This Is Hardcore

This Is Hardcore is the sixth album by English band Pulp, first released in March 1998. It came three years after their breakthrough album, Different Class, and was eagerly anticipated. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 166 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[4]

This article is about the album. For the song, see This Is Hardcore (song).

This Is Hardcore
Studio album by Pulp
Released	30 March 1998
Recorded	November 1996–January 1998[1]
Studio	The Townhouse, London Olympic, London
Genre	Alternative rock art rock[2] Britpop[3]
Length	69:49
Label	Island
Producer	Chris Thomas
Pulp chronology
Countdown 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: 9 March 1998 "A Little Soul" Released: 8 June 1998 "Party Hard" Released: 7 September 1998

Background and release

As with the band's previous album, Different Class, it reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart,[5] and was well received critically, earning Pulp a third successive nomination for the 1998 Mercury Prize.[6]

A subsequent release in the UK later in 1998 came with a bonus live CD entitled "This Is Glastonbury". A deluxe edition of This Is Hardcore was released on 11 September 2006. It contained a second disc of B-sides, demos and rarities.

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 and the images were further digitally manipulated by Howard Wakefield who also designed the album.[7] 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"[8] and "This is Sexist" or "This is Demeaning".[9]

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.[10]

Commercial performance

The album had first-week sales of just over 50,000, 62% fewer than Different Class first-week sales of 133,000.[11] The album was certified gold by the BPI April 1998 for sales of 100,000.[12] As of 2008, sales in the United States have exceeded 86,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[13]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Chicago Tribune	[15]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[16]
The Guardian	[17]
Los Angeles Times	[18]
NME	7/10[19]
Pitchfork	7.8/10[20]
Q	[21]
Rolling Stone	[22]
Spin	8/10[23]

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[24] The album was very well received in the States with the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, all awarding the album three and a half stars out of four.[15][18][25] 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 listed the album at number seven in its list "The 50 Best Britpop Albums."[26]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Jarvis Cocker; all music is composed by Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey and Mark Webber, except where noted.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"The Fear"		5:35
2.	"Dishes"		3:30
3.	"Party Hard"		4:00
4.	"Help the Aged"		4:28
5.	"This Is Hardcore" (includes a sample of "Bolero on the Moon Rocks" written by Peter Thomas, recorded by The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Webber Thomas	6:25
6.	"TV Movie"		3:25
7.	"A Little Soul"		3:19
8.	"I'm a Man"		4:59
9.	"Seductive Barry"		8:31
10.	"Sylvia"		5:44
11.	"Glory Days"	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Webber Antony Genn	4:55
12.	"The Day After the Revolution" (edited to 5:52 on bonus track releases)		14:56

Double LP bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Tomorrow Never Lies"		4:53
14.	"Laughing Boy"		3:50
15.	"The Professional"		5:09
16.	"This is Hardcore" (End of the Line mix)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Webber Thomas	3:02

International CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Like a Friend" (B-side to "A Little Soul", bonus track on North American and Japanese releases)	4:32
14.	"Tomorrow Never Lies" (B-side to "Help the Aged", bonus track on Japanese release)	4:53

This Is Glastonbury bonus disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Fear"		7:49
2.	"Live Bed Show"	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Russell Senior Webber	4:33
3.	"TV Movie"		3:55
4.	"A Little Soul"		4:36
5.	"Party Hard"		4:29
6.	"Help the Aged"		5:33
7.	"Seductive Barry"		9:57
8.	"This Is Hardcore" (Bonus track on Japanese release)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Webber Thomas	7:16
9.	"Glory People: Glory Days / Common People" (Bonus track on Japanese release)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Senior Webber Genn	11:13

2006 Deluxe edition bonus disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Origin	Length
1.	"Cocaine Socialism" (proper version)		Previously unavailable	5:14
2.	"It's a Dirty World" (recording session outtake)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Senior	Previously unavailable	5:13
3.	"Like a Friend"		"A Little Soul" single	4:32
4.	"The Professional"		"This Is Hardcore" single	5:09
5.	"Ladies' Man"		"This Is Hardcore" single	4:44
6.	"Laughing Boy"		"Help the Aged" single	3:50
7.	"We Are the Boyz"		"Party Hard" single	3:15
8.	"Tomorrow Never Dies" (rough mix)		Previously unavailable	4:53
9.	"Can I Have My Balls Back, Please?" (demo)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Senior	Previously unavailable	4:16
10.	"Modern Marriage" (demo)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey	Previously unavailable	4:54
11.	"My Erection" (demo)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey	Previously unavailable	4:22
12.	"You Are the One" (demo)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey	Previously unavailable	4:28
13.	"Street Operator" (demo)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey	Previously unavailable	3:52
14.	"This Is Hardcore" (End of the Line mix)	Cocker Banks Doyle Mackey Webber Thomas	"This Is Hardcore" single	2:06

Personnel

Pulp Jarvis Cocker Nick Banks Candida Doyle Steve Mackey Mark Webber Production 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 – design

Charts

Original album weekly charts Chart (1998) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 15 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 20 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 44 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[30] 32 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[31] 56 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[32] 15 French Albums (SNEP)[33] 9 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[34] 20 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[35] 12 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[36] 10 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[37] 14 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 31 UK Albums (OCC)[39] 1 US Billboard 200[40] 114

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Gold 100,000^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Sturdy, Mark (15 December 2009). Truth and Beauty: The Story of Pulp. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857121035.
2. Gerard, Chris (4 April 2014). "50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
3. 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.
4. Rocklist.net NME: The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time : October 2013
5. "Pulp full official chart". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
6. "Mercury Prize Shortlist". mercuryprize.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
7. Cocker, Jarvis 'They're not grotesque – they're beautiful' Retrieved 11 December 2007.
8. Anon 'PULP – ACRYLIC AFTERNOONS – This Is Hardcore Retrieved 8 July 2008.
9. 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.
10. "100 Greatest Music Videos". NME. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
11. Jones, Alan (11 April 1998). "The Official UK Charts: Albums - 11 April 1998". Music Week: 18.
12. "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.
13. 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.
14. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "This Is Hardcore – Pulp". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
15. Kot, Greg (3 April 1998). "Pulp: This Is Hardcore (Island)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
16. Browne, David (13 April 1998). "This Is Hardcore". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
17. Sullivan, Caroline (27 March 1998). "Confessions of a pop group". The Guardian.
18. 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.
19. Patterson, Sylvia (21 March 1998). "Pulp – This Is Hardcore". NME. Archived from the original on 2 October 2000. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
20. DiCrescenzo, Brent. "Pulp: This Is Hardcore". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
21. Yates, Robert (May 1998). "Velvet Overground". Q (140).
22. Kot, Greg (23 March 1998). "Pulp: This Is Hardcore". Rolling Stone (784). Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
23. Hornby, Nick (May 1998). "People's Poet". Spin. 14 (5): 133. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
24. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
25. Masley, Ed (22 May 1998). "For the Record". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
26. "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". Pitchfork. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
27. "Australiancharts.com – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
28. "Austriancharts.at – Pulp – This Is Hardcore" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
29. "Ultratop.be – Pulp – This Is Hardcore" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
30. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3530". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
31. "Dutchcharts.nl – Pulp – This Is Hardcore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
32. "Pulp: This Is Hardcore" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
33. "Lescharts.com – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
34. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pulp – This Is Hardcore" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
35. "Charts.nz – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
36. "Norwegiancharts.com – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
37. "Swedishcharts.com – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
38. "Swisscharts.com – Pulp – This Is Hardcore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
39. "Pulp | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
40. "Pulp Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 January 2017.

External links

• This Is Hardcore (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• This Is Hardcore Deluxe Edition (2 CD ) (Adobe Flash) at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)