This Is Hardcore

Background and release

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

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 images were further digitally manipulated by Howard Wakefield who also designed the album. Currin, who 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" and "This is Sexist" or "This is Demeaning".

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.

Reception and legacy

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. 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. 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."

Track listing

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

Tracks 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 from the Deluxe edition bonus disc were previously unavailable

Personnel