BLUR – Parklive

Label: EMI
Released: December 2012
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
6.5/10

Blur threw one heck of a party in London’s Hyde Park on 12th August 2012, and released the results to iTunes within 24 hours, following it up with this double live CD within a week of the gig.

The mix, however, is turgid, clouding the very sunshine that the band’s records are famous for.  Perhaps if they’d spent more time mixing Parklive rather than pushing for the gimmick of a 24 hour release, they’d have produced something far more definitive and worthy of the effort.

The infuriating part is that you can hear the crowd lapping it up: every song is cheered and sung communally, loudly, Damon Albarn & Co’s Britpop sunshine n’ radio friendly grunge still sounding like the soundtrack to a generation, especially in England.

Still, despite the muddyness of the mix, all the hits are present and accounted for:  from Girls & Boys to Tender, Country House to Song 2, and of course, Parklife itself, complete with Phil Daniels cameo.

Category: CD Reviews