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Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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
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
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| EAC extraction logfile from 24. February 2006, 11:19 for CD blur / parklife Used drive : SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F Adapter: 0 ID: 0 Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache Combined read/write offset correction : 0 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Used output format : Internal WAV Routines 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo Other options : Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Installed external ASPI interface Range status and errors Selected range Filename E:\Documents and Settings\rat.TR-G50KCK082Q78\My Documents\blur - parklife.wav Peak level 99.7 % Range quality 100.0 % CRC D6F23A7B Copy OK No errors occured End of status report |
