Many critics and fans, including myself when I first listened to this album, would scoff at such a statement, declaring that the latest offering from Sheffield's Common People is nothing but a collection of cheap thrills. Try listening to the album a few more times though and the genius that are Jarvis & co. becomes apparent; take the single line, 'I am not Jesus, though I have the same initials', it's clever, very clever, reminiscent of the ingenuity of 'Something Changed' and deliciously self-indulgent.

The musical completeness of the album, the way the tunes blend into one another instead of existing as separate entities, makes it difficult to isolate single songs. Even the four singles released ('Help the Aged', 'This Is Hardcore', 'A Little Soul' and 'Party Hard') blend in to the rest of the songs to create a continuous whole which exists like the prolonged final note which lasts for a whopping ten minutes - see what I mean about the self-indulgence! The whole effect is at the same time sleazy and ugly yet devilishly exciting. Look at the lyrics, however, (included on the album cover with the friendly yet cheeky request that the listener does not read them whilst listening to the recordings!) and the final three songs stand out, displaying a different point of view, a hope instead of a fear and, particularly in 'The Day After the Revolution', seem to reveal something about Pulp's way of thinking, 'It's over, bye bye. Yeah, we made it'....confidence in their own ability is alive.

Watching the whole thing live adds another dimension. For the 'This Is Hardcore' experience, visualise three extremely large blow up mattresses stood on end to create the set, lots of pink balloons and a fake Jarvis arriving on stage to fool the crowd and you have the visual character brought to the album by the band's recent tour. Again the mix of showmanship, sleaziness and enticement are undeniable.

Lyrics, musicality and visuality combine to create a grossly underrated musical masterpiece which everyone should go back and listen to again, from a band whose live shows are not to be missed.

There are albums that produce hits, and then there are those for which you can never remember the order of the tracks: 'This Is Hardcore' falls into the latter category. True, 'Different Class' produced more hit singles, (and if the band choose to re-release 'Disco 2000', will probably contain the number one single for the millennium?) but as a complete album I would venture the opinion that the later album is of a better class. It represents the maturing of a talent, a fact reinforced by the difference between the artwork on the sleeves of the respective CD's; the first is bright and harsh and eager to please, the second self-centred, glossy and delighting in the seediness which has always been the foundation of Pulp songs. Suzanne Cuncliffe