I see. The Demos page on the official site says that the above-mentioned early, productive session was Dec '96/Jan '97. Pulpwiki says Jan/Feb '97. You say a month later again! I don't have your book to hand so can't read Nick's comments about the material they had at the time. If there were lots of "snippets" (think that's the word Nick uses in that Dutch radio interview on the songwriting process and making of TiH) knocking around from previous practices and sessions, I guess it's entirely feasible that they could write and record them quickly. Just a question largely of organisation and editing. 

saw119 wrote:

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Nice stuff Eamonn and Sturdy, this has been a very interesting thread to read. I don't have much to add but to me TiH is very much half an album at best and to make matters worse it is front stacked. I have rarely ever listened to side 2, even piecemeal. Also, despite how much I love tracks like The Professional and Ladies Man I don't really think that they could fit into the album structure. This period is marked by a lot of standalone songs rather than a cohesive set of songs designed for an album in my opinion.

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  Sums it up pretty well. A hard album to make work no matter how it's designed.

Yeah, Pulpwiki has a Q article about the making of the album www.pulpwiki.net/Pulp/PressClippings2011-2012. Frustratingly short, but some quotes pertinent to this discussion:

At the beginning of 1997 "in a fragile frame of mind, the band reconvened to generate ideas in The Fortress, North London. Nick: We had two windowless cellar rooms where we piled all our stuff and started making noise to see what happened. It was like Hitler's bunker, locked away from everyone. It was quite bleak. We did have some laughs but a lot of the time it did feel like you were trying to dig something out of very hard rock."

I see Pete Lewis, the engineer on the main sessions for TIH (and the aborted WLL sessions with Chris Thomas) is on LinkedIn. Might be an interesting man to ask for his recollections of both albums. Any prospective edition of Truth And Beauty would surely be a lot easier to research and update with most contributors likely to have an online presence these days!

Eamonn wrote:

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At the beginning of 1997 "in a fragile frame of mind, the band reconvened to generate ideas in The Fortress, North London. Nick: We had two windowless cellar rooms where we piled all our stuff and started making noise to see what happened. It was like Hitler's bunker, locked away from everyone. It was quite bleak. We did have some laughs but a lot of the time it did feel like you were trying to dig something out of very hard rock." 

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Ha! I spent a random Saturday drinking in The Fortress.  Its an odd place full of characters. Had no idea about the Pulp connection, but I could totally see now where it could have inspired TIH. 

Fuss Free wrote:

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Eamonn wrote:

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At the beginning of 1997 "in a fragile frame of mind, the band reconvened to generate ideas in The Fortress, North London. Nick: We had two windowless cellar rooms where we piled all our stuff and started making noise to see what happened. It was like Hitler's bunker, locked away from everyone. It was quite bleak. We did have some laughs but a lot of the time it did feel like you were trying to dig something out of very hard rock." 

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Ha! I spent a random Saturday drinking in The Fortress.  Its an odd place full of characters. Had no idea about the Pulp connection, but I could totally see now where it could have inspired TIH. 

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I think it's The Fortress studio he's referring to. Maybe the pub is nearby.

I like this recording where Jarvis looks like a mime artist and the others are all dressed quite splendidly:

 

The middle 8 is the best part! Lyrics in that section are somewhat trite, especially for Jarvis but he rarely is so I'd throw him a bone on that one.

For an adolescent, miserable, hormonal or otherwise, that's a very succint and wise appraisal of it. I think, as you already recognise the flaws, it's an album that will keep on giving well into your 20's, 30's and beyond. I've already earmarked the deluxe edition as future (30th or 33rd birthday) gifts for a couple of friends who like Pulp.

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 "Wise"? Aw, cheers. With regards to still enjoying the album later in life - I'm glad you said that. I'm at an age where I'm making associations between music and quite notable events in my life, and to think that I might write off/dislike something in my 20s that meant so much to me in my teens is a bit of a grim thought. So, yeah, I really hope I still get the same out of it then as I do now. The deluxe edition is going to be a present from me to me next time I've got the cash. Your friends are lucky sods!

-- Edited by Beetlebum on Sunday 4th of August 2013 09:13:20 PM

The hate on Sylvia makes me feel ill, it's always been a favourite. I can't but feel it's the only 'pop' song on here.

Eamonn wrote:

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Fuss Free wrote:

 

Ha! I spent a random Saturday drinking in The Fortress.  Its an odd place full of characters. Had no idea about the Pulp connection, but I could totally see now where it could have inspired TIH. 

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I think it's The Fortress studio he's referring to. Maybe the pub is nearby.

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Yep. I was referring to the studio too. The place is like it's own subculture.

Eamonn wrote:

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I don't see much hate for it, more people commenting on individual parts of the song that fall short. The solo is bombastic and the only real time Pulp ever went near classic RAWK. I kind of enjoy that anomaly but don't think there's a need for the over the top outro. The chorus strives for an explosive peak which kinda, nearly gets there but not quite and I can understand Pulp connoisseurs baulking at the lyrics - "Keep believing and do what you do". Maybe Pulp wanted to be Journey for one song only.
The verses are gorgeous, I think most would agree on that.

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 I think Sylvia would've worked much better with Different Class or His 'n' Hers-era instrumentation: a wash of violin and synths, and a bit of cheeky stylophone. Maybe a hint of disco somewhere. It would've made the bombast seem knowing rather than earnest.

triciathetree wrote:

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My experience, mind you I'm only 23, is that you go through a cycle of loving a particular song/album then maybe you can't stand it for a bit or you're embarrassed that you liked it, then you realize how much it meant to you at whatever time in your life and you go back to loving it despite its flaws.

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I can't imagine ever being embarrassed by my being a fan of Pulp. In fact, I'm now at an age where I'll look back on this music very fondly (I think). I don't think I'll be at all ashamed of being such a huge fan of Pulp, Blur, Suede, Beck etc. - not like I am of having liked Avril Lavigne when I was about ten.

On an unrelated note, your avatar keeps catching me off guard. I glance at it occasionally and it makes me smile like a simpleton.