 |  | Excellent late 90's alt pop |  |
Fluid set of English Alterna-soul found Pulp finally receiving the success critics had thought them deserving. More then proving why they remained giants of 90's indie rock in Britain, the songwriting is infectiously hooky, depressively catchy, and lyrically potent all the way through. Every song may not be as memorable as the title track or a few others (in particular the effectively rousing final few), yet each cements a certain replayability with the well measured, easily accessible, melodic pop songwriting. The band became a mainstay for fans of loud, semi-experimental music, falling somewhere between the predictability of Spiritualized and the randomness of Radiohead. Whatever small market the still under-valued (in America) band conquered during the mid 90's across the pond, This is Hardcore still makes the case for being the modern alternative classic some have made it out to be.
May 15, 2007OK, I've looked through all the other reviews on here, and I know that anyone who does the same will probably go with the looming majority vote and get this album but PLEASE DON'T!!! About a year ago I first heard Different Class and thought it was great. So much fun, excellent lyrics, and just really great! the melodies, the instrumentation...amazing. So recently I heard This Is Hardcore. A few of the songs are pretty good (Dishes, The Fear, The Day After The Revolution) but for the most part it's just plain BORING!!! Where did the fun go? This album is sad, dreary, and dull. Yes, it is a darker mood, and I realize that Jarvis Cocker probably had a reason to write such melancholy songs, but after hearing Different Class, who wants to listen to them? Many of the songs sound the same and, while not being terrible, were completely uninspiring. Buy Different Class instead. It rocks.
August 14, 2006i guess i missed out on the days when pulp was popular. where was i?? oh yeah i was listening to meatloaf and megadeth probably. well now i have this cd and i have to say, yes, i have to say, it is very good.
March 2, 2005 At the same time a shaggable genius and a skinny loser, Jarvis Cocker frontman and lyrics writer for Pulp is truly inspiring, one of the last REAL ROCK STARS offered to us by the XXth century. Yet Pulp is now dormant and a bit forgotten, what a pity ! Surfing on the Cool Britania wave of the mid 90's the Sheffield band that had started on the independent circuit in the 80's makes itself noticed and provides Britain's underdogs with a voice. and what a voice !!! breathy, sexy, deep or fragile, Cocker knows how to use his organ, and even takes you very close to musical orgasm. Delightfully pervert but also touchingly sincere and simple the lyrics are just wonderful and served by surprising tunes.
This is Hardcore is the 3rd "commercial" album of the band and was written at a point when Cocker was trying to get himself together, after as he himself put it "getting as hammered as possible". Yet, contrary to Oasis's Be Here Now which musicaly suffered from drug and alcohol abuses, Pulp's This is Hardcore is their best album. Suffering is sometimes source of greatness and Cocker sure knows how to sublimate his angst into breathtaking songs.
Opening with The Fear (the best song ever written on depression) sets a dark mood, but also a sophisticated and demanding quality. It's not because he is depressed that he gets sloppy! But the mood lightens up a bit with track 2: Dishes, in which Pulp displays its simple musical talent and which lyrics are pure Jarvis humour, singing "I'm not Jesus Christ though I share the same initials..." proving a modesty unknown to most rock stars. This is Hardcore is off course the absolute highlight of the album, a drifting number that pulses like blood in your veins. The absolute beauty of the production on this song proves that the band has reached maturity. The following, TV movie, is yet another simple piece with touching lyrics, but Cocker never really let's himself fall into stupid pathos and the self derision and critical stance he takes on himself is reffreshing as ever. Other great songs on the album are Party Hard, a more upbeat song, a bit more agressive and something u can definitely dance to. The album like a therapy finally lets us hear signs of hope with Glory Days, a great reflexion on the common victories of life, but don't worry nothing to existencial.
This is Hardcore is an absolute must have for anyone who loves rock. It is stylish, honnest, moving, even arousing (a great specialty of Jarv); yet for all it's sassy sophistication it stays true to the band's origins and to the common people feel. Working class Britain, we love you !!!
I definitely recommend to listen to Different Class as well, released before TIH it is the album Pulp will be remmembered for and is characteristic of the sound and mood of the band. Together these 2 albums form a magnificent diptic of genius. Essential.
January 25, 2005| | | A classic in a slightly darker mould from "Different Class" | |
"This Is Hardcore" is a slightly darker and seedier, yet more vulnerable sequel to the social observations and issues of fury, frustration and desire addressed on "Different Class". Indeed, the bitterness and rage felt on "Different Class" seems to have given way to a kind of sadness on "This Is Hardcore". After the success and the brilliance of "Different Class", whatever album followed was bound to be compared to it, but "This Is Hardcore" sounds a little more "grown-up" than "Different Class" in a way, for if "Different Class" was the soundtrack to a life from age 16 to 29, then "This Is Hardcore" feels more for life at age 30 and over. The lyrics are still as ingenious as those on "Different Class", but with less humour and more sentiment. "A Little Soul", "Dishes" and "Sylvia" are almost tragically touching. "Party Hard" sounds like a Bowie track from his late 70's "Eno-produced" album period, with Jarvis Cocker even sounding vaguely like Bowie on the song. My favourite songs on the album are "I'm A Man" and "The Day After The Revolution" which has a strange kind of "bittersweet" air of finality to it without being sickly, like a happy ending to a particularly tense film where everything turns out okay. The only track I'm not too keen on is "Seductive Barry". It just moves too slow and lacks any real hook. Overall though, another really great album from Pulp and enjoyable to listen to both on it's own and back to back with "Different Class".
August 13, 2004More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(87 reviews)
