Parklife

Very, very strong 3. Very British.

It’s a great sarcastic album that’s going to take me a few more listens to pick up on everything.

Fun fact, I woo’d my fiancee on our first date by doing Parklife on Karaoke. This song, and album will therefore always be special to me.

Obviously a classic but not one of my favourite Blur albums.

Gimmicky singles, mostly tedious album tracks and banal attempts at satire. A few okay songs, but I won't be rushing to listen again. The 1997 self titled album is far better.

not a dull moment on here. consistent, versatile, snarky, interesting production, just a great tracklist from front to back. i do like oasis, but on what planet is morning glory better than this?? favourite songs: girls and boys, tracy jacks, london loves least favourite song: none

Pretty good album!

Nice music energy.

I didn’t give Blur a fair shake. That’s ridiculous, as I really enjoy Damon Albarn’s other work, but I always lumped them in with Oasis, and I fucking hate Oasis. This album is brilliant. It’s as close to a 90s version of The Kinks as I could imagine. Punk attitude and subversive, tongue-in-cheek funny lyrics set to a variety of pop melodies. I love everything about this album, and it will get tons of repeat plays from me. I’m excited to explore the rest of Blur’s catalogue. 10/10

I have only ever heard "Song 2" before, so going into this album I didn't really know what to expect. And I'm instantly hit with another standard 'Brit-rock is British' sound that I hear (far too often) on this list. That's honestly all there is to this album for me. I don't get anything innovative from the album, no unique sound. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything positive to say about Parklife.

The hit are great, but overall not a smash.

Having generally struggled to connect with punk bands in the past, Parklife marks the first time I’ve genuinely enjoyed an album leaning into that territory. The post-punk and synth-pop lineage runs deep here—you can clearly hear the structural and melodic influences of both The Smiths and New Order woven throughout the tracks. The record is packed with fun, infectious songs, driven heavily by Damon Albarn's playful vocal delivery. While he might not be a technically top-tier singer, his character and irreverent style make the vocals completely tolerable and fitting for the mood. Special praise goes to guitarist Graham Coxon, whose playing across the album is simply wonderful, providing inventive textures and brilliant melodic work. The main drawback is the tracklist's density: a handful of songs feel like obvious filler, and trimming those down would have easily pushed this project to a perfect score. Still, for a first listen, it solidifies itself as a strong 4/5.

I bought this when it first came out in a bid to prove I was still a funky guy and down with the kids. But I haven't returned to it much. Just listened to it again in full, and there are some great tracks obviously but I do feel obliged to point out that quite a few are pretty mediocre too. I'd love to stay here and be normal but it's just so overrated.

I DJed at a private party earlier this year and got a silent disco shut down by noise abatement officers when I played Parklife (the song). Two hundred people yelling PARKLIFE! all at the same time! Neighbours complained. No regrets 😅

Idk.. Between 2 and 3

eh, 2.4

- Oh, I know this album! I really like Blur, but their albums always are too long, and this one's no exception. Tons of filler, imo... the album is pretty front-loaded. - The hits still hit, though. I can't count how many times I've danced to Girls & Boys. They're definitely of their time, but fun, sarcastic, super melodic and singable, with nice guitar effects and different instrumentation. - 1, 2, 3, 4... 3.5 fingers (/5).

A fun album. Nice and upbeat with a good 90s vibe Girls and Boys, To the End, Magic America were all fun

I forgot how much I enjoy this silly album. Landed the same year my first born arrived, so I was a bit preoccupied. Still carried some of my 80’s era punk love into fatherhood, so this one connects fondly to life’s good moments. Damn, the 90’s were great!

Blur is a band that I haven't had much exposure. However, when I have been exposed, I like what I hear. "Boys & Girls" hits off as a fun song about summer fun. This is the 90s, and I was more into jazz at this point, so I wasn't really listening to anything new coming out. "Tracy Jacks" is ok. "Parklife" is funny. The first really good groove I hear is "Bank Holiday". Back to work! Damon Albarn's voice is nasally in a typical British way. This is guitar band like early Radiohead or even Oasis. However the Kinks and Ray Davies have a big influence that Radiohead never had and Oasis wished they had. The oompah of the "Debt Collector" becomes a transition to a more psychedelic sound, "Far Out" aptly titled. "To the End" has a good bassline, and begins with a lyric that implies an ironic look at the society around him. "London Loves" not about a love affair, but about people struggling with meaningless jobs and looking for love in one night stands. "Trouble in the Message Center" another song about meaningless jobs. "Clover over Dover" is a ballad of sorts, but not very interesting. "Magic America" starts off strong, but these beats are kind of slow. I'd expect a little more force to them. I've heard some of ParkLive, the live version, and they play this with more speed and power. "This is a Low" doesn't get me very far. I'm just not that interested until the end when they actually use the guitars to play a bit stronger. "Lot 105" another instrumental to take up out initially then a lalala chorus.

Great while listening but doesn't stick for too long

I like 13 and Think Tank, but this album has always just irritated me. Always adventuring between different genres and employing them in super annoying ways. These are songs based around hooks, and the ones that aren't legendary (title track and Girls & Boys) are either tedious (Jubilee) are just not strong enough (End of a Century) to elevate the song. Feels like a lot of riffs and lyrics that don't amount to much.

Enjoyed. Lots of fun. bri'ish vocals are cool - really liked parklife and this is a low

Peak Britpop

Love Britpop. I knew Girls and Boys and love that song. The other songs are enjoyable too so far. Debt Collector is very different than the other songs in front of it. I feel like the first few songs were typical guitar pop, but now songs like Dent Collector and To The End have a different feel altogether. Like London Love

Girls and Boys - Fun bass groove, lots of layers, vocals are a problem for me 2/5 Tracy Jacks - Fun bass again, questionable vocals again 2/5 End of a Century - I like the productions, still hate the vocals 2/5 Parklife - Not a single thing grabs me about this one 1/5 Badhead - This sounds like it's from a different band from a different album, but not in a good way 1/5 The Debt Collector - At least no singing 2/5 To the End - Wish this was the end 1/5 London Loves - Promising start, but then Damon started singing and it transitioned to a boring chorus 1/5 Trouble in the Massage Centre - Boring chord progression, generic song structure, still bad vocals 1/5 Clover Over Dover - The keyboard flourishes are kinda fun. Everything else about this song sucks, though 1/5 Magic America - Nothing magical about this -47/5 Jubilee - Nothing about this song makes me want to celebrate 1/5 This Is a Low - But not a new one because we hit that a couple songs ago 1/5 Lot 105 - This is the best song and also clearly not a serious addition 3/5 Thoughts that come to mind: “I know a couple Blur songs. I don’t think any of them are on this album, though.” "I wish Girls and Boys had no singing at all rather than what is there." "The bass player's tone is really great. It really pops and enhances the songs." "The singing is really killing this experience for me." "Nothing Albarn adds vocally to these songs helps them at all for me. In fact, everything he does makes them worse." "This band was just throwing shit at the wall and all of it stuck, so they didn't wipe any off." "By track 9, this album listen has officially become a chore." "Is this bass player in a better band than this one? I hope so." "I thought their Coachella performance was just them having a bad show or getting old, but no. I guess they've always been something that isn't for me." "Not a big lyrics guy, but I feel like the lyrics are so bad I notice how bad they are." "Oasis won the war."

Meh I prefer his Gorillaz project better

6/10 This, Blur’s third and most successful album was released in the year that Britpop really began to explode. It was this and Oasis’ Definitely Maybe that really broke the genre into the behemoth it became through the mid 90s. The record kicks off in great style with a superb pop tune. The melodies are hooky, the bass line absolutely slaps, and it's musically interesting too. From that point on, things start to vary a little more. At its best, the album bounces along with charm and wit, rolled up in a harmonically rich pop music presentation. The melodies are strong and the hooks engaging. There's also a bit of nuance and interest within the songwriting, often via the guitar work of Graham Cox on, who appears to be the main creative driving force and most talented musician among the group. There are some really excellent pieces of guitar work scattered across the record, and aside from the big hitters, that was where I found the most joy. Unfortunately, I did find the consistency of the record to be somewhat lacking. While there are obvious peaks, it felt like all too often things were just drifting along, with nothing particularly remarkable happening. There were a few to many nothing songs that, while being entirely competent in both composition and performance, don't really offer much in the way of excitement or standout musical moments. I also found that stylistically, this was all a bit muddled. Yes, this is the emergence of Britpop, and the Britpop sound was only just being established, but for a band on their third album, it felt like they weren't completely sure of what they were trying to aim at. You'd get tracks that had that pop-rocj sensibility, some more run of the mill indie rock numbers, and then some work that starts to feel a bit more psychedelic and experimental, throwing in organ lines and rhythms that call to mind fairground or circus music. It's all just a bit weird. I'm all for experimentation, and had they gone a bit more aggressively at this kind of sound, I'd have bought it more readily, but this almost felt a bit half-hearted and non-commital. So there are a lot of strengths here, but to my mind it ends up being a bit too inconsistent, a bit too flat in places, and a little bloated. Which is a shame, because there's value here, but I don't feel it's done enough to warrant repeat listens or turn me into a Britpop boy after all these years. Girls & Boys - A classic hit of the Britpop era. The bass line is great and the juxtaposition of writing such an upbeat and poppy tune in a minor key gives this a really interesting feel. The chorus is hook city, and I really like some of the extra ear candy they throw into the mix here and there. Structurally, it’s pretty simple, but there’s some cool musical choices thrown in to keep things interesting. A great start. Tracy Jacks - The general lilt and bounce to this one is pretty decent. There’s some really good melodies in this and, while it doesn’t have the pop power of the opener, it does have a lightness and energy to it that’s fairly infectious. I think musically, it’s a bit repetitive though, and the simple and slightly static drum line doesn’t help in that regard. Not bad, but not brilliant either. End Of A Century - Tonally, this is kind of settling down into the general flavour that was all over British music at the time, so there is a tangential feeling of nostalgia for me, but it was never my scene. The vocal work here, both lead and backing has a nice flow to it, but the rhythm from the rest of the band just doesn’t vary from bashing away on every beat of each bar, which gives it quite a flat and unwavering core. I think there’s more that could have been milked from the melodic work here, but ultimately, it’s a bit bland. Parklife - Ah, a song that I’ve never knowingly chosen to listen to until today, but that I’ve heard as many times as my own name. It’s very, very good at pulling off its aim of building a cheeky chappy cockney pop song. Phil Daniels’ part is obviously iconic, but the chorus is pretty much throwaway pop music perfection too. I think the most underrated part of this track is Graham Coxon’s guitar, which has so much feel and swagger to it. The rest of the music is well structured around it, but that guitar work is what elevates it for me. A wonderful song that I’ll probably go back to enjoying when other people choose to play it. Bank Holiday - It’s the Britpop take on punk! This is pretty good fun. It’s not the most advanced piece of songwriting, but the energy and enthusiasm of it is great, and it smashes its way along and does its thing in less than two minutes. There are some good riffs, and it kind of takes the attitude of Blur in a slightly more brash direction. Not bad at all. Badhead - Melodically, this is quite pretty and the choices and direction of the underlying chord structure don’t always go where one would expect, which is enjoyable. Rhythmically, it’s a little bit restrained, but the real focus here is a tonal one. The backing vocals are very nice too. There’s a nice vibe to this, but I think my biggest problem with it is that it’s not quite pretty enough to be gorgeous, and not quite interesting enough to really grab me either. The Debt Collector - Off we go to the Britpop fairground. Look, it’s Jarvis Cocker’s hall of mirrors and Gaz Coombes’ coconut shy! Why is Liam Gallagher punching that man? Yeah, this is a bit weird and doesn’t actually fit in with the rest of the record. Far Out - And now they’re doing some more interesting sonically experimental, psychedelic edged stuff. I don’t mid it, but it does feel a bit surface level, especially when they don’t take it much further than a minute and a half of music. It just feels like they fancied cosplaying as Syd Barrett for a couple of minutes and, as with the last track, I have to question the purpose of it, really. To The End - Yeah, this record is quite tonally inconsistent. I quite like the melodic elements of this, and the general vibe of it is quite pleasant. I even think the slightly circus-like elements are quite nice. But it’s a bit bland really. It doesn’t feel like it does anything particularly interesting to justify a four minute length and, again, the drum beat is pretty relentless, even if it is more subtle here than it is elsewhere. Meh. London Loves - Ah, now this is more like it. Punchy and groovy, with great personality. The chorus maintains the very Britpop vibe, but delivers it with great quality and solid harmonic richness. Rhythmically, there’s more going on here, so it feels less flat. It gets a bit more repetitive towards the end, but the little breakdown sections use some cool sampling and bits of instrumental flair while continuing with the solid groove that underpins it all. Pretty good stuff. Trouble In The Message Centre - A return to a bit of drive now, and there’s some decent grit in here too. I’m still getting a bit of a feeling that they don’t quite know what they’re actually trying to do on this record though. There’s some cool guitar work, but the synth part feels a bit meandering and unfocused. The chorus does have decent intent, but the verses sort of feel like they’re just floating by without a significant destination in mind. So I’m not convinced. Clover Over Dover - This is another pleasant enough track that doesn’t feel like it’s got anything particularly standout about it. It’s lacking personality, I think and, while I’m having a nice enough time listening to it, there’s not really anything there that’s grabbing hold of me. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it. It’s harmonically pleasant, the blend of tones is nice, but it isn’t saying anything to me. I feel like if you played this to me in a week and didn’t tell me who it was by, I’d probably think I’d never heard it before. Magic America - There’s something a bit more about this. The melodies are a bit stronger and there’s a bit more thrust and personality to it. It’s got a slightly twee and silly edge to it that I quite like, and rhythmically, it’s got a nice bit of punch too. The backing vocals back Damon Albarn up really nicely, and the blend of the slightly weirder edges with the more straightforward elements of the song writing works really well. Jubilee - And this is better too. It feels like the momentum of the album has clawed its way back. The riffs chug along nicely and there’s a strong flow and direction to the songwriting and production. Nice to get a bit of horn work in there too, and it gives it an interesting sound while still having enough of the core Blur sound to sound like a coherent part of their canon. The little bits of sampling are great too. This was a pretty good one, and hopefully we’re on a strong run to the end. This Is A Low - Another quite pretty track. This one actually has a bit more to it than some of the other slower ones. I think Graham Coxon’s guitar work is really nice, and there are some lovely deft moments in his playing. Albarn does struggle a bit with some of the high notes, which is a bit of a shame. The soaring nature of the chorus is good, and when they start to weave in some more distorted tones in the second half, the quality and range improves further. But I do question whether I’d be that bothered about listening to this again, despite it being an entirely pleasant experience. Lot 105 - Well it’s a shame they didn’t end the record with that last track, isn’t it? This is another kind of weird throwaway and silly effort that sums up the pretty inconsistent nature of the album as a whole. It’s fun enough, I guess, but I’m left feeling a bit puzzled about what kind of album they were actually trying to make.

A Britpop Classic

TK Maxx! Has loads of good bargains TK Maxx! For shoes and random things TK Maxx! Known as TJ in the States TK Maxx! Tell all of your mates

Just so mediocre.

THE quintessential britpop album. And while many contemporary albums of that era have aged poorly, this still sounds as vibrant and relevant over 30 years later. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#131 Didn't land for me, very disjointed and even annoying at times. Top Track: To The End

I rally liked this album, it was fun and eclectic, definitely requires a reposted for all the sarcastic commentary. I liked the flow of the album. Obviously boys and girls is a classic and I absolutely love parklife because it always makes me laugh. I give this album a 4/5 nothing more and nothing less, as to be honest the only song I wasn’t massive on was “lot 105”

didn't listen to it

Skala tej płyty jest trochę nieproporcjonalna do jej jakości. W czasach nastoletnich, kiedy indie rock miał swoją ogromną rolę w moim życiu, ta płyta w moim środowisku była na równi z biblią, i nie do końca się z tym wtedy zgadzałam. I dzisiaj, po szerszych doświadczeniach z tym gatunkiem i w ogóle z muzyką, to dalej się z tym nie zgadzam! Bardzo nierówna, bo ma trzy, góra cztery mocne single i resztę zapełniaczy. Ale i tak, nie odbieram im, bo dobry vibe, a przecież to najważniejsze.

Fun. I’ve had this album for a while and enjoy it. Some of this album now sounds a little dated but it’s still pretty catchy. The most dated sounding song (Girls and Boys) is also the catchiest, and I love the contrast between the dancy thump and the crazy guitar.

Fine. Lots of 3 stars lately, and this is a 3 starrerrer.

It’s great. No big surprise.

Ok-life

YEEEEEEEEES! I absolutely love love love this album! Absolutely classic tunes, and a real snapshot of where the UK was at in the early 90’s. And the start of Britpop as a mainstream force in music. This is one of my all time favourites and I’m so very glad to have a chance to listen to it today!

Firstly, I should make it clear that I didn't really 'get' Blur in their 90's heyday. The music was a bit weird to me, like a joke band or something (nothing wrong with that, I love the Brett Domino Trio amongst others). I thought they were massively over-rated. This is the first time I've listened to a full album of theirs and, while there were a couple of decent tracks, it didn;t change my previous opinion at all. It's ok, I wasn't in danger of turning it off, I wouldn't bother listening again.

Damon Albarn is still quite annoying, especially on the title track with the fake accent. A lot of the social commentary is really basic, not much past pointing out things that people do without any thought about why. I did think Graham Coxon had a pretty creative approach to the guitar parts on a lot of the songs and there were a few good ones. My favourites were Girls & Boys, London Loves, Trouble in the Message Centre, and Clover Over Dover.

+ végre valami modern hangzás + Girls and Boys = banger + kétszer is meghallgattam! - az énekesnek nincs hangja - 4 dalban is van la-la-la!!!!!!

Tudom korbe loopolva hallgatni, ez most eleg az otoshoz.

Megint 18 akarok lenni es a Michael ipodjat tekergetni a miniben.

Csak azért nem 2 csillag mert szeretek mindent, ami brit. Amúgy first world butáskodás tinglitangli zenére, de biztos akkoriban jól megmondta a kapitalizmusnak meg a királynőnek meg mittomen még kit szoktak fikázni ezek

Vicces, dallamos, jó hallgatni. Nehéz kedvencet választani, de talán a Parklife es a London Loves. Van 1-2 töltelék szám, amivel nem tudok mit kezdeni.

Az a baj, hogy a lemez utan elsokent a Country House-t dobta fel (ami nincs rajta egyik lemezen se itt!), es most csak az megy a fejemben. De amugy en adom ezt elegge, a kozepen egy-ket szamot kicsit untam, de pont jokor visszajott abbol. Es imadtam a 2013-as sziget-koncertet, ahol a legtobb szam innen volt. 8.5/10 Fav: Girls&Boys, End of a century, To the end (w/ Lætitia Sadier!), This is a low

Not for me and I’m surprised

немного длинноватый for my liking, но песни очень хорошенькие конечно

Almost gave up, but at least had a few redeeming songs. Not my cuppa

It was fine and mostly just faded into the background. But now I finally know who sings the Girls & Boys song!

Blair!

Really enjoyed this, more than I thought I would even. I'm just a sucker for early 90's rock at the end of the the day, but this incentivized me to listen to more Blur.

Great songs in it u just have to be jb the mood. Banging tunes tho. And meaningful tbf

opener is equal parts classic and annoying weirdly a little bit of the saints vibe (but britpop) the songs are much too long like if pop and punk combined to make something actually listenable (not to be confused with pop punk) weird (good) a little eclectic

Didn’t like it much

I used to live this as a teenager. It still has some very good songs, particularly Parklife, To The End and This Is A Low. Girls & Boys is awful and Tracy Jacks isn't great but it gets a lot better after that.

4 and a half or 5, im sorry i was falling in and out of sleep near the end 4 ish songs

2 - not a fan

I could've sworn I liked Blur at one point in my life. But listening to this was not enjoyable. An extremely uneven album packed with lots of goofy pop carnivalesque nonsense that tastes like bad old hard candy. The best songs on the album are "pretty good."

Ova prva pjesma je valjda jedino zašto su oni na listi, zbog popularnosti čisto, jer ne vidim drugi razlog zbilja. 1/5, 1/10

Helvíti þétt.

Ah yeah fine

Other than 'Song 2', which is not on this album, these guys are a below replacement level band. There were a couple OK tracks on here, but the majority of the album was boring and at times strange; there were a couple songs that legitimately sounded like carnival music. I can't believe there's still a third Blur album I have to listen to, two was more than enough. 2/5

Definitely Maybe better than Oasis

Blur rocks

А мне этот альбом не очень нравится

I know the main critique of this project is the sheer volume of britpop, but I definitely enjoyed this more than the previous album I had by them (the one with Song2, which is a classic and justified that album's inclusion in my opinion).

A couple of songs were good.. but i didn't like a lot of it.

Pretty fun! Quite likeable, as my rating below will say. 7/10 Quite Likeable

I wasn't a fan of this album. I enjoy Song 2 by them but literally I think that's the only thing that's good by them so far

this just seems like they owed the label one more and put whatever came to mind on it to satisfy the contract

half mid half solid 6/10 best song - london loves

They really are pretty British.

On first listen 2/5, but after another listen its aight. Not 1001 before I die but good

On of only a handful of albums ever made to pass the Dunderhead Test - a coherent whole which demands to be listened to from start to finish. Of course all the stuff that make blur infuriating are here - mockney vocals, smug knowingness and the constant nagging feeling that the pop musicians think they are more than pop musicians - but the sheer perfection of the tunes on here are seldom bettered…

British rock

Fun 90’s British pop rock

i zoned out through most of the songs, not remarkable for me but not bad either

It's Blur. It is what it is, it's okay.

mega gutes album von blur es gefällt mir mega gut

It was fine. 6 Tired of the heavy British influence on this list.

Fun album, the singles difer vastly from the rest of the songs, but everything ties up very well. Amazing production and songwriting.

ok

OK. Didn't grab me.

Clever alt-rock/pop record about British suburban life in the mid-90s. There are funny digs to culture, people, and practices in Britain/Europe, as well a closer track that also pokes fun at American culture and how it took ahold of UK life for a short while.

Ok

Pretty solid

Well, at least it’s better than “Modern Life Is Rubbish” in that the songs are more concise. But this should really come with a disclaimer saying, “We’re not interested in being taken seriously as a band. We are only interested in being cute“.

Bangers and mash

For British ears only

There are no perfect Blur records to me. Always great tracks on them though. Ahead of a century, what a tune! Girls and boys, parklife are also great. I’d give it a solid 4. I grew up loving blue more than Oasis but I think the tables have turned in my older age.

The album was overall okay, but not amazing. Yes, I had listened to the first song before but I can't say that I am a huge fan of these songs, although "Song 2" is pretty alright but that's from another album. It's okay when I leave it playing in the background though.

Have some of you guys considered going out and feeding the pigeons, perhaps even feeding the sparrows too? It'd give you a sense of enormous well-being...

SOLID 90s album. Has moments that are mediocre, but this was an absolute gem.

Good pop songs

Sound: Eclectic, nostalgic (strong Kinks influence) Lyrics: Observational, character-driven Highs: "Tracy Jacks," "End of a Century," "This Is a Low" Lows: "Girls & Boys" is the only track I actively dislike, but there's some filler

I haven't listened to this for years, and amazed that it is now over 30 years old. Brought back memories of the Britpop days, and whilst I did enjoy hearing it again I do wonder what all the fuss was about; along with Definitely Maybe there was a lot of hype. So it's good without being a true classic.