Blondie’s third album, Parallel Lines, is where everything clicked. Released in 1978, it took the attitude and energy of New York punk and welded it to sparkling pop, new wave, rock and disco, turning Debbie Harry and co. into genuine international stars without sanding away any of their personality.
And what a collection of songs. Hanging On The Telephone launches the album at full speed, One Way Or Another remains deliciously menacing, Picture This is pure power-pop joy and Sunday Girl practically floats out of the speakers. Then there’s Heart Of Glass, the song that took Blondie’s downtown cool onto dancefloors around the world, its sleek disco pulse sounding completely natural alongside the guitars.
Produced by Mike Chapman, Parallel Lines is ridiculously economical: twelve songs, enormous hooks and barely a wasted second. Even the stranger corners shine, particularly the atmospheric Fade Away And Radiate, featuring Robert Fripp on guitar. Punk attitude, pop instincts and disco glamour all occupying the same grooves, this is Blondie at their absolute peak.
TRACKS:
Side A
Hanging On The Telephone
One Way Or Another
Picture This
Fade Away And Radiate
Pretty Baby
I Know But I Don't Know
Side B
11:59
Will Anything Happen
Sunday Girl
Heart Of Glass
I'm Gonna Love You Too
Just Go Away
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