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Different Class - Pulp
by cha97mw Back in 1995, I was a teenage girl from a working class background, sitting my GCSEs alongside all of my friends, and one of the sounds of that summer was Pulp's Common People - an anthem to my friends. At that time, there was Blur, or Pulp, and with Pulp being from Sheffield (the town I was going to for University) and singing about ... more class related matters that seemed a bit more important to a teenager starting to take more notice of the world, the band for me was Pulp. The cover to the disc is not that inspiring, but certainly very striking. Featuring a colour picture of a wedding scene, the band are superimposed in black and white over the top. To me this always has a bit of an old feel to it, and while not that appealing to me, perhaps more appealing to the parents of me and my friends who had grown up at the same time as front man and singer, Jarvis Cocker, and experienced similar angst to him. The tagline inside, 'Please understand. We don't want no trouble. We just want the right to be be different. That's all. ' There is something very appealing about this sentiment to someone on the cusp of becoming an adult and establishing their opinions at an alarming rate. The CD I own was purchased from Woolies - thanks to a receipt tucked in the cover, I can see I paid £12.49 for it. How amazing that you can get albums cheaper than this now. One of the only commodities that doesn't cost you more these days. The album features 12 songs with an alternative rock feel, sung by Jarvis Cocker in a style that features his Yorkshire accent and sometimes almost feels more speech like than singing, with a bit of a nasal property. Each track has a run time between 3 and 6 minutes, so the CD as a whole runs for about one delightful hour. Mis-shapes opens the album - a song that reached 2 in 1995. This is quite a catchy tune about class divide and how people who stand out get mistreated. It is a song about standing up for yourselves and rising up in spite of where you come from. 'We want your homes, we want your lives, we want the things you won't allow us. We won't use guns, we won't use bombs. We'll use the one thing we've got more of - that's our minds. ' For someone from a working class background, that is so relatable about rising up beyond what you have using education and hard work. Pencil Skirt is more of a little ditty to me rather than a full blown song, spoken by Cocker in quite a breathless voice about an affair between two people who shouldn't be together. You can't help but feel he is the underdog who is not quite good enough as the other man. I love the rhyme in the lyrics with this one, it always makes me chuckle a bit with its descriptiveness and although it kind of is meant to be a bit seductive, its like a satirical northern version of it. 'When you raise your pencil skirt like a veil before my eyes. Like the look upon his face as he's zipping up his flies.' I can't think of anything less romantic sounding myself. We are then took into the biggest hit from this CD that has most mass appeal, Common People. Another number two, this was the song of my summer. At 6 minutes, it is quite long, but it doesn't necessarily feel it. It describes a girl lowering herself a bit with an affair with a boy who is a lower social class than her, but there is this undercurrent that she can always stop pretending and go back to her normal life whenever she wants, and how pretending that your poor is not the same reality as being poor. This for me is such a relevant theme even now though is obviously more from Cockers own youth in the 80s. It definitely felt relevant at the time where I was approaching my own University/college education, making it sound an exciting time. I Spy - this has a bit of a sound of the Pet Shop Boys to me. This is almost whispered by Cocker, over music which starts really quietly and then builds throughout the song, leading to song through the chorus. It seems a quite jealous song to me. Some of the words are pronounced quite harshly with a lot of emphasis on the 's' sound which sounds almost like hissing. 'You see you should take me seriously. Very seriously indeed. Cause I've been sleeping with your wife for the past sixteen weeks. Smoking your cigarettes, drinking your brandy, messing up the bed you chose together. And in all that time I just wanted you to come home unexpectedly one afternoon, And catch us at it in the front room. You see I spy for a living and I specialise in revenge, On taking the things I know will cause you pain. I can't help it, I was dragged up.' Disco 2000 - another hit from the CD, though this one was only ever number 7 in the charts, but I found it far more 'pop' and catchy than Mis shapes. I love looking back now at 'Let's all meet up in the year 2000' which at that point was a future event, but now how long ago was that? It describes Cocker's real life, of falling in love with someone totally unattainable, and how they grew up not very differently, but the girl is infinitely more popular and never notices him and his love in unrequited. It's hard to see that the track did not achieve more commercial success as it is a lot more cheerful than some of their other tracks. Live Bed Show - this is quite a melancholy sound which to me is about the demise of a relationship that has just slipped away. This is to me, a couple who are moving apart from each other, like ships in the night. I love the line 'It's changed from something beautiful, to something else instead.' Something Changed - It's a nice guitar based track. It always puts me in the mood of the film, Sliding Doors, what would happen to you if you made one choice in life rather than following another route. 'When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing that in a matter of hours we'd change the way we were going. Where would I be now if we'd never met? ' Sorted for E's and Whizz was the other A side of the track, Mis shapes which reached number 2. The song has a bit of a spaced feel with clear reference to drug use, describing the trip. This seems to make drug use seem quite unglamourous to me, talking about feeling like you can't go home because you left part of your brain in a field in Hampshire. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E is a very weird song, following on well from the quiet ending of the previous track, featuring Cocker speaking in a very quiet voice through the verses that is difficult to make out like he is telling you a secret. The chorus starts with him almost whining like an animal that it is cold. It is an odd description of love, stripping it back to more of an animal thing. 'So what do I do? I've got a slightly sick feeling in my stomach, Like I'm standing on top of a very high building oh yeah. All the stuff they tell you about in the movies, but this isn't chocolate boxes and roses. ' Underwear - firstly, an odd name for a track - it sounds a bit sordid, and this is what the lyrics describe, someone stripping down to their underwear. I feel there is a bit of sordidness underneath the lyrics, someone not quite wanting to be where they are, but needing to continue once they have started. 'If you could close your eyes and just remember, that this is what you wanted last night. So why is it so hard for you to touch him, for you to go, to give yourself to him? Oh Jesus!' Monday Morning - this song somes up perhaps how many people live, surviving the week to get to the weekend, where you live, until its Monday again and you are constantly on this repetitive cycle thinking how pointless it is. The lyrics make you think a little about what you would do if you could escape from the rat race. Bar Italia is the 12th and final track on the disc. It describes the feeling at the end of the night, not wanting it all to end, making plans to do it all again, making it a good track for ending the CD. For me, this disc starts with a bit of pace and passion, and kind of dies out by the last quarter where the more laid back and less popular tracks are. I find that the strength to this CD is the lyrics, and this is why Pulp always won over Blur for me as there lyrics have a lot more meaning to them. Musically, this could sound like other bands, but it is the strength of these lyrics and Jarvis Cockers unique voice that really mark this band apart from others. While this angst will not be for everyone, the catchy Common People and Disco 2000 (5* tracks) will drag people in to listen to the rest of the disc. For me, some of it is a bit self indulgent, and this is what stopped the band gaining more commercial mainstream success. While I love the songs that charted from this CD, and I am amused by some of the other tracks like something changed and pencil skirt, I find that I only tolerate the last three tracks really. This is a CD that calls out to you to listen to the words being spoken, unfortunately not all of them are that wise or worth listening to, and overall it is an average album with a couple of gems in it for me. I played it to death when it was new, I still don't mind the occasional listen, but it is music to match a mood and an era. A fun trip down memory lane, but the sentiments are a bit dated now for me. Read the complete review |
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Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones
by sparkymarky1973 If you are a big fan of Norah Jones, you could be forgiven for not entirely getting her latest album, Little Broken Hearts. It is as vast a departure from her usual easy-going style as Marmite is to chocolate! Produced by Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley fame, it is a trip to the Dark Side for Norah as she takes her music in a whole new, ... and not entirely unwelcome, direction! All of the featured songs here are moody, dark and full of bitterness but there is also a touch of Mazzy Star to the vocals that adds a haunting and almost compelling element to the album. Although it received mixed critical reviews on release, I really like it and applaud it as a complete contrast to anything by Miss Jones that you might have heard before! Right from the first track, 'Good Morning', there is something about this album that quite literally sucks you in. Many of the songs here feature catchy beats, 'Say Goodbye', the second track for example, is toe-tappingly addictive listening, and it is almost impossible not to find something here that you like. One of my favourite songs is 'She's 22' and both this and '4 Broken Hearts', which appears later on the album, are the two most pivotal moments when Jones most sounds like Mazzy Star's front woman Hope Sandoval to the point where it becomes difficult to believe that this is not coincidence, the influence seemingly so strong. But it's not all misery, doom and gloom. 'Out On The Road' is just one of a few of the more upbeat songs featured here and, all in all, the whole album makes for a very distinct and enjoyable collaboration between Miss Jones and Dangermouse ~ two very different people whom I would never have expected to have worked together in a million years! Like I say, I really really like this album and applaud Norah Jones for trying something different. Some have called this a concept album and I am not sure exactly if they are correct but I DO know that this is a very good at trying something different and a refeshing change from everything she has done before! Des it work? I think it does and though there will be some, if not many, who don't like this, I personally love it and think it is amongst her best music to date! Read the complete review |
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Blue - Simply Red
by bringingsexyback BLUE BY SIMPLY RED I think that Simply Red are the sort of group that you either love or hate, but not just this their individual songs are love and hate also so I have not ever risked buying a whole album of theirs until I gave in and bought Blue to learn why my sister liked it so much. I do not listen to it very ... often but my husband does sometimes and when it is on there are songs that are very moving and emotional. I think I like half of the album and dislike the other half, it is a very slow and depressing album that makes me feel sad sometimes. I think Mick Hucknall has got good songs in this album to use his voice fully and the songs on Blue are full with power and emotion, I think he sounds depressed or upset when he is singing because his voice is usually happy and loving. My favourite song on Blue is The Air That I Breathe and that is because it is a very strong song that shows how well Mick Hucknall can sing, he holds a very good tune and the way he has to sing with a deep voice and shout out the lyrics is good I think. I do not like this singer very much but I think he is very effective in this song and he should sing more that are like it. There are a lot of cover versions on Blue and I think that is good because Simply Red are not very good at new music and I think they are better off with using old songs and making them into their own music. There are 13 songs on this album and it costs only £2.89 if you buy it on Amazon, I think that is value even if you do not like all of the songs because it is worth buying just for the few songs that are very moving and touch my emotions. 1. Mellow My Mind 2. Blue 3. Say You Love Me 4. To Be Free 5. The Air That I Breathe 6. Someday In My Life 7. The Air That I Breathe 8. Night Nurse 9. Broken Man 10. Come Get Me Angel 11. Ghetto Girl 12. Love Has Said Goodbye Again 13. High Fives Read the complete review |
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