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{{For|Joanne Harris's novel|Different Class (novel){{!}}''Different Class'' (novel)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Different Class
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]]
| cover      = Pulp - Different Class.PNG
| alt        =
| released   = 30 October 1995
| recorded   = 18 January{{snd}}28 July 1995<ref>{{cite book |last=Sturdy |first=Mark |date=15 December 2009 |title=Truth and Beauty: The Story of Pulp |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYrZx01MPC4C&pg=PT618 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |isbn= 9780857121035 }}</ref>
| studio     = [[Townhouse Studios|Townhouse]], London
| genre      =
* [[Britpop]]
* [[art rock]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGjsvmNt8UgC&pg=PA140 |title=The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |last=Walters |first=Barry |volume=15 |issue=9 |date=September 1999 |access-date=26 October 2020 |page=140}}</ref>
* [[Pop music|pop]]<ref name= "Pitchfork Staff 2022">{{cite web|last= Pitchfork Staff |title= The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s |website= [[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date= September 28, 2022 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-albums-of-the-1990s/|quote= ...''Different Class'', a full-length that alchemized bubblegum, glam, and luxe new wave into artful pop.|accessdate= April 26, 2023}}</ref>
| length     = 52:50
| label      = [[Island Records|Island]]
| producer   = [[Chris Thomas (record producer)|Chris Thomas]]
| prev_title = [[Masters of the Universe (Pulp album)|Masters of the Universe]]
| prev_year  = 1994
| next_title = [[Countdown 1992–1983]]
| next_year  = 1996
| misc       = {{Extra chronology
 | artist = [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]] studio album
 | type = studio
 | prev_title = [[His 'n' Hers]]
 | prev_year = 1994
 | title = Different Class
 | year = 1995
 | next_title = [[This Is Hardcore]]
 | next_year = 1998
}}{{Singles
 | name        = Different Class
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Common People]]
 | single1date = 22 May 1995
 | single2     = [[Mis-Shapes]]" / "[[Sorted for E's & Wizz]]
 | single2date = 25 September 1995
 | single3     = [[Disco 2000 (song)|Disco 2000]]
 | single3date = 27 November 1995
 | single4     = [[Something Changed]]
 | single4date = 25 March 1996
}}
}}

'''''Different Class''''' (released in Japan as '''''Common People''''') is the fifth [[studio album]] by English [[rock music|rock]] band [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]], released on 30 October 1995 by [[Island Records]].

The album was a critical and commercial success, entering the [[UK Albums Chart]] at number one and winning the 1996 [[Mercury Music Prize]]. It included four top-ten singles in the UK, "[[Common People]]", "[[Sorted for E's & Wizz]]", "[[Disco 2000 (song)|Disco 2000]]" and "[[Something Changed]]". ''Different Class'' has been certified four times platinum by the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI), and had sold 1.33 million copies in the United Kingdom as of 2020.<ref name="UK sales">{{cite web |first=Rob |last=Copsey |title=Mercury Prize: The best-selling winning albums |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-biggest-selling-mercury-prize-winning-albums-revealed__20414/ |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |date=22 September 2020 |access-date=17 September 2018}}</ref> Widely acclaimed as among the greatest albums of the [[Britpop]] era, in 2013, ''[[NME]]'' ranked the album at number six in its list of [[NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-100-1-1426116|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 100-1|magazine=[[NME]]|date=25 October 2013|access-date=21 January 2017}}</ref> while ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked it number 162 in their 2020 revised version of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].

==Background and release==
The album was released in the UK at the height of [[Britpop]]. It followed from the success of their breakthrough album ''[[His 'n' Hers]]'' the previous year. Two of the singles on the album – "[[Common People]]" (which reached number two on the [[UK Singles Chart]]) and "[[Disco 2000 (song)|Disco 2000]]" (which reached number seven) – were especially notable, and helped propel Pulp to nationwide fame. A "deluxe edition" of ''Different Class'' was released on 11 September 2006. It contains a second disc of [[B-sides]], demos and rarities.

The inspiration for the title came to frontman [[Jarvis Cocker]] in Smashing, a club night that ran during the early 1990s in Eve's Club on [[Regent Street]] in London. Cocker had a friend who used the phrase "different class" to describe something that was "in a class of its own". Cocker liked the double meaning, with its allusions to the British social class system, which was a theme of some of the songs on the album.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Different Class |series=Classic Albums of the 90s |first=Steve (host) |last=Lamacq |author-link=Steve Lamacq |network=[[BBC Radio 1]] |location=London |date=8 February 1999 |transcript=The Different Class Story |transcript-url=http://www.acrylicafternoons.com/pulp.html}}</ref> A message on the back of the record also references this idea:

{{Blockquote|''"We don't want no trouble, we just want the right to be different. That's all."''}}

==Artwork==
The sleeve design was created by Blue Source. Initial copies of the CD and vinyl album came with six double-sided inserts of alternative cover art, depicting [[cardboard cutout]]s of the band photographed in various situations. A sticker invited the listener to "Choose your own front cover". In all standard copies thereafter these 12 individual covers made up the CD booklet, with the wedding photograph used as the actual cover.

In an interview with [[BBC Radio 6 Music]] presenter [[Chris Hawkins]] on 8 April 2014, Dom O'Connor, the groom featured in the wedding photograph cover art, recalled how the album cover had come about:{{Blockquote|"When we got married we were putting the wedding together ourselves, we pulled a lot of favours from people we knew&nbsp;... My little brother Ben went to art college in Edinburgh and he made friends with a guy who subsequently became a photographer and had done a lot of work with the Britpop bands – I think he worked with [[Blur (band)|Blur]], and [[Elastica]], and of course Pulp. So we asked him about a couple of months before whether he would be prepared to do some photos for us, and he couldn't actually do it because he said he was busy working on some Pulp stuff. But he phoned us about a week before and said Pulp were thinking about using some photos with real people in them, including a wedding photo, and if we would do some joke shots where he'd bring some life-size [[cutout animation|cutouts]] of the band down, he would do some proper wedding shots for us as well. And that's basically what happened. They rocked up on the wedding day with the life-size cutouts of the band and took the photos, and I suppose the rest is history."<ref name="HuffPo20140410">{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Hawkins |author-link=Chris Hawkins |title=How a Wedding Picture Ended Up on the Cover of an Iconic Britpop Album&nbsp;... |work=[[HuffPost]]|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/chris-hawkins/britpop-pulp-a-different-class_b_5118948.html |date=10 April 2014 |access-date=30 April 2014}}</ref>}}

Apart from the bride and groom, the photograph features the parents of both the bride and the groom, O'Connor's two brothers, his two best friends and his wife's best friend. O'Connor also told Hawkins that he and his family had no further contact with the photographer after the day of the wedding, and had no idea that the photographs would be used for the album cover until his mother saw a poster advertising the album in an [[HMV]] record store. He later saw a billboard poster of the album cover while he was out shopping. Pulp's record company at the time did not pay the family for the use of their picture, but when Pulp reformed in 2011 [[Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade]] paid for the family members to see Pulp play live. O'Connor said, "Rough Trade very kindly sent us a signed copy of the photo that Jarvis had signed last year, just saying 'Thank you very much Dom and Sharon for letting us crash your wedding', which I thought was a really nice touch actually".<ref name="HuffPo20140410" />

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| subtitle = Initial reviews (in 1995/1996)
| rev1      = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/05/02/pulpdifferent-class-island-star-star-star-12pulp/ |title=Pulp: ''Different Class'' (Island) |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=2 May 1996 |access-date=7 December 2015 |last=Goulding |first=Steve |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919073248/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-05-02/features/9605020253_1_pulp-jarvis-cocker-brit-awards |archive-date=19 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev2      = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-18-ca-37266-story.html |title=Pulp, 'Different Class', Island |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=18 February 1996 |access-date=7 December 2015 |last=Ali |first=Lorraine |author-link=Lorraine Ali |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306203353/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-02-18/entertainment/ca-37266_1_album-review |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[NME]]''
| rev3score = 8/10<ref name="NME19951028" />
| rev4      = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="QDec95" />
| rev5      = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="RS19960404" />
| rev6      = ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]''
| rev6score = {{rating|5|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Roy|last=Wilkinson|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2011/12/differentclass.jpg|title=New Albums|magazine=[[Select (magazine)|Select]]|date=December 1995|page=100|access-date=10 December 2024|author-link=Roy Wilkinson}}</ref>
| rev7      = ''[[Smash Hits]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Gill|last=Whyte|url=https://sites.google.com/view/smash-hits-remembered-1994-5/home/1995/441-25th-october-7th-november-1995|title=Albums: Best New Album|work=[[Smash Hits]]|date=25 October 1995|page=65|access-date=1 March 2025}}</ref>
| rev8      = ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''
| rev8score = 9/10<ref name="SpinMar96" />
| rev9      = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
| rev9score = A−<ref name="VV19960409" />
}}
{{Album ratings
| subtitle = Retrospective reviews (after 1995/1996)
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/different-class-mw0000182602 |title=''Different Class'' – Pulp |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=25 July 2010 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref>
| rev2      = ''[[The Guardian]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/sep/01/popandrock.shopping5 |title=CD: Pulp, ''Different Class'' |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=1 September 2006 |access-date=1 September 2013 |last=Lynskey |first=Dorian}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev3score = 9.3/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22054-different-class/ |title=Pulp: ''Different Class'' |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=3 July 2016 |access-date=3 July 2016 |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds}}</ref>
}}

''Different Class'' received widespread acclaim from music critics in the UK. In the ''[[NME]]'' John Mulvey summarised the record as "funny, phenomenally nasty, genuinely subversive, and, of course, hugely, flamingly POP!... ''Different Class'' is a deft, atmospheric, occasionally stealthy and frequently booming, confident record."<ref name="NME19951028">{{cite magazine |last=Mulvey |first=John |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000043reviews.html |title='Class' A |magazine=[[NME]] |page=52 |date=28 October 1995 |access-date=7 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001013070201/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000043reviews.html |archive-date=13 October 2000 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Melody Maker]]'' awarded the album its star rating of "bloody essential", and its critic [[Simon Reynolds]] observed that "the album's title alone announces that Cocker's broadened his scope, has another axe to grind: social antagonism", and stated that Pulp was "not so much the jewel in Britpop's crown, more like the single solitary band who validate the whole sorry enterprise".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |title=Working-Class Heroes |magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |page=37 |date=28 October 1995}}</ref> In ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' Robert Yates felt that "the range of ''Different Class'' is impressive: tracks such as ["Live Bed Show" and "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E."] render more redundant than ever the view of Pulp as kitsch",<ref name="QDec95">{{cite magazine |last=Yates |first=Robert |title=Quotable |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=111 |page=142 |date=December 1995}}</ref> while in ''[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]]'' Keith Cameron awarded the album eight out of ten and wrote that "no other Pulp album of recent years froths around the mouth so unselfconsciously... Pulp have managed to elevate their grandiose, popoid vision-thing to new and greater heights, without crashing into the realms of extreme fantasy."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Keith |last=Cameron |title=Polyester day once more |magazine=[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]] |issue=62 |pages=112–13 |date=December 1995}}</ref> In ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' [[Bob Stanley (musician)|Bob Stanley]] stated, "You'd have to be a fool or a low-fi obsessive not to concede that it's easily the closest that Pulp have come to realising their potential... ''Different Class'' is curiously sparse yet lush enough in all the right places, warm and soulful where unnecessary electro-clutter used to be", and concluded, "Arguments about Blur versus Oasis are irrelevant. Pulp are in a different class."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Bob |last=Stanley |author-link=Bob Stanley (musician) |title=Let Them Eat Cocker |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |issue=24 |page=108 |date=November 1995}}</ref> ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]'' ranked the album at number one in its end-of-year list of the 50 best albums of 1995.<ref>{{cite journal|title=50 Albums of the Year|journal=[[Select (magazine)|Select]]|date=January 1996|issue=67|pages=78–79|url=http://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2012/03/50albums.jpg|access-date=13 January 2017}}</ref>

''Different Class'' was released in the US on 27 February 1996,<ref name="Billboard"/> and received equally enthusiastic reviews from American critics. [[David Fricke]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' called it "a brilliant, eccentric, irresistible pop album about fucking and fucking up... The record is rife with sexual combat and bitter recrimination." He concluded, "Even in a truly classless society, sex separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, the romantics from the mere runters. ''Different Class'' is the sound of Jarvis Cocker keeping score – with delicious accuracy."<ref name="RS19960404">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pulp/albums/album/125517/review/5941861/different_class |title=Pulp: ''Different Class'' |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=731 |pages=61–62 |date=4 April 1996 |access-date=7 December 2015 |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929030416/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pulp/albums/album/125517/review/5941861/different_class |archive-date=29 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Robert Christgau]] wrote in ''[[The Village Voice]]'' that "1996 won't produce a more indispensable song than "Common People", and described the album as neither Blur nor Oasis, but "[[Culture Club]] with lyrics... Smart and glam, swish and het, its jangle subsumed beneath swelling crescendos or nagging [[keyboard instrument|keybs]] and its rhythms steeped in rave".<ref name="VV19960409">{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv396-96.php |title=Consumer Guide |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |location=New York |date=9 April 1996 |access-date=7 December 2015 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}</ref> In ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' Barry Walters described the album as "songs about naughty infidelities, sexless marriages, grown-up teenage crushes, twisted revenge fantasies, obsessive voyeurism and useless raves; songs that demand your full attention and deserve it".<ref name="SpinMar96">{{cite magazine |last=Walters |first=Barry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBPGqtlp_kUC&pg=PA108 |title=Pulp – ''Different Class'' |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |volume=11 |issue=12 |page=108 |date=March 1996 |access-date=7 December 2015}}</ref>

===Legacy===
In a retrospective review, [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] declared that ''Different Class'' "blows away all their previous albums, including the fine ''[[His 'n' Hers]]''. Pulp don't stray from their signature formula at all – it's still grandly theatrical, synth-spiked pop with new wave and disco flourishes, but they have mastered it here. Not only are the melodies and hooks significantly catchier and more immediate, the music explores more territory&nbsp;... Jarvis Cocker's lyrics take two themes, sex and social class, and explore a number of different avenues in bitingly clever ways. As well as perfectly capturing the behavior of his characters, Cocker grasps the nuances of language, creating a dense portrait of suburban and working-class life."<ref name="Allmusic" /> Writing about the album in 2011, [[BBC Music]] stated that "over 15 years since its release [it] continues to reward the listener with some of the smartest, slinkiest, sauciest, spectacular pop songs of a decade that was, looking back, not that brilliant once the bucket hats and ironic anoraks are whipped away."<ref name="BBCMusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/pjnv |title=Review: Pulp – ''Different Class'' |publisher=[[BBC Music]] |date=2011 |access-date=1 September 2013 |last=Diver |first=Mike}}</ref>

''[[PopMatters]]''{{'}} retrospective review in 2004 opined that "nearly nine years after its release, ''Different Class'' has aged very well, possessing that timeless quality that is present in all classic albums, but is still obviously a product of its time, a snapshot of mid-'90s life in the UK. Along with Blur's ''[[Parklife]]'', it remains the high point of the Britpop era; music, lyrics, production, artwork, it's as perfect as it gets."<ref name="PopMattersMay2004">{{cite web |url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/pulp-differentclassmft/ |title=Pulp: ''Different Class'' |work=[[PopMatters]] |date=19 May 2004 |access-date=1 May 2014 |last=Begrand |first=Adrien}}</ref> Reviewing the 2006 deluxe edition, Garry Mulholland of ''Q'' stated that the album "defined the mood of the day",<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Garry |last=Mulholland |title=Top of the Fops |magazine=Q |issue=242 |pages=116–17 |date=September 2006}}</ref> while ''[[Drowned in Sound]]'' described ''Different Class'' as "easily the best album of its year of release and arguably the best album from the Britpop era" and went on to call it "a certifiable masterpiece that not only lived up to the sky-high expectations heaped upon it with appalling ease, but surpassed them."<ref name="DiS">{{cite web |url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/8036/reviews/1168562- |title=Album Review: Pulp – ''Different Class'' (2006 re-issue) |work=[[Drowned in Sound]] |date=26 September 2006 |access-date=1 May 2014 |last=Cowen |first=Nick |archive-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502005326/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/8036/reviews/1168562- |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Accolades===
The album was the winner of the 1996 [[Mercury Music Prize]].<ref name="UK sales"/> In 1997, it was ranked at number 34 out of 100 in a "Music of the Millennium" poll<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/channel4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060710095521/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/channel4.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 July 2006 |title=Channel 4 / HMV Best music of this millennium |access-date=5 October 2009 }}</ref> conducted by [[HMV]], [[Channel 4]], ''[[The Guardian]]'' and [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]]. In 1998 ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' readers voted ''Different Class'' the 37th greatest album of all time;<ref>{{cite journal |title=The 100 Greatest Albums Ever |periodical=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |publisher=[[EMAP]] |location=London, England |issue=137 |date=February 1998}}</ref> a repeat poll in 2006 put it at number 85.<ref>{{cite journal |title=100 Greatest Albums Ever |periodical=Q |publisher=EMAP |location=London, England |issue=235 |date=February 2006}}</ref> In 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 46 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.<ref>{{cite journal |title=100 Greatest British Albums Ever |periodical=Q |publisher=EMAP |location=London, England |issue=165 |date=June 2000}}</ref> In 2005 it was voted number 70 in [[Channel 4]]'s ''The 100 Greatest Albums''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 100 Greatest Albums |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |date=17 April 2005}}</ref> In 2006 ''[[British Hit Singles & Albums]]'' and ''[[NME]]'' organised a poll in which 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and ''Different Class'' was placed at number 54 on the list.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=David |editor-last=Roberts |title=[[British Hit Singles & Albums]] |publisher=Guinness World Records |location=London, England |pages=400–01 |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-904994-10-7}}</ref> The album was ranked at number 35 on ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''{{'}}s "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)" list.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2015/05/the-300-best-albums-of-the-past-30-years-1985-2014/5/|title=The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)|work=Spin|author=Zaleski, Annie|date=11 May 2015|page=5|access-date=6 August 2015}}</ref>

Released in 1995 at the height of the Britpop era, it is often considered an album which best defines the era and has featured at the number one position on several best Britpop albums polls, including ''[[The Village Voice]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/the-10-best-britpop-albums-of-all-time-or-at-least-since-1993-or-so-6633707|title=The 10 Best Britpop Albums of All Time (or At Least Since 1993 or So)|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|last=Laws|first=Mike|date=11 December 2014|access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref> [[BuzzFeed]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/the-official-britpop-album-ranking-1993-1997|title=The Official Britpop Album Ranking|last=Perpetua|first=Matthew|date=9 January 2014|publisher=[[BuzzFeed]]|access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref> ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=The 50 Best Britpop Albums|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/?page=5|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=30 May 2017|date=29 March 2017}}</ref> ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lindsay |first=Cam |title=The 25 Best Albums of the Britpop Era |url=https://www.spin.com/2020/09/the-25-best-albums-of-the-britpop-era/ |website=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |access-date=1 October 2020 |date=30 September 2020}}</ref> Exactly twenty years on from its release, ''[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]'' magazine declared ''Different Class'' as "the most important Britpop album."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Yoonsoo Kim|first=Kristen|title=Why Pulp's 'Different Class' Is The Most Important Britpop Album 20 Years Later|url=http://uk.complex.com/music/2015/10/pulp-different-class-20th-anniversary-important-britpop-album|magazine=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]|access-date=19 January 2017|date=30 October 2015}}</ref> Having not featured in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'''s 2003 list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]], the album was ranked at number 162 in their revised 2020 list.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |date=22 September 2020 |access-date=22 September 2020 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> The album was also included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Kylie|last=McLaughlin|editor-first=Robert|editor-last=Dimery|chapter=Pulp: ''Different Class''|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die|title-link=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die|publisher=[[Universe Publishing]]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7893-1371-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/1001AlbumsYouMustHearBeforeYouDie/page/n383/mode/1up 766]}}</ref>

==Commercial performance==
By September 1996, worldwide sales were estimated at 1.5 million copies by the record label, including 40,000 copies in the US.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sexton |first=Paul |title=Pulp Nabs '96 Mercury Music Prize in U.K. |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=21 September 1996 |volume=108 |issue=38 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA85 |access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref> The album has been certified quadruple platinum in the UK, and as of September 2020 has accrued physical, digital, and streaming equivalent sales of 1.33 million,<ref name="UK sales" /> one-tenth of which were in its first week of sales.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Jones |first=Alan |title=The Official UK Charts: Albums - 11 April 1998 |magazine=Music Week |date=11 April 1998 |page=18}}</ref> By the end of its second week, the album had been certified platinum in the UK with 300,000 copies sold.<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine |last=Sexton |first=Paul |title=Pulp Travels Toward U.S. With 'Class' |magazine=Billboard |date=20 January 1996 |volume=108 |issue=3 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3g4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14 |access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| all_lyrics = [[Jarvis Cocker]]
| all_music = Pulp (Cocker, [[Nick Banks]], [[Steve Mackey]], [[Russell Senior]], [[Candida Doyle]] and [[Mark Webber (guitarist)|Mark Webber]]), except "[[Common People (song)|Common People]]" and "Underwear" by Cocker, Banks, Mackey, Senior and Doyle
| total_length = 52:50
| title1 = [[Mis-Shapes]]
| length1 = 3:46
| title2 = Pencil Skirt
| length2 = 3:11
| title3 = [[Common People]]
| length3 = 5:50
| title4 = I Spy
| length4 = 5:55
| title5 = [[Disco 2000 (song)|Disco 2000]]
| length5 = 4:33
| title6 = Live Bed Show
| length6 = 3:29
| title7 = [[Something Changed]]
| length7 = 3:18
| title8 = [[Sorted for E's & Wizz]]
| length8 = 3:47
| title9 = F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E
| length9 = 6:01
| title10 = Underwear
| length10 = 4:06
| title11 = Monday Morning
| length11 = 4:16
| title12 = Bar Italia
| length12 = 3:42
}}
{{Track listing
| extra_column    = Origin
| headline        = Japanese edition (bonus tracks)
| title13         = P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association)
| extra13         = "[[Mis-Shapes]]" / "[[Sorted for E's & Wizz]]" single
| length13        = 3:16
| title14         = Common People
| note14          = Motiv8 club mix
| extra14         = "[[Common People (song)|Common People]]" single
| length14        = 7:51
}}
{{Track listing
| extra_column    = Origin
| headline        = Japanese edition (''Second Class'' bonus disc)
| title1          = Mile End
| extra1          = "[[Something Changed]]" single
| length1         = 4:32
| title2          = Ansaphone
| extra2          = "[[Disco 2000 (song)|Disco 2000]]" single
| length2         = 4:00
| title3          = Live Bed Show
| note3           = extended
| extra3          = "Disco 2000" single
| length3         = 4:10
| title4          = Your Sister's Clothes
| extra4          = ''[[The Sisters EP]]''
| length4         = 4:37
| title5          = Seconds
| extra5          = ''The Sisters EP''
| length5         = 4:19
| title6          = Deep Fried in Kelvin
| extra6          = "[[Lipgloss (song)|Lipgloss]]" single
| length6         = 9:49
| title7          = The Babysitter
| extra7          = "[[Do You Remember the First Time?]]" single
| length7         = 5:01
| title8          = Street Lites
| extra8          = "Do You Remember the First Time?" single
| length8         = 5:55
| title9          = Common People '96
| note9           = 7" edit
| extra9          = "Common People" single
| length9         = 4:07
}}
{{Track listing
| extra_column    = Origin
| headline        = German edition (''Second Class'' bonus disc)
| title1          = Mile End
| extra1          = "Something Changed" single
| length1         = 4:32
| title2          = Ansaphone
| extra2          = "Disco 2000" single
| length2         = 4:00
| title3          = P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association)
| extra3          = "Mis-Shapes" / "Sorted for E's & Wizz" single
| length3         = 3:16
| title4          = Live Bed Show
| note4           = extended
| extra4          = "Disco 2000" single
| length4         = 4:10
| title5          = Your Sister's Clothes
| extra5          = ''The Sisters EP''
| length5         = 4:37
| title6          = Seconds
| extra6          = ''The Sisters EP''
| length6         = 4:19
| title7          = Deep Fried in Kelvin
| extra7          = "Lipgloss" single
| length7         = 9:49
| title8          = The Babysitter
| extra8          = "Do You Remember the First Time?" single
| length8         = 5:01
| title9          = Street Lites
| extra9          = "Do You Remember the First Time?" single
| length9         = 5:55
}}
{{Track listing
| extra_column    = Origin
| headline        = 2006 deluxe edition (bonus disc)
| title1          = Common People
| note1           = at [[Glastonbury Festival|Glastonbury]] 1995
| extra1          = "Mis-Shapes" / "Sorted for E's & Wizz" single
| length1         = 7:38
| title2          = Mile End
| extra2          = "Something Changed" single
| length2         = 4:30
| title3          = P.T.A.
| extra3          = "Mis-Shapes" / "Sorted for E's & Wizz" single
| length3         = 3:17
| title4          = Ansaphone 
| note4           = demo
| extra4          = Previously unavailable
| length4         = 4:09
| title5          = Paula 
| note5           = demo
| extra5          = Previously unavailable
| length5         = 3:37
| title6          = Catcliffe Shakedown 
| note6           = demo
| extra6          = Previously unavailable
| length6         = 6:43
| title7          = We Can Dance Again 
| note7           = demo
| extra7          = Previously unavailable
| length7         = 3:51
| title8          = Don't Lose It 
| note8           = demo
| extra8          = Previously unavailable
| length8         = 3:10
| title9          = [[Whiskey in the Jar]]
| extra9          = ''[[Childline]]''
| length9         = 4:48
| title10         = Disco 2000 
| note10          = [[Nick Cave]] pub rock version
| extra10         = Previously unavailable
| length10        = 4:22
| title11         = Common People
| note11          = Vocoda mix
| extra11         = "Common People" single
| length11        = 6:18
}}

==Personnel==
'''Pulp'''
*[[Jarvis Cocker]] – vocals, [[Vox (musical equipment)|Vox]] Marauder guitar, [[Ovation Guitar Company|Ovation]] 12 string guitar, [[Sigma Guitars|Sigma acoustic guitar]], [[Roland VP-330]], [[Roland SH-09]], [[Mellotron]], [[Micromoog]], [[Synare]]
*[[Russell Senior]] – [[Fender Jazzmaster|Fender Jazzmaster guitar]], violin
*[[Candida Doyle]] – [[Farfisa#Professional Series (1967–1975)|Farfisa Compact Professional II organ]], [[Ensoniq ASR-10]], [[Korg Trident|Korg Trident II]], Minimoog, [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes piano]], [[Roland Juno 6]], Roland SH-09
*[[Steve Mackey]] – [[Music Man (company)|Musicman]] Sabre bass
*[[Mark Webber (guitarist)|Mark Webber]] – [[Gibson ES-335#ES-345|Gibson ES 345]], [[Gibson Les Paul|Gibson Les Paul guitar]], [[Gibson Firebird|Gibson Firebird guitar]], Sigma acoustic guitar, [[Casio]] Tonebank CT-470, Fender Rhodes piano, Roland Juno 6
*[[Nick Banks]] – [[Yamaha drums]], [[Avedis Zildjian Company|Zildjian]] cymbals, percussion

'''Additional personnel'''
{{div col}}
*[[Chris Thomas (record producer)|Chris Thomas]] – production, additional guitar and keyboards
*David "Chipper" Nicholas – engineering
*Julie Gardner – engineering assistance {{small|(except tracks 3 and 10)}}
*Pete Lewis – engineering assistance {{small|(tracks 3 and 10)}}, additional engineering
*Matthew Vaughan – programming {{small|(except tracks 3 and 10)}}
*Olle Romo – programming {{small|(tracks 3 and 10)}}, additional programming
*[[Antony Genn]] – additional programming
*Mark Haley – additional programming
*[[Anne Dudley]] – orchestral arrangement and conducting {{small|(tracks 4, 7 and 9)}}
*[[Gavyn Wright]] – orchestra leader
*Andy Strange – orchestra recording assistance
*Kevin Metcalfe – mastering
*Geoff Pesche – mastering
*Donald Milne – photography
*[[Rankin (photographer)|Rankin]] – photography
{{div col end}}

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1995–1996)
! Peak<br/>position
|-
{{album chart|Australia|44|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|refname=ARIA|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Austria|24|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Wallonia|47|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Canada|36|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|chartid=2871|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
! scope="row"| Danish Albums ([[Hitlisten]])<ref name="Listen">{{cite news |title=Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 15 |work=[[Ekstra Bladet]] |location=[[Copenhagen]] |language=da |date=1996-04-14}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|22
|-
{{album chart|Netherlands|69|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Finland|37|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|71|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|id=6832|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums ([[Oricon]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/131129/ranking/cd_album/ | publisher = [[Oricon]] | language = ja | access-date = 16 July 2012 | title = パルプのCDアルバムランキング}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|91
|-
{{album chart|New Zealand|17|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Norway|19|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Scotland|1|date=19951105|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Sweden|7|artist=Pulp|album=Different Class|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|1|date=19951105|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|BillboardHeatseekers|34|artist=Pulp|rowheader=true|access-date=17 October 2023}}
|}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry |region=United Kingdom |artist=Pulp |title=Different Class |type=album |award=Platinum |number=4 |relyear=1995 |certyear=1998 |id=1795-498-2| salesamount=1,330,000 |salesref=<ref name="UK sales" />}}
{{Certification Table Summary}}
{{Certification Table Entry |region=Europe |artist=Pulp |title=Different Class |type=album |award=Platinum |relyear=1995 |certyear=1996 |access-date=16 July 2012}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | noshipments=true}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL36PKo7DXhGlIUQbjcsZ0ggMmaZLajDc- ''Different Class''] at [[YouTube]] (streamed copy where licensed)
* {{Discogs master|type=album|87137|name=Different Class}}

{{Pulp}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pulp (band) albums]]
[[Category:1995 albums]]
[[Category:Island Records albums]]
[[Category:Mercury Prize–winning albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)]]
[[Category:Art rock albums by English artists]]