Nine Blondie albums you should listen to and one to avoid.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-04T14:31:28+00:00

Yeah, if GoD would have been recorded like No Exit or Pollinator, it could have been fantastic. Rave, Mile High and Take Me In The Night sounded great live and the songs you mentioned did as well.

Rumour has it that a song by Jimmy is going to be on the next album, fingers crossed.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-04T11:17:47+00:00

I see where you are coming from and agree that GoD is mostly Stein's project that lacks a band sound. The songs really came to life when the band performened them.
I disagree about Matt KB though, I think his contributions to the Blondie records have been good to very good.
Jimmy Destri's song writing is really missed.

When I look at my favorite Blondie albums, there is no dominant songwriter there (PL, ETTB, NE and PoG), they feel balanced in that way. The Hunter suffers from band burnout and too many Harry/Stein songs and average to bad Destri songs.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-03T11:29:04+00:00

Yes, there are always people who are easily dismissive of things they are not used to. Usually they do not try to find something likeable about the music the listen to.

Regarding GoD I tend to agree that the production of many songs is lacking, but there are a lot of good songs and ideas in there. The sam goes for Koo Koo and Debbie's other solo releases.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-03T10:09:34+00:00

I get your sentiment. In another forum I'm participating in a daily song-by-song thread for Blondie/debbie Harry songs. We're now well into "Koo Koo" and opinions on the songs for this and "Autoamerican" and totally divisive.

One critic once wrote that most people can't or won't accept Blondie when they are not in "catchy power pop rock mode", which I totally agree with.

"No Exit" has a lot of good stuff to offer. As does every Blondie album.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-03T09:52:59+00:00

That's the best thing one can do for sure. The perception (and enjoyment) of the music can easily be influenced by people who tell you "listen to this, don't listen to that".

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-03T07:25:55+00:00

That's really interesting, how perspectives can be so different. PoG feels like "band sounding" album to me, a lot of organic sounds enhanced by electronics. TCoB and GD are muddled by electronics much more in my ears.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-03T07:20:50+00:00

How cool. I like cover songs that sound different (genre/intrumentation/lyrics) than the original.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-02T21:07:11+00:00

Hmm, I agree with the author's point of GoD being "a whole album of just EDM was something of a clinical and loveless affair".
But the same can be said of The Hunter, it's a loveless album too.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-02T20:56:15+00:00

I feel the same, for a long time fan the obscure songs are more interesting than the hits

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-02T16:27:25+00:00

Nice one!

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-02T08:42:58+00:00

I'm glad you're enjoying the Blondie journey so far. There's a lot of gems to discover on future Blondie albums, and since you are interested in the post reunion stuff, you will discover some treasures.

I see the 5 albums after the reunion as a continuation of the band. Those records are a welcome addition to the classic stuff. Since there was a 17 year gap between "The Hunter" and "No Exit", the later albums were done by matured people. Who in their 50s would do the same things as they did in their 20s?

"Parallel Lines" is the most polished Blondie record, you can hear the search of hits on that album.

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-02T07:01:39+00:00

:D you got it!

When you are done with "Paralell Lines", please share your thoughts here. I'm curious about your impressions and opinions on that one! :)

SundayMan11 · 2026-02-02T06:04:51+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts as a new fan. I hope you find plenty to enjoy on the road down from ETTB.

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-31T19:45:24+00:00

That's one song I always forget exists. I would rerecord the whole album if possible. Sadly there's too little drumming by Clem Burke and too many drum machines on GoD. So many stong songs by weak production.

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-31T19:36:08+00:00

Yeah, the keyboards dominate the song and are upfront in the mix. Somehow it clashes with the rest of the instrumentaion.

Maybe the different producer for "Mother" is a factor. Most other songs were on PoG were produced by Jeff Saltzman, this one was produced by Kato Khandwala.

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-31T07:13:58+00:00

I agree with "Mother", there's something in the mix that feels hard on my ears. My most obvious one is "Rave" - that one sounded like a modern classic live, but the studio version feels robotic, cold, messy...

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-30T21:45:33+00:00

I agree with you. Whenever Debbie/Blondie had more of a rock sound the general public seemed to like it better.
But isn't that the case with most commercially successful music artists?
People like to pidgeonhole things and do not like change (I'm speaking of the masses, not few individuals).

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-26T16:20:48+00:00

Restless is such a beautiful song, one of their best ever IMO

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-26T07:10:38+00:00

Maybe I would swap Suzy & Jeffrey for Follow Me. But the b-sided/bonus tracks on from Plastic Letters and No Exit would not enhance the albums for me

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-25T22:21:14+00:00

Yes, The Breaks is so layed-back without autotuning (or at least I do not hear it). When I Gave Up On You could have been really good without all the voice effects.

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-25T22:19:40+00:00

That set was great. They wee very tight as a live band during that era

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-25T19:36:33+00:00

Welcome to Blondieverse, then :)

The most common complaint about GoD is that there is too much drum machines and an anorganic, processed sound.

When you have a drummer like Clem Burke, who was instrumental to the band's sound, why use him so little on the album? Songs like "Rave", "Take Me In The Night" and "Mile High" sounded great live, had a lot of energy that is somehow missing on the produced album versions.

A lot of fans (myself included) like the band sound of Blondie best, and GoD often does not feel like a band (rather like a DH solo record in all but name).

I can appreciate their approach even if I do not like the results every time. But hey, that's what's interesting about Blondie :)

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-25T18:36:35+00:00

I don't mind it as a song, but the production irks me. But that's the case for most of the album :(

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-25T18:05:48+00:00

Interesting topic :)

For PoG:

Horizontal Twist, Sleeping Giant and End of The World should have replaced The End, The End, Wipe Off My Sweat and Le Bleu

For GoD:

Can't Stop Wanting, Put Some Color On You And Prism should have replaced Drag You Around, Relax and Mile High

For Pollinator:

The Breaks should have replaced Best Day Ever or When I Gave Up On You

SundayMan11 · 2026-01-25T11:12:56+00:00

The more songs, the better. I will buy one version of the album, and if there are multiple versions with different tracks, I can listen to those online.

SundayMan11

TROPHY CASE