List item: Listen to the 250 greatest albums
Progress: 45/250
Title: Parklife
Artist: Blur
Year: 1994
Position: #154
The first time that I listened to Parklife was a Saturday in December where I came into the office to help out on a project. The project? Something rather mind-numbing so it made for a good opportunity to listen to a list item.
Why did I choose Parklife? Strangely, it was not because of the meme that had been circulating of Russell Brand but because the only other album I had access to was Oasis and… I can’t stand the Gallaghers. I know I have to get to those two albums eventually but… I can wait. It was also because the first two songs are brilliant.
‘Girls & Boys’ and ‘Parklife’ are two classic songs. ‘Parklife’ is funny, insanely catchy and, at times, rather poignant (or is it just me that loves the line about feeding the sparrows leading to a sense of well being). Then there is the album opener ‘Girls & Boys’ which is incredibly poppy and with a rather confusing chorus. Thinking on the chorus… it’s really catchy even though I am not sure of the genders or sexualities involved. Then again, why should I be trying to label everything it’s just a great song.
The rest of the album is, to be honest, a little bit of a comedown after these two famous songs(and not just because of the scare I had when my iPod started randomly skipping its way through ‘Badhead’. ‘To The End’ is a latter album highlight with a subject matter which reminded me slightly of ‘A Little Time’ by The Beautiful South.
For the first time, after listening to this album all the way through, I can understand what Britpop means. There is a lot of 60s influence here from the likes of The Beatles and The Kinks, but nowhere near as much as Oasis seem to have (from my prior exposure). I think my love of actual pop does force be to lean more to Blur than Oasis… but we will see soon whether that holds true.
Before I Kick 