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Parallel Lines

Blondie - Parallel Lines Audio CD

A fair review of the Blondie "Parallel Lines" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Blondie reviews here, or go back to the Blondie tabs.

Band: Blondie
Title: Parallel Lines
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-06-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Hanging On The Telephone 2: One Way Or Another 3: Picture This 4: Fade Away And Radiate 5: Pretty Baby 6: I Know But I Don't Know 7: 11:59 8: Will Anything Happen? 9: Sunday Girl 10: Heart Of Glass 11: I'm Gonna Love You Too 12: Just Go Away 13: Heart Of Glass - 7" version (*Bonus Track) 14: Sunday Girl - French version (*Bonus Track) 15: Fade Away And Radiate (108 BPM remix) (*Bonus Track) 16: Hanging On The Telephone (Nosebleed Handbag Remix) (*Bonus Track) 17: Picture This (promo video) (DVD) 18: Hanging On The Telephone (promo video) (DVD) 19: Heart Of Glass (promo video) (DVD) 20: Sunday Girl (TOP OF THE POPS) (DVD)

Nice for the video
This oddity has its pros and cons--I'll start from the outside in. Let's face it--there are a thousand versions of "Parallel Lines" available on CD by now--and almost all of the songs from it are on the more comprehensive compilations as well.

The original cover artwork has been kind of mangled, not quite sure what they were going for here. The album title is Parallel Lines and they removed the parallel lines. The lyrics for Debbie's unfinished poem from which the title came show the first three lines out of order (it should read, "the lines on the pages, the lines on the screen, the lines I have written that you read between. . . ")

There are only 2 or 3 photos from the outtakes for the cover picture--aside from these the opportunities for an exciting booklet appear to have been wasted. The back cover picture by Roberta Bayley is a live shot from 1979--when Debbie was playing the shaggy-haired rock goddess, as opposed to the more retro and vampy pop siren of "Parallel Lines". Can't we keep the eras straight?

Lest I sound nitpicky, I'll get to some of the good aspects of this disc. The sound quality is great, just as good as (but no better than) the 2001 remaster. There are some good bonus tracks, most notably the all-French "Sunday Girl", although I have to say the mix on this song is vastly inferior to the one available on "Once More Into the Bleach", which boasts much higher fidelity coupled with a brighter vocal mix on Debbie. When the song fades with Debbie's forlorn "I got the blu-u-u-u-u-u-es. . . . " you can really hear it on "Bleach"--here, its all but lost. Still, as they say in the video editing biz, "they won't miss what they never saw. . . " and it's still nice to have the song included.

The video disc is a nice consolation prize for a somewhat flimsy booklet & lack of extras--although most of them are available elsewhere, there's a great bonus in the form of a 1979 lip-synch appearance on "Top of the Pops" where the band performs "Sunday Girl", Debs in her black and white striped sailor dress, oversized sunglasses and red tights, Clem's drumset out front, the boys mugging playfully (Chris Stein was actually a handsome devil at the time!) I've seen this clip on bootleg TV compilations and it's always been one of my favorites. Top of the Pops was an excellently filmed show and I wouldn't mind having all of Blondie's appearances on it. (There's a particularly good live version of "Denis" with Debbie in red shirt and thigh boots that ranks as one of the bands best live TV appearances ever). Are you listening, BBC?

All in all, the low price makes it worth picking up for the video alone. But when is someone going to come up with a beautifully packaged, comprehensive book or box set on Blondie? .

Blondie's Parallel Lines Still Rocks!!!
The main tune on the release as many well know is "Heart Of Glass" and this became a radio staple and has even been referred to as one of the best song's ever written by Blender magazine. It's hard to believe that it has been 30 years since Blondie released "Parallel Lines", an album that while it wasn't the bands first, was one that definitely secured them a place in music history for the decades to follow. Of course growing up on your more conventional Hard Rock and Punk of the time, I preferred the album's other offerings such as "One Way Or Another" and "Hanging On The Telephone" for they were more in line with the tempo and styles that I was finding myself into. "Sunday Girl" was another winner, and getting the chance to enjoy them on a new remastered edition of the album was fantastic. During their heyday, I always found myself enjoying some of the musical adventures that guitarist Chris Stein and the stunning Debbie Harry were up to, and I even remember that I used to try and slam out the drumming that Clem Burke used to do for the numbers I referenced earlier. The whole release includes an insightful liner notes booklet and there is commentary from Stein and Harry who explain their thoughts of the time on the album's creation. If you are someone who still has an old musty vinyl sitting around, now is your chance to upgrade and hear these tunes with the memory of how important to you they once were, and probably still are. Congratulations on the anniversary, it's great to realize that a New York band like your own had the staying power and that your music still sounds fresh when compared to the current scene.

DVD: "Picture This" (promo video), "Hanging On The Telephone" (promo video), "Heart Of Glass" (promo video), "Sunday Girl" (BBC TV "Top Of The Pops") - previously unreleased.
*** The DVD delivers the band's promotional videos for the songs and older fans will remember these films from the early days of MTV where they were all in constant rotation. There is also the bands appearance on the BBC program "Top Of The Pops" and that was an awesome inclusion since while a lot of footage like this exists, we so rarely get a chance to enjoy it. Lucky for us, Blondie decided to add their clip to the release. .

Still the BEST
Blondie ROCKS!!. This album is still as fresh as it was 30 years ago! There is no better band around.

Disappointing
I would've rather seen the original version and the disco version as a bonus track of Heart Of Glass like it was done on the Gold Disc released in '94, which I'm lucky to own. I was very excited about seeing a 30th anniversary release of this landmark album, but was disappointed to see that it still contains the boring disco version instead of the original version of "Heart Of Glass".
I loved the alternate shots of the Parallel Lines photo sessions, wish they had included more though, and wish they had included lyrics, more liner notes, and better packaging, after all this is supposed to be a "Deluxe Edition"?
The DVD is nice, but should've included more video footage, it falls short.

THEY DEFINITIVE NEW WAVE ALBUM
Without a doubt, the definitive New Wave-Punk album of all time. This release is an celebration of the 30th year since "Parallel Lines' was released. The album spent 2 years both on the British and American charts, and sold to date over 20 million copies, making this album one of the top 50 biggest selling albums all time. Pure perfection is the best way to describe Parallel Lines, chalk full of rocks finest 3 minute songs. The mega #1 smash Heart of Glass was a major crossover hit, incorporating rock-new wave with disco, the driving beat of One Way or Another is another rock classic. Other notable songs or hits are "Picture this, Pretty Baby, Hanging on the Telephone and Sunday Girl". Sunday Girl was a british #1 in August 1979 and was the 5th biggest hit of the year in the Uk.

Rolling Stone Magazine rates this album the #140th of the all time Top 500 albums EVER RELEASED. . . . .

The album is perfect, however a few people have complained about the re-release, like I mentioned before this was a celebration release, where as the 2001 release was a digital re-release with bonus live material, where as this current release has 4 videos and some remix material, and unlike a previous review, I have way too much admiration and respect for the artist to simply download material from the net for free as they put it. I support my favourite artists and there hard earned work to rip them off, we're called fans.

Although I wasn't pleased with the remix choices, this album is current with the latest technology and sounds awesome, so ignore the bad reviews, Parallel Lines could never be a bad purchase!!!.

You can see a complete list of all Blondie discography, or go back to the Blondie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.