Parklife

In 1990, a year before Blur's debut album, Damon Albarn, the band's vocalist, had told a group of music journalists, "When our third album comes out, our place as the quintessential English band of the '90s will be assured. That is a simple statement of fact. I intend to write it in 1994."{{cite magazine |title=England's Dreaming |magazine=Mojo |issue=7 |date=June 1994 |last=Cavanagh |first=David |author-link=David Cavanagh |page=66}}

After the completion of recording sessions for Blur's previous album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, Albarn began to write prolifically. Blur demoed Albarn's new songs in groups of twos and threes.{{cite magazine |title=How did they do that? – Parklife |magazine=Select |issue=59 |date=May 1995 |last1=Cavanagh |first1=David |author-link1=David Cavanagh |last2=Maconie |first2=Stuart |author-link2=Stuart Maconie}} Due to their precarious financial position at the time, Blur quickly went back into the studio with producer Stephen Street to record their third album.Harris, p. 97 Blur met at the Maison Rouge recording studio in August 1993 to record their next album. The recording was a relatively fast process, apart from the song "This Is a Low".

While the members of Blur were pleased with the final result, Food Records owner David Balfe was not, telling the band's management "This is a mistake". Soon afterwards, Balfe sold Food to EMI.Harris, p. 139

Blur frontman Damon Albarn told NME in 1994, "For me, Parklife is like a loosely linked concept album involving all these different stories. It's the travels of the mystical lager-eater, seeing what's going on in the world and commenting on it." Albarn cited the Martin Amis novel London Fields as a major influence on the album.{{Cite web |last=Sweeney |first=Eamon |title=Damon Albarn interview: ‘I think my life has been a bit too colourful to be quite ready for an autobiography’ |url=https://www.businesspost.ie/culture/damon-albarn-interview-i-think-my-life-has-been-a-bit-too-colourful-to-be-quite-ready-for-an-autobiography-756231e5 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Business Post |language=en}} Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was once quoted saying that Parklife was, "Like Southern England personified".{{cite magazine |title=We Can Be Eros Just For One Day |magazine=NME |date=5 March 1994 |last=Moody |first=Paul}} The songs themselves span many genres, such as the synthpop-influenced hit single "Girls & Boys", the instrumental waltz interlude of "The Debt Collector", the punk rock-influenced "Bank Holiday", the spacey, Syd Barrett-esque "Far Out",{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/q94h |title=Review of Blur – Parklife |publisher=BBC Music |date=23 April 2007 |access-date=4 December 2011 |last=Easlea |first=Daryl}} and the fairly new wave-influenced "Trouble in the Message Centre". Journalist John Harris commented that while many of the album's songs "reflected Albarn's claims to a bittersweet take on the UK's human patchwork", several songs, including "To the End" (featuring Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab) and "Badhead" "lay in a much more personal space".Harris, p. 140

The album was originally going to be entitled London and the album cover shot was going to be of a fruit-and-vegetable cart. Albarn stated tongue-in-cheek, "That was the last time that Dave Balfe was, sort of, privy to any decision or creative process with us, and that was his final contribution: to call it London".Essential Albums of the 90s: Blur – Parklife BBC/6music. Aired on 10 November 2010. The cover depicts the British pastime of greyhound racing.{{cite web |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/1278/Blur-Parklife/ |title=Blur – Parklife (album review) |website=Sputnikmusic |date=16 January 2005 |access-date=24 January 2012 |author=}} Most of the pictures in the CD booklet are of the band in the greyhound racing venue Walthamstow Stadium, although the actual cover was not shot there.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com/news/blur/36730 |title=Dog track that inspired Blur's 'Parklife' album art to close |magazine=NME |date=20 May 2008 |access-date=24 December 2011}} The album cover for Parklife was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=112400790 |title=Classic Album Covers: Issue Date – 7 January 2010 |publisher=Royal Mail |access-date=8 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219004400/http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1?catId=32300674&mediaId=112400790 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/08/coldplay-album-stamp-approval |title=Coldplay album gets stamp of approval from Royal Mail |newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 January 2010 |access-date=8 January 2010 |last=Michaels |first=Sean}}

{{Music ratings

| subtitle = Initial reviews (in 1994)

| rev1 = Chicago Tribune

| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/07/07/brilliant-brits/ |title=Brilliant Brits |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=7 July 1994 |access-date=18 November 2015 |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot}}

| rev2 = Los Angeles Times

| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-19-ca-5736-story.html |title=Blur, 'Parklife,' SBK/ERG |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=19 June 1994 |access-date=18 November 2015 |last=Hochman |first=Steve}}

| rev3 = Music Week

| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|first=Martin|last=Aston|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-04-23.pdf|title=Market Preview: Alternative - Pick of the Week|magazine=Music Week|date=23 April 1994|page=20|access-date=28 April 2025}}

| rev4 = NME

| rev4score = 9/10{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000313reviews.html |title=Blur – Parklife |magazine=NME |date=23 April 1994 |access-date=17 June 2020 |last=Dee |first=Johnny |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817222943/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000313reviews.html |archive-date=17 August 2000 |url-status=dead}}

| rev5 = Q

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.qonline.co.uk/reviews/server.asp?id=13148 |title=Blur: Parklife |magazine=Q |issue=93 |date=June 1994 |access-date=11 April 2019 |last=Maconie |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart Maconie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000422092623/http://www.qonline.co.uk/reviews/server.asp?id=13148 |archive-date=22 April 2000 |url-status=dead}}

| rev6 = Rolling Stone

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/parklife-19940630 |title=Parklife |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=30 June 1994 |access-date=24 May 2012 |last=Evans |first=Paul}}

| rev7 = Select

| rev7score = {{rating|5|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{cite magazine |url=http://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/02/albums6.jpg |title=Yobs for the Boys |magazine=Select |issue=48 |date=June 1994 |access-date=31 December 2016 |last=Harrison |first=Andrew |pages=84–85}}

}}

{{Music ratings

| subtitle = Retrospective reviews (after 1994)

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/parklife-mw0000624951 |title=Parklife – Blur |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=1 November 2007 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}

| rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Blur |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 9.5/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16877-blur-21/ |title=Blur: Blur 21 |website=Pitchfork |date=31 July 2012 |access-date=18 November 2015 |last=Zoladz |first=Lindsay}}

| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Blur |last=Randall |first=Mac |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA89 |access-date=26 March 2017 |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/89 89–90]}}

}}

Parklife was met with critical acclaim. Johnny Dee, reviewing Parklife for NME, called it "a great pop record", adding "On paper it sounds like hell, in practice it's joyous." Paul Evans of Rolling Stone stated that with "one of this year's best albums", the band "realize their cheeky ambition: to reassert all the style and wit, boy bonding and stardom aspiration that originally made British rock so dazzling." Conversely, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice indicated that the only good song on the album was "Girls & Boys".{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv595-95.php |title=Consumer Guide |newspaper=The Village Voice |date=6 June 1995 |access-date=18 November 2015 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}

Parklife remains one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1990s. In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented: "By tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-'90s zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record."

Upon release, Parklife debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and stayed on the chart for 90 weeks.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19177/blur/ |title=Blur |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=17 June 2020}}Harris, p. 142 It reached number six on the Billboard Top Heatseekers album chart in the United States.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/parklife-mw0000624951/awards |title=Parklife – Blur – Charts & Awards |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=4 December 2011}} In the UK it sold 27,000 copies in its first week and would see a resurgence in sales the week before Christmas of 1994, with weekly sales of 40,000.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/official-charts-flashback-1994-blur-parklife__4770/ |title=Official Charts Flashback 1994: Blur – Parklife |publisher=Official Charts Company |date=2 May 2014 |access-date=14 November 2018 |last=Myers |first=Justin}} Parklife is Blur's bestselling studio album in the UK, with just over a million copies sold.

Parklife has received accolades since its official release and is largely seen as one of the best albums of the 1990s. The album was nominated to the 1994 Mercury Prize, but it lost to M People's Elegant Slumming.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/cries--whispers-1449544.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/cries--whispers-1449544.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Cries & Whispers |newspaper=The Independent |date=18 September 1994 |access-date=10 June 2009 |last=Hughes |first=Jack}} Blur also won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards, including Best British Album for Parklife.{{cite web |url=http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1995 |title=The BRITs 1995 |publisher=Brit Awards |access-date=4 December 2011}} The album was listed as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite web |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1001Albums.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307071743/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1001Albums.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=7 March 2010 |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |publisher=rocklist.net |access-date=4 December 2011}}

In 2000 it was voted number 95 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.{{cite book |title=All Time Top 1000 Albums |title-link=All Time Top 1000 Albums |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Virgin Books |edition=3rd |year=2000 |isbn=0-7535-0493-6 |page=73}} He stated "Parklife was a stunning album of high-quality, undeniably English pop."

In 2003, Pitchfork placed the album at number 54 on their Top 100 Albums of the 1990s list.{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-1990s/5/ |title=Top 100 Albums of the 1990s |website=Pitchfork |date=17 November 2003 |access-date=1 May 2015 |page=5}} In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and Parklife was placed at number 34 on the list.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/oasis-678-1355677 |title=Best album of all time revealed |magazine=NME |date=1 June 2006 |access-date=17 June 2020}} The album has been hailed as a "Britpop classic".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/feature/gorillaz-contributors-and-discography |title=Inside the Gorillaverse: A Look at Alt-Rock's Best Cartoon Band |publisher=Metacritic |date=2 March 2010 |access-date=24 December 2011 |last=Dietz |first=Jason}}

In April 2014, American LGBT magazine Metro Weekly ranked the album at number 29 in its list of the "50 Best Alternative Albums of the 90s".{{cite magazine |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/2014/04/50-best-alternative-albums-of-the-90s/ |title=50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s |magazine=Metro Weekly |date=4 April 2014 |access-date=31 December 2016 |last=Gerard |first=Chris}} In July 2014, Guitar World placed Parklife in its "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/superunknown-50-iconic-albums-defined-1994 |title=Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994 |magazine=Guitar World |date=14 July 2014 |access-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715053900/http://www.guitarworld.com/superunknown-50-iconic-albums-defined-1994 |archive-date=15 July 2014 |url-status=dead}} The album was ranked at number 171 on Spin{{'}}s "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)" list.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.spin.com/2015/05/the-300-best-albums-of-the-past-30-years-1985-2014/3/ |title=The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014) |magazine=Spin |date=11 May 2015 |access-date=6 August 2015 |last=Unterberger |first=Andrew |page=3}} In 2017, Pitchfork listed the album at number two in its list "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/?page=5 |title=The 50 Best Britpop Albums |website=Pitchfork |date=29 March 2017 |access-date=30 May 2017 |page=5}} In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 438 in their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".{{Cite web|work=Rolling Stone|date=22 September 2020|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|access-date=22 September 2020|language=en-US}}

{{Track listing

|all_lyrics = Damon Albarn, except for "Far Out" by Alex James

|all_music = Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree

|title1 = Girls & Boys

|length1 = 4:50

|title2 = Tracy Jacks

|length2 = 4:20

|title3 = End of a Century

|length3 = 2:46

|title4 = Parklife

|note4 = featuring Phil Daniels

|length4 = 3:05

|title5 = Bank Holiday

|length5 = 1:42

|title6 = Badhead

|length6 = 3:25

|title7 = The Debt Collector

|length7 = 2:10

|note7 = instrumental

|title8 = Far Out

|length8 = 1:41

|title9 = To the End

|length9 = 4:05

|title10 = London Loves

|length10 = 4:15

|title11 = Trouble in the Message Centre

|length11 = 4:09

|title12 = Clover Over Dover

|length12 = 3:22

|title13 = Magic America

|length13 = 3:38

|title14 = Jubilee

|length14 = 2:48

|title15 = This Is a Low

|length15 = 5:07

|title16 = Lot 105

|length16 = 1:17

|note16 = instrumental

| total_length = 52:40

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Japanese edition bonus track

| title17 = Girls & Boys

| note17 = Pet Shop Boys 12" remix

| length17 = 7:16

| total_length = 59:56

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Blur 21 box set (2012) – Parklife bonus material disc

|all_lyrics = Albarn, except "Red Necks" written by Coxon, and "Alex's Song" written by James

|all_music = Albarn, Coxon, James and Rowntree, except "Alex's Song", written by James

| title17 = Magpie

| length17 = 4:16

| title18 = Anniversary Waltz

| length18 = 1:23

| title19 = People in Europe

| length19 = 3:28

| title20 = Peter Panic

| length20 = 4:22

| title21 = Girls and Boys

| note21 = Pet Shop Boys 12" remix

| length21 = 7:17

| title22 = Threadneedle Street

| length22 = 3:18

| title23 = Got Yer!

| length23 = 1:48

| title24 = Beard

| length24 = 1:45

| title25 = To the End

| note25 = French version

| length25 = 4:06

| title26 = Supa Shoppa

| length26 = 3:02

| title27 = Theme from an Imaginary Film

| length27 = 3:35

| title28 = Red Necks

| length28 = 2:54

| title29 = Alex's Song

| length29 = 2:45

| title30 = Jubilee

| note30 = acoustic BBC live version

| length30 = 2:33

| title31 = Parklife

| note31 = acoustic BBC live version

| length31 = 3:00

| title32 = End of a Century

| note32 = acoustic version

| length32 = 2:44

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Japanese edition bonus track

| title33 = Girls & Boys

| note33 = demo version

| length33 = 4:54

}}

;Bonus disc notes

• 17 to 20 from "Girls and Boys" single (March 1994)
• 21 to 23 from "To the End" single (May 1994)
• 24 to 27 from "Parklife" single (August 1994)
• 28 and 29 from "End of a Century" single (November 1994)
• 30 and 31 previously unreleased BBC Radio 1 – Simon Mayo, 1994
• 32 from "End of a Century" Spanish CD Promo
• 33 is previously unreleased

• Damon Albarn – lead and backing vocals, piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron, Moog synthesiser, melodica, vibraphone, recorder, programming, harpsichord, string synthesiser
• Graham Coxon – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, clarinet, saxophone, percussion
• Alex James – bass guitar, vocals on "Far Out", crowd noise
• Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, programming, crowd noise

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

• Stephen Street – synthesiser (credited as "vintage" keys), sound effects, programming
• Lætitia Sadier – vocals on "To the End"
• Phil Daniels – narration on "Parklife"
• Stephen Hague – accordion on "To the End"

String quartet

• Chris Tombling
• Audrey Riley
• Leo Payne MBE
• Chris Pitsillides

{{col-2}}

Duke strings

• Louisa Fuller – violin
• Rick Koster – violin
• Mark {{Not a typo|Pharoah}} – violin{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}
• John Metcalfe – string arrangement, viola
• Ivan McCready – cello

Kick horns

• Richard Edwards – trombone
• Roddy Lorimer – flugelhorn, trombone
• Tim Sanders – tenor sax, soprano sax
• Simon Clarke – baritone sax, alto sax, flute{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/parklife-r202255/credits |title= Parklife – Blur – Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=4 December 2011}}

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Blur|title=Parklife|relyear=1994|type=album|award=Gold|certyear=1996}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Blur|title=Park Life|relyear=1994|type=album|award=Platinum|number=4|id=5002-388-2}}

{{Certification Table Summary}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Europe|artist=Blur|title=Parklife|relyear=1994|type=album|award=Platinum|certyear=1996}}

{{Certification Table Bottom }}

{{col-end}}

• {{cite book |last=Harris |first=John |author-link=John Harris (critic) |title=Britpop! Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-306-81367-X}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq6LLq4DHMbvI_DTijYaVV4fnfEH_PwtU Parklife] at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
• {{Discogs master|type=album|94761|name=Parklife}}

{{Blur}}

{{Brit British Album}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Albums produced by Damon Albarn

Category:Albums produced by Stephen Street

Category:Blur (band) albums

Category:Food Records albums

Category:1990s concept albums

Category:1994 albums

Category:Albums produced by Stephen Hague

Category:Albums recorded at RAK Studios

Category:Brit Award for British Album of the Year