Pulp - Different Class

Like the Boomtown Rats fronted by Martin Amis. Classic Britpop. --Jeff Bateman Amazon.com

timeless

Heavily influenced by the Kinks, songs that never get old telling stories that make you laugh. April 5, 2008

I missed out on this years ago...

Back in the mid 90's, I dismissed Pulp as just another BritPop band. Come to find out, I was wrong. A good friend gave this to me as a CD exchange and I have to say that I'm thoroughly impressed.

The standout tracks are clearly (IMO) "Mis-Shapes", "Common People" and "I Spy". The music is rather jangly and at times has a distinctly dance-able beat. What won me over though were the lyrics. Jarvis Cocker manages to create a fantastic mental image to go along with his lyrics, which are alternately humorous and serious, occassionally silly ("Sorted for E's and Wizz") and vaguely malevolent ("I Spy"). Cocker's delivery is very basic - he doesn't have a lot of range, but he makes good use of his voice and some of the spoken parts of the songs send chills up my spine.

All in all, this is a great album. I wish that I'd given it a chance back in 1995. April 20, 2007

One of the best albums of all time

Ten years later, "Different Class" remains one of the best albums of all time. I have heard the songs hundreds of times and never get tired. There are six standout tracks: Common People, Disco 2000, Something Changed, Feeling Called Love, Underwear & Monday Morning.

I recently requested "Common People" at a club...and it remains an anthem of angst, brit pop, glam rock and a brillant screw-the-world perspective.

Alas, Pulp's follow-up albums were not able to come close to "Different Class". So disappointing. But it's not called a Magnum Opus for nothing. I hope frontman Jarvis Cocker's new solo album will provide some solace. December 7, 2006

An essential recording.

Released 11 years ago, this was a hit in the UK. I didn't know that until last year.

I was looking for some music from the britpop era, (being a huge fan of Oasis, Blur, Coldplay, The Verve, etc) and a stumbled upon their greatest hits CD. I must say that the only track I really got into was "Disco 2000", the rest were OK, not great. Then, after a couple of spins of that CD (and listening to the lyrics) I started lo like them.

I got His N' Hers (I played it to death) and then this one... wow... I played three times in a row, it was an amazing experience. Jarvis Cocker knows how to create an atmosphere with each song.

Every song could have been a single, amazing lyrics (to me, this guy is one of the best lyricists in britain nowadays). The stories of typical day-life on working-class people from the UK is something that the casual listener can relate to.

I recommend this CD to everybody. It came out during the so-called britpop era (I love that genre, even though most of the bands are now defunct). I won't mention any particular track.

Get it right now, it's a piece of Britain's music history. October 24, 2006

All around great stuff

Considering most of the crap music that the 90's produced, this was a brilliant masterpiece. Not a bad song among the bunch, I can never get tired of listening to Common People and Something Changed.
September 14, 2006

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