Parallel Lines

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Parallel Lines
Studio album by Blondie
Released September 1978
Recorded June–July 1978, Record Plant, New York City, New York
Genre New wave, power pop
Length 39:06
Label Chrysalis
Producer Mike Chapman
Blondie chronology
Plastic Letters
(1978)
Parallel Lines
(1978)
Eat to the Beat
(1979)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars[1]
BBC Music favourable[2]
Blender 5/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau A[4]
Pitchfork 9.7/10[5]
Rolling Stone favourable[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4.5/5 stars[7]
Slant Magazine 4.5/5 stars[8]

Parallel Lines is the third studio album by American new wave band Blondie, released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records. Their most popular and best-selling effort, Parallel Lines was also the first Blondie album to be produced by Mike Chapman. The album reached number one in the United Kingdom in February 1979 and number six in the United States in April 1979.

Contents

Overview [edit]

Parallel Lines contains several of Blondie's best-known hits, including "Heart of Glass", "Hanging on the Telephone", "Sunday Girl" and "One Way or Another". Six of the twelve tracks were issued as singles, either in the US or the UK. Named after an unfinished Blondie song,[9] Parallel Lines was ranked at number 140 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[10] number eighteen on NME's 100 Best Albums of All Time,[11] and number seven on Blender's 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time.[12] Parallel Lines has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[13]

The album was reissued and remastered in 2001 with four bonus tracks. In 2008 it was reissued again as a 30th anniversary deluxe collector's edition, again with four bonus tracks, but not the ones from 2001 edition, and a bonus DVD.

Track listing [edit]

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Hanging on the Telephone"   Jack Lee 2:17
2. "One Way or Another"   Deborah Harry, Nigel Harrison 3:31
3. "Picture This"   Harry, Chris Stein, Jimmy Destri 2:53
4. "Fade Away and Radiate"   Stein 3:57
5. "Pretty Baby"   Harry, Stein 3:16
6. "I Know But I Don't Know"   Frank Infante 3:53
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
7. "11:59"   Destri 3:19
8. "Will Anything Happen?"   Lee 2:55
9. "Sunday Girl"   Stein 3:01
10. "Heart of Glass"   Harry, Stein 3:54
11. "I'm Gonna Love You Too"   Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, Norman Petty 2:03
12. "Just Go Away"   Harry 3:21
Notes
  • The album version of "Heart of Glass" was replaced with the disco version (5:50 minutes long) on pressings of the album released as of March 1979. The original length version of "Heart Of Glass" appeared on the original US CD release in 1985 Chrysalis VK 41192 [later F2 21192] although the CD artwork proclaims it is in fact 'Disco Version'. 1994 DCC Compact Classics Gold CD release [Capitol Special Markets USA] GSZ 1062 features original version with 5'50 version as a bonus track - this edition also featured booklet with full song lyrics.
  • In the liner notes for the Parallel Lines vinyl album, there are lyrics listed for a "Parallel Lines" song, though no such song exists on the album.
  • A promotional CD of the album was given away free with the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday on 5 December 2010, including the bonus tracks "What I Heard" and "Girlie Girlie" from the band's 2011 album Panic of Girls.[14]

Personnel [edit]

Additional personnel

Charts [edit]

Weekly charts [edit]

Chart (1978–79) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 2
Austrian Albums Chart[15] 24
Canadian Albums Chart[16] 2
Dutch Albums Chart[17] 7
New Zealand Albums Chart[18] 3
Norwergian Albums Chart[19] 16
Swedish Albums Chart[20] 9
UK Albums Chart[21] 1
US Top LPs[22] 6

Certifications [edit]

Country Certification
Canada 4× Platinum[23]
United Kingdom Platinum[24]
United States Platinum[25]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Parallel Lines – Blondie : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2012. 
  2. ^ Easlea, Daryl (23 April 2007). "Review of Blondie – Parallel Lines". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2012. 
  3. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". blender.com. Alpha Media Group. 
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Blondie". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 9 July 2012. 
  5. ^ Plagenhoef, Scott (1 August 2008). "Blondie: Parallel Lines: Deluxe Edition". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 July 2012. 
  6. ^ Tucker, Ken (3 November 1982). "Parallel Lines". Rolling Stone (Wenner Media). Retrieved 9 July 2012. 
  7. ^ "Blondie: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 September 2012. 
  8. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (7 October 2003). "Blondie: Parallel Lines". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 9 July 2012. 
  9. ^ Che, Cathay (1999). Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde. André Deutsch. p. 59. ISBN 0-233-99496-3. 
  10. ^ "500 Greatest Albums: Parallel Lines – Blondie". rollingstone.com. Wenner Media. 18 November 2003. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  11. ^ "2003 NME 's 100 Best Albums Of All Time". timepieces.nl. March 2003. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  12. ^ "100 Greatest American Albums of All Time". blender.com. Alpha Media Group. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  13. ^ Graff, Gary (20 May 2008). "Blondie Celebrating 30th Birthday Of 'Parallel Lines'". billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  14. ^ "Free download of "Mother" now available!". blondie.net. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  15. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". austriancharts.at (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
  16. ^ "100 Albums". RPM (Library and Archives Canada) 31 (7). 12 May 1979. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  17. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  18. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  19. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved July 25, 2011. 
  20. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  21. ^ "Blondie – Parallel Lines". chartstats.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  22. ^ "Parallel Lines - Blondie : Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  23. ^ "Gold and Platinum Search". musiccanada.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  24. ^ "Certified Awards Search". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  25. ^ "Searchable Database". riaa.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
Preceded by
Action Replay by various artists
UK Albums Chart number-one album
17 February 1979 – 10 March 1979
Succeeded by
Spirits Having Flown by Bee Gees
Preceded by
Saturday Night Fever by Bee Gees
UK Albums Chart biggest-selling album of the year
1979
Succeeded by
Super Trouper by ABBA