Track Listing

1. Fear
2. Dishes
3. Party Hard
4. Help the Aged
5. This Is Hardcore
6. TV Movie
7. Little Soul
8. I'm a Man
9. Seductive Barry - Neneh Cherry, Pulp
10. Sylvia
11. Glory Days
12. Day After the Revolution
13. Like a Friend

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78868 in Music
• Released on: 1998-03-31
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Pulp frontman-lyricist Jarvis Cocker is still obsessed with making his concerns those of his audience and the even wider world. Drawing again on classic British pop like the '70s Roxy Music, Pulp attempt to make sense of--and draw together--everything from the aging process ("One time they were just like you / Drinking, smoking cigs and sniffing glue") to doing the dishes. This is Hardcore is slightly less charged than its predecessor Different Class, but only slightly; Cocker is one rock star who knows how to raise his fans' expectations and then surpass them. --Rickey Wright

Amazon.com
Bespectacled Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker is a crooner from the old school, a frock-sleeved dandy who's not afraid to emote with exaggerated aplomb. And it's been tongue-in-cheek humorous, for most of his career, to hear the Brit turn that talent on sarcastic societal subjects, poking fun wherever he could. Things have changed this time around, though--Cocker hit 33 and began looking inward, for some of his darkest, most soul-baring work yet, all set to an elaborate quasi-cinematic score. As the CD booklet itself says, "It's OK to grow up. Just as long as you don't grow old." Maturity may not be encouraged in show business, but it sounds very appropriate here. --Tom Lanham

Option
While the conflict between self-importance and self-effacement is a problem for Brit-pop as a whole, it's a dilemma that's written all over Pulp's impressive yet equally hollow new album ... the very cleverest thing about This Is Hardcore is that it's filled with rich melodies and well-wrought refrains; the soaring lead track, "The Fear," is only one such example of Pulp's compositional skill.

Still, there's a downside to all this. [Jarvis] Cocker can't really sing, and his lyrics offer more than their share of clinkers. At its best, his voice displays an oily charm reminiscent to Bryan Ferry; too often he's a bad imitation of the '70s Bowie.

Customer Reviews

Feeling Older
Pulp's This Is Hardcore is a hard album, but not in musical sounds. The band's front man, Jarvis Cocker, gets at his hardcore inner feelings. The album has a dark and somber tone with most of the songs dealing with his getting older and the carefree days of his youth slowly slipping away. Songs like "The Fear", "Help The Aged", "A Little Soul" and "I'm A Man" all deal with aging while songs like "Glory Days', "The Day After The Revolution", "Party Hard" and "Like A Friend" longingly look back at fond memories. The album has a subtle power and the band employs a lot a synth and strings that cast a dark shadow over the songs. This Is Hardcore is an album that challenges you, makes you think and makes you feel.

"Irony is over"
It's a pity that Pulp's lead singer is mostly known in the US as the guy who knocked over Michael Jackson and then waved his backside during an awards ceremony in the mid-90s. Jarvis Cocker manages to write bizarrely appealing lyrics, and fronts a band that really deserves to have more Stateside exposure.

THIS IS HARDCORE is, despite its name, a fairly mellow album in places, with many of the songs having a wistful, nostalgic feel to them. The band has moved on (again) from their previous sound, but all the tracks still retain that essential quality that makes them recognizably Pulp. The music somehow manages to sound cheap and throwaway, while able to retain a tough core.

The omnipresent keyboards and synthesizers of previous Pulp albums are back again, though I think they are somewhat more restrained than usual. There's a section in the middle of the CD of mostly guitar-based and straight piano music that seemed much more mainstream, although there are still some eerie sounding effects running through the tracks. "TV Movie" is a sad comparison of a broken relationship to a badly produced made-for-TV film. (It sounds sillier than it is. Cocker's lyrics alternate between hilarity and sentimentality masterfully.) "A Little Soul" is a frankly bizarre song where Jarvis sings to his fictional son about how he really wasn't a terribly good father and makes a brief, frightening mention of what things he used to practice every night with the kid's mother. I can't think of too many people who could get away with this, but Cocker does it with a wink and a smirk.

Pulp prove that they still know how to make some fast danceable music when they want to. "Party Hard" has a strong rhythm, while "The Fear" and "This Is Hardcore" feature some great bass guitar work. The music is fairly catchy overall; there are many tracks that I hum to myself for days after listening.

The US version of THIS IS HARDCORE features a bonus track not included on the UK release: "Like a Friend". This interrupts the fine conclusion that was brought by "The Day After The Revolution". But it is a fun song, so its inclusion is welcome. The album as a whole will probably appeal to those people out there who like quirky, offbeat music. It's not different enough from the mainstream to freak out anyone weaned on US radio, but it is just that little bit off to be quite appealing.

Reality Bites Back!
How do you follow the multi-platinum selling, perfect pop of Different Class? Well, you can wave bye bye to that gold disc and release your darkest collection of songs to date. That's exactly what Pulp did with This is Hardcore. It may have been considered a commercial "flop" by some insiders, but their loss was very much our gain. This is Hardcore is undoubtedly Pulp's finest collection of songs. It's depressing, funny, sad, despondent and uncomfortable to listen to if you are approaching that difficult age of 33. This is a moody, almost sleazy album in places and it's all the better for it. Different Class had an instant appeal to it, but I quickly lost interest.Two years on, Hardcore is still essential listening. That's the biggest compliment you can give to any album, if you still play and treasure it months after the hype has faded. It took a few listens for me to fully appreciate this album, but it soons hit you. Practically every listener will identify with the opening track The Fear. A tale of missed opportunities and panic attacks when everything goes horribly wrong. It all rings so true, and Jarvis knows it. Helped of course by the fine melody, the album touches on many fears but you sort of laff because Jarvis delivers his lyrics like some stand-up comedian. Other highlights include Helped The Aged and the title track which is aided along the way by strings Diva Anne Dudley. Hypnotic and seductive and quite simply brilliant. The track Dishes will make you chuckle whilst TV Movie and A Little Soul will scare you slightly. I never thought that Pulp would release a finer album than His N Hers, but Hardcore is in a class of it's own.