Parklife

So British. Very playful. Sort of all over the place. I think Blur is the most fun of all the Britpop groups.

Oh. Another britpop album. What a surprise. Honestly, all of these bands are starting to sound exactly the same. Much like their food, British pop music seems to be mostly bland and uninspiring.

This album tastes like sunshine. It perfectly encapsulates the energy and colour of the 90s. Even the more reflective, melancholic moments, it glimmers with light and hope. A bright spark in an already illuminating decade. Vorsprung durch technik.

Fuckin' Blur albums are too long and filled with shit man.

The first half of this album is as good as pop music gets. Sensational. The second part loses momentum , but still has This Is A Low and To The End to pull it round. Easy 5 stars.

Excellent album!! So good I listened twice. What a treat, it's got the bangerz yet also somehow they made oompah music sound cool and threw it in there?? I really love the storytelling and the feeling in these tracks. So nice listening to the entire album all together.

This is a contender for my favorite Blur album. The song "Parklife" was a favorite of my brother and me when I was in high school. The overtly British stuff is charming, like "Bank Holiday" and "London Loves." Several great songs on here and I think it covers a fair amount of ground while staying cohesive as an album throughout.

After touring, Damon Albarn became increasingly influenced by the shift in 60s songwriting which is exemplified in the Beatles and the Kinks. These influences are reflected in this album which manages to incorporate a dizzying array of sounds ranging from experimental 60s rock, to more punk like and electronic sounds. The lyrical content similarly treads the familiar ground of disaffected middle class life. What I love about this album is it’s undeniably British aesthetic and its folding of so many styles into something cohesive and new.

British people act like these guys were legends, but its pretty mediocre stuff.

Arguably the definitive Britpop album, Blur's Parklife carries you along with its bouncy pop hooks and dry lyricism.

Another easy one for me. I handwrite out all the lyrics when I taped my friend's copy of this so I could sing along. It was the first album that wasn't a pop compilation or PJ and Duncan that I obsessed over. I was 10, and I wanted to be Graham Coxon. I forgot to write any more while I was listening, just enjoying it! It's subtler than it gets credit for.

I forgot how great this record was, the crown jewel of the Britpop genre. Feel like these guys never fully made it outside of the UK, there’s a lot of bands that I will never understand how they didn’t become huge worldwide, Blur is one. I guess Damon Albarn finally got his due with the Gorillaz but really this should’ve been the album that made these guys gigantic stars. Sadly only in the British Isles…

Nice try posh boys.

I got into Blur way too late. I really dig this album!

MASTERPIECE. ICONIC. GENIUS.

- i see Blur i press like - I like how at some places it's raw like those dogs on the cover (Parklife, Jubilee, Girls and Boys..), just barking at me and then its mellow and I'm bathing in Damons voice (This is a low, End of a century, To the end). - very fun. i can easily put this and listen to the whole thing and stop doing whatever I was doing

Indie pop classssic. Glamourised the mundane like nobody before. Nothing more to say... I love it!

Full of life, angst, and Damon Albarn’s beautiful vocals and bright guitars.

I liked this album very much. It sounds so true and so fun. It sounds like "good days". I didn't know Blur much more than "Song 2", but now I'll search for all other albums to know a little bit more. Definitively, worths it!

I had just relistened to this for the umpteenth time a couple of days ago, it's one of my favorite albums, the best album of the 90s if you ask me. I was originally hooked by Boys and Girls but every time I listen to it a different song jumps out as a new favorite, the title track, "End of a Centurty," "This Is a Low," even "Jubilee." Currently it's "To the End."

Awesome album! I'm constantly surprised by how varied Blur is while keeping their almost comical signature sound.

I didnt think this was particularly "good" for lack of a better word, but I loved almost every second of it I found myself singing along to the chorus of several songs, despite it being my first time listening to them, they were that encapsulating. I loved the instrumental track, and songs like The Debt Collector are incredibly charming. Felt myself dancing around a little as I was listening to it. I have rated music I thought was "better" lower but thats simply because, despite it not being as artistically innovating as some of the other albums, its genuinely just so nice to listen to. Will listen to it many times in the future

4/1001 This is the third album in a row I've been excited to listen to. Another artist I'm familiar with from "Song 2" and later Gorillaz. Right away "Girls & Boys" brought me back to the 90s when I probably last heard that song. Somehow this album escaped me for 30 years, but no bother regretting that now as getting to hear a fantastic album like this for the first time in a treat Full of that great British rock style. Favorite track: "Girls & Boys" 5/5

Instant 5 stars from me. While it's not my favourite Blur album, it's still a masterpiece in my mind. Did it influence or capture British culture at the time? The standout 'overplayed' tracks Girls and Boys and Parklife are both fantastic and English music in the 90s would have been vastly different without them. The rest of the album is all top notch with Damon starting to use characters in his songs more and more. The variety is there with fuzz, disco, and beautiful compositions but it all fits to get her as a coherent record and the songs are so well written they have undoubtedly stood the test of time. I have listened to this album regularly for close to thirty years and have not tired of it yet.

Amazinggg SO GOOD

I bet this was the biggest shit ever when it dropped.

The year is 1995: UK media is giving generous coverage to the like of Blur and Oasis as a "Battle of Britpop" rages on the charts with a battle between the leading singles for each band's subsequent albums, "The Great Escape" and "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", respectfully. The media was late to the party though, because "Parklife" was the real big hit for the lads and the prime definition of britpop. These are great songs, too. Catchy as hell, good fun, and tons of personality from Albarn et. al., all culminating in a definitive album for the genre. This is nothing if not exemplary by the album's title track "Parklife", in which does an exaggerated accent of a very content englishman, followed by the chorus where we all sing "ALLLLLL THE PEOPLE. SO MANY PEOPLE" and then we go hand-in-hand through our parklife. The back half of the album is not nearly as good as the first half, dropping off all Bank Holiday, picking up with To The End and the last three tracks. Still worth a listen for Britpop history.

Throwback to the 90s "Britpop rivalries" - I was originally more in the Oasis camp but as time has gone on even though Oasis may have a few singles that have higher peaks I think Blur is more listenable over the long haul (i.e. for an entire album). Tons of cool/odd melody on this album with a lot of British influences. "Tracy Jacks" could very well have been a deep-cut old-school Who song. There are some annoyingly-overly-British songs here (e.g. "Bank Holiday") but that's more my lack of preference for punky fast-paced chanting. Fortunately for any irritating moments they are either short or countered quickly; for example "Badhead" is a very mellow tune with some simple and nice guitar lines weaving throughout the song. Then they go from "Far Out" through "To The End" and "London Loves" - that trio typifies this surprisingly diverse and melodic slice of the 90s that for me was a welcome diversion from the angsty-Nirvana trend. 7/10 4 stars.

<3. London London London as a mysterious otherworldly place. It's not romantic and that's what I love, it's just big and urban and different.

Some of my favourite blur songs are on this album. I even enjoyed the interludes.

I'm not sure why I disliked this album so much in the past. It's a belter.

Great album and much more varied than I remember

nice blur!

Looking for girls who want boys Who like boys to be girls Who do boys like they're girls Who do girls like they're boys Always should be someone you really love

I though Modern Life Is Rubbish was pretty good but I think I liked this one more it still felt proggy but with a lot more tasteful instrumentals I think also Lot 105 and Supa Shoppa made me feel like I was in Napoleon Dynamite which is a massive plus overall super enjoyable album, I don’t think I have any complaint other than the super corny bri*ish accents still I think this album deserves a 10/10, I really loved it

I might just like everything Damon Albarn does

Iconic. This was the beginning but really a continuation of the vibe that goes from the Kinks, The Who, The Jam and Squeeze to name a few. Quirk, fun and constantly re-inventing itself thanks to Damon's skill and inventiveness.

One of the best British albums from this era. It is a stylistically very versatile record (synthpop, instrumental waltz, punk-rock and so on) with excellent songwriting and lyrics.

It's the sound i love the most: tidy chaos

blur is always a joy

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🫶🫶🫶🫶

I love a the satirical lyrics of the album and its depictions of different characters and aspects of modern life. Instant British classic with its mix of humor, timeless melodies and harmonies, and its new take on musical influences like the Kinks (harmonies and instrumentation of end of a century) and the jam (on songs like trouble in the message center and Tracy jacks). Even though the melodies seem familiar, all of the songs seem fresh and unique from each other so there was very few dull moments. It might not be perfect but my enjoyment of the album was a 5. Solid album but I also listened to all of Oasis-wtsmg today and they still are by far the best of Britpop. 👍: Tracy jacks, parklife, end of a century

YES YES YES

I love Britpop

British Weezer.

I wake up when I want, except on Wednesdays, when I'm rOOdely awakened by the dustman

This has aged terribly. Shite like the Debt Collector and Far Out. The highlights (Parklife, End Of A Century, To The End) are just about enough to give it a 4 though. Oasis shit/shat all over Blur, from a massive height.

I tried my hardest to hate this band in my youth but I just couldn’t. They won the battle of Brit pop with country house. I mean it was up against roll with it so they kind of gave you that one didn’t they eh Damon? Got absolutely smoked in the album sales though didn’t you? Cockney twat. Sorry I got carried away there anyway park life is a brilliant album. I mean it’s no definitely maybe but it’s pretty good isn’t it.

British anthem. Loved Jubilee and Bank Holiday and the playful closing song. An album that transports you to the beginnings of a significant cultural era in 90s Britain. Couldn't help but bop my head along to the songs as I was listening. Not usually my "type" of music but this is exactly why I signed up for 1001. Album has been saved in my collection and my musical horizon has been expanded. Overall a pleasant surprise. Didn't give five star because I reserve that for music that really stirs my soul (it's a high bar).

Much better than ’modern life’

Fun nostalgia-filled album that is very much of its time. Blur make me smile, they always sound like they're enjoying themselves. It's never a chore to throw some Blur on, singalong, and enjoy the anthems. Nice happy stuff.

I had only really heard Song 2 by blur before so o was expecting something like that. What I got was really Brit-pop, Beatles-esque music. I enjoyed it. It’s crazy this came out right around when Nirvana was just getting big. This is completely different from that and from what everyone else was doing.

Maybe I am just in a bad mood but this was straight up annoying to me. I had a hard time finishing the album.

I don't much care for British people

ну я не знаю что написать у меня сегодня плохой день....

This album was my world 25 years ago. Mixed feelings now, some parts are overwhelmingly cringy but there moments of true quality. 5 stars just for my 15 year old past self.

Fun and thoughtful and clever.

Classic. Love this album.

fun

Noch einmal 20 sein? Bittesehr, hiermit ist das alles wieder da: die Big Love for All Things British, die Buchstabe für Buchstabe eingeatmeten Ausgaben von NME und Select, die noch frischen Erinnerungen an das Erstaunen und den Kulturschock beim ersten Ansehen von Quadrophenia nur wenige Jahre zuvor, der ganze jugendliche Leichtsinn und all die naive Neugierde auf das, was jetzt hoffentlich bald losgeht. Kritische Distanz zu diesem bestimmt (tatsächlich) 100 mal gehörten Album: wie soll das denn gehen? Deshalb auch genau die Anzahl Punkte, die hier schon seit 27 Jahren rumliegt und immer noch kein bisschen Staub angesetzt hat. (I'm a nineties bitch, was soll ich machen?)

Loved it, pure nostalgia

One of my favourite albums by one of my favourite bands. A true 10 out of 10 album.

Yay a proper all time favourite. Legendary status. 10/10

A classic album from our formative years. So many good tunes on here. A handful of forgettable tunes though, but they’re outweighed by the bangers.

An absolute classic. The heady glorious days of Britop in its prime. Brings back so many nostalgic memories of early teenage years. So many debates over what was better, this or Definitely Maybe. Still don’t know the answer

One of the all time great Britpop albums and the main reason why Blur were better than Oasis.

Love that album

A bit ‘raw’ in places, but that just adds to its charm

Brit pop anthems, but also I had forgotten their range and depth, love it.

Peut-être le meilleur album de Blur, de la Brit-pop qui fait plaisir

I cheered when I saw this assignment. I had discovered this album just a month prior and loved it. I'm a fan of Gorillaz, and pre-Gorillaz Damon Albarn doesn't disappoint.

Really cool album. Lots of different styles of music mashed into one.

11/26/2021 Today's Album: "Parklife" by Blur - FYI I am writing this as I listen to each song. After researching, it turns out I already have some songs by this group on my playlist. Girls and Boys is a great opener to this album, with this fun and bouncy backtrack that is just layered up with these whiny vocals that actually work pretty well and these rock guitars. There's also a bunch of cool channel specific synth effects that I really dig. I know I'm still on the first song but damn the breakdown at 3 minutes is also so cool and I just really love the sound of it so far. Tracy Jacks is nowhere near as explosive as Girls and Boys, but I think it's a good follow up and it's still a pretty fun song, if not a little repetitive. Also damn the strings switch up is cool as hell. Oh my god the production on End of a Century is next level. I absolutely love this song it's like if the Beatles were grungy with those muted trumpets and distorted guitars. Parklife is a very interesting song, with the layering beat and laid-back spoken word vocals. I keep wanting to say the vocals are annoying, but then there's some great harmony or the instrumentals take center focus, and I can't really complain anymore. Bank Holiday is a stinky track. It sounds like the most annoying Green Day song but with Gorillaz vocals. Okay but that noise rock pop off at the end though okay okay I see you. Badhead is a very pretty piece of psyche pop. I really like the pretty flowery guitars and the synth in the left channel. The vocals are also much less obnoxious, and I think that it directly following Bank Holiday makes that track much more bearable and makes it make more sense within the track list. Fantastic track. The debt collector has this creepy carnival atmosphere to it. Very moody, but playful. Wow the flutes and clarinets add a whole new layer to this vv good yes i like. Far Out is just that, far out. I think it's a nice way to split up the album with some weird ass experimental noises. The vocals actually meld somewhat well with this, and it reminds me of a weird track off of a Ween album and the way the vocals trail off is so cool. I actually really like this song as well, damn. To the End is a super nice song. I love that the vocalist is really pushing his abilities and the psychedelic guitars mixed with such chill percussion is so cool. I really like this album holy damn. Oh wow the sparkly little flourish on To the End holy cow. London Loves absolutely fucks. Everything about this instrumental just screams CUM. I can't help but boogie down to this one. The hook and chorus are fantastic, and I am not bored for a second. The fucked-up guitar solo around 2 minutes makes me nut. This band is so good at balancing their sounds to make it just go down so smooth. The sampled traffic narrator in the left channel are mixed so well. This album is absolutely blowing my mind. Trouble in the Message Centre is this cool retro futuristic track. I don't think I'm crazy about the vocals in the beginning but I'm waiting to see where it goes. The instrumental is so good I'm waiting for the vocals to stop sounding so monotone, but I think that's sort of what they're going for. This guitar solo at 2:10 is absolutely making up for the poor parts of this track. I overall think it fits the flow of the album well, even if it isn't a great track by itself. Clover Over Dover starts off really strong with these harpsicord piano sounds mixed well with a psychedelic guitar and steady drums. I like the vocals a lot in this song and the bridge has these really cool laid-back vocals that hug my ears. Me like. Magic America sounds a little funky at first but as you get used to the sound it really opens up. The bubbly noises in the second verse is so cool and I really like how consistent all of the choruses are. They all sound so natural and clean. The solo on this song is so weird but so cool at the same time. This weird instrument just shines over the backdrop of the distorted guitar and rock drums and the descending synth at the end just closes up this track perfectly. Jubilee sounds like it could have come off of Pablo Honey by Radiohead. Its a little too blown out for me to really like it. I do like the strange descending note at around 2:00 but its short lived and the saxophones in the background just don't do enough to save the song. This is maybe the only bad track other than bank holiday, and it isn't even unlistenable. This is a low has these really cool effects that sound like they came out of Radiohead's The Bends. Once this song hits the chorus, it hits for sure. I love the melancholic instrumental and all of the psychedelic effects overlayed on this track. These distorted guitars at 3:00 absolutely fuck all over this song. It turns this song up from a 7 to a 9.5 and is the perfect culmination of most of this album. This is a great climax to the album and I just hope the closing track puts it to bed nicely. Lot 105 is a nice upbeat closer. It has this playful organ piano over this ascending bassline and 808 beat and it just gets better when the guitar and aux percussion come in. It feels like its wrapping up in that same kind of energy it started with. When it picks up in the last 20 seconds, its super fun and closes out the album fantastically. Overall, this album fucks so hard and the few flaws I see in it are completely overshadowed by the amazing highlights this album has to offer. Holy shit it's good. (and fun) Score: 9.8/10 Almost flawless. Highlights: All excluding Bank Holiday and Jubilee

Didn't want it to end, confident 5 stars Saved: - Girls and Boys - Tracy Jacks - End of a Century - Parklife - Badhead - To the End - Clover over Dover (favorite) - Magic America - This is a Low

Classic Album, so much better than Oasis

the album really isn't like "song 2" which is a good thing

Really puts an end to the Oasis/Blur schism, Blur are without doubt the superior group. This record is a conceptually vibrant masterpiece full of well thought out narratives and perfectly executed rhythm. Parklife is easily my favourite ever Blur song.

Bank Holiday I could do without, but otherwise what a lineup of delicious Britishy pop.

Fabulous and so nostalgic for me. I remember seeing Blur perform Park Life on The Word!

Loved this my first listen In the 90’s and love it still.

💯

Classic

It's a great album. You have to look past the title track and just fall into and enjoy songs like This is a low and To the end

Yes, this record is the utimate summation of Britishness during the nineties--with a lot of it still relevant today, from cynicism about everyday life in England to sudden bursts of romanticism and hope. Iconic AND lively. And essential for fans of British rock at large. But beyond its topical contents, *Parklife* is first and foremost an incredibly adventurous album transcending its original britpop genre like no other record before. What a ride it is, from the exhilarating disco parody of "Girls And Boys" up to epic closer "This Is A Low" (I swear I can sense the wind blowing across the white cliffs of Dover or Brighton when I'm listening to this one). And this counting everything in between, of course, including all those wonderful earworms along the way ("Tracy Jacks", " End of A Century", "To The End", or that insanely cinematic title track and its hilarious unreliable narrator--foretelling stuff like Yard Act in 2022). A great, great album that honors that old Kinks tradition in ways that can make Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree proud today. And the best LP Blur has ever released, period (with the eponymous one in tow right behind it). On a sidenote: I'm also a huge fan of Mogwai, and so felt quite saddened when the latter tried to ignite a war of words with Blur at the end of the nineties (as if those two bands were from the same sort of league anyway...). I've just read today that Stuart Braithwaite kind of admitted all of this was a little immature on his part, that he actually met Grahan Coxon quite a few times since the time of that quickly-aborted public feud, and that Coxon has been nothing but awfully nice to him, even with that story between them... At least *one* member of Blur is a high-class act, or so it seems... I'm only telling this story to raise one little question: how come there's no album by Mogwai to be seen anywhere on this list? What do Dimery and co. have against post-rock and other similar genres like that? Beats me, really... Maybe they were such fans of Blur that they decided to boycott a whole genre as a retaliatory measure, ha ha. If that's the case, well, come on, guys, please reconsider. It's all water under the bridge now, is it not? Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 861 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 77 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 34 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 29

One of my favourites for years.

Iconic album, forgot just how good this album is, filled with melodic pop throughout

As good today as it was when it was released. A classic.

Nisam ovaj album sluša nekih desetak godina. Jebeno je sjajan. Svaka stvar je drugačija.

It's amazing. Having only heard "Song 2" before I didn't know what to expect, but it blew me away.

There has been a lot of Britpop on this list. Some of it good, some of it pretty damn bad. But this is the first one that was FUN! Seriously! The others could be poignant or self-important or serious, but this one here was so damn fun at every turn. It had a smidge of bloat, could have been tighter in some places, but man I had a blast listening, and that's enough for 5 stars easily.

One of the best British albums you're gonna get

Absolutely defining album of the '90s

4. Would be 5 but too many aged lyrics.

Truly a formative album for me so it’s getting 5 stars. By the time that I started getting into rock and alternative music, Blair, we’re on the self titled album add Song 2 was all over the place. As a Canadian millennial, blur his first and foremost, known for their inclusion on Big Shiny Tunes 2-a truly formative text for us. I was unaware at the time that the direction Blur were heading in musically at that point was a departure from the previous sound. I started getting into this album Parklife when I started to do a real deep dive on Oasis and then by extension their Britpop peers. I listen to this album today and felt like I needed to immediately follow it up with the first two Oasis albums. I hadn’t heard any of these in 10 years and wanted to see how time had affected my perception of them. The Oasis albums are undeniable and have an amazing energy that even that band could not replicate. They are both masterpieces. Parklife though is so interesting. Lyrically it is so much more complex and actually dives into real subjects in songs instead of feelings, you can tell that these are very much more accomplished musicians working at the height of their powers. I believe I talked about this during my review of the self titled blur album, but I was at what was at the time meant to be the last blur show during their late 2000s reunion at T in the Park in Scotland in 2009. They nearly had to cancel the show, because Graham Coxon had food poisoning, and apparently had come right from the hospital to the venue amazing euphoric experience, though, as that crowd was primed to see blur, I had brought a bunch of signs for them, including someone with one of the milk carton guys on a stick that he was holding up in the crowd. The band did go on hiatus but then returned about five years later with a new album. But I was so proud that I had managed to see Blur before they had broken up. A few weeks earlier to the show, I had also seen oasis in Edinburgh. It was to be one of their last concerts before they broke up that fall. This is going to seem inconsequential to most people, but I was given advice on concerts from a coworker, Jason I have never forgot. He had gotten tickets to go see Pearl Jam, and wanted to know if I wanted to buy one of the tickets. The day of the concert, I had class the next day and was not doing great in school that year. Jason told me that whenever I had an opportunity to see a band, I should always take it. He said you would never know if they were going to break up before you got a chance to see them again. Thanks to him, I got to see the two Titans of Brit Pop in the UK, something I would likely never gonna get to do again. This is turned out to be the best advice in my life. Thanks, Jason.

Classic

It’s Damon Albarn! Everything he does is 5 star! Great album!

Cheesy in places but still a classic

Blur won the Britpop wars in my mind. They're the most creative and consistent in fantastic albums of the 4. Damon Albarn puts the fun in music, and it's a shame they were never as popular in the US as Gorillaz. He's an enthusiastic and silly vocalist with comical lyrics and subjects (sometimes black humour that borders the line with serious like "Clover over Dover"). It's probably the most accessible Britpop album, full of incredible hits in the 1st half, and a diverse range of punk and folk tracks in the 2nd half, reminiscent of legends like Syd Barrett. This is my top recommendation to anyone getting into the genre, but to be fair I hate Oasis (too loud and annoying vocalist). There are so many unique and creative ideas in this album... There are only 2 or 3 songs that don't blow me away somehow. Impressive from a record with a 16 track listing. The production is incredible. Despite how busy it gets, I can identify everyone, and all the instruments and sound effects come together so naturally and purposeful. This is especially brilliant with how creative and interesting the instrumentation, incorporating many synths and production techniques along with back vocals and strange instruments to make it an engaging listen, picking out all the components. I couldn't see strange tracks like "Debt Collector" perfected so well by anyone else. Finally, the track order is pretty optimized. The 2nd half starting "Debt Collector" sets a slower and mystical setting, and each of the following tracks feel so naturally glued together. Yet each one has its own identity and pulls your attention. Personally, I argue this is their strongest album, but it really shows when their other albums have countless tracks that match the quality here.

Tracks: 1 2 3 4 6 9 15

Absolutely love this album. Classic 90s Brit pop