Parallel Lines

I came in heavily biased to this one, and really wanted to let loose with a 5. Blondie is a blind spot for me that's always seemed ripe for uncovering some real tasty gems that perhaps even the most elitist music snobs wouldn't fuck with because they were massively successful and led by a woman. I held my hand out with 5 fat stars. It was there for Blondie to take. Hit play. Blondie didn't want the 5. By the middle of the album Blondie reached in for the stars but I quickly pulled my hand back to my hair and said "too slow!" I gave a star away to my neighbor who stopped by for dinner. I put another star on the WalMart grill and cooked it for 45 minutes. Blondie pretended not to care about the leftover stars. I think we're all just ok with how things worked out. B-

Everyone knows all the Blondie staples, most of us don't realise they all lived on one album. This might be one of the best albums ever created. I forget how great this stuff is, it's not until you sit and pay attention that you realise how awesome it is. Not a bad track in the bunch.

What a terrific album. Front to back, every song on here is worth listening to - Debbie Harry's voice is fantastic and oscillates seamlessly between the punk-ier vibes of a song like 'One Way or Another' to the lighter, airy vibes of songs like 'Fade Away and Radiate' or 'Heart of Glass'. The album ends perfectly with the delightfully melodic and catchy 'Just Go Away'. Worth many, many listens.

The perfect pop rock album. Blondie is mostly seen as the epitome of early New Wave alongside The Talking Heads and Devo, but they were able to blend countless genres in a way that was still consistent and accessible to most audiences. Beyond the synth-heavy New Wave, these tracks are full of power pop, punk, and pure rock. "Sunday Girl" takes inspiration from 60s R&B, while "Heart of Glass" is the perfect disco song despite contemporary resentment, and classic Buddy Holly is covered in the rockabilly "I'm Gonna Love You Too." Blondie would further show later skills in their reggae "The Tide is High" and hip hop "Rapture." One of the best track placements I've ever seen. Starts off with a banger of an intro, which is apparently a cover. It has all punk energy with appropriate synths and catchy lyrics (both chorus and verses). Then it just transitions straight into an even more intense and catchier classic, "One Way or Another" which is more rock and less punk, but matches the first track's strengths in every way. Things tone down slightly in "Picture This." I'm really glad that Debbie Gray is the vocalist of all these songs, she's able to sing to such a range of moods that it keeps the audience looking forward to each track. There is no filler in this album. Sure, there are tracks I'm not a huge fan of, but I still like them all, and in fact, I would listen to the majority on their own casually. That's how great all of them stand out. In case you're curious, the one song I'm indifferent about is "I Know But I Don't Know." I like the wacky vocals and sound that almost reminds me of Devo, but the beginning is a tad bit annoying, and the rock solo is generic, but I really like the last minute. I love how the album ends with two more punk-like tracks, as if there's no need for the full pop facade (excluding the "Just Go Away" rock solo), going back to punk roots. I probably would have swapped these two tracks since the Buddy Holly cover is a slightly better closer. Favorite tracks: One Way or Another, Picture This, Fade Away and Radiate, 11:59, Sunday Girl, Heart of Glass (I had trouble excluding some as my "favorite" cause nearly the entire album would be on here)

Obvi so good! And finally a strong female presence!

Debbie Harry, the legend! Blondie is cited so often as an '80s staple that I didn't realize they began making music in the '70s. This sounds a lot more rock-oriented than I expected, it makes me wish we'd get some other, older Blondie records on the list. Anyway, I dig this one. It's got two classic hits and plenty of excellent album cuts. Long live Debbie Harry. Favorite tracks: Heart of Glass, 11:59, One Way or Another, Sunday Girl, Hanging on the Telephone. Album art: Iconic. It's black and white without being black and white. Debbie front and center AS SHE SHOULD BE. Perfect color contrast, and the red font is great. This could be an all-timer. 4.5/5

A perfect Pop Rock album? Definitely a solid track list with timeless classics like "One Way or Another" and "Heart of Glass" but solid gold behind it like "Hanging on the Telephone" and "Sunday Girl", though for that song you should make sure you get the Frenglish version that inexplicable s'est mis au français à mi-chemin. Pourquoi? Je n'en ai aucune idée, c'est vraiment super mimi et bien plus tard Zooey Deschanel a repris cette chanson avec She & Him et elle correspond parfaitement à son esthétique. Mais je m'égare... 4 étoiles

fantastic. so re-listenable. he voice is everything

What I took away from my most recent listen was irrepresible urgency. If you don't answer, she'll ring your phone right off the wall. To get ya, she'll follow your bus downtown (and spy you in the supermarket buying rat food?!). She'll "wait until morning [to] take tomorrow by the hand" because "today can last another million years". She wants you to make it, but if you do "will anything happen?" For these fatefully spirirted youngsters Something. Must. Always. Be. Happening. We're all dying to live, rushing straight ahead in our own parrallel lines. This catalsym of sexual, intellectual and emotional energy is the sound of those lines converging.

Nr. 144/1001 Hanging On The Telephone 3/5 One Way Or Another 3/5 Picture This 3/5 Fade Away And Radiate 3/5 Pretty Baby 2/5 I Know But I Don't Know 2/5 11:59 3/5 Will Anything Happen 3/5 Sunday Girl 3/5 Heart Of Glass 4/5 I'm Gonna Love You Too 3/5 Just Go Away 3/5 Average: 2,92 New-Wave is just a genre I can't seem to really enjoy.

This is just a really good album. High points include the hits ("One Way or Another" and "Heart of Glass"), and tracks like "Hanging on the Telephone" and "Fade Away and Radiate" (I hear Fripp, I like). I've been listening to it repeatedly for several days now and I keep noticing all kinds of great touches and I'm not remotely getting tired of it. Most albums I rate as a 5 really have some aspect that blows me away and I can't say this album has that, but it's just good start to finish. That's worth a 5 also.

Probably the band's best album. It's got most of the band's hits, and they're great, but it also shines with its lesser known songs. The album is just a great listen from start to finish. Debbie Harry has a wonderful range, from a little rasp that shines through when she gets louder to the soft whispers in the quieter moments.

Loved this Album. Debbie Harry has such a powerful voice and she wasn’t afraid to be different in a very tumultuous time for rock and roll, and thus helped to influence a revolution. Add that to Chris Stein’s unique guitar compositions and you have a band that was made to break the mold of rock in the 70s and open up a new era of punk and pop rock music.

This was one of the very first albums I bought - actually my brother bought it, I bought ELO's Discovery, the only time he has demonstrated better taste. Only two things to note on one of the easiest 5 star reviews: I never knew that Hanging on the Telephone was a cover until very rcently, and you need to make sure your copy has the 5:50 disco mix of heart of Glass and not the single edit some early pressings of both vinyl and CD use (including my brother's copy I quickly inherited and still have).

Fantastic album. It starts with a phone ring and then punches straight into Hanging on the telephone. One of the best "intros" of any album. The album continues with a mix of punk and new wave, fast and slow. All in all, a very well put together album.

As a female who plays bass and loves tempo experiments, this album has been a favourite for years now. I've tried today to analyse why. It's Blondie's 3rd album, and it shows in its confident production and aural layering. Thematically they're still experimenting, not settling on one emotion or vibe for too long. Listening through headphones I can hear multiple understated stabby guitars & sparkly synths. The bass has a really fun bouncing energy in most tracks (which is guaranteed to hook me). Several of the songs have a schoolyard teasing vibe ("nyer nyer!"), especially noticeable in One Way Or Another after the lyrics change from "I'm gonna getcha" to "I'm gonna lose ya". This is a band that doesn't take themselves too seriously :) But then! Oh, they follow up with Picture This, a sweet nostalgic longing, with a hint of desperation. Heart of Glass is wonderfully polished, with a trip hazard in the first half of the bridge where the tempo loses a beat (7/8 time not standard 4/4): a reminder that life isn't smooth & predictable, so take care not to drop & shatter the heart. To follow this up with I'm Gonna Love You Too and its wild, unrestrained, loose energy is just lovely. My favourite of the Blondie albums, and when my vinyl wears out from overuse I'll be replacing it for sure :)

Really solid album. It starts of strong right from the get go. A ton of catchy tracks on here as well, especially Heart of Glass. It does have a few songs, that didn't catch my attention, as some of the other tracks did, but none of them were terrible. Definitely listening to it again.

I came into this album expecting the hits to be good and the deep tracks to be mediocre and uninteresting, but man was I wrong. I loved how different each song was and how different the lead singer sounded in each song. Blondie shows off her true talent in this album that I didn’t know she had. Also the guitar work and production on this album are solid. This album stays interesting throughout making it the perfect length.

- 'Hanging on the telephone' is a good opener - Did NOT know 'One Way or Another' was their song, ICONIC!! - 'Picture This' really conveys what I want in life: "All I want is 20/20 vision" - 'Fade Away and Radiate', 'Pretty Baby','11:59' - very good run - HEART OF GLASS IS ALSO THEIRS AND FROM THE SAME ALBUM??? WHAT?? How in the world have I never heard their name? Another ICONIC song!!!! - 'Once I Had A Love' may I use the word iconic again?? Never heard of Blondie before, but today I can surely say what an amazing album this is, of course the word to summarize it all is definitely ICONIC, the only reason it didn't had 5 stars is that it could be done without one or two songs that were subpar but overall GREAT

Debbie, will you marry me?

Incredible songwriting, brilliant arrangements, combining punk, pop, disco and a bit of prog. The Strokes were taking notes!

Classic

Amazing

Blondie’s awesome! Great album

Awesome

Have this on Vinyl. Love it!

Best of new wave, banger after banger

My favorite Blondie album and one of Maya's favorite albums as well. It's in constant rotation at my house. Practically plays like a greatest hits album. Listened to non-remastered version and prefer it.

Quality

I really like Blondie. Their lyrics straddle that line between playful, serious, and contemporary commentary. I also think it sounds like they're having a lot of fun when they're making their music. This album has no filler and is a great one.

Was going for 4 stars, then Heart of glass came on late. Also liked Fade away and radiate, I know but I don’t know (Iggy Pop?). Diverse genres that rallies all pen types to write

Disco ameno y entretenido. Muy adelantado en su momento, lo que hace que siga sonando fresco a día de hoy. Incluye canciones que probablemente han sonado sin parar desde que se publicó el disco.

Perfect pop

"Picture This" Released: August 26, 1978 "I'm Gonna Love You Too" Released: September 1978 "Hanging on the Telephone" Released: October 30, 1978 "Heart of Glass" Released: January 3, 1979 "Sunday Girl" Released: May 1979 "One Way or Another" Released: May 14, 1979

Blondie is class

"I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall" (Hanging on the telephone) "All I want is a room with a view A sight worth seeing A vision of you All I want is a room with a view" (Picture this) "Today can last another million years Today could be the end of me It's 11: 59, and I want to stay alive" (11:59) "Don't be cruel Be a thing - sweet thing As a rule" (Just go away) El meme de Gordon Ramsay diciendo "Finally, Some Good Fucking Food".

absolute fire. such a great album, and it had a lot of Blondie's hits on it

A truly wonderful album.

Loved this!

Geil

El mítico de Blondie. Pop y rock garajero y glamuroso con Debbie Harry en todo su esplendor. Potentísimo y una de las portadas más icónicas.

Just amazing

Brilliant

This is just an excellent album. Almost none of the songs are just ok. Iconic!

Classic

Excellent first pick. Very catchy, and something I would love if released today. Can see how it influenced some recent indie pop. Stand out track "Heart of Glass".

This album is a fucking banger.

Haaaaaaaaanging on the Telephone! Klassiker! Volle Punktzahl!

Didn't realise that this album was from the late 70's, I associated their main singles firmly from the 80's! An all round decent pop/rock album with instantly recognisable classics in "One way or Another" which has been endlessly covered, and "Heart of Glass" which was personally a staple in PlayStation 2's SingStar game. The album takes you on a journey and I think there are no real stinkers on the album which makes for a quintessential pop/rock album. Best: One way or Another; Heart of Glass Worst: no real outliers here!

Perfect.

Niceee

Love it, classic.

Top

A classic, one I remember hearing on vinyl when growing up.

Many of the classicz

Correct original album link https://open.spotify.com/album/4M6s2jbhKWEcOdXZ8WiHts

Still fun :-)

Lots of well known bops

Didn't realise so many bangers all came from one album, it's like a greatest hits

This was my fav album in high school and it still slaps. Interesting how so many female vocal led bands still have the same sound.

This album was great! Brings me back to the 80s but timeless.

Awesome

God, this was good. I'm gonna go through their discography now because of this.

Amazing album. One of my faves.

Pop at its best

Love it, nice classics.

I had forgotten what a good album this is, even beyond the two hits that I know and love, "One Way or Another" and "Heart of Glass". Great guitar work on "Fade Away and Radiate". "I'm Gonna Love you Too" is a short but good song. Great album through and through. Surprised to be giving this a 5, but well there it is...

Debbie Harry merece mas fama y popularidad de la que ya tiene

Had a lot of songs that have appeared in movies and TV shows. Pretty great to know where those soundtracks came from. Partial to hanging on the telephone, one way or another, sunday girl and heart of glass.

I enjoyed this album far more than I expected to. I feel like this album was probably highly influential on 80's pop.

Never listened to the full album before. Really enjoyed it.

A stonewall certified all-time classic, with one of the best opening tracks in rock 'n' roll history.

With this album, Blondie refined its formula for producing perfect pop songs. It is catchy and flows smoothly. Loved the harmonies and textures. Legendary!

The greatest Blondie album

This album is a classic, wide variety in the types of songs, witty lyrics and the best non-disco DISCO track of all-time in “Heart of Glass”. This album is in my top-10 all-time.

Amazing album

So good!

Well I had her posters on my wall and the grooves of this record were worn. I thought it was me she loved. What a wonderful album. Blondie is a legend and all the female singers who have tried to emulate her haven't even come close.

Really fun album. Every song is pretty great for the most part. Doesn't really sound dated at all. There's a great balance of guitar and synth here and Debbie's voice is just the right amount of pop and punk. Definitely going to come back to this one.

obergeil, hammer, nice, tight und classic

Auf RYM hab ich 4/5 gegeben aber im Kontext diess projekts und im vergleich zu allem was bisher dran war hat das ganz locker 5 verdient. so ein geiles album, es sind wirklich nur hits. Das ist das was das Pretnders album hätte sein können, wenn es sich auf der zweiten hälfte nicht so krass in belanglosen popsongs verloren hätte. plus ich liebe es wenn debbie harry's stimme so bisschen bricht das ist so geil rockig 🤘

the album is top!!

Absolutely iconic

5/5

One of the best from one of my favourite bands. What more needs to be said?

Excellent

Oh dude, I've listened to this album so many times. It's nice to have a reason to listen to it again. Heart of Glass is just so fucking good. The whole album is.

This album is chockablock with hits. It's sound more than stacks up today. It feels surprising that it came out in the late 70s. Debbie Harry is mesmeric and the band do the songs justice. Apparently the recording process was shambolic but you would never know when you listen to it.

5 fantastic singles on this album. The other tracks didn't excite me at all and it's not really my sort of music but undeniably a great album.

pretty good, with lots of good songs. the songs have some really good licks, and they sound really good.

There’s pop music and then there’s Blondie pop music.

Didn't know they covered "keep me hanging on the telephone" - love the cover. Debbie Harry is just excellent.

Loved it. Fun album that brought up a lot of good memories.

I fucking love Blondie yeeeeeea booooi

Heart of Glass is a classic

Album full of classics. Love it.

I mean ... this album is stellar. Do I have to take notes? I saw it come up and smiled, clicked play and away I went. Unlike Eat to the Beat, this is a straight up all killer no filler album - I often find myself randomly singing bits of tunes off this for no reason; somebody saying it's 59 minutes past the hour is enough to get 11:59 firing off in my head.

all time classic!

This album rips so hard. Nothing but bangers. 10 out of 10 forever!

Love love love this album. My favourite by Blondie, and every track a winner.