Pulp - This Is Hardcore (1998)

Pulp - This Is Hardcore (1998)

Tracklist front / back album covers

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)   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"   4:55

12. "The Day After the Revolution" (edited to 5:52 on bonus track releases)   14:56

Pulp Band Members / Musicians

Jarvis Cocker

Nick Banks

Candida Doyle

Steve Mackey

Mark Webber

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)

John Currin – direction

Peter Saville – direction

Horst Diekgerdes – photography

Howard Wakefield – design

Paul Hetherington – design

This Is Hardcore is the 6th album by English band Pulp. Released in March 1998, it came three years after their breakthrough album, Different Class, and was eagerly anticipated.

Pulp are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. At their critical and commercial peak, the band consisted of Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Nick Banks (drums, percussion), Steve Mackey (bass) and Mark Webber (guitar, keyboards).

Throughout the 1980s the band struggled to find success, but gained prominence in the UK in the mid-1990s with the release of the albums His 'n' Hers in 1994 and particularly Different Class in 1995, which reached the number one spot in the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned four top ten singles, including "Common People" and "Sorted for E's & Wizz", both of which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Pulp's musical style during this period consisted of disco-influenced pop-rock coupled with references to British culture in their lyrics in the form of a "kitchen sink drama"-style. Cocker and the band became reluctant figureheads of the Britpop movement, and were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 1994 for His 'n' Hers; they won the prize in 1996 for Different Class and were nominated again in 1998 for This Is Hardcore. Pulp headlined the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival twice and were regarded among the Britpop "big four", along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.

Pulp Band Members / Musicians

Jarvis Cocker – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (1978–2002, 2011–2013, 2022–present)

Candida Doyle – keyboards, organ, backing vocals (1984–1986, 1987–2002, 2011–2013, 2022–present)

Nick Banks – drums, percussion (1986–2002, 2011–2013, 2022–present)

Mark Webber – guitar, keyboards (1995–2002, 2011–2013, 2022–

present; touring musician 1994–1995)

Andrew McKinney – bass (2023–present)

Emma Smith – violin, guitar (2023–present)

Adam Betts – percussion, guitar, keyboards (2023–present)

Saskia Cocker – backing vocals (1982–1983, 2012)

Jill Taylor  – backing vocals (1982–1983, 2012)

Garry Wilson – drums (1982–1983)

Richard Hawley – guitar (1998–2002, 2011–2012; guest 2023)

Leo Abrahams – guitar (2011–2013)

Jean Cook  – violin (2012)

Steve Mackey – bass (1988–2002, 2011–2013, died 2023)

Russell Senior – guitar, violin, vocals (1983–1997, 2011)

Peter Dalton – guitar, keyboards, vocals (1978–1982)

Ian Dalton – percussion (1978–1979)

David "Fungus" Lockwood – bass (1979)

Mark Swift – drums, percussion (1979–1980)

Philip Thompson – bass (1979–1980)

Jimmy Sellars – drums (1980–1981)

Jamie Pinchbeck – bass (1980–1982)

Wayne Furniss – drums, guitar, bass (1981–1982)

David Hinkler – keyboards, organ, trombone, guitar (1982–1983)

Simon Hinkler – bass, guitar, keyboards, piano (1982–1983)

Peter Boam – bass, guitar, drums, keyboards (1982–1983)

Magnus Doyle – drums, keyboards (1983–1986)

Peter Mansell – bass (1983–1986)

Tim Allcard – keyboards, saxophone, poetry, drums (1983–1984)

Michael Paramore – drums, percussion (1983)

Steven Havenhand – bass (1986–1988)

Captain Sleep – keyboards (1986–1987)

Antony Genn – bass (1988)

Pulp Discography Full

1983 It

1987 Freaks

1992 Separations

1994 His 'n' Hers

1995 Different Class

1998 This Is Hardcore

2001 We Love Life