Different Class

This is brilliant. Chock full of great pop songs and insightful social commentary. Of its time, but stands the test of time. Does exactly what it set out to do. A genuinely perfect album.

Acronyms are intended for abbreviating long phrases or names - they can be super-useful when used for their proper purpose. The acronym for Feeling Called Love would be F.C.L. But P.U.L.P. seems to misunderstand how acronyms work. Acronyms sung as part of a song also usually doesn't go well. Or spelling things out in general. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" might be the exception, but "Y.M.C.A." and B-A-N-A-N-A-S certainly wore out their welcome. I wonder how long of a playlist we could get out of songs that spell out words or acronyms...? So Pulp misunderstands acronyms, but I think I must misunderstand Pulp. Because apparently "Different Class" is acclaimed and beloved, and people think Jarvis Cocker (surely a country singer and not a Brit-pop dandy) is an amazing lyricist. But my understanding is that the album is nearly unlistenable, and the lyrics are either lame or offensive. I don't need to hear multiple songs of Cocker bragging about his affairs with married women. I prefer low pulp. Or no pulp. The orange juice doesn't lose anything without the pulp, and neither would music.

Oh crap this is fun. I mean, is there a better anthem than Common People? It's like Elvis Costello met the Cure. It's music for the scene in the film where the boy chases the girl through the streets in a whirlwind romance. Quick Cuts, closeups, montage interjections. It's kinetic. This is joyful music.

I loved this album growing up, and that hasn't changed. I feel like I relate and appreciate even more to that sort of smoldering hatred towards upper-class folks that Jarvis has here. Songs like "Misshapes" "Disco 2000" have such a lovely nostalgia and melancholy to me, all the paths in life not taken.... yeah I just adore this album. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. IT FEELS SO RIGHT.

Great connection between all the songs. I hadn't known that "Common People" is their song before listening to this album. "I Spy" sounds to me like a combination of all songs on the world - "It's A Sin" by Pet Shop Boys, a little bit like Queen. Of course "Disco 2000" is also worth mentioning! Definitely great album to be the first one out of the 1001.

Tales of sexual betrayal, inadequacy, regret, shit raves and class. I'm going to say it's the best album of the 90s. Prove me wrong.

Entirely forgetable pop music, probably dear to those who grew up with it, but rather boring for someone who did not. I can appreciate post-punk and brit-pop, but I don't see what is there to like about this album. The melodies are primitive and boring, the lyrics are terrible, the vocals are nothing special and the mix did not age well at all. I don't think I'll ever listen to it again.

The blues, as best I can understand it as a 62 year old American, middle class, white guy, is the music of the oppressed, voices that refuse to be silent. There is an underlying hope in the blues, an inner freedom and joy not contingent upon external circumstances. The book of Acts in the Bible witnesses to some of Jesus’ earliest disciples, beaten and imprisoned, singing joyful hymns! Different Class ain’t that. It’s just the bruises and the bondage, as an end to themselves, including desires to fuck everybody else’s wives and mothers, as well as fucking up one’s enemies. Don’t get fooled by the opening track- a call for the marginalized to use their minds rather than fists. The next song (and the rest of the recording) betray the lyricist’s true intentions, and ends with the final track, an invitation to meet at a bar in Soho ‘where other broken people go.’ And that’s that. No direction, purpose, understanding, wisdom, redemption, forgiveness, love, etc. Just brokenness for brokenness' sake. Thank God the music sucked too so I won’t be tempted to give it another listen. I didn’t even enjoy writing the review! Alexa, please put on some Albert King. 1/5 (Because I can’t give it a zero.)

I don't hate the music the whole time, but I really HATE the lyrics. Every song is about revenge or sex or sex for revenge. And then there is the rape fantasy. "Oh I really love it when you tell me to stop, Oh it's turning me on." All the lyrics do for me is turn me off.

I've listened to this album hundreds of times. It's part of my DNA by now. Pulp is by far the best British rock band of the era.

Hell yes fuck yes.

Is this a flawless album? Well how about this. I listened to the album without Common People, Sorted for Es and Whizz, Disco 2000 and Mis-Shapes. And you know what? It is - Feeling Called Love, Bar Italia and Underwear would be the singles in any other album. Every track has its own story and sound while also sounding part of a coherent whole.

The music isn’t bad but the vocalist’s “seductive vampire” thing he does just about ruins it for me.

Biased as this is a personal favorite but it's 5 stars as far as brit pop goes in my eyes

How is this album 25yrs old? How is it so good and I’ve only heard 2 songs on it? HOW????

A glorious celebration of life with a twist of curtain twitching suburban kink. If Oasis were all cocaine arrogance and Blur were introverted heroin, Pulp were Ecstasy and love, reaching out to the misfits and the mis-shapes saying ‘don’t worry, it’s alright, there’s thousands of us who feel like you, fancy a brew?’ Unashamedly making pogo on the dance floor singalong hits and with the peerless Jarvis Cocker, all angles and oddness, yet perhaps the most charismatic front man of the era, Pulp just made you feel loved. The stories on these tracks are fun and absorbing, the music is layered and energetic, never afraid of adding more strings or synths, and the overall effect is a classic album that never loses its lustre with each repeat play and most likely the highlight of the BritPop era.

Unfortunately this album has been stuck in Plain hell since 2014. The album itself is fantastic, Cocker easily had my favorite take on Brit-pop. I listened to Scott Walker before I listened to this album. By the time I got to I Spy, I couldn’t help but feel the influence. I then googled Pulp and Scott Walker and discovered that he actually produced their last album. That is awesome, and so was this album

They're not Blur or Oasis, yet I consider this to the best album to come out of the Britpop movement. Absolutely perfect. Whereas other britpop albums try emphasizing the British aspect, the focus is shifted more into the pop realm (although this album is still quite distinctively British in word choice and grammatical structure). It's such a naughty album, covering themes of sexuality and lust, hidden seductive desires through Romantic mediums of expression, making for a very loud yet wonderfully catchy set of tracks you could easily dance to. Great use of synths, that drive the album yet detracts from any form of repetition. The songs constantly transform into something different with each minute, usually building up into an explosion that makes them suitable for parties. All tracks are great, linked together by unique themes not normally covered in pop genre, while still knowing how to be pop. It deserves a perfect score. Favorite tracks: F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E, Disco 2000, Common People, Bar Italia, Underwear

One of Britpop’s absolute best.

This was the first album I ever bought. So part of this is nostalgia, but it still holds up incredibly well. Much less “of its time” than the big Britpop albums of the era, this has genuinely interesting, clever songwriting coupled with absolutely banging singalong choruses. What’s not to like!

Nothing. But. Bangers. Surprising myself with a 5 for this, didn’t want to jump on a bandwagon without truly falling for it…and I fell, hard.

Can’t really score it anything other than 5 stars seeing as one of our first three wedding dance songs is on this album! An album that I related to so much while growing up and working out my place in the world.

Highlights: F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E., Live Bed Show, I Spy Pulp's sustained obscurity always put them in the "I should listen to that, but never got around to it" category. I'm glad I did, this was a wonderful experience from start to finish, which harkens back to David Bowie's soft-glam days and The Smiths Louder Than Bombs. The vocalist plays against a sweeping landscape of reverb and melodies skillfully eeked out of low-production value amps and synths. This less-is-more approach is where Pulp's sound contrasts to Bowie's bombastic presence. It's begging to be heard, and you aren't doing anyone (especially yourself) any favors by not answering the call.

Really quite fun once you get past the overt 80s Britishness of it all.

This shit is pretty creepy. Not a fan of the lyrics or the whisper-singing. Not too creative and not a good vibe.

Never realized how much I hated Pulp until I listened to this all the way through piece of trash overly hyped record.

With the list so heavily Brit-biased, I can at least get on board with this one. Finest Britpop-era band by a country mile, and a great album that has kept its thrills over the decades. Common People is such a brilliant song, never stops building momentum. Can still recall the fun of hearing this album for the first time at college, interchangeable sleeve photos and all. I Spy, Disco 2000, Live Bed Show; friends all seeming quite into the mild perviness within, heady times. The year 2000 was a long way away! Funnily enough, I'd seen Pulp live a few times several years prior and thought nothing much of them. Caught them once or twice again in this period and they were majestic. Still think His'n'Hers is even better tho'

Yah yah it's aptly named, because it is in a different class to those other Britpop one-word named bands of the time (Blur and Oasis). Less self-consciously adopting a character than Blur, and rock much harder than Oasis - despite the latter's protests to the contrary, I'm sure. Pulp are slugged in with them purely by dint of making music in Britain at the same time, but the truth is Pulp were never playing the same game as the other two - they were playing a different sport altogether. Wry societal observation intertwined with hyper-personal (seeming) stories plucked from Cocker's own life, all set to a heavier and darker than given credit for rhythmic background. It says far more about the state of Britain (then and now) than the other two ever have. And in amongst all that they have a whole host of sweeping choruses, and smart-but-not-too-too-smug lyrical flits. I thought it was... well... different class.

By the fall of 1995, the smoke of the Battle of Britpop had yet to fade out properly and there was plenty more where that came from on the Blur and Oasis sides. But if you were tired of it all and were looking for something a little more stimulating, then Pulp were ready to sweep you away. They'd always been ready, they were looking for the proper time to strike and 1995 was that time. First with Common People, the Britpop anthem and Pulp's brightest moment and then Different Class, Pulp's finest hour. Horny escapades, kitchen sink tales of moments and memories past and present, the possibilities that come from connections. They're all laid out here. The minds were definitely at work here and millions were blown away by the suave swagger of Jarvis and Co. They just wanted a right to be different and, for fifty-one minutes, they showed us how.

Very repetitive. Didn't actively hate it but I also didn't really like anything about it.

Meh

Dude is sexually deprived. Thinks he is high and mighty and that every girl will fall for him. Also a pervert..

Common People was transcendent, the rest of the album was solid enough to vibe with the whole time. Great experience.

Common People is one of the greatest songs ever written. Aside from the perfectly observed lyrics it is a text book example in how to build momentum in a song. Absolutely thrilling. But you could take Common People off this album and it would still be 5⭐️ Mis-shapes, Disco 2000, FEELINGCALLEDLOVE, Underwear, Bar Italia, Something Changed, Sorted For E’s & Whizz, I Spy So many brilliant tracks that capture a cross section of mid 90’s Britain It’s angry. It’s hedonistic. It’s romantic. It’s dirty. It’s remorseful. It’s funny. Different Class indeed

Obsessed with the melodrama of I-Spy OBVIOUSLY Common People and Disco 2000 are absolute classics I didn't love all of it but also I feel like this is one that will grow on me

Vielleicht ist mir ja Pulp auch die liebste all derjenigen Bands die man damals unter Britpop zusammengefasst hat. Tolle Platte hier, eigentlich nur Hits drauf. Sex (!) Drogen (!), Schlägerein, und dazu Jarvis' sleazy Cockyness dir mir immer das Höschen jucken macht. Klassenkampf und süße Rache natürlich als beherrschendes Thema ("I Spy", meine Güte!), und das alles wahnsinnig schlau ohne auch nur ein bisschen verkopft zu sein. Ich möchte 5 Punkte geben - bringe aber trotzdem heute nur 4 raus. Werde schon noch rausfinden woran das liegt. Trotzdem: Big Love!

Very good 90's britpop. I've been returning to Pulp's "This Is Hardcore" repeatedly since I heard it on this list, and I had a lot of hope for "Different Class" because of it. I'd say that "This is Hardcore" had higher highlights, but "Different Class" is much more consistent. With that said, this album also has a couple of songs that drag on, and drag the album down from a 5 to a 4. But it's a high 4, and I still recommend the album.

Provocative, cynical, catchy, I can see why they were so big.

So cool that an album that slipped through my fingers 25 years ago, could stand out so much! I have heard Pulp in the past but never leaned in for a true listen. Rate Your Class felt like the perfect education on them. These obvious Bowie-lovers really can write and perform a song! Mis-Shapes is an excellent album starter for the continued catchy & endearing tunes to follow, including the sexy Pencil Skirt and beyond! This will be one of the 1001 that I find on vinyl and add to my collection. **I'd enjoy hearing Arcade Fire cover this record :)

Honestly, this is a pretty solid entry. It's fun and energetic with catchy hooks and just enough edge to remain interesting. I don't know that the world needed an entire album about sex but here it is. Very good but not quite great.

One of the quintessential Brit pop albums. This rivaled Blur and Oasis at the time of its release and it is easy to see why. Catchy, suggestive lyrics, great playing and pop hooks a plenty. I really like listening to this album when I’m not sure what to listen to. Jarvis Cocker is a great lyricist. Favorite song: Common People Least favorite song: Bar Italia

Absolutely great kitchen sink pop songs which feel informed by personal experiences. The album title is its own review and summary of the themes, a different class of Britpop.

Amazingly, I never had this record until a year or two ago. I only knew the hits, which I liked a lot. And until today, I had not listened to the record closely. I like the other songs. Yet I need more time. Ask me in a year if I want to upgrade this measly 4.

Way better than Oasis, this is the Britpop I can get behind. Catchy as hell and with a slight, not overwhelming, sarcastic edge to it. B+

Maybe my favorite Pulp album. I think Common People is a stroke of genius. What a fucking anthem. Listened to Deluxe Edition. Also really like the bonus track Mile End.

4.1 + Pulp's flair for dynamics and theatrics are here. "Common People" remains an amazing allegory for the struggles of British class struggle that's catchy and bursting with life. There are also several tracks colored by Cocker's penchant for the Smutty (with a capital "S"). "Monday Morning" reads like a tract from "Tropic of Cancer." In fact, at some point I'll want to give the lyrics more than a cursory skim. There's a literary aspect here that I have yet to fully appreciate.

Mis-Shapes: amazing Pencil Skirt: excellent Common People: excellent I Spy: mediocre Disco 2000: excellent Live Bed Show: very good Something Changed: good Sorted for E’s & Wizz: good F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.: Good Underwear: very good Monday Morning: very good Bar Italia: excellent 8.5/10

January 1st, 2021. Very maximalist and grand, very well produced, and an interesting story that goes along with it. Standout Tracks: Something Changed, F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E,

Cocker is Costello's heir but for the fact that he's not much of a melodist. Then again, I'm not sure he wants to be. Agitated, swatting-the-flies-buzzing-around-your-head, House-infused rhythms are what he's interested in—a wonderful match with his 'I'm only pretending to be polite' vocal affect and keep 'em guessing lyrical in/sincerity. It's my first time with Different Class, and I suspect not all these local disco beats will endure, but the ones he builds up to a cliff edge certainly will: Common People, I Spy, Disco 2000. So too the creepy Pencil Skirt, which he has the audacity to stick in the track two slot—exactly where Elvis would put it, I bet.

Probably the most interesting and ambitious of the 90’s British alt-rock records I’ve reviewed thus far, even if Jarvis Cocker is a bit of a lech. With Common People’s genre-sprawl, it’s not surprising Pulp didn’t catch on in the US the same way some of their contemporaries did. The masses here tend to like things that can be easily categorized and put into a box. Were the sounds here interesting enough to warrant future revisits? That remains to be seen.

Somewhat boring album, not bad, just not interesting. Doesn't move me

a few great moments but most of it does little for me :/ I know this is a classic of britpop and I'm supposed to like it. 2.5 stars.

I was unfortunately not impressed with this album. I had never heard of Pulp before, and I was surprised that this came out in the mid-1990's as this album cover as it gives off early 70's vibes. The music itself also did not end up feeling like it came from the 90's as it felt more geared towards the 1980's brit-pop scene. I'm not a big fan of this genre in general, but I do think something great will come along that might change my feelings towards it. As far as 'Different Class' goes, I don't feel that this record did anything new or exciting that would make it stand out especially in the year that it came out. The singer gave me strong Bowie vibes with a bit of Robert Smith as well. It was never bad and felt like it fit the music well, but I didn't get much out of it. If anything, I noticed that the vocals were mixed in a way that allowed some poor/generic lyrics to shine (this was especially apparent on 'Something Changed' and the closer, 'Bar Italia'). The only tracks I can say that I enjoyed were the opener and 'Monday Morning', but the project as a whole just came across as sort of lame. I attribute this more towards my feelings to this type of music as a whole, but this album did no favors to it. 2/5. NOTE: I just noticed that a lot of my lower ranked albums are from the early 1990's which I find very strange as a lot of my favorite albums/artists came from this time period. I'm not sure when this list was created initially, but I wonder if some of these albums were included on the very first iteration when they might have been considered more revolutionary/groundbreaking at that moment in time. A few of these albums, including this one, just feel outdated at this point.

Not my favorite. Had some palatable listens, but overall not my kind of music.

There were a few great moments in this album. However, it was mostly a slog.

There are some good tracks here, but a lot of fluff. Doesn’t come close to justifying its runtime. Middling effort

Eh. One of the more forgettable projects we've had on this list. I checked wikipedia for some lore, and this is critically acclaimed?? Like high on best of all time lists????? Must be a British moment because, God save the queen, I was bored almost immediately. Mostly bland, go-nowhere, middle of the road rock. Struggled to find much worth returning to. I would axe this one. Favorite tracks: FEELINGCALLEDLOVE. Album art: Made me think this was late '60s, early '70s. Turns out it's the '90s. I think the black and white pics mixed into the wedding photo is cool, but this isn't doing much for me. 2/5

british people should stop trying to be sexy. it ain't gonna work

Not my cup of tea. Everything sounds very dull and bland. It seems to have potential, but in rare glimpses of inspiration, sadly, the irritating, ASMR-like, whispering vocals just ruin it. And when he really tries to sing it's just underwhelming. "Live Bed Show" could be a classic. Very beautiful melody, but with a souless execution. The album is worth the experience, though. Maybe if you insist, it could grow on you, but I don't see the point in doing that.

Not my type of music...

it was weird. some of the songs i just didn’t click with and the others were just kinda bad. no hate just not my style

I know people love this record but I just find it creepy. So much is devoted to weird revenge fantasies with a not-so-secret core of misogyny. If that’s what you think of people, Jarvis, you’re a miserable bastard. And if these are just characters I can’t imagine a situation where I’d want to spend any time with them. I was not blown away by the musicianship. The singing was off putting and also unskilled. I didn’t think there was a lot of great song craft here. I’m glad I didn’t waste any time on it when it came out.

The superlatives seem to be deserved on first listen. Of course, I'm a sucker for string arrangements, and there seem to be good ones here. The opening of F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. stood out especially in that regard. Other than that, loved the pop accessibility, loose concept, and vocals.

This is an essential Brit Rock album.

This is top tier brit pop, how have I never heard of them?!?!?

I wish I would’ve checked out this album way back when I heard William Shatner’s cover of “Common People” in 2003, but I don’t know that I would’ve appreciated it fully then.

I’m a common people and I like this album.

If 1995 were to be summed up in an album it would be this one. Forget Blur or Oasis, Pulp were always the clear winners of the Britpop wars. I hadn't listened to this in years, as I had overplayed it and felt it was maybe dated. Hearing it with fresh ears it is a such am amazing album. Timeless but also so link to an era it is a document of social commentary To 22 year old me, "Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?" because yeah it is

Japp men det är fusk för jag har lyssnat tidigare.

The best Britpop album (at the time) The best Britpop album (in hindsight)

I think I'll have to go for the full 5 on this one. It is a bit of a masterpiece

I thought it was nostalgia - but there’s isn’t a single song that does not pull at my heart strings when I listen to this album. Jarvis Cocker and lurid and lucid take on a Brit’s coming of age - is executed with panache and sardonic wit. A perfect album through and through - the best album from the whole Britpop era.

Probably the best Britpop album? It's just a perfect mix of the fun anthemic bops and the darker, introspective stuff that Pulp excelled at (and explored even more for their next album, This Is Hardcore)

If Ken Loach were a band, he'd be Pulp.

This is a classic album, not my favorite by them, but still a banger

Love it - all the songs sounded the same, but I'm HERE FOR THAT SONG.

I mean... I've heard this millions of times lol

Don’t care what Mike thinks, Pulp are cool.

Clue’s in the name!

Really, really liked this.

I'm giving a 5. I know I'm rating high. This reminds me of some of my favourite bands. 2nd song in it's Faith no More and the cure

LOVE!!!!! Punk-y but really chill vibe

Brilliant, peak britpop

This is the soundtrack to me being 16. It's probably a 4 but I feel that's too churlish considering how much these songs are in my brain.

Od svih koje sam dosad poslusala tu, ovaj mi je najbolji!

nota dó

Mostly great

Great album…

Oduševljena sam. Preslušala sam ga tri puta. Dosl hodam nasipom i smijem se jer odavno nisam osjetila taj polet koji nastane kad otkriješ nove izvrsne pisme! <3

Obožavam. Već kad sam se polako zabrinula da me nista ne moze oduševiti ovaj album je to uspio. Da moram objasnit svoj glazbeni ukus ovo bi svakako ušlo u opis.

A great album that was part of the Brit Pop explosion. Lyrics that reminded us of the struggle of everyday people

Préférées <3 Disco 2000 Something changed Feeling called love

Songs to stalk people in their bedrooms to Prefs : Mis-Shapes, Common People, Disco 2000, Something Changed, Sorted for E's & Wizz, Underwear, Bar Italia Moins prefs: NADA

Common People" Released: 22 May 1995 "Mis-Shapes" / "Sorted for E's & Wizz" Released: 25 September 1995 "Disco 2000" Released: 27 November 1995 "Something Changed" Released: 25 March 1996

El pinnacle del brit pop i una de les cimes compositives dels '90. No hi ha un sol moment fluix en tot el disc. És curiós com una banda pot esclatar en un moment d'inspiració divina que ni abans ni després es torna a repetir, ni tan sols a apropar-se. Sort en tot cas van tenir ells de ser un dels pocs escollits per brillar d'aquesta manera

Different. Class.

The greatest Britpop album ever made

Love it

War ich zu Release schon von den bekannten, großartigen Hits getriggert und fasziniert vom Style der Britmania, die um eine Schattierung 70er Jahre Farbentsättigung erweitert wurde, also etwas wehmütig tristes erhielten, so wuchsen Pulp mit jedem Jahr Reife immer größer und größer und füllten selbst die Räume, die mir noch zuvor wie filler des Albums („Sorted for E‘s and Wizz“) vorgekommen waren, oder historisch noch nicht den „Fire-years“ zuzuordnen („F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E“) ein blinder Fleck des Unkundigen darstellten. Vieles klingt schon breit, panavision in Sound quasi und das mir etwas zu slicke Nachfolger Album „Hardcore“ wirft hier schon Schatten voraus („I Spy“, „Live Bed Show“). Es sollte schon als historisch wichtigste Veröffentlichung gelten, auch wenn ich das Finale „Love Life“ biografisch etwas näher am Herzen trage. Dennoch unerreicht, was hier dieser eigenbrödelnden Gang aus ‚Sheffield Sex City‘ gelungen ist. Vermisse die Zeit, als ich noch nicht wusste, was es bedeutet „Something Changed“ 4ever 5.0

Was torn between 4 and 5 here. Objectively I think we've heard better albums, but I got more enjoyment out of this than some others. I'd only heard Common People before listening and really liked that song, but it was even better in context.