So why is Pulp’s Different Class on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Different Class is an album I latched onto relatively early in the lengthy research process for this here best 1,000 albums ever project. I think I was vaguely aware of the hit song, “Common People,” but I had no idea that the album as a whole plays so well straight through.
I lived in England for a spell several years after this album was released, and when I throw on the opening track, “Mis-Shapes,” it puts me back to the local pub scene that my flatmates Adam, Nirav, and I frequented in and around Rochester out in Kent, an hour east of London.
We eventually settled on our “local,” which was the fantastic Nag’s Head pub. The local art college scene hung out there, which I think helped in terms of being accepted as the scruffy American foreigners that we were. We found our home away from home in that scene, and there’s something about the sound, the vibe, of Different Class that puts me more in that frame of mind perhaps more even than Britpop-y albums that were popular at the time (and may even appear “higher” on the 1k albums project) such as by Blur, Oasis, and the like.
I really like the way that All Music calls out the “grandly theatrical, synth-spiked pop with new wave and disco flourishes” of the album, and it’s pretty wild the way that vibe builds across “Mis-Shapes,” the slinky synth of “Pencil Skirt,” and then into the pub rock banger “Common People.”
It’s a surprisingly strong album throughout, and kind of picks up a second wind in its back half. I particularly dig the David Bowie-ish meets Beatles-y meets Britpop “Sorted For E’s & Wizz.”
Some stats & info about Pulp – Different Class
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? British Bands, Britpop, Rock, Rock Music, Pop, Pop Music, Alternative Rock, Alternative Pop, Post-Punk, Pub Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #162
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Different Class released? 1995
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #732 out of 1,000
Pulp’s Different Class on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Pulp’s Different Class that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I wanna live like common people, I wanna do whatever common people do.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.