Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reality Bites Back!, 9 April 2002
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
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The cold, hard truth of adult life., 7 Oct 2003
'This Is Hardcore' is the morning after of the thirtysomething parties of the '90s. In a decade of 'This Life', Hornby, 'Sex & the City' & 'Bridget Jones' leaving people paranoid about the life they should be living, the album tells it how it really was during that period. Plus, is an accurate account of how life is for many, especially in the city. It really is the perfect album for those who've lived and are now paying for it. Many indie types (which I'm not I may add)don't like the lack of catchy tunes, and some tracks do muscially go on for too long (the end coda of the final track goes on for ages)yet the superb lyrics make it a must. Difficult at first, but delicious to finish with.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kitsch is out, but quality remains, 12 Jun 2000
By A Customer
This is Pulp's equivalent to Blur's eponymous release, showing a darker and far less commercial side to their music. For the most part, the record is too inaccessible to be cherished, but their bravery is commendable, and songs like "Dishes" and (especially) the title track really grow on you.Jarvis Cocker does exactly what Damon Albarn does on "Blur" and messes up the popular image of himself, perhaps deliberately to make himself less well-loved. He feels isolated and under threat by celebrity, society and "The Fear". He develops a (hopefully tongue-in-cheek) Jesus complex on the afore-mentioned "Dishes", comparing his initials and age to Christ's, whilst adding his usual healthy dose of bathos. This record is worth buying for the title track alone. Encompassing everything from disco to Krautrock to Velvet Underground to Serge Gainsbourg, it is one of the group's very best, right up there with "Common People" and "Sorted for E's and Whizz", although you can be sure your parents won't like it. Perhaps in general on this album, Cocker's wryness has faded somewhat and he is less ironic and post-modern and more philosophically naked and direct. That is no bad thing, as the group may have been in danger of turning into a novelty act. With bands like Pulp, capable of embracing a pop sensibility AND really saying something, who needs vacant pop thrills?
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