Parklife

by Blur

Overview

Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam, but its follow-up, Parklife, revealed the depth of that transformation. Relying more heavily on Ray Davies' seriocomic social commentary, as well as new wave, Parklife runs through the entire history of post-British Invasion Britpop in the course of 16 songs, touching on psychedelia, synth pop, disco, punk, and music hall along the way. Damon Albarn intended these songs to form a sketch of British life in the mid-'90s, and it's startling how close he came to his goal; not only did the bouncy, disco-fied "Girls & Boys" and singalong chant "Parklife" become anthems in the U.K., but they inaugurated a new era of Brit-pop and lad culture, where British youth celebrated their country and traditions. The legions of jangly, melodic bands that followed in the wake of Parklife revealed how much more complex Blur's vision was. Not only was their music precisely detailed -- sound effects and brilliant guitar lines pop up all over the record -- but the melodies elegantly interweaved with the chords, as in the graceful, heartbreaking "Badhead." Surprisingly, Albarn, for all of his cold, dispassionate wit, demonstrates compassion that gives these songs three dimensions, as on the pathos-laden "End of a Century," the melancholy Walker Brothers tribute "To the End," and the swirling, epic closer, "This Is a Low." For all of its celebration of tradition, Parklife is a thoroughly modern record in that it bends genres and is self-referential (the mod anthem of the title track is voiced by none other than Phil Daniels, the star of Quadrophenia). And, by tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-'90s Zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	06/14/1994
Label:	Sbk Records / Food/Sbk
UPC:	0724382919421

Tracks

1. Girls & Boys
2. Tracy Jacks
3. End of a Century
4. Parklife
5. Bank Holiday
6. Badhead
7. The Debt Collector
8. Far Out
9. To the End
10. London Loves
11. Trouble in the Message Centre
12. Clover Over Dover
13. Magic America
14. Jubilee
15. This Is a Low
16. Lot 105

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Blur   Primary Artist,Vocals
Laetitia Sadier   Guest Artist,Vocals,Chanteuse
Phil Daniels   Featured Artist,Guest Artist,Horn,Trombone
Stephen Street   Keyboards,Sound Effects
Stephen Hague   Piano,Accordion
Kevin Godley   Director
Rick Wentworth   String Conductor
Tim Sanders   Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
Simon Clarke   Flute,Saxophone,Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone),Flute (Soprano)
Damon Albarn   Guitar,Vocals,Strings,Melodica,Recorder,Keyboards,Vibraphone,Harpsichord,Synthesizer,String Machine,Organ (Hammond),Moog Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Dave Rowntree   Drums,Noise,Percussion,Crowd Noise
Chris Pitsillides   Strings,String Quartet
Graham Coxon   Guitar,Vocals,Clarinet,Saxophone,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Alex James   Vocals,Crowd Noise,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic),Bass,Noise,Guitar
Duke Strings   Strings,Featured Artist
Leo Payne   Strings,String Quartet
Ivan McCready   Cello
Mark Pharoah   Violin
Far Out   Crowd Noise,Guitar (Bass)
Louise Fuller   Violin
Louisa Fuller   Violin
Ivan McCermoy   Cello
John Metcalfe   Viola,Strings
Rick Koster   Violin
Christopher Tombling   Strings,String Quartet
Audrey Riley   Strings,String Quartet
The Kick Horns   Horn,Horn Section,Featured Artist
Roddy Lorimer   Trombone,Flugelhorn
Richard Edwards   Trombone
Neil Sidwell   Trombone

Technical Credits

Stephen Street   Mixing,Producer,Programming,Mixing Engineer,Digital Remastering,Remastering Engineer
Stephen Hague   Engineer,Producer
Bob Kraushaar   Engineer
Phil Daniels   Narrator
Tim Burgess   Composer
Damon Albarn   Composer,Producer,Programming
Dave Rowntree   Composer,Producer,Programming
Blur   Engineer,Producer
Alex James   Composer,Producer
Stephen Smith   Producer
Frank Arkwright   Digital Remastering,Remastering Engineer
Brunskill   Photography
John Smith   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Rob Collins   Composer
Bob Thomas   Photography
John Metcalfe   Arranger,String Arrangements
Jason Guiness Coz   Coordination,Technical Maintenance
Pete Gleadhall   Programming
Khalil Chahine   Arranger
David Rowntree   Composer,Producer
Pet Shop Boys   Mixing,Arranger,Producer,Remixing,Remix Engineer
Graham Coxon   Composer,Producer
Jon Brookes   Composer
Martin Blunt   Composer