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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Jarvis
by Jarvis Cocker


8.2

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

MUSIC:

Pulp: We Love Life

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker makes his solo debut with this 14-song disc (which includes recent single "Running The World" as a secret bonus track).

LABEL:	Rough Trade
RELEASE DATE:	03 April 2007
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock

NOTES: Original UK release 13 Nov 2006.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Observer Music Monthly

Beautifully sequenced, Jarvis makes the case for albums as opposed to downloads.

100

The Guardian

An idiosyncratic triumph.

100

musicOMH.com

It's lyrically depressing, but if you're down in the dumps about the ills of the world and frustrated by a lack of personal achievement, there's surely not a better companion piece to have to hand as you wallow.

Neumu.net

A very fine solo album indeed.

Playlouder

A decade after he first set an impossibly hard act to follow, Jarvis Cocker has returned with an album that knocks not only his ageing contemporaries, but many of his descendents, for six.

No Ripcord

A stunning collection of songs, in the grand Brit-pop tradition.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The main difference between Jarvis and Pulp's final album, We Love Life, is that the new record feels far less portentous, and more brightly poppy.

Boston Globe

A collection of songs that proves nearly as personal, as socially aware, and as deft at intertwining the two, as was Pulp’s 1998 opus, ‘‘This Is Hardcore.’’

Alternative Press

A ripe thriller, the work of a facile talent with a newfound fecund baritone that goes places where Pulp could not tread. [Jun 2007, p.150]

Lost At Sea

Jarvis is a solid, thought-provoking album.

PopMatters

There are songs here that easily stand up to any of Pulp’s high-points, and sound totally unique against the backdrop of 2006.

Rolling Stone

His finest batch of songs since This Is Hardcore.

Spin

Happily, his killer solo debut offers more of the same. [Apr 2007, p.87]

Delusions of Adequacy

This is the record Pulp could/should have made as a sequel to the seminal Different Class.

Drowned In Sound

This is the most immediate album Cocker has put his name to in ten years.

Q Magazine

The old Jarvis Cocker is back. [Dec 2006, p.130]

Mojo

He sounds fresher than in years. [Dec 2006, p.108]

All Music Guide

Even if it isn't as immediate as the prime of Pulp, it's a richly nuanced, complicated album that finds Jarvis near the top of his craft as a writer and record maker.

Entertainment Weekly

Cocker's caustic observations cut deepest when married to hummable tunes.

Stylus Magazine

Jarvis is strong enough, smart enough, and at home enough with its ancient rock-star concerns and unembellished songcraft, for "Running the World" to remain a bonus track. This album doesn't need rescuing.

Dusted Magazine

"Jarvis"... is essentially a patchwork drawing from low and high points of his career - a quilt meant as a cover as well as an ornament.

New Musical Express

'Jarvis' never quite gathers an irresistible momentum like his past glories did. There isn't a bad song on here, but there are several which don't fulfil their full potential.

Dot Music

"Jarvis" is a collection of 13 individual songs, rather than an album with cohesive impact.

BBC collective

The lyrics are often sublime, of course, but there are big, stupid choruses too.

Billboard

An understated triumph. [9 Dec 2006]

The New York Times

Some of the old tension is missing: Mr. Cocker isn’t straining to write pop hits. But all of the old spleen is intact.

Under The Radar

Yet for all its pomp and glam, Jarvis is a uneven affair that sags a little too long in the middle. [#17, p.83]

cokemachineglow

All in all, Jarvis a mixed bag. It feels like the sort of thing that Cocker would do just to expunge his notebooks before moving on.

Pitchfork

Jarvis is the record of someone losing hope, the sound of dejection turned up to 10.

Uncut

[The first half is] all dismayingly unconvincing and lacklustre in execution... Then something changes.

The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

alan l gave it a10:
A Morrisey for the new generations!!!!

mikey f gave it a2:
anarchists are so chumbawumba.

Jason L gave it a10:
Just saw this live in Melbourne. Without Jarvis, the whole Best of V festival would have been absolutely worthless. Jarvis is witty, entertaining and musically brilliant. Forget top 20, forget itunes, forget throw away music. Jarvis is the real thing. 'Its OK to grow up, just as long as you don't grow old. Face it you are young.' Jarvis Cocker.

Michael W gave it a9:
Album really grew on me. I have had it for awhile, adn I hope my fellow Americans will get behind Jarvis

John H gave it a10:
Terrific, blown away by the single Big Julie, a complete lesson in song writing. Very few can do satire and sardonic wit with melody, Jarvis proves at times to be a master at this. Perhaps Morrissey really is his dad. Thank God for the album, made my year. It's not perfect but it deserves 10 because it's strong material (most of the album) is just masterful.

Chris P gave it a9:
As with much of Cocker's work, the dark underbelly of decadent western civilization is laid bare for each of us to see. Ourselves as we are...are we all to self-absorbed to do anything about it, or do we all inhabit the world we deserve?

e b gave it an8:
sobreproducido, a veces hasta feamente

Jarvis by Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis
by Jarvis Cocker