Customer Reviews

Different Class

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off, i'm of the opinion that "Different Class" is easily in the top 10 Britpop albums of the 1990's, if not in the top 2 or 3 (and i could make a case that it's one of the top 10 rock albums of the decade), so if you haven't heard it, you really owe it to yourself to hear it (NOTE: Different Class, as an album, is unquestionably a five-star classic; see below why i rate this edition as 4 stars). Very tuneful, with biting commentary, 'humour' and sarcasm on lust, youthful foolishness, class warfare and capturing the zeitgeist of what was going on in the UK around the mid-90's - it's very much of its time, yet I suspect will ultimately be considered timeless. Virtually all of the tracks are pure ear candy - this album really holds up thruout. This edition is beautifully presented -nice thick glossy digipak packaging with Universal's usual clear slipcase; generous booklet and comments, and great sound. If you've read this far, you'll probably want to pop for this in order to get the extras disc - demo's, b-sides, live cuts. They're nice, but i don't know if i'd call them indispensible - i rated it 4 stars because of the cost involved to get the extras. if you have an inkling you'll like this album, and can afford it, this is a good edition to get if you can score one for under like $25; otherwise, for most, the 1-cd will suffice and is heartily recommended. But if you're really into Pulp, i'd imagine you'll want this edition.

Writing this review for three main reasons:

1. To offset A.J. Griffen's annoyingly imbecilic review (see below...or not).
2. To bring this criminally ignored masterpiece to the attention of Amazon-browsing music lovers.
3. To quickly review the extremely cool bonus disc.

OK, so DIFFERENT CLASS happens to be one of the top-10 albums of my life - a desert island selection if ever there was one. Jarvis's brilliant lyrics and charismatic vocals are complimented to perfection by the band's punchy synth-and-guitar "Britpop" sound.

DC's subject matter concerns the struggles, schemes, humiliations, tragedies, and perverse triumphs of Britain's early-nineties generation of overeducated and oversexed underacheivers. Brilliantly wrought vignettes of revenge, regret, voyeurism, sexual debauchery, sexual frustration, scary drug trips, and occassional life-changing epihanies abound.

The bonus disc is an especially classy collection, put together by frontman Jarvis Cocker. Aside from compiling virtually all the great b-sides and outtakes from the period, the disc also includes Pulp's contribution to the legendary TRAINSPOTTING soundtrack ("Mile End"), a live version and a galvanizing remix of the band's signature anthem ("Common People"), a not-bad cover version (Nick Cave's "Disco 2000"), and a slew of previously unreleased demos.

And these demos are the real treasure here, even for hard-core geeked-out fans like myself who collected the singles and have heard all the released b-sides and remixes. Most of these tracks are a bit lighter in tone than the album cuts, and are perhaps just a take or two shy of sounding perfectly polished.

My few complaints about the bonus material are mostly semi-significant trifles. For instance, the demo version of "Ansaphone" is slightly, yet annoyingly, inferior to the one released on the DISCO 2000 single. Frankly, they should have just included the original. I also would have liked to seen at least one or two of the several fantastic "Disco 2000" and "F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E." remixes included. But anyways...

So I've accomplished my goal here if I've bumped up DC's Amazon rating by a star or two (check), and turned on, or at least informed, a prospective buyer in the process (check, check...I hope).

As Jarvis would say - LIVE ON.

'Different class' ya es de por si un disco sobresaliente. La Deluxe Edition no se queda atras. El empaque es de primera, el booklet viene con la coleccion completa de imagenes que salieron relacionadas a este disco y con textos de Jarvis Cocker acerca de cada lado B que viene en el disco 2. Creo que con esto también me animo a comprar las Deluxe Edition de 'His n hers' y de 'This is Hardcore', un trabajo de primera.

This album is not what I expected it to be. It's a bit overproduced and monotonous, but it does make its point. Not a record you could expect from an American band.