'"We Love Life" Is Pulp's Best Album

[PaulTMA]

The Sisters EP is just one of the most perfect records ever and was the real gateway for me from listening to Dire Straits and Phil Collins to something considerably more relevant for being 13.  Having already owned Suede's Stay Together, I think I was under the misapprehension in mid-1994 of assuming that bands of their ilk would only release classic songs, b-sides or otherwise.  Needless to say, His 'n' Hers will always be the album for me.

Strangely, Different Class didn't have quite the same impact when it was released as I knew virtually all of the songs from the broadcast gigs and singles from that year.  I also remember actually feeling anger towards them circa 1997 for not having a new album out.

I queued for four hours at the Heineken Festival in 1995, only for Pulp to cancel their appearance at the signing tent.  Never found out why.  I also queued for 2 or 3 hours at HMV Oxford Street when Help The Aged was released, only to get autographs from everyone expect Jarvis (and Steve).  Years later I would hear stories of less deserving people I knew getting the opportunity to meet him, such as recieving texts while I was living back with my parents saying things like "OMG we're in the Sub Club and Jarvis is here, we've all met him" which would make me ultra-depressed.  I did eventually get to meet Jarvis a couple of years ago at an event he did in Helensburgh and like an idiot, I actually told him all of this.  He grinned (in a charming and not-at-all-pisstakey way - he was in a really good mood) and said "well, I hope it were all worthwhile".  At last!!

[Phil_A]

That's the nicest thing I've ever seen written about that album, and it's still overrating it. What an utterly revolting album it was. And in this ridiculous day and age, I bet we still get a 20th anniversary super deluxe box set in three years time.
The parallels between it and We Love Life are there - more acoustic, pastoral sounding albums released three years after "darker", druggy albums, both of which were commercial flops. But although I'm not keen on WLL, it's artistically still a success, while ANM is just an absolute void of interest.

Heh, I said "competent", not necessarily meaning "any good". Stephen Street did a decent job producing ANM, I'll say that. It's a just a shame it was so underwhelming in every other respect.

[Jockice]

That's the nicest thing I've ever seen written about that album, and it's still overrating it. What an utterly revolting album it was. And in this ridiculous day and age, I bet we still get a 20th anniversary super deluxe box set in three years time.
The parallels between it and We Love Life are there - more acoustic, pastoral sounding albums released three years after "darker", druggy albums, both of which were commercial flops. But although I'm not keen on WLL, it's artistically still a success, while ANM is just an absolute void of interest.

Head Music and This Is Hardcore both topped the charts. They may not have sold as many as their predecessors but they didn't really flop either.

[Jockice]

  I did eventually get to meet Jarvis a couple of years ago at an event he did in Helensburgh and like an idiot, I actually told him all of this.  He grinned (in a charming and not-at-all-pisstakey way - he was in a really good mood) and said "well, I hope it were all worthwhile".  At last!!

I was born in Helensburgh you know. And have met Jarvis numerous times. But never there.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I always had the impression that We Love Life was generally considered a return to form, after This is Hardcore. I'm not sure if that meant they were good again, or just that they'd gone more upbeat. I like TIH well enough, but it is definitely the sound of a band fucked on drugs and fame. I expect some people think it's the best, because it's dark, sleazy and not for the fair weather pop crowd. They'd be wrong.

On a purely subjective level, I'd have to name Different Class as my favourite. It was the first album I ever owned. We Love Life holds a similar place in my heart, as it was the first record I bought at university. I can understand the arguments about His 'n' Hers sounding more quintessentially Pulp, but I didn't manage to get that until the year 2000 (when I was fully grown).

I also remember actually feeling anger towards them circa 1997 for not having a new album out.

That sounds familiar. I wasn't pissed off, but I distinctly remember thinking they'd blown it. I was just a kid then, though, so two or three years seemed like forever.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

This Is Hardcore is the best Pulp album. Is this thread an elaborate hoax?

[purlieu]

Head Music and This Is Hardcore both topped the charts. They may not have sold as many as their predecessors but they didn't really flop either.

Fair point. 'Slightly underwhelming' is more accurate than flop.

That sounds familiar. I wasn't pissed off, but I distinctly remember thinking they'd blown it. I was just a kid then, though, so two or three years seemed like forever.

It seems so strange in this era of one-album-every-three-or-four-years, but back then anything over 18 months was a lifetime between albums. I remember thinking the Manics have probably split up when I'd heard nothing new by early 1998. The hype around Be Here Now was enormous, despite it only coming a couple of years after Morning Glory. What different times they were.

[SteveDave]

Paging 'She's a Lady'. The closest thing to a skippable track and yet as I play right now, the opening synths give me goosebumps.

"Someone Like The Moon" wants a word.

[Crabwalk]

That word being 'I am a woozily beautifully song that serves as the perfect launchpad into David's Last Summer'.

[the science eel]

It's actually It. They sold out after that.

Sure you're being facetious, but is there anything on there that's any good?

This is my favourite from the early years, but I haven't heard anything (yet) to match it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg9d-sxk0HQ

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It is very good, if a bit twee perhaps.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

It is solid, unremarkable and very derivative

This was the single : https://youtu.be/gP6zW-pjWQA

[Jockice]

Sure you're being facetious, but is there anything on there that's any good?

This is my favourite from the early years, but I haven't heard anything (yet) to match it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg9d-sxk0HQ

You had to be there man. You really had to be there,

[the science eel]

Anyway - how good is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQJeY2bVws

[Jockice]

Heh, I said "competent", not necessarily meaning "any good". Stephen Street did a decent job producing ANM, I'll say that. It's a just a shame it was so underwhelming in every other respect.

I've just looked up the tracklisting on A New Morning. It's far from my most-played album but I do own it. I can remember the first single (and opening track) but that's it. Not even the titles of the other tracks inspire any memories at all. And even the single isn't much good. Suede doing a single called Positivity is like Neil Hannon putting out one called I Am Not A Smug Little Tit.

What we want from Suede is griminess and grimness. And lyrics like: 'She eats all her meat to the beat on the street,' Positivity my arse.

[Jockice]

Anyway - how good is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQJeY2bVws

The thing about Pulp is that even if their records were dodgy (which some were), they were always a very entertaining live proposition. Here's the above song from one of their first live TV shows. My friends Mark And Suzanne are in the audience you know. Well you don't know them but they are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7za479NyB8

And as for the worst track on His'n'Hers, it's a close-run thing with Someone Like The Moon and I Will Surv...sorry, She's A Lady but surely the winner is the horrible Acrylic Afternoons, which even then sounded like someone doing a crap Pulp parody.

Different Class doesn't have a duff track on it meanwhile. I like some more than others but there isn't one I can listen to and think: 'That's not good.' This Is Hardcore is incredibly patchy but I like most of it and We Love Life has a couple of tracks I'm not very fond of but is excellent overall.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

'Something Changed' is the duff one on Different Class for me. It just always seemed to lack character

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Oh and 'Razzmatazz' reminds me that the Intro – The Gift Recordings comp is just straight-up one of their best albums

[Crabwalk]

Different Class doesn't have a duff track on it meanwhile. I like some more than others but there isn't one I can listen to and think: 'That's not good.'

'Pencil Skirt'

[Monsieur Verdoux]

'Pencil Skirt' is good!! Supremely vicious and unpleasant lyric

[SteveDave]

'Pencil Skirt'

"I really love it when you tell me to stop."

Cocker #cancelled 

[Jockice]

'Pencil Skirt'

The worst track on there. But still good.

[Jockice]

"I really love it when you tell me to stop."

Cocker #cancelled

See also PTA.

[Phil_A]

Separations is the one album that always gets overlooked. It's the first time Pulp sounded completely confident in themselves, the point where the band's ambition is finally matched by the performance, songwriting and production. I think it kind of got lost in limbo at the time due to the band's relationship with Fire Records collapsing, which is probably why so few people are aware of it.

[Jockice]

One of my favourites from The Different Class period despite the band themselves thinking it was too silly to release at the time. Catcliffe is where they used to rehearse upstairs in a pottery business owned by the Banks family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApiPPgK-HLE

[Crabwalk]

The worst track on there. But still good.

Without it, this would be Side A of Different Class:

A1   Mis-Shapes   
A2   Common People   
A2   I Spy   
A4   Disco 2000   
A5   Live Bed Show

We are talking about a contender for all-time greatest side of an album there. As it is, 'Pencil Skirt' halts any momentum the record's generated, and 'Common People' has to kick things off again. 'Pencil Skirt' isn't awful in isolation, but it's a stinker within that running order.

[purlieu]

And even the single isn't much good. Suede doing a single called Positivity is like Neil Hannon putting out one called I Am Not A Smug Little Tit.

What we want from Suede is griminess and grimness. And lyrics like: 'She eats all her meat to the beat on the street,' Positivity my arse.

They sorely regret choosing it as the lead single. 'Obsessions' would have been a much better choice, being the only remotely listenable pop song on there. 'Lost in TV' is a nice slow one that is probably the only song on the album worthy of being called a Suede song.


It is a lovely little album. It's derivative and twee, but solid. 'Blue Girls' is a real highlight, one of my favourite Pulp songs. 'Wishful Thinking' is marvellous, although the earlier Peel Session version is superior to the one on the album.

Freaks is pretty flimsy - both in unmemorable songs and ludicrously tinny production - but the recent bonus disc (originally released as Masters of the Universe) contains all the best songs from that era, including the brilliant singles 'Little Girl With Blue Eyes' and 'Dogs Are Everywhere', the slightly gothy 'The Mark of the Devil' and the wonderful The Fall-do-krautrock madness of 'Tunnel'.

Separations is where they lay the groundwork for the later stuff, with some definite His n Hers vibes in places, albeit with added Europop and folk touches. 'Love is Blind' is a cracking opener, 'She's Dead' being another highlight. My favourite there is the wonderfully named 'Death II'.

[DrGreggles]

'Something Changed' is the duff one on Different Class for me. It just always seemed to lack character

Probably ones of my favourites. Great opening line too.

[the science eel]

Oh and 'Razzmatazz' reminds me that the Intro – The Gift Recordings comp is just straight-up one of their best albums

yes yes yes



The Peel session version of 'Pencil Skirt' places the violin more centre-stage and I think is better for it. It's a magical song anyway. Stop saying bad things about it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM_HJSpWdP4

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Without it, this would be Side A of Different Class:

A1   Mis-Shapes   
A2   Common People   
A2   I Spy   
A4   Disco 2000   
A5   Live Bed Show

We are talking about a contender for all-time greatest side of an album there. As it is, 'Pencil Skirt' halts any momentum the record's generated, and 'Common People' has to kick things off again. 'Pencil Skirt' isn't awful in isolation, but it's a stinker within that running order.

"Pencil Skirt" is way better than "Live Bed Show"