We Love Life is the seventh and most recent studio album by English rock band Pulp, released on 22 October 2001 by Island Records. It reached number six on the UK Albums Chart, with a total chart stay of only three weeks. Written and recorded after the tumultuous sessions for This Is Hardcore, We Love Life saw the band move toward a more relaxed and natural sound, shepherded by producer and famed singer-songwriter Scott Walker. Walker had replaced original producer Chris Thomas, whom the band had worked with on the band's two previous albums.
We Love Life was intended to be a departure from the disillusionment of the band's previous album, This Is Hardcore, in that it featured a more organic sound and an emphasis on nature, which Cocker found interest in "because it is dangerous in some ways". Cocker explained, "I never took any notice of nature when I was a kid. I thought we'd all be living on space stations or floating metropolises by now. But after This Is Hardcore, which was a very alienated record, it was time to go back to simpler things, like this, the natural world."[1] At the same time, Cocker stated, "This isn't Pulp's pastoral album. I was very aware of avoiding hippy dippy stuff."
The band had initially begun recording with Chris Thomas, who had produced their past two albums. However, his more rigid style of recording conflicted with the band's desire for looser sessions, resulting in the recordings being shelved.[1] The final album was produced by Scott Walker. Keyboardist Candida Doyle recalled, "I certainly thought about leaving [after shelving the Thomas sessions] but I realised that I'd still feel shit even if I did. If Scott Walker hadn't come about, I don't think we'd have bothered to finish this LP." The band, who had met Walker at the 2000 Meltdown Festival run by Walker, had been longtime fans of Walker.[1]
Walker's own album 'Til the Band Comes In is mocked in the lyrics of the We Love Life single "Bad Cover Version". Cocker claims the lyric was written long before Walker became involved in the album's production and recalled the moment of recording the song as "embarrassing".[2]
Title and artworkedit
The album's title was originally to be Pulp Love Life, but this was vetoed as Cocker felt that the title looked confusing on an album cover—he explained, "It always looked like the name of the band's Pulp and the album's called Love Life." The album was then renamed Pulp, reflecting the "uncluttered" nature of the album. With the September 11 terrorist attacks, however, the album was renamed to the more universal We Love Life. Cocker recalled, "To be honest, I was really freaked out when that World Trade Center thing happened. ... So in the aftermath of that, I thought, actually this Love Life business isn't a bad sentiment at this particular time."[2]
Initial critical response to We Love Life was very positive. The album received an average score of 84 at Metacritic, based on 20 reviews.[10] The music review online magazinePitchfork placed We Love Life at number 194 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.[22]
Steve Hobbs of Q Magazine wrote of the album, "Cocker's lyrics are still sharp and beautifully observed, just a little less personal. But in many ways, it's a more familiar Pulp record than This Is Hardcore."[1]Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album "an emotional and musical breakthrough, finding the band leaping beyond the claustrophobic Hardcore and consolidating their previous obsessions, creating a textured, reflective record that in its own measured way is as impassioned as Different Class."[11]
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We Love Life is the seventh and most recent studio album by English rock band Pulp released on 22 October 2001 by Island Records It reached number six on the UK Albums Chart with a total chart stay of only three weeks Written and recorded after the tumultuous sessions for This Is Hardcore We Love Life saw the band move toward a more relaxed and natural sound shepherded by producer and famed singer songwriter Scott Walker Walker had replaced original producer Chris Thomas whom the band had worked with on the band s two previous albums We Love LifeStudio album by PulpReleased22 October 2001Recorded2001StudioMetropolis LondonGenreAlternative rockLength53 55LabelIslandProducerScott Walker Peter Walsh co Pulp chronologyFreshly Squeezed the Early Years 1998 We Love Life 2001 Hits 2002 Singles from We Love Life Sunrise The Trees Released 8 October 2001 Bad Cover Version Released 15 April 2002 Contents 1 Background 2 Title and artwork 3 Reception 4 Track listing 5 Personnel 6 Charts 7 Certifications 8 References 9 External linksBackground editWe Love Life was intended to be a departure from the disillusionment of the band s previous album This Is Hardcore in that it featured a more organic sound and an emphasis on nature which Cocker found interest in because it is dangerous in some ways Cocker explained I never took any notice of nature when I was a kid I thought we d all be living on space stations or floating metropolises by now But after This Is Hardcore which was a very alienated record it was time to go back to simpler things like this the natural world 1 At the same time Cocker stated This isn t Pulp s pastoral album I was very aware of avoiding hippy dippy stuff The band had initially begun recording with Chris Thomas who had produced their past two albums However his more rigid style of recording conflicted with the band s desire for looser sessions resulting in the recordings being shelved 1 The final album was produced by Scott Walker Keyboardist Candida Doyle recalled I certainly thought about leaving after shelving the Thomas sessions but I realised that I d still feel shit even if I did If Scott Walker hadn t come about I don t think we d have bothered to finish this LP The band who had met Walker at the 2000 Meltdown Festival run by Walker had been longtime fans of Walker 1 Walker s own album Til the Band Comes In is mocked in the lyrics of the We Love Life single Bad Cover Version Cocker claims the lyric was written long before Walker became involved in the album s production and recalled the moment of recording the song as embarrassing 2 Title and artwork editThe album s title was originally to be Pulp Love Life but this was vetoed as Cocker felt that the title looked confusing on an album cover he explained It always looked like the name of the band s Pulp and the album s called Love Life The album was then renamed Pulp reflecting the uncluttered nature of the album With the September 11 terrorist attacks however the album was renamed to the more universal We Love Life Cocker recalled To be honest I was really freaked out when that World Trade Center thing happened So in the aftermath of that I thought actually this Love Life business isn t a bad sentiment at this particular time 2 The minimal cover art by Peter Saville shows a set of initial capitals held in the collection of St Bride Printing Library in London 3 4 5 They were engraved in wood by or for Louis Pouchee around the 1820s 6 7 8 It would later inspire the artwork for American metal band Deafheaven s 2013 album Sunbather 9 Reception editProfessional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRatingMetacritic84 100 10 Review scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 11 Blender nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 12 Entertainment WeeklyB 13 The Guardian nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 14 NME7 10 15 Pitchfork8 2 10 16 Q nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 17 Rolling Stone nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 18 The Rolling Stone Album Guide nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 19 Spin9 10 20 Uncut nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 21 Initial critical response to We Love Life was very positive The album received an average score of 84 at Metacritic based on 20 reviews 10 The music review online magazine Pitchfork placed We Love Life at number 194 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s 22 Steve Hobbs of Q Magazine wrote of the album Cocker s lyrics are still sharp and beautifully observed just a little less personal But in many ways it s a more familiar Pulp record than This Is Hardcore 1 Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album an emotional and musical breakthrough finding the band leaping beyond the claustrophobic Hardcore and consolidating their previous obsessions creating a textured reflective record that in its own measured way is as impassioned as Different Class 11 Track listing editAll tracks are written by Jarvis Cocker Nick Banks Candida Doyle Steve Mackey and Mark Webber except where notedNo TitleWriter s Length1 Weeds 3 422 Weeds II The Origin of the Species 3 583 The Night That Minnie Timperley Died 4 384 The Trees samples Tell Her You Love Her written by Stanley Myers and Hal Shaper 4 495 Wickerman samples Willow s Song composed by Paul Giovanni from the British Lion film The Wicker Man 8 176 I Love Life 5 317 The Birds in Your Garden 4 118 Bob Lind The Only Way Is Down 4 169 Bad Cover Version 4 1610 Roadkill 4 1611 Sunrise Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Webber Peter Mansell6 02Total length 53 55 United States CD bonus tracksNo TitleLength12 Yesterday 3 5213 Forever in My Dreams 4 23Total length 62 10Personnel editCredits adapted from liner notes Additional musicians Alasdair Malloy percussion 1 glass harmonica 5 Luis Jardim percussion 2 Danny Cummings percussion 3 Julian Poole percussion 9 11 Steve Hilton programming 1 5 Howie B programming 2 Richard Hawley lap steel guitar 1 11 twelve string guitar 8 The Swingle Singers backing vocals 1 2 5 Joanna Forbes musical direction vocal arrangements Beverly Skeete backing vocals 9 Sylvia James backing vocals 9 Claudia Fontaine backing vocals 9 Jeremy Shaw keyboards 2 Scott Walker additional keyboards and tree effects 4 baritone guitar 6 Andy Findon ocarinas and flutes 7 Caspar Cronk musical saw 7 Timos Papadopoulos at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research Southampton University under supervision of Professor Phil Nelson birdsong 7 Philip Sheppard five string electric cello 10 Metro Voices choir Production Scott Walker production mixing Peter Walsh co production engineering mixing choir engineering 11 Matt Lawrence assistant engineering additional choir engineering 11 Chris Blair mastering Clive Goddard choir engineering 11 Geoff Foster strings recording Gavyn Wright strings leading Isobel Griffiths orchestral contracting Jenny O Grady choral co ordination Steve Price choir recordingArrangement Scott Walker strings 5 9 ten double basses 6 8 Brian Gascoigne strings 1 5 9 ten double basses 8 choir 11 Candida Doyle strings 1 5 9 Artwork Jarvis Cocker art direction Peter Saville art direction Howard Wakefield design Marcus Werner Hed designCharts editChart 2001 PeakpositionAustralian Albums ARIA 23 46Austrian Albums O3 Austria 24 36Danish Albums Hitlisten 25 38French Albums SNEP 26 41German Albums Offizielle Top 100 27 25Irish Albums IRMA 28 38Scottish Albums OCC 29 11Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 30 46Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 31 78UK Albums OCC 32 6Certifications editRegion Certification Certified units salesUnited Kingdom BPI 33 Silver 60 000 Shipments figures based on certification alone References edit a b c d Hobbs Steve November 2001 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lad Q Retrieved 23 July 2020 via Acrylic Afternoons a b Sturdy Mark 2009 Truth And Beauty The Story of Pulp London England Omnibus Press ISBN 978 0 85712 103 5 Barnes Paul James Mosley a life in objects Eye magazine Retrieved 11 December 2015 Kinross Robin Temple of Type Eye Retrieved 12 December 2015 Emily King Everyday Exotics in Frieze Magazine issue 68 2002 Ornamented types a prospectus PDF imimprimit Archived from the original PDF on 22 December 2015 Retrieved 12 December 2015 Daines Mike Pouchee s lost alphabets Eye Magazine Retrieved 12 March 2016 Coles Stephen We Love Life by Pulp Fonts in Use Retrieved 12 March 2016 Obscuring The Highlights An Interview With Designer Nick Steinhardt Tumblr Retrieved 23 March 2024 a b Reviews for We Love Life by Pulp Metacritic Retrieved 28 April 2016 a b Erlewine Stephen Thomas We Love Life Pulp AllMusic Retrieved 23 July 2010 Petridis Alexis Pulp We Love Life Blender Archived from the original on 20 August 2004 Retrieved 19 August 2016 Raftery Brian M 23 August 2002 We Love Life Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on 9 October 2016 Retrieved 23 July 2010 Petridis Alexis 12 October 2001 Back to suburbia The Guardian Retrieved 28 April 2016 Oldham James 16 October 2001 Pulp We Love Life NME Archived from the original on 12 November 2012 Retrieved 21 August 2017 Tangari Joe 13 December 2001 Pulp We Love Life Pitchfork Retrieved 23 July 2010 Pulp We Love Life Q 183 November 2001 Walters Barry 22 August 2002 Pulp We Love Life Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 13 February 2007 Retrieved 28 April 2016 Harris Keith 2004 Pulp The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4th ed Simon amp Schuster pp 665 ISBN 0 7432 0169 8 Winter Jessica October 2002 Pulp We Love Life Spin 18 10 116 Retrieved 28 April 2016 Pulp We Love Life Uncut 54 128 29 November 2001 Pitchfork staff 28 September 2009 The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s 200 151 Pitchfork Retrieved 1 October 2009 Australiancharts com Pulp We Love Life Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Austriancharts at Pulp We Love Life in German Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Danishcharts dk Pulp We Love Life Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Lescharts com Pulp We Love Life Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Offiziellecharts de Pulp We Love Life in German GfK Entertainment Charts Retrieved October 17 2023 Irish charts com Discography Pulp Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved October 17 2023 Swedishcharts com Pulp We Love Life Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Swisscharts com Pulp We Love Life Hung Medien Retrieved October 17 2023 Official Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved October 17 2023 British album certifications Pulp We Love Life British Phonographic Industry External links editWe Love Life at YouTube streamed copy where licensed We Love Life at Discogs list of releases Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title We Love Life amp oldid 1215169014, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
