Blur: Parklife

Bleurgh, more like. I used to be benignly indifferent to Blur but the silly over-excitement at the reunion shows last month has tipped me into the heavily sceptical camp.

I bought Parklife four or five years after it came out, on the strength of its critical reputation alone. I knew the title track and Girls & Boys, and I knew I didn't like them. But I think I hoped I'd appreciate them more "in context". The trouble was I didn't like the context either. Never been much of one for "Social Commentary on Modern Britain" albums whether they're by The Kinks, Paul Weller or this lot. It sounds like a soap opera, and I don't like soap operas. Wikipedia tells me that the inspiration for the album was less East Enders and more Martin Amis's London Fields. Sorry, but I thought London Fields was overrated too.

So take that, you much-feted rock gods with your millions of fans and millions of pounds!

MusicBrainz entry for this album Wikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Listen to this album in full at Last.fm Listen to this album in full at We7 Listen to this album in full at Spotify