PULP are now a well known band. their last album DIFFRENT CLASSES sold a zillion copies and the singles from it were monster hits (espacially COMMON PEPOLE and DISCO 2000). But Pulp are not a new band. They have been playing since the early eighties and Diffrent Classes is in fact their sixth album. Since almost no one knew them then, their record company saw it fit to produce a new compilation based on their first four albums. And the question is, is it worth it? well, depends. for die hard fans, or for pepole in love with jarvis corker's voice absolutley. for the rest of us it's more problematic. The last two PULP records were classic pop albums. witty, catchy, and fun. Apperentlly the others are much less focused, and a lot of the songs are either too depressing, too long, or too dull. What becomes apperent while listening to the album, is that PULP achieved fame exactly when they should have. They are a much better band now than they were earlier in their career. So if you want some classic PULP, their last two realeses are a much safer bet.

The new BECK album ODELAY, is the most fun I had listening to an album for awhile. a reviewer described it as listening to a radio show hosted by a psychotic dj, and that's about as acurate description as any. The songs are not really whole units. they are small pieces patched together by a masterfull hand. BECK uses every edge thetechnology gives him, mixing and sampling everything perfectly. this album is truly original. it resembles the beastie boys ill comunication in a few ways (mostly sampling and atmosphere), but it is richer in texture and a lot more varied. it uses tons of instruments and a hell of a lot of silly noises . great fun.