Artist – Album: Blur - Parklife
Released: 25th
April 1994
Sounds Like: Top of the Britpops
It’s a shame that
Parklife, one of the most quintessentially English albums of all time, wasn’t
released just two days earlier, on St Georges Day; the saint’s day for that Palestinian
reptile botherer and all-round cocky geezer that for some reason is the patron
saint of England. As it is, it shares it celebrates its release date on DNA
Day, which isn’t nearly as relevant.
From the dogs at the track album cover, to song titles such
as ‘London Loves’, ‘Clover Over Dover’ and
‘Jubilee’, the album oozes British
identity. ‘Girls & Boys’ and ‘Parklife’ (adorned with verse narration
from Quadrophenia’s very own Phil Daniels) became lager-lout anthems for the
burgeoning Britpop scene, and the underlying wit, obsession with the British
musical history and the very modern attitude of these and other tracks helped
cement Blur’s reputation as icons of the wider Cool Britannia movement. Damon
Albarn stood as his generation’s Ray Davies, creating wonderful, popular music
with literate, humorous and relevant lyrics. Hear ‘Parklife’,
think ‘You Really Got Me’. The whole
album stands as an incredible homage to UK culture and a must have for
anglophiles anywhere.
As fun as the livelier moments are, the real standouts here
are the slow ones. ‘End of a Century’, Badhead’,
‘To the End’ and ‘This Is a Low’,
contain lush, baroque arrangements and deal with failing relationships, the
loss of youth and the mystery of the future. They're weary and cynical, but beautiful and real. Like ‘Waterloo Sunset’ from the Kinks’ oeuvre, after the initial attraction
of the anthems, these are the songs that you will take with you and remember
forever.
Albumaday... rating: 8/10
1. Girls
& Boys – 4:50
2. Tracy
Jacks – 4:20
3. End
of a Century – 2:46
4. Parklife
– 3:05
5. Bank
Holiday – 1:42
6. Badhead
– 3:25
7. The
Debt Collector – 2:10
8. Far
Out – 1:41
9. To
the End – 4:05
10. London
Loves – 4:15
11. Trouble
in the Message Centre – 4:09
12. Clover
Over Dover – 3:22
13. Magic
America – 3:38
14. Jubilee
– 2:47
15. This
Is a Low – 5:07
16. Lot
105 – 1:17
Listen to ‘Badhead’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEbD_R7Q4SI
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