This Is Hardcore is the sixth album by English band Pulp. Released in March 1998, it came three years after their breakthrough album, Different Class, and was eagerly anticipated.
Friction grew in the band in the years following the massive success of Different Class, "culminating in the notable departure of guitarist and violinist Russell Senior; Cocker left for New York alone to decompress and write in isolation from the rest of the band."[5]
As with the band's previous album,This is Hardcore reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, but with far fewer sales,[6] and was well received critically, earning Pulp a third successive nomination for the 1998 Mercury Prize.[7]
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 model photographed is Ksenia Sobchak[8] and the images were further digitally manipulated by Howard Wakefield, who also designed the album.[9] Currin 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"[10] and "This is Sexist" or "This is Demeaning".[11]
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.[12] A bonus live CD entitled "This Is Glastonbury" was added to the album later in 1998. A deluxe edition of This Is Hardcore was released on 11 September 2006. It contained a second disc of B-sides, demos and rarities.
Commercial performanceEdit
The album had first-week sales of just over 50,000, 62% fewer than Different Class first-week sales of 133,000.[13] The album was certified gold by the BPI April 1998 for sales of 100,000.[14] As of 2008, sales in the United States have exceeded 86,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[15]
Nick Hornby, writing in Spin, proclaimed that on the album "England's unofficial poet laureate Jarvis Cocker perfects his poetry of the prosaic".[25]Rolling Stone noted that This is Hardcore was "less bright and bouncy" than its era-defining predecessor, but praised it as being "even more daring and fully realized", noting that "it plays like a movie, a series of scenes from a life", and declared that it "is arguably the first pop album devoted entirely to the subject of the long, slow fade", which it heralded as "a bold move because it breaks one of rock's oldest songwriting taboos".[23] The review concluded, "In midlife oblivion, Pulp have found a strange kind of liberation. Desperation never sounded quite so entertaining." Other reviews in the States adopted a similar tone, with the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette all awarding three and a half stars out of four.[3][19][26] The Tribune hailed it as "a smashing album about midlife crisis" and found that "[the] music is sumptuous lounge-lizard rock augmented by strings and noisy disruptions - a clever, catchy '90s take on the Bowie/Mott/Roxyglam rock of the '70s."[3]
In a retrospective assessment of the album's impact, Matthew Horton wrote in NME that "in its sense of surrender, regret and flashes of panic, it captured the time to a tee." In an article entitled, "How Pulp's This Is Hardcore Brought Britpop To A Halt", Horton maintained that it was "a sloughing-off of fame’s skin, a rejection of the Britpop monster".[27] He concluded, "It's an end, a hard-wrought epitaph to a band's jaunt in the limelight and a suitable jump-off point for what had been a rare old few years – for us, at least." Another review found the song "A Little Soul" to be "Cocker's most disconsolately beautiful", drawing "from the musical blueprint of Smokey Robinson's 'Tracks of My Tears.'"[28]
^ abGerard, Chris (4 April 2014). "50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
^ abcdKot, Greg (3 April 1998). "Pulp: This Is Hardcore (Island)". Chicago Tribune. from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
^Laws, Mike (11 December 2014). "The 10 Best Britpop Albums of All Time (or At Least Since 1993 or So)". The Village Voice. Suzan Gursoy. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
^Merline, Micheal (23 June 2014). "Revisit: Pulp: This is Hardcore". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
^"Pulp full official chart". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^"Mercury Prize Shortlist". mercuryprize.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^Cocker, Jarvis 'They're not grotesque – they're beautiful' Retrieved 11 December 2007.
^Anon 'PULP – ACRYLIC AFTERNOONS – This Is Hardcore Retrieved 8 July 2008.
^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.
^"100 Greatest Music Videos". NME. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
^Jones, Alan (11 April 1998). "The Official UK Charts: Albums - 11 April 1998". Music Week: 18.
^ ab"British album certifications – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 June 2020.Select albums in the Format field.Select Gold in the Certification field.Type This Is Hardcore in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
^Caulfield, Keith (18 April 2008). . Billboard. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
^ abHornby, Nick (May 1998). "People's Poet". Spin. 14 (5): 133. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
^Masley, Ed (22 May 1998). "For the Record". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
^Horton, Matthew (11 April 2013). "How Pulp's 'This Is Hardcore' Brought Britpop To A Halt". NME.
^Pearson, Paul (30 March 2018). "Pulp's This Is Hardcore is still a shattering piece of work after 20 years". Treble. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
^Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN978-0-7893-2074-2.
^Barker, Emily (25 October 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 200-101". NME. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
^"The 50 Best Britpop Albums". Pitchfork. 29 March 2017. p. 5. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
^"Australiancharts.com – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
^"Austriancharts.at – Pulp – This Is Hardcore" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
^"Ultratop.be – Pulp – This Is Hardcore" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
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This article is about the album For the song see This Is Hardcore song This Is Hardcore is the sixth album by English band Pulp Released in March 1998 it came three years after their breakthrough album Different Class and was eagerly anticipated This Is HardcoreStudio album by PulpReleased30 March 1998RecordedNovember 1996 January 1998 1 StudioThe Townhouse London Olympic LondonGenreArt rock 2 glam rock 3 Britpop 4 Length69 49LabelIslandProducerChris ThomasPulp chronologyCountdown 1992 1983 1996 This Is Hardcore 1998 Freshly Squeezed the Early Years 1998 Singles from This Is Hardcore Help the Aged Released 11 November 1997 This Is Hardcore Released 16 March 1998 A Little Soul Released 8 June 1998 Party Hard Released 7 September 1998 Contents 1 Background and release 2 Commercial performance 3 Reception and legacy 4 Track listing 5 Personnel 6 Charts 6 1 Weekly charts 6 2 Year end charts 7 Certifications 8 References 9 External linksBackground and release EditFriction grew in the band in the years following the massive success of Different Class culminating in the notable departure of guitarist and violinist Russell Senior Cocker left for New York alone to decompress and write in isolation from the rest of the band 5 As with the band s previous album This is Hardcore reached No 1 in the UK Albums Chart but with far fewer sales 6 and was well received critically earning Pulp a third successive nomination for the 1998 Mercury Prize 7 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 model photographed is Ksenia Sobchak 8 and the images were further digitally manipulated by Howard Wakefield who also designed the album 9 Currin 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 10 and This is Sexist or This is Demeaning 11 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 12 A bonus live CD entitled This Is Glastonbury was added to the album later in 1998 A deluxe edition of This Is Hardcore was released on 11 September 2006 It contained a second disc of B sides demos and rarities Commercial performance EditThe album had first week sales of just over 50 000 62 fewer than Different Class first week sales of 133 000 13 The album was certified gold by the BPI April 1998 for sales of 100 000 14 As of 2008 sales in the United States have exceeded 86 000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan 15 Reception and legacy EditProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 16 Chicago Tribune nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 3 Entertainment WeeklyA 17 The Guardian nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 18 Los Angeles Times nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 19 NME7 10 20 Pitchfork7 8 10 21 Q nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 22 Rolling Stone nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 23 The Rolling Stone Album Guide nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 24 Spin8 10 25 Nick Hornby writing in Spin proclaimed that on the album England s unofficial poet laureate Jarvis Cocker perfects his poetry of the prosaic 25 Rolling Stone noted that This is Hardcore was less bright and bouncy than its era defining predecessor but praised it as being even more daring and fully realized noting that it plays like a movie a series of scenes from a life and declared that it is arguably the first pop album devoted entirely to the subject of the long slow fade which it heralded as a bold move because it breaks one of rock s oldest songwriting taboos 23 The review concluded In midlife oblivion Pulp have found a strange kind of liberation Desperation never sounded quite so entertaining Other reviews in the States adopted a similar tone with the Chicago Tribune Los Angeles Times and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette all awarding three and a half stars out of four 3 19 26 The Tribune hailed it as a smashing album about midlife crisis and found that the music is sumptuous lounge lizard rock augmented by strings and noisy disruptions a clever catchy 90s take on the Bowie Mott Roxy glam rock of the 70s 3 In a retrospective assessment of the album s impact Matthew Horton wrote in NME that in its sense of surrender regret and flashes of panic it captured the time to a tee In an article entitled How Pulp s This Is Hardcore Brought Britpop To A Halt Horton maintained that it was a sloughing off of fame s skin a rejection of the Britpop monster 27 He concluded It s an end a hard wrought epitaph to a band s jaunt in the limelight and a suitable jump off point for what had been a rare old few years for us at least Another review found the song A Little Soul to be Cocker s most disconsolately beautiful drawing from the musical blueprint of Smokey Robinson s Tracks of My Tears 28 This is Hardcore was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 29 In 2013 NME ranked it at number 166 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 30 In 2014 US LGBT magazine Metro Weekly placed the album at number 46 in its list of the 50 Best Alternative Albums of the 90s 2 In 2017 Pitchfork ranked it seventh in The 50 Best Britpop Albums 31 Track listing EditAll lyrics are written by Jarvis Cocker all music is composed by Cocker Nick Banks Candida Doyle Steve Mackey and Mark Webber except where notedNo TitleMusicLength1 The Fear 5 352 Dishes 3 303 Party Hard 4 004 Help the Aged 4 285 This Is Hardcore includes a sample of Bolero on the Moon Rocks written by Peter Thomas recorded by The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra CockerBanksDoyleMackeyWebberThomas6 256 TV Movie 3 257 A Little Soul 3 198 I m a Man 4 599 Seductive Barry 8 3110 Sylvia 5 4411 Glory Days CockerBanksDoyleMackeyWebberAntony Genn4 5512 The Day After the Revolution edited to 5 52 on bonus track releases 14 56 Double LP bonus tracksNo TitleWriter s Length13 Tomorrow Never Lies 4 5314 Laughing Boy 3 5015 The Professional 5 0916 This is Hardcore End of the Line mix CockerBanksDoyleMackeyWebberThomas3 02 International CD bonus tracksNo TitleLength13 Like a Friend B side to A Little Soul bonus track on North American and Japanese releases 4 3214 Tomorrow Never Lies B side to Help the Aged bonus track on Japanese release 4 53 This Is Glastonbury bonus discNo TitleWriter s Length1 The Fear 7 492 Live Bed Show CockerBanksDoyleMackeyRussell SeniorWebber4 333 TV Movie 3 554 A Little Soul 4 365 Party Hard 4 296 Help the Aged 5 337 Seductive Barry 9 578 This Is Hardcore Bonus track on Japanese release CockerBanksDoyleMackeyWebberThomas7 169 Glory People Glory Days Common People Bonus track on Japanese release CockerBanksDoyleMackeySeniorWebberGenn11 13 2006 Deluxe edition bonus discNo TitleWriter s OriginLength1 Cocaine Socialism proper version Previously unavailable5 142 It s a Dirty World recording session outtake CockerBanksDoyleMackeySeniorPreviously unavailable5 133 Like a Friend A Little Soul single4 324 The Professional This Is Hardcore single5 095 Ladies Man This Is Hardcore single4 446 Laughing Boy Help the Aged single3 507 We Are the Boyz Party Hard single3 158 Tomorrow Never Dies rough mix Previously unavailable4 539 Can I Have My Balls Back Please demo CockerBanksDoyleMackeySeniorPreviously unavailable4 1610 Modern Marriage demo CockerBanksDoyleMackeyPreviously unavailable4 5411 My Erection demo CockerBanksDoyleMackeyPreviously unavailable4 2212 You Are the One demo CockerBanksDoyleMackeyPreviously unavailable4 2813 Street Operator demo CockerBanksDoyleMackeyPreviously unavailable3 5214 This Is Hardcore End of the Line mix CockerBanksDoyleMackeyWebberThomas This Is Hardcore single2 06Personnel EditPulp Jarvis Cocker Nick Banks Candida Doyle Steve Mackey Mark WebberProduction Chris Thomas production Pete Lewis engineering Lorraine Francis assistant engineering Jay Reynolds assistant engineering Olle Romo programming Matthew Vaughan programming Magnus Fiennes programming Mark Haley programming Anne Dudley string arrangement 2 5 7 9 Pulp string arrangement 2 5 7 9 Nicholas Dodd orchestration 5 9 Additional musicians Anne Dudley piano 5 7 11 Chris Thomas piano 5 Neneh Cherry featured vocals 9 Mandy Bell backing vocals 1 9 Carol Kenyon backing vocals 1 9 Jackie Rawe backing vocals 1 9 Artwork John Currin direction Peter Saville direction Horst Diekgerdes photography Howard Wakefield design Paul Hetherington designCharts EditWeekly charts Edit Chart 1998 PeakpositionAustralian Albums ARIA 32 15Austrian Albums O3 Austria 33 20Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 34 44Canada Top Albums CDs RPM 35 32Dutch Albums Album Top 100 36 56Finnish Albums Suomen virallinen lista 37 15French Albums SNEP 38 9German Albums Offizielle Top 100 39 24New Zealand Albums RMNZ 40 12Norwegian Albums VG lista 41 10Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 42 14Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 43 31UK Albums OCC 44 1US Billboard 200 45 114US Heatseekers Albums Billboard 46 1 Year end charts Edit Chart 1998 PositionUK Albums OCC 47 75Certifications EditRegion Certification Certified units salesUnited Kingdom BPI 14 Gold 100 000 Shipments figures based on certification alone References Edit Sturdy Mark 15 December 2009 Truth and Beauty The Story of Pulp Omnibus Press ISBN 9780857121035 a b Gerard Chris 4 April 2014 50 Best Alternative Albums of the 90s Metro Weekly Retrieved 12 January 2017 a b c d Kot Greg 3 April 1998 Pulp This Is Hardcore Island Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on 3 June 2016 Retrieved 2 May 2016 Laws Mike 11 December 2014 The 10 Best Britpop Albums of All Time or At Least Since 1993 or So The Village Voice Suzan Gursoy Retrieved 13 December 2016 Merline Micheal 23 June 2014 Revisit Pulp This is Hardcore Spectrum Culture Retrieved 6 October 2022 Pulp full official chart officialcharts com Retrieved 7 May 2016 Mercury Prize Shortlist mercuryprize com Retrieved 7 May 2016 VH1 www vh1 com 15 July 2015 Cocker Jarvis They re not grotesque they re beautiful Retrieved 11 December 2007 Anon PULP ACRYLIC AFTERNOONS This Is Hardcore Retrieved 8 July 2008 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 100 Greatest Music Videos NME Retrieved 7 January 2013 Jones Alan 11 April 1998 The Official UK Charts Albums 11 April 1998 Music Week 18 a b British album certifications Pulp This Is Hardcore British Phonographic Industry Retrieved 25 June 2020 Selectalbumsin the Format field SelectGoldin the Certification field TypeThis Is Hardcore in the Search BPI Awards field and then press Enter Caulfield Keith 18 April 2008 Keith answers readers questions on Bette Midler Radiohead Celine Dion and more Billboard Archived from the original on 12 September 2014 Retrieved 25 June 2020 Erlewine Stephen Thomas This Is Hardcore Pulp AllMusic Retrieved 30 September 2011 Browne David 13 April 1998 This Is Hardcore Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on 18 January 2017 Retrieved 30 September 2011 Sullivan Caroline 27 March 1998 Confessions of a pop group The Guardian a b Hochman Steve 5 April 1998 Pulp This Is Hardcore Island Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 28 August 2016 Retrieved 2 May 2016 Patterson Sylvia 21 March 1998 Pulp This Is Hardcore NME Archived from the original on 2 October 2000 Retrieved 2 May 2016 DiCrescenzo Brent Pulp This Is Hardcore Pitchfork Archived from the original on 10 February 2008 Retrieved 30 September 2011 Yates Robert May 1998 Velvet Overground Q 140 a b Kot Greg 23 March 1998 Pulp This Is Hardcore Rolling Stone No 784 Archived from the original on 3 June 2008 Retrieved 30 September 2011 Harris Keith 2004 Pulp The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4th ed Simon amp Schuster pp 665 ISBN 0 7432 0169 8 a b Hornby Nick May 1998 People s Poet Spin 14 5 133 Retrieved 15 August 2013 Masley Ed 22 May 1998 For the Record Pittsburgh Post Gazette Retrieved 12 January 2017 Horton Matthew 11 April 2013 How Pulp s This Is Hardcore Brought Britpop To A Halt NME Pearson Paul 30 March 2018 Pulp s This Is Hardcore is still a shattering piece of work after 20 years Treble Retrieved 6 October 2022 Dimery Robert Lydon Michael 23 March 2010 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Revised and Updated Edition Universe ISBN 978 0 7893 2074 2 Barker Emily 25 October 2013 The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time 200 101 NME Retrieved 17 January 2023 The 50 Best Britpop Albums Pitchfork 29 March 2017 p 5 Retrieved 30 May 2017 Australiancharts com Pulp This Is Hardcore Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Austriancharts at Pulp This Is Hardcore in German Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Ultratop be Pulp This Is Hardcore in French Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Top RPM Albums Issue 3530 RPM Library and Archives Canada Retrieved 2 January 2017 Dutchcharts nl Pulp This Is Hardcore in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Pulp This Is Hardcore in Finnish Musiikkituottajat IFPI Finland Retrieved 2 January 2017 Lescharts com Pulp This Is Hardcore Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Offiziellecharts de Pulp This Is Hardcore in German GfK Entertainment Charts Retrieved 2 January 2017 Charts nz Pulp This Is Hardcore Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Norwegiancharts com Pulp This Is Hardcore Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Swedishcharts com Pulp This Is Hardcore Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Swisscharts com Pulp This Is Hardcore Hung Medien Retrieved 2 January 2017 Pulp Artist Official Charts UK Albums Chart Retrieved 2 January 2017 Pulp Chart History Billboard 200 Billboard Retrieved 2 January 2017 Pulp Chart History Heatseekers Albums Billboard Retrieved 2 January 2017 End of Year Album Chart Top 100 1998 Official Charts Company Retrieved 19 January 2021 External links EditThis Is Hardcore at YouTube streamed copy where licensed This Is Hardcore at Discogs list of releases Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title This Is Hardcore amp oldid 1177288950, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
