Performer Notes

Pulp: Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, Mark Webber.
Additional personnel: Anne Dudley, Chris Thomas (piano); Olle Romo, Matthew Vaughan, Magnus Fiennes, Mark Haley (programming); Mandy Bell, Carol Kenyon, Jackie Rawe (background vocals); Neneh Cherry.
Recorded at The Townhouse, Olympic Studios, CTS Studios, London, England.
"I'm not Jesus, though I've got the same initials," croons Jarvis Cocker in Pulp's folllowup to 1996's gleefully hateful DIFFERENT CLASS. As this line illustrates, THIS IS HARDCORE takes Pulp further over the top in every sense--shamelessly dramatic structures telegraph every crescendo, and tense verse arrangements give way to sweeping sing-along choruses. Cocker's venomous, confessional lyrics are best evidenced in his trademark spoken sections--murmured tales of obsession punctuate the band's call to arms for the pasty, skinny dispossessed youth of the world.
THIS IS HARDCORE boasts a fantastic palette of sonic textures, from the thick T. Rex-influenced grooves to spacey chimes, E-bows, and storms of feedback. Analog synths buzz and sputter, held aloft by rich string arrangements. As the title implies, sexual themes abound, notably on the cool rush of "Party Hard" and the slow throb of the title track. "Help The Aged" features elegant instrumentation and a lyric which manages to be poetic where lesser misanthropes would yield to the temptation to be comedic. The anthemic closer "The Day After The Revolution" carries on the proud Pulp tradition of nihilism, assuring us that, thankfully, that huge chip on Cocker's finely coutured shoulder isn't going anywhere.

Professional Reviews

Spin (5/98, p.133) - 8 (out of 10) - "...On THIS IS HARDCORE, Pulp makes it clear they have outgrown Britpop and belong right up there with Ray Davies and Costello and Morrissey, those who look at England with a satirist's eye and a balladeer's heart..."

Entertainment Weekly (4/17/98, pp.70-71) - "...Compared with the unimaginative language that fill up far too many current pop or rock discs, Cocker's lyrics--brought to life by his dry, jaundiced-dandy voice--are miniature literay salons unto themselves....an oasis of musicality..."

- Rating: A-

Q (p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "THIS IS HARDCORE plays like a bleak but prophetic soundtrack for a cheap and nasty 21st century Britain..."

Uncut (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he record is sublime, finding real musical guile for all the fear and loathing."

The Wire (1/99, p.27) - Included in Wire's "50 Records Of The Year [1998]"

CMJ (2/25/99, p.9) - "...[Cocker's] sweeping songs are laced with snarling cynicism and harsh, verbal shots of reality -- the perfect vehicle for his snide, tounge-in-cheek delivery..."

NME (Magazine) (3/21/98, p.48) - 7 (out of 10) - "...THIS IS HARDCORE is a Pulp LP as you know one only in as much as it's a concept LP about life and the weirdness of everything. It is Pulp: The Sequel..."

Album: This Is Hardcore
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	The Fear	More Info...
2)	Dishes	More Info...
3)	Party Hard	More Info...
4)	Help the Aged	More Info...
5)	This Is Hardcore	More Info...
6)	TV Movie	More Info...
7)	A Little Soul	More Info...
8)	I'm a Man	More Info...
9)	Seductive Barry	More Info...

Album: This Is Hardcore
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	The Fear	More Info...
2)	Dishes	More Info...
3)	Party Hard	More Info...
4)	Help the Aged	More Info...
5)	This Is Hardcore	More Info...
6)	TV Movie	More Info...
7)	A Little Soul	More Info...
8)	I'm a Man	More Info...
9)	Seductive Barry	More Info...