Parklife (studio album) by Blur

Title track is absolutely amazing, the pinnacle of britpop. I also loved Girls & Boys, Badhead, End of a Century, Clover Over Dover, Trouble In The Message Centre and To The End. But there were a few too many 2-minute filler tracks that don't really offer anything like The Debt Collector, Jubilee and Bank Holiday. Take away those filler tracks and it would be one of my favourite albums of the 90s and my favourite Blur album.

Huge step up from their previous record, still there is a fair amount of filler and failed experiments here, but the album as a whole is quite fun to listen to.

From VictorVale 06/16/2023 14:54

Clássico. Tem uns interludes não oficiais muito engraçados

From Larcx13 04/10/2023 02:27

That first track would be great with different lyrics.
Parklife is a great track.
I'll give this more time.

The more I listen to this album the more that I start to connect with basically every song on the album and can't help but love almost every track. They just seemed to capture that Blur magic on here and put it to great use the whole way through. The record is rooted in Britpop but in my opinion it goes beyond that style with its grand and rich instrumentation. You can clearly see them building upon their previous sound and making it not only more infectious but also it is packed full of depth and layers. It feels classic but experimental at the same time with even the instrumentals, such as The Debt Collector, being full of colour and character. They maintain this throughout which creates a beautiful environment which feels classically British but done Blur's way. This makes it such a personal record that is full of passion and emotion making it so easy for me to connect to the music. However, my one issue with the album is Bank Holiday as I have no idea what made them believe that was a good song and put it on this release. It is a skippable track and without it this would be amongst the truly elite albums in my opinion. Overall, this is an album full of incredible songs that have more depth than you first expect and Blur deserve a lot of praise for how phenomenal the music is on here.

Great album. One of the best ever recorded!

Album Rating: 83.67
(1,255/15)

1.Girls & Boys. 81
2.Tracy Jacks. 76
3.End Of A Century. 96
4.Parklife. 79
5.Bank Holiday. 78
6.Badhead. 87
7.The Debt Collector. 69
8.Far Out. 86
9.To The End. 92
10.London Loves. 87
11.Trouble In The Message Centre. 76
12.Clover Over Dover. 98
13.Magic America. 78
14.Jubilee. 74
15.This Is A Low. 98
16.Lot 105. N/A. (68). N/a

From Jboy56 03/19/2022 16:39

In short a fun album that is very British and owes a lot to the tradition that was created by the Kinks.
A couple of filler songs drop my rating by 5.

From IanFrance 07/25/2021 14:07

Taking on the minutiae of British life, Blur have crafted a wonderful album that has stood the test of time admirably. Lots of silliness, which just adds to the undeniable charm running through this album like the cliched stick of Brighton rock.
Rating: Great
Best track: Parklife

It's weird to be ranked as Blur's best, but it makes sense in a way, it's the epitome of Britpop.