Last year's Modern Life Is Rubbish found Blur vaulting from the indie ranks, combating the slacker invasion and jousting with archrivals Suede by reviving the spirit of the Kinks, early Jam and Hunky Dory-era Bowie. Blur became the Great Brit Pop Hope. With one of this year's best albums, they realize their cheeky ambition: to reassert all the style and wit, boy bonding and stardom aspiration that originally made British rock so dazzling. Producer Stephen Street (Morrissey) lends a glossy finish to songs encyclopedic in their reference points (the Walker Brothers and Gary Numan, mod and glam memories, dole-queue reality). Parklife melds effects-heavy '60s guitars and cheesy New Wave synths into a joyful, highly musical noise. From perfect car-radio fare ("Girls and Boys," "London Loves") to breathtaking ballads ("To the End," "End of the Century"), this is explosive pop.

“Let My Love Open the Door”

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."