This Is Hardcore

This Is Hardcore
Studio album by Pulp
Released 30 March 1998
Recorded 1997
CTS Studios, and Olympic Studios, London; The Townhouse
Genre Alternative rock, art rock[1]
Length 69:49
Label Island
Producer Chris Thomas
Pulp chronology

Countdown 1992–1983
(1996)		 This Is Hardcore
(1998)		 Freshly Squeezed... the Early Years
(1998)

This Is Hardcore is the sixth album by English band Pulp, first released in March 1998. It came three years after their breakthrough album, Different Class, and was eagerly anticipated. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 166 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[2]

Background and release

As with the previous band's album, Different Class, it reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, and was well received critically, earning Pulp a third successive nomination for the 1998 Mercury Prize. A subsequent release in the UK later in 1998 came with a bonus live CD entitled "This Is Glastonbury". A deluxe edition of This Is Hardcore was released on 11 September 2006. It contained a second disc of B-sides, demos and rarities.

The cover photo was art directed by Peter Saville and the American painter John Currin who is known for his figurative paintings of exaggerated female forms. The images were further digitally manipulated by Howard Wakefield who also designed the album.[3] Currin, who was also the art director for the "Help the Aged" video, based on his painting "The Never Ending Story." Advertising posters showing the album's cover that appeared on the London Underground system were defaced by graffiti artists with slogans like "This Offends Women"[4] and "This is Sexist" or "This is Demeaning".[5]

The music video for the title track was directed by Doug Nichol and was listed as the No. 47 best video of all time by NME.[6]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [7]
Calgary Sun (Positive) 30 Mar 98
Entertainment Weekly (A-)[8]
NME (7/10)
Pitchfork Media (7.8/10)[9]
Q
Rolling Stone [10]
Spin (8/10)[11]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Jarvis Cocker, all music composed by Nick Banks, Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey and Mark Webber, except where noted.

No. TitleMusic Length
1. "The Fear"    5:35
2. "Dishes"    3:30
3. "Party Hard"    4:00
4. "Help the Aged"    4:28
5. "This Is Hardcore"  Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber, Peter Thomas 6:25
6. "TV Movie"    3:25
7. "A Little Soul"    3:19
8. "I'm a Man"    4:59
9. "Seductive Barry"    8:31
10. "Sylvia"    5:44
11. "Glory Days"  Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber, Antony Genn 4:55
12. "The Day After the Revolution" (edited to 5:52 on bonus track releases)  14:56
Bonus tracks

Tracks 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 from the Deluxe edition bonus disc were previously unavailable

Limited edition double vinyl LP

Singles

In the UK, there were four singles released from the album:

  1. "Help the Aged" (10 November 1997)
  2. "This Is Hardcore" (16 March 1998)
  3. "A Little Soul" (8 June 1998)
  4. "Party Hard" (7 September 1998)

Chart positions

Title Release date UK US
This Is Hardcore (album) 30 March 1998 1 114
"Help the Aged" 10 November 1997 8 —
"This Is Hardcore" (single) 16 March 1998 12 —
"A Little Soul" / "Cocaine Socialism" 8 June 1998 22 —
"Party Hard" 7 September 1998 29 —

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-hardcore-mw0000035589
  2. ↑ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_500_greatest_albums_2013.htm
  3. ↑ Cocker, Jarvis 'They're not grotesque – they're beautiful' Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  4. ↑ Anon 'PULP – ACRYLIC AFTERNOONS – This Is Hardcore Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Amanda; Clay, Alistair (19 April 1998). "'Sexist' Pulp ads attacked; Anything goes, say advertisers. Not so, say angry women with spraycans.". The Independent (London).
  6. ↑ "100 Greatest Music Videos". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  7. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pulp: This Is Hardcore > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Browne, David (13 Apr 98). "This Is Hardcore: Pulp". Entertainment Weekly. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ↑ DiCrescenzo, Brent (31 December 1999). "Pulp: This Is Hardcore". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009.
  10. ↑ Kot, Greg (23 Mar 98). "Pulp: This Is Hardcore". Rolling Stone (784). Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ↑ Hornby, Nick (May 1998). "Reviews: People's Poet". Spin archived at Google Books. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Booklet

External links

Preceded by
The Best Of by James		 UK number one album
11 April 1998 – 17 April 1998 		Succeeded by
Life Thru a Lens by Robbie Williams