I began listening to Blondie in late August 2022. Parallel Lines aside, although I wasn't ever a big fan of their albums, I enjoyed a fair amount of their singles.
Blondie (1976): B-
Plastic Letters (1977): B
Parallel Lines (1978): A-
Eat to the Beat (1979): B-
Autoamerican (1980): B-
Blondie (1976):
Although they made their name at the famed music club CBGB, Blondie don't have much in common with their punk classmates. At their helm is Debbie Harry, who, unlike Patti Smith, delivers a pillowy and seductive (mostly pillowy) vocal. Behind her is a young group of school boys who, unlike basically everyone in the punk scene, don't seem very cool. Nevertheless, Debbie's vocals and the band's trashy sound work because their debut, thanks to producer Richard Gottehrer, sounds straight out of the 60s. It's a cute nostalgia trip but their songwriting is pretty limited and though Harry has some edge and self-awareness, she buries most of it behind her stage persona: the sexy bleached-blonde babe. If this landed on my desk in December 76, I would guess they're going nowhere. B-
Plastic Letters (1977):
I'm still not convinced of Debbie's command as a lead vocalist--to me, she's still just a pretty voice and without the 60s production, she loses even more purpose. Her band has gotten much better, however, and side one has some solid rock music. But though their punk aesthetics keep them focused on the songs, there's nothing very revelatory. B
Parallel Lines (1978):
Well, I was wrong--they went somewhere. Nevertheless, I'm happy that producer Mike Chapman's comments on this album justify my initial concerns with this band. According to him, Blondie was the most incompetent band he had ever worked with and it took a serious amount of work to mold these songs into the classics we hear today. Fortunately, his meticulous work pays off: Debby finally fulfills the duality of the seductive and brash female vocalist and the instrumentalists continue an impressive trajectory upwards. It's a pop delight as satisfying as Rumours and if they hope to follow it up, I suspect they'll need Chapman by their side. A-
Eat to the Beat (1979):
After the international success of Parallel Lines, Blondie become a little too confident in their abilities and attempt to expand their musical pallet. As a result, their pop songwriting usually isn't brilliant and the title track, "The Hardest Part," "Victor," and "Sound-A-Sleep" are all failures that are hard turn a blind eye to. There are two good singles--"Dreaming" and "Union City Blue"--but many of the other strong melodies are hurt by dated or generic pop production. B-
Autoamerican (1980):
Blondie need to accept that their lack of instrumental prowess limits the genres they can pull off. Their jazz flirtations are hit and miss, the grand overture on "Europa" is incredibly drab, and Harry's rapping on "Rapture" is one of the worst moments in Blondie's discography. Luckily for them, the first twenty minutes is one of their most consistent sides. B-
