Parallel Lines

GreatLove Blondie.

"Parallel Lines" is one classy AND classic record. The band underwent some changes back in 1978. They added bassist Nigel Harrison to the line-up, and this was their first record produced by Mike Chapman. Chapman would go on to produce the band's subsequent records, "Eat To The Beat", "Autoamerican", and "The Hunter". Chapman was a very different producer than Richard Gottehrer (who produced Blondie's first 2 studio albums). Gottehrer supported and nurtured the band's signature sound, whereas Chapman pushed the band to expand and strengthen their musical palette. Chapman thought each member of the band had something special to offer, but he felt the band lacked focus and needed a better work ethic. He demanded tighter arrangements and every note had to be close to perfection. So basically, he wanted them to practice, practice, practice! That discipline and extra encouragement resulted in a flawless and iconic album. "Parallel Lines" is an incredible, quintessential work of art. The glittery, disco juggernaut, "Heart of Glass" changed everything and the band finally broke into the mainstream. The rest of the album proved Blondie wasn't a fluke or a one-trick pony. Every track on "Parallel Lines" is brilliantly written and sung. "Parallel Lines" has a clever balance of new wave, rock, punk, and pop. The aggressive opener, "Hanging On The Telephone" and the ferocious, "Will Anything Happen?" have gorgeous, blistering guitar licks and effortless tempo changes. "Picture This" is beautifully haunting and the epic, "Fade Away And Radiate" is filled with picturesque lyrics (Chris Stein's crowning achievement) and a coquettish vocal by Debbie Harry. "Pretty Baby" and "Sunday Girl" are the pop gems. They are rich in melody and deep in lyrical content. The awesome, "I Know But I Don't Know" has a killer drum solo by Clem Burke, and keyboardist Jimmy Destri continues to deliver the goods on the anxiety-ridden, "11:59". The band were mostly at each other's throats for the majority of their career but when it came to writing great, meaningful music - it was complete and utter magic. The revenge-seeking, "One Way Or Another" and the chilly, "Just Go Away" highlight Debbie's fiery and sarcastic sense of humor. And there's a fabulous cover of Buddy Holly's, "I'm Gonna Love You Too" which has a cool, unexpected fusion of doo-wop and punk. Some albums don't age well, but it's safe to say that "Parallel Lines" isn't one of them. It still sounds fresh, innovative, and gutsy all these decades later. I don't consider "Parallel Lines" to be Blondie's best album, (that honor goes to the sophisticated, "Autoamerican") but I do think it was their most accomplished. Enjoy!

Album on perfect condition

as described

Blondie is a fantastic band and this record is their crown. Parallel Lines was the statement of what was about to arrive with the 80's. Time has no passed for Debbie's haunting, sweet and rocking voice and the guys musical talents. Great collection of rhythms from rock, to pop, ballad, disco, new wave. They contributed to change the sound of music that finally declared the 60' and 70's were done for good (not that is anything wrong with that), and a new generation was taking over. Plenty of stories about Blondie, I first got the single of "Heart of Glass" which like probably thousands of kids did after seeing the video on television, which BTW today has close to 300 million views in YT. But what truly got me hooked to the band was the B side "11:59", back then as a teen I never heard anything like that. Then managed to get their first two records and religiously waited for everything they produced after that.Got the three different cd versions of Parallel Lines, the first cd release, the 2001 Remaster, and this 30th Deluxe Anniversary edition. The best quality is from this Deluxe anniversary release, which has a better remaster with more depth and clear sound as you never heard in this record before. One just wish that someday Parallel Lines will get the Super Deluxe treatment it deserves with more memorabilia and a 5.1 remix, HiDef audio, etc. Perhaps for the 50th anniversary. In the meantime enjoy this New Wave masterpiece.

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. This oddity has its pros and cons--I'll start from the outside in.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?

Excellent condition- took a bit longer than it should have to be delivered f. Amazon driver was excellent

Had to wait a while for CD to arrive , but worth the wait.Wore out old cd , so had to replay it.Awesome Blondie Album.

sehr gute cd

For me personally, I think that this album is one of Blondie's best. The CD also has three bonus tracks, three of which are live recordings, the other is Blondies's version of Marc Bolan and T Rex song Get it on. Superb stuff.

Vinyle rouge, magnifique au son superbe. Juste dommage que la version de Heart of Glass ne soit pas l'originale. Vraiment une merveille, depuis 1978 ! Merci Debbie, Chris, Jimmy, Nigel, Clem et Frank !

Esse álbum é fantástico, e essa prensagem Made in France é muito bem feita. O mais incrível é que a versão em mp3 para download está maravilhosa. Vale a pena.