Blur - Parklife (Review: MattJ)

I had always thought Blur to be a different version of Oasis despite the few Blur songs I have heard in the past sounding nothing like Oasis I still thought that all of their other songs must be pretty similar if they are in the same genre. This is my grounds for always saying Blur>Oasis because I thought that Blur were pretty shite like Oasis but they had a couple good songs. Boy, was I wrong. I have no idea how the two are in the same genre as they are very different and I will stop comparing the two now as I now realise how unnecessary this comparison is now.

The album opens to the brilliant pop song 'Girls & Boys' which reminds me of my 90s childhood. The song is catchy but it's also more than that as the up beat rhythm, good lyrics and vocals of the song makes it a genuinely good song. The vocals, in fact, are the only consistent part of the album as the band are so diverse through all the songs exploring loads of different styles such as pop, different variations of punk and some stuff that sounds like The Kinks but is still unique enough for Blur to call it their own. This diversity is what makes them stand out from a lot of other bands at the time.

The little review on Spotify tells me that this album is 16 songs exploring the different aspects of British life and I can hear this very clearly throughout. This album is so British that there should be a brand of tea named after it. While it is very very British (which I enjoy) it is not in anyway patriotic (which I hate) and this delights me to the utmost. It is like various different photographs of London in 1994.

With a diverse album such as this I was worried that there were going to be tracks that I didn't like and I'm afraid that I found one that stopped this album from being totally perfect. I didn't really like Badhead. Not to say that it's a terrible song it's just that it's being shown up by the other songs which I really liked, although Lot 105 is pretty much lift music but I think that's a joke so it doesn't really count. I am being a bit overly picky but I don't think I can give this 5/5 because it isn't perfect, but it is incredible.

4.5/5