However, he’s not good enough to keep this up for a whole album, and too many of the songs are perfunctory and one dimensional, perhaps best illustrated with the grating “London Loves”.
7/10

Production & Sound
It’s a solidly produced album, which focuses the ear on what made Blur unique at the time, namely Albarn’s distinctive vocals and Coxon’s adventurous strumming. But shouldn’t Stephen Street have also acted as editor, and persuaded the band to cut some of the more pointless tracks ?
6/10

High Points
Despite being a fan of Phil Daniels, Shirebloggess hates the title track, with its exaggerated mockney accents. I couldn’t disagree with her more. It’s a fun singalong tune, with highly entertaining lyrics, and some great Graham guitar work. Of the non-singles, the p*sstake-punk of “Jubilee” is a highlight. Unpretentious and rollicking.
9/10

Low Points
“Far Out” is pointless, apart from allowing Damon to reveal he owns an astronomical atlas. “Magic America” is half finished and totally unnecessary. “This Is A Low” is aptly named.
2/10

Packaging
I love the “night at the dogs” theme, especially the track listing on pages 2 and 3 of the CD booklet. The photos were taken at Walthamstow Stadium, which, alongside Romford, was a popular night out for me and my mates at the time. So, another connection there. Original, colourful, easy to read and informative. Just as album artwork should be.
10/10

On balance
There remains lots to enjoy on Parklife. Of course, Albarn has since been exposed as a schizophrenic genius / tw*t. And it is very much of its time. But give me this over “Definitely Maybe”, “Music For The Jilted Generation”, “Dog Man Star” or “Give Out, But Don’t Give Up”, every time.
9/10

TOTAL SCORE
It gives me a sense of enormous well being.
78/100.

For Haven:
8/10

[o]

Borneoman has been asked to choose an album for February now.

[Earl Purple]

There were 3 influences on the band, and I think the "cheeky pop" stuff was more Alex James's influence than any of the others.

I didn't really compare them to Oasis at the time of this album, more to Kingmaker who had my top album of 1993 and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine who did in 1992.

[wonderwall]

Never understood the oasis comparisons anyway two completely different bands

[Earl Purple]

They were completely different at the time although later Oasis showed Kinks influences which had been present in earlier Blur.

[TheThorne]

They were only compared to each other as they were the two biggest bands in Britain were north/south working class / middle class and both had outspoken band members. Blur were a major label cash in to Madchester/ baggy and could have gone the way of Candyflip if it hadn't been for the promise shown by 'popscene' and the eventual 'modern life is rubbish'

Oasis were a creation band and hence they followed the path set by Primal Scream and late Ride not baggy or madchester

[borneoman]

lil review...

Have to admit I had not listened to Parklife in like probably 15 years. I was a big big fan of britpop back in the day, and I did buy Parklife when released, which was my first Blur album, although I was more of a fan of Pulp than Blur/Oasis.

Of course Blur always gets compared to Oasis. And I don’t know, everybody always say Oh Blur were so much more experimental and varied. But for me, Experimental Blur is the Blur I like the least. A bit of evolution is ok, but I think sometimes Blur took it too far and it made their album worst. For me, they always lagged a bit behind Oasis. Blur have good songs, but they don´t have a Live Forever or a Don´t Look Back in Anger or a Whatever. But again Oasis were good for just 2 albums only before they started repeating themselves and re-writing the same song again and again, at least Blur were good for a longer period. But as I said, there were others like Pulp that were better than Blur/Oasis, I might even prefer Ocean Colour Scene ☺

First shock I had when checking the album again the other day was the tracklist. Who decided that? That’s a totally horrible track order. Starting directly with Girls and Boys, then all filler tracks, that horrible thing after This is a Low to close the album. This album would have been a million times better is trimmed to get rid of 4-5 fillers, start the album with Parklife as track 1 and finish with This is a Low as final track.

A trimmed version of the album would definitely been better cos there are excellent tracks. Pity there are also a lot of not-very-good and rather forgettable tracks. The singles were all great, especially the first three, all so different but still all sounding great. I particularly like To The End and definitely should have been a bigger hit. End of a Century, the fourth single of the album, is an ok-ish track, more of an album track than single material, I would have totally have released This is a Low, as this is the jewel of the album, the best track by miles and miles. The album has also some good album tracks like Magic America so the second part of the album only drops slightly in quality.

Overall a decent album. Not a classic at all but a good decent album, maybe an 8/10 for me.

[Shireblogger]

Just realised that thehitparade hasn't submitted a review yet for the album he nominated !

[thehitparade]

Yeah sorry, I was about to do it but I didn't want to do the first one, then I got caught up in the Damien Rice one - partly because that was a task I was less keen to do I wanted to get it out of the way first.