802. Pulp - Different Class (1995)

Track Listing

1. Mis-Shapes
2. Pencil Skirt
3. Common People
4. I Spy
5. Disco 2000
6. Live Bed Show
7. Something Changed
8. Sorted For E's & Wizz
9. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
10. Underwear
11. Monday Morning
12. Bar Italia

Review

We've already seen how much glam was influential on Britpop in people like Suede, but the ones who pull it off with the most aplomb are without a doubt Pulp. They do this by not relying solely on Glam influences like Bowie for their sound, curiosuly they go for Scott Walker just as much and add an element of synth-pop to the mix, often all in the same track.

It works, not only because of how smartly the songs use their influences, but because of Jarvis Cocker's superior song writing. He can be lascivious, sexy, mean or fragile in the space of 10 minutes of album and they are all convincing. His singing style is also pretty varied, even if Bowie is definitely the main influence, as in so many of his contemporaries.

I bought this album some 10 years ago, and I like it more now than when I heard it then. The historical context I am able to put it in now makes it stand heads over shoulders above the glam-pop competition. This is smart britpop music. So yay!

Track Highlights

1. Common People
2. Disco 2000
3. I Spy
4. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.

Final Grade

10/10


Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album was the winner of the 1996 Mercury Music Prize. In 1998 Q readers voted Different Class the 37th greatest album of all time; a repeat poll in 2006 put it at number 85. In 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 46 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2004 it was voted number 70 of Channel 4's 100 greatest albums.

Common People: