 Artist:Blur
album:Parklife
Year:
1994
Styles: Alternative Pop/ Rock
Format: eac.ape
Size:
330mb Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Quote Modern
Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop
of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam, but its follow-up, Parklife,
revealed the depth of that transformation. Relying more heavily on Ray
Davies' seriocomic social commentary, as well as new wave, Parklife runs
through the entire history of post-British Invasion Britpop in the
course of 16 songs, touching on psychedelia, synth pop, disco, punk, and
music hall along the way. Damon Albarn intended these songs to form a
sketch of British life in the mid-'90s, and it's startling how close he
came to his goal; not only did the bouncy, disco-fied "Girls & Boys"
and singalong chant "Parklife" become anthems in the U.K., but they
inaugurated a new era of Britpop and lad culture, where British youth
celebrated their country and traditions. The legions of jangly, melodic
bands that followed in the wake of Parklife revealed how much more
complex Blur's vision was. Not only was their music precisely detailed —
sound effects and brilliant guitar lines pop up all over the record —
but the melodies elegantly interweaved with the chords, as in the
graceful, heartbreaking "Badhead." Surprisingly, Albarn, for all of his
cold, dispassionate wit, demonstrates compassion that gives these songs
three dimensions, as on the pathos-laden "End of a Century," the
melancholy Walker Brothers tribute "To the End," and the swirling, epic
closer, "This Is a Low." For all of its celebration of tradition,
Parklife is a thoroughly modern record in that it bends genres and is
self-referential (the mod anthem of the title track is voiced by none
other than Phil Daniels, the star of Quadrophenia). And, by tying the
past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-'90s zeitgeist
and produced an epoch-defining record. 1 Girls & Boys Albarn, Coxon,
James, Rowntree 4:51
2 Tracy Jacks Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree
4:20
3 End of a Century Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 2:45
4
Parklife Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 3:05
5 Bank Holiday Albarn,
Coxon, James, Rowntree 1:42
6 Badhead Albarn, Coxon, James,
Rowntree 3:25
7 The Debt Collector Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree
2:10
8 Far Out Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 1:41
9 To the
End Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 4:05
10 London Loves Albarn,
Coxon, James, Rowntree 4:15
11 Trouble in the Message Centre
Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 4:09
12 Clover over Dover Albarn,
Coxon, James, Rowntree 3:22
13 Magic America Albarn, Coxon, James,
Rowntree 3:38
14 Jubilee Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 2:47
15 This Is a Low Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 5:07
16 Lot 105
Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree 1:17 Quote EAC
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OK No errors occured End of status report Blur - Parklife
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