Back in 1995, it was almost impossible to escape the music press droning on about Oasis and Blur being the next best thing since everything else, and how they didn't like each other very much. Yet while these two big boys were scrapping it out in the middle of the playground, a much wittier, geekier, talented kid of the over-rated Britpop scene was making some very dry comments, all set to some quite splendid pop music. I use the word 'kid', but this is a total misnomer. Pulp had been around in at least some sort of guise since 1979, formed by the then-teenage Jarvis Cocker. Gathering a small but respectable fan-base (including the late John Peel) in the 1980s ...  Read the complete review

In school you either liked Blur or Oasis. Some of the cool kids liked both, but the really cool kids liked Pulp. I wasn't that cool - I liked Blur. I had a bad haircut and distinctive eye brows and by default I looked like any member of Oasis - but Blur were way cooler. Nonchalant, hip, and cheeky - and despite my seemingly innate pre-dispossession to be a Oasis fan, Blur were my band. I'd love to say I was one of the actual cool kids and I remember 'Different Class' when it came out, seeing them live first time round and trying to convince people Jarvis Cocker actually was cool - but I wasn't. Pulp were there but always in the background, and it wasn't until a few years  Read the complete review

Released in 1995, this for me was Pulp's greatest album, mixing sublime story telling with excellent music, it is not as seedy as their previous album but still has voyeuristic elements that the other big guns of the time, Blur and Oasis just didn't have the desire to mess with. 1. "Mis-Shapes" Beginning with the excellent "Misshapes", about Misshapes, mistakes and misfits, who'd like to go to town but they can't risk it, this is a rallying cry for anyone who is considered different, and it lays into the bullies and directors of who is and isn't acceptable, the song is brilliant but as always Jarvis Cockers lyrics add another layer to ...  Read the complete review

Every now and again there is an album that comes along that redefines boundaries and sets a new standard. In 1995 Pulp released their album Different Class which was certainly among the top ten albums of the 90s and the most thrilling British release of the year. Of course Pulp, by 1995, were veterans of the alternative pop and rock circuit. They had years of experience behind them and had paved the way with a good run of singles releases. The album before Different Class, His ‘n’ Hers, was a superb effort which laid the foundations for what was going to be the Britpop Revolution of 1995. So if Pulp were now part of the alternative consciousness with ...  Read the complete review

Different Class This was the first Pulp album that commercially made it big. After His ‘N’ Hers became something of a classic amongst many music listeners. Before that Pulp had released many albums, with some rather hit and miss songs on them. Here is my run down on the songs that really do make this album ‘Different Class’ An album full of songs about the common person, and the underdog. “Please understand. We don’t want no trouble. We just want the right to be different. That’s all” – quote from the back of the inlay. 1. Mis-Shapes This is a song, about how ...  Read the complete review