I wasn't that bothered when Blur's third album Parklife was released in 1994. To be honest, I was also equally unbothered when their first and second albums came out.
But...I liked the occasional single and Blur's videos were undoubtedly becoming more interesting. To The End is probably the first Blur song that really struck a chord with me and went from a like to a more curious interest in the band.
The monochrome video, the faux 60s cinematic subtitled drama, the backing vocals from Françoise Hardy (naturellement en Français), the sonic soundscape created by the four all combine perfectly on this one song, promising greater things ahead.
Girls And Boys and Parklife were bigger in terms of chart performance; To The End surprisingly peaked at #16 in the UK, but in my opinion it's the best single off the album.
Blur would return with a similar audio/visual template - and greater success - just over a year later, with The Universal. But that's another song for another post.
I wasn't a huge fan of Parklife but loved this atmospheric and stylish video. Thanks for bringing it back to memory.
ReplyDeleteReally liked 'Modern Life Is Rubbish'; enjoyed some tracks on 'Parklife' and liked less of 'The Great Escape'. Thought they were on a downward spiral but the fall outs and Graham leaving seemed to revitalise them. Saw them in Wolverhampton in 2012 and 2023 and were two of the best live gigs I've ever seen...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember hearing the singles from Modern Life Is Rubbish on the radio and thinking that they were pretty good. I just didn't feel compelled to buy a Blur album. Britpop pushed me further away. I got one or two Blur live CDs free with magazines/newspapers and they always sound good.
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