This track, "It's a Dirty World", is fantastic. It frankly beggars belief that it did not make it onto the album proper, but there you go.
Listening to This is Hardcore as a vague new comer to it, and having the benefit of hearing the new demo tracks etc, I have come up with what i would consider as a wonderful compilation to consider putting together and listening to what could have been - I understand Jarvis's motives for making a darker less commercial album, but this one is frankly miles better than the official one (in my view)....
COCAINE SOCIALISM
THE FEAR
HELP THE AGED
THIS IS HARDCORE
A LITTLE SOUL
PARTY HARD
IT'S A DIRTY WORLD
DISHES
STREET OPERATOR
I'M A MAN
GLORY DAYS
... Some may think its a bit odd to have both "Cocaine.." and "Glory Days" on the same compilation, but I like aping that kind of "part 1" and "part 2" thing that Bowie did with "It's no Game" on Scary Monsters - i like the kind of bleak faux optimism that is "Glory Days" after the scorning "Cocaine Socialsim" ending the album with a feeling that most of the UK's inhabitants don't really have a clue or give a toss about whats going on - i also like the idea of Jarvis singing the same tune but with a completely different sentiment.
Dropping "Seductive Barry" and "The Day After.." takes some weight off things, and the rest that I have omitted is hardly, in my view, essential Pulp.
It's A Dirty World and Street Operator are class. Great tracks!
The Fear Dishes Help The Aged Seductive Barry This Is Hardcore It's A Dirty World Party Hard A Little Soul Street Operator Ladies Man Glory Days Like A Friend The Day After The Revolution
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This is the sound of someone losing the plot, making out that they are okay when they are not. You're gonna like it, but not a lot.
Th Fear would still have to be the opening track for me, and I don't think I'd put help the Aged and This is Hardcore one after the other...I'm also quite a fan of Sylvia and I see that isn't there.
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"I thought so long and suddenly I realised,
I love Pulp!"
everybody's entitled to their opinion, but to me, the fear is the only opener.... you can argue about the rest, but the guy got it wrong with that one. and the professionnal is so not an opener. what a weird thought.
It's not my _ideal_ tracklisting, it was an attempt to balance the continuity/themes of the record as people assumed, with what I thought was a good tracklisting for a pop fan.
If I were making it for myself, I would have included "Cocaine Socialism" instead of "Glory Days", not got rid of "Sylvia", and now, I'd definitely include "It's A Dirty World" somewhere as that's just class.
1. The Fear 2. Dishes 3. Party Hard 4. Help the Aged 5. This is Hardcore 6. I’m a Man 7. Seductive Barry 8. The Professional 9. Street Operator 10. It's a Dirty World 11. Cocaine Socialism 12. The Day After the Revolution
As you can see, I have not included TV Movie or A Little Soul because they are, uh, how can I put it? Crap. Of course, that's my opinion but listen to The Fear or It's a Dirty World then these two, there's two levels of quality. It's all very well banging a couple of tracks onto albums to fill them up, but only when the fillers are good.
I've kept the first five the same because, on the original, the first five songs were great then the quality took a nosedive. So I'm not fixing what isn't broken.
Side B would sound great starting with the lengthy Seductive Barry and certainly sets the mood for the others. Street Operator should have been on the album and I've included Cocaine Socialism as opposed to Glory Days, simply because it is much better. Glory Days sounds like Jarvis had already done hundreds of vocal takes and was getting a bit bored. Oh well. The Day After the Revolution is a great closer.
It's a dirty world is worth the price of the albums alone, pure brilliance that was left off the album and didn't even get B-side status, so thank f*** for the re-releases eh.
I'm in love with this song, the lyrics, and the wonderful melody that flows throughout it.
Personally the tracklisting by Jock Mooney would be nearest to my ideal version of This Is Hardcore. Ah well, at least nowadays you can do that without problems, so ain't a major deal thankfully.