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The lyrics are often sublime, of course, but there are big, stupid choruses too.
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This is the record Pulp could/should have made as a sequel to the seminal Different Class.
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Beautifully sequenced, Jarvis makes the case for albums as opposed to downloads.
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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.
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An idiosyncratic triumph.
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[The first half is] all dismayingly unconvincing and lacklustre in execution... Then something changes.
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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.
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This is the most immediate album Cocker has put his name to in ten years.
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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.
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'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.
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"Jarvis" is a collection of 13 individual songs, rather than an album with cohesive impact.
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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.
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"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.
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Jarvis is the record of someone losing hope, the sound of dejection turned up to 10.
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There are songs here that easily stand up to any of Pulp’s high-points, and sound totally unique against the backdrop of 2006.
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BillboardAn understated triumph. [9 Dec 2006]
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Some of the old tension is missing: Mr. Cocker isn’t straining to write pop hits. But all of the old spleen is intact.
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A very fine solo album indeed.
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Q MagazineThe old Jarvis Cocker is back. [Dec 2006, p.130]
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MojoHe sounds fresher than in years. [Dec 2006, p.108]
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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.
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Cocker's caustic observations cut deepest when married to hummable tunes.
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His finest batch of songs since This Is Hardcore.
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SpinHappily, his killer solo debut offers more of the same. [Apr 2007, p.87]
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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.
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A stunning collection of songs, in the grand Brit-pop tradition.
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Under The RadarYet for all its pomp and glam, Jarvis is a uneven affair that sags a little too long in the middle. [#17, p.83]
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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.’’
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Alternative PressA 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]
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Jarvis is a solid, thought-provoking album.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 27 out of 32
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Mixed: 2 out of 32
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Negative: 3 out of 32
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Nov 4, 2013
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alanlMay 4, 2007A Morrisey for the new generations!!!!
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JasonLApr 4, 2007