Anyone else think that this basically evolved into Party Hard?
First things first, you have Steve dialled up high in the mix, with a repetitive bassline composed of, like, three notes. Then there's Mark's Fenderised buzzing wall of sound and Jarvis singtalking through a vocoder. And the lyrics aren't too far away from shedding their load on your best party frock, either.
I really like this track, and to be honest I've caught myself thinking "It's a real shame they didn't develop this incredible groove and bassline into something proper". But now my guess is that Party Hard has its roots here, given they share the same basic template. Your mileage may vary, of course.
The lyrics to that song make me laugh. "I don't need no compass" Yeah, you can hear the similarities. I have often wished that it was developed into a proper song but perhaps it was and the result was Party Hard. Is it a stylophone you can hear on that song? I love the melody and the music
-- Edited by Jean on Sunday 10th of December 2023 02:36:22 PM
Half the demos on the deluxe This Is Hardcore are better than half the album.
Make sure you wear oven gloves for this HOT TAKE.
I disagree. I think that all the demos are better than "TV Movie" and "A Little Soul" but then again, most things are.
It's a Dirty World - I agree with you on this. It would have been great on the album but it's more a finished product than a demo.
I wouldn't necessarily say that some of the others are better or worse than the album tracks but it would be hard to place them on there.
Can I Have My Balls Back Please - even if it was recorded properly with different lyrics, I'm not sure it could have been anything other than a b-side.
My Erection - like "Ladies Man", a bit too experimental to have been a single or album track.
You are the One - this is "Pulp by numbers" for me. I really don't see anything special about it at all.
Street Operator - I loved this at the time but it has grated a bit over the years. Not terribly bad though.
Modern Marriage - probably the strongest of these demos for me but I'm not sure if the spoken verses would have sat well on the album. It would have made a better b-side than those terrible remixes any day.
"TV Movie" and "A Little Soul" are two absolute gems !
A little Soul is probably the most personal song Jarvis has ever written . And "TV Movie" is a fine acoustic track that sits well just behind the enormous This is Hardcore.
Hardcore - obviously head and shoulders above everything
The Fear, Dishes, Party Hard, Help the Aged - unimpeachable classics
A Little Soul, Seductive Barry, Glory Days - the album needs these three to work
I'm a Man - a good counterpart to the more elaborate material .
Sylvia - scrapes in by dint of it's lyrics
TV Movie, The Day After the Revolution - really good tracks but not as strong as Like a Friend and other songs (A Little Soul, Glory Days) do the same jobs better
TV Movie is really a marvel of songwriting. The same chords repeated over and over again, Jarvis manages to make a collage kind of song on the melody, a bit like the beatles Abbey road with a mellow first part and then an explosion and back to a more mellow part. It's a small rollercoaster after the huge rollercoaster that is TIH.
Really it's such a underrated piece. Jarvis has a way of making chords resonate in a very different way.
A little soul is the final comment on father not being up to the part with their children. I mean again its so perfect.
There's a lot of Jarvis songs where i'm like "ok he's done it again", but those two are just perfection.
The only one i would swap > Sylvia > Like a Friend.
On a related topic to the same chords over and over... hasn't Jarvis said before that he'd love to write a song with one chord and just generally see how few chords you can play. Definitely came up in an interview before. I agree with him. I love when someone can make something catchy from something very simple.
I also love Jarvis saying before that because none of them were musically trained it was really pot luck as to what chord they'd put together. They'd have to mess about and see what sounded good rather than knowing what goes with what. I love that about not having any formal training. You're free really. Things that shouldn't work can work.
Love A Little Soul and TV Movie. I also love a lot of the outtakes from the TIH era.
On a related topic to the same chords over and over... hasn't Jarvis said before that he'd love to write a song with one chord and just generally see how few chords you can play. Definitely came up in an interview before. I agree with him. I love when someone can make something catchy from something very simple.
I also love Jarvis saying before that because none of them were musically trained it was really pot luck as to what chord they'd put together. They'd have to mess about and see what sounded good rather than knowing what goes with what. I love that about not having any formal training. You're free really. Things that shouldn't work can work.
Love A Little Soul and TV Movie. I also love a lot of the outtakes from the TIH era.
Agreed fully. I play guitar and piano and cant read music but i love to explore and find weird chord progressions. I suppose Jarvis' style, half spoken / weird melodies comes from that. When you're not technical, you have to find another way.
Jarvis is the king of C/G/F, the brain does the rest to come up with a non sense melody that work. All his songs are full of twist and turn that would provoke nightmares in those "Classical" music school.
-- Edited by andy on Sunday 17th of December 2023 06:28:14 PM
Macca actually says this too in his interview with Jarvis that he just had to mess around to come up with stuff and that he still doesn't know how to write a song. Popular musicians don't get enough credit for that. I think it's amazing to pick up an instrument and come up with great songs without any formal training. Didn't realise what the common chords were with Jarvis (I play the drums so chords mean nothing to me ). But I noticed the chords of Ansaphone in other songs definitely and in the same sequence
Macca actually says this too in his interview with Jarvis that he just had to mess around to come up with stuff and that he still doesn't know how to write a song. Popular musicians don't get enough credit for that. I think it's amazing to pick up an instrument and come up with great songs without any formal training. Didn't realise what the common chords were with Jarvis (I play the drums so chords mean nothing to me ). But I noticed the chords of Ansaphone in other songs definitely and in the same sequence
Yeah same goes for Macca, or Noel Gallagher. People like that. When you learn the guitar you dont need to learn how to read music, and i'd say for other instruments it's not needed too. Drums is also more a feeling than basic principles. For every instrument, you need to unlock the part of your brain that will make you play better. Some manage, some don't.
Chords are a vessel : you can make them sound how you want, by changing the rhythm, the pattern, the strengh, the order, the speed... Music, like maths, is the language of the universe. Music concepts have been invented by humans and it's good to know them sometimes, but you can definitely become a genius songwriter just knowing C/G/F or A/D/E.
Cant really say i'm a "songwriter" but ive written many many songs, and the best ones are always the ones that comes easily. Just like that, falling from the sky. If i were to just sit here and work out a song, it just didn't sound as good. It's crazy.