Parklife

Parklife today, yet more textbook Blur, extremely popular album and one that has been the soundtrack to my shape throwing on too many occasions to mention, just add alcohol and “bank holiday” and I truly believed that Strictly Come Dancings loss was Wolverhamptons gain. Wolverhampton said “cheers mate but we are good for 30 something shape throwing tubbsters” bastard Wolverhampton.
As mentioned earlier in the week, its dated, its Blur by numbers and regardless of what you think I think the likes of Girls and Boys and Parklife are a million miles off their best work. They are a million miles off the best on this album.
This isn’t a particularly bad album, there are tracks on the album that I like, but that surely doesn’t make it a great album. It may be the best of the Britpop era….released in 1994….thats the third album…..by a band fronted by Damon Albarn. With hindsight though, its merely an average album.
Whats does make this good though are the green shoots of quality songwriting showing through with To The End, the album version is sans Francois Hardy, but avec Laetitia Sadier de le Stereolab. The Hardy version with all of its rum French vocals really does top the album version.
This is a low is another high point on the album, taking its lead from the shipping forecast, and running with it. End of the century and Bad head again are stand out tracks, that make this album ok, to pretty good, nothing more. 6 out of 10.



To The End by Blur