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Post Info TOPIC: Why did Pulp never record another album after the reunion tour?


Common Person

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Why did Pulp never record another album after the reunion tour?
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Before the small reunion tour started, it seemed like Jarvis was writing some new material for Pulp. Then after the tour Jarvis mentioned it wasn't going to happen. It seemed like the tour was setup for them to start recording again.



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Ian


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I remember a board post from years ago where somebody said that Pulp were a great live band but just couldn't record very well. Looking back at every album besides "Different Class" I would be inclined to agree. I'm certainly not slagging the albums off but if you take "This is Hardcore" for example, they probably had a bigger budget than ever before considering the success of its predecessor but it took a lot longer to record. Also, they discarded at least an album's worth of material during the recording process for "We Love Life". I think it's a miracle that the band lasted this long. I mean, for example, if Candida (arguably the next rank down from Russell) decided to leave during the recording of "We Love Life", would they have carried on?

I'm guessing the band look back at these processes as very frustrating plus there's always the matter of sales; they decided to leave Island due to the much reduced deal that they were offering. Also, a new Pulp album would probably only sell more than the first three albums but much less than the others.

Jarvis is presumably content releasing his solo material whenever he sees fit - no band to answer to, no deadlines, cheaper recording, higher profit margins and so forth.

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Agree with Ian. Also I heard there are some quarrels in the band (again) during the reunion tour. I believe it is one of the reasons.

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Steve, Jarvis and Nick spoke warmly about the group during the reunion and may well have been up for it but Candida and Mark seemed less enamoured by the prospect of new music although I wonder if they enjoyed the After You session with James Murphy and if that softened their resistance at all  ( I spoke to Mark after the premiere of the film in 2014 but forgot to ask him that specifically but he did rule out any new music by Pulp). Apparently not, I guess they still would have had to write and rehearse twenty or so new songs before the recording and production of an LP and then all the marketing and promoting side which, based on the band's reluctance to do practically any interviews during the reunion, was always likely to be a demotivating factor.

They're not spring chickens anymore, less likely to put up with the interminable writing and recording periods of the past. The pay-off from doing live shows instead is so much easier and instant.

Thankfully Jarvis and Steve still have the music "bug", the latter now more from the technical and production side, sometimes second best is all you're gonna get, somebody told me.



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Legendary

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By the end of 2012, Mark was starting a family so, I think maybe the idea of being away in a studio, when you've are about to/have become a parent for the first time is a bit of no brainer, especially recalling the difficulties Russell apparently went though juggling a young family and touring/recording. Plus he had a lot of film curation projects and film literature projects in the offing, so I just don't think it was practical.

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Master Of The Universe

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I'm kinda sad they didn't release another record, i was really optimistic back then.

But then again, i cant really listen to the new version of "After You". It's pretty cheap and uninspired, like a bad techno-electro-dance version of a very melancholic song, kinda ruined it for me and i always listen to the demo rather than this.

Maybe the time was not right, and anyway, Jarvis is releasing a record soon hopefuly and gave us the amazing Room 29.

I disagree with the comment about them being not very good in the studio. His and Hers and TIH are masterpieces, maybe they took a lot of effort and tensions to record, but most great record do. Pulp being (apparently) a democratic band, it was probably 5/6 times more difficult than when there is only one leader in charge. Put 5/6 people and a producer, all with their vision of how a song should sound, in a room for 3 to 6 months, can only lead to tension really :D

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andy wrote:

I disagree with the comment about them being not very good in the studio. His and Hers and TIH are masterpieces, maybe they took a lot of effort and tensions to record, but most great record do. Pulp being (apparently) a democratic band, it was probably 5/6 times more difficult than when there is only one leader in charge. Put 5/6 people and a producer, all with their vision of how a song should sound, in a room for 3 to 6 months, can only lead to tension really :D


I agree with that but I wasn't saying that they were never any good with the songs themselves, more that they may look back at recording sessions as particular low points.

Also, I was just listening to the new Sleeper song (and it's pretty good) and it got me thinking: effectively every one of Pulp's mid-90s peers have released material in the past few years; Blur, Suede, Ash, The Divine Comedy, the Manics, even Lush gave us a great EP. There seems to be a market for it but I seriously doubt it will ever happen.



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Master Of The Universe

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Ian wrote:
andy wrote:

I disagree with the comment about them being not very good in the studio. His and Hers and TIH are masterpieces, maybe they took a lot of effort and tensions to record, but most great record do. Pulp being (apparently) a democratic band, it was probably 5/6 times more difficult than when there is only one leader in charge. Put 5/6 people and a producer, all with their vision of how a song should sound, in a room for 3 to 6 months, can only lead to tension really :D


I agree with that but I wasn't saying that they were never any good with the songs themselves, more that they may look back at recording sessions as particular low points.

Also, I was just listening to the new Sleeper song (and it's pretty good) and it got me thinking: effectively every one of Pulp's mid-90s peers have released material in the past few years; Blur, Suede, Ash, The Divine Comedy, the Manics, even Lush gave us a great EP. There seems to be a market for it but I seriously doubt it will ever happen.


 

There is absolutely a 90s revival, it's true in music, tv shows, clothing... Pulp could really make a huge tour now if they wanted to. Maybe Jarvis' new record will be more Pulpy.



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Deep Fried

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I know mid way through Jarvis said he was writing stuff in his little black book, and hopefully there'd be more stuff in than nonsense - something along those lines when asked in 2012(?) about new Pulp.

At the end of the reunion when After You came out, although it sounded a little underproduced (as to be expected when done on the Coachella Cruise with James Murphy producing a kinda off the cuff version) and they went on Jonathan Ross, I kinda thought it had to lead on to more stuff, that they wouldn't do a pretty big TV appearance for one final track then go away again, but that's exactly what happened.

There was an interview after the reunion where Jarvis said that although they haven't ruled out any further activity, he knew that if they did return they would have to 'do some jams', now I've looked for this interview since and can't find it but I'm sure it's in the history of this forum somewhere. I guess it just didn't come to pass - Nick seemed the most eager to carry on, but now it's been 6 years so I very much doubt we'll be hearing from them again. I wouldn't be overjoyed if they reformed again without anything new especially after being run through the ringer by The Stone Roses for the past 7 years only to release two tracks and fall out again.

I guess Suede have shown how to really do the reunion, as although they were treading lightly at first, they got back in over the course of 3 albums and it seems their latest one has been the best yet, with a big amount of coverage and touring. I'd have loved that kinda return from Pulp and think they would have had it in them to make a good record.



-- Edited by legohairjordan on Wednesday 12th of December 2018 12:49:19 PM

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Master Of The Universe

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The best of these reunion has been Blur to me so far. I never cared much for Suede, but Blur did it right. With all their members, worked on new songs, did a proper (and pretty good) record, a relatively big tour and then vanished again to do their own stuff. That would have suited Pulp, not to have the pressure to do it all again and again. To see after each album where to go, or stop.

But It won't ever happen.

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andy wrote:

The best of these reunion has been Blur to me so far. I never cared much for Suede, but Blur did it right. With all their members, worked on new songs, did a proper (and pretty good) record, a relatively big tour and then vanished again to do their own stuff. That would have suited Pulp, not to have the pressure to do it all again and again. To see after each album where to go, or stop.

But It won't ever happen.


The Blur album was the greatest payoff, however it didn't look like it was happening quite a few times over the course of the reunion, and it did take like 6 years into the reunion to appear. Damon kept recording bits then sacking it off and saying it might never happen, and it took Graham to take those demos from the recording session in China away and work on them with Damon's permission. But it turned out one of their best albums IMO.



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The Only Way is Down

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Saw The Insatiable Ones Suede film last night followed by a band q&a. It was really interesting hearing them admit that they aren't good communicators and it took a scene in the film where they're all stood together for Brett to apologise to them about how he let his drug addiction almost destroy the band - that happened over fifteen years ago but he was only dealing with it now. It was quite poignant and powerful.
I can imagine Pulp not being great communicators either but I'd be surprised to see Jarvis have some on-camera confessional moment with the band.

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Master Of The Universe

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legohairjordan wrote:
andy wrote:

The best of these reunion has been Blur to me so far. I never cared much for Suede, but Blur did it right. With all their members, worked on new songs, did a proper (and pretty good) record, a relatively big tour and then vanished again to do their own stuff. That would have suited Pulp, not to have the pressure to do it all again and again. To see after each album where to go, or stop.

But It won't ever happen.


The Blur album was the greatest payoff, however it didn't look like it was happening quite a few times over the course of the reunion, and it did take like 6 years into the reunion to appear. Damon kept recording bits then sacking it off and saying it might never happen, and it took Graham to take those demos from the recording session in China away and work on them with Damon's permission. But it turned out one of their best albums IMO.


 

Well they still had sessions together, it's not like Damon recorded it alone with Graham to finish the dirty work. I thought that reunion worked well because it allowed Damon to keep doing his stuff, and put Graham in charge a bit more. And the result is still very Blur. 

I could see something similar with Pulp: them 6 in a studio for a bit then Jarvis (with whoever wants it) finishing the record later. It could work and would put less pressure on those who dont want to. 



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Deep Fried

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That's true, and it turned out really really strong, a more mature Blur record that remains a really good listen.

A Pulp album would be great for the times we are living in right now, I liked the dancey elements of After You and thought something like that with the right production would be awesome. They just don't want have to get on that recording and promoting treadmill again I guess.

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Quiet Revolutionary

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This is just an observation but I often thought the 'reformation tour' was a way of setting the rest of the band up for life with a nice little nest egg. Jarvis and Steve would have it good because Jarvis is Jarvis and Steve has his production job. But I guess the rest might not be as well off? (when I say well off I dont mean anyone is destitute) I kind of thought it was Jarvis's way of giving the rest of the band a nice little top-up to the Super... the UK has super right?

I always wished that Pulp/Jarvis would do some more deluxe/rarities like suede have. They always have plenty of stuff to buy from their online shop! Like how many dogmanstar deluxe editions are we up to now?



-- Edited by cutcopy on Friday 28th of December 2018 07:00:13 AM

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Deep Fried

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Most likely, and I guess deep down a final chance to do justice to the material live before they get too old. The main deluxe outstanding would be WLL, which we kinda petitioned to get released a few years ago, but that one lies in the hands of the record label sadly.

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cutcopy wrote:

I always wished that Pulp/Jarvis would do some more deluxe/rarities like suede have. They always have plenty of stuff to buy from their online shop! Like how many dogmanstar deluxe editions are we up to now?


I think that we have heard everything that they recorded/released on Island up to "This is Hardcore" (less "Grown Ups") in one form or another. However, there must be many demos of songs that were eventually released. For example, Ian Broudie did a remix of "Lipgloss", Ed Buller did a remix of "Pink Glove", there was also a song called "Razz II" which was apparently left unfinished and it has never been made clear whether this was a re-recording of "Razzmatazz" or a completely different song/sequel (like "Death II").

I think that we have heard everything from the Fire years in one way or another although there are some demo versions of tracks we have already heard. There is "The Demo" (early versions of "Separations" tracks), two tracks from the "Bad Maureen" demo and another demo recorded with John Nicholls that we haven't heard.

There is also plenty of material that pre-dates "It" that we haven't heard in any form; six of these were recorded ("How Could you Leave Me?", "Why Live?", "Teen Angst", "Barefoot in the Park", "The Heat of the Day" and "Mr Morality" which was left unmixed). There were many songs played live but never recorded ("Zhivago", "Red Letter Day", "You Go First" etc etc).

So, to conclude, I have outlined at least 3 CDs full of material above and it would be very interesting to hear. I think the only trouble is, where Suede stayed with the same label for the duration, several different parties may have a claim to the Pulp vaults (the band, Cherry Red, Fire, FON, Gift, Island) and this would probably make releases a bit trickier.



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Interesting to read people's thoughts here.

I wonder if the next big thing to happen with Pulp's back catalogue is if the rights revert back to them or if the group buy the recordings back?

I really don't know that much about this type of thing, but I know it does happen. A box set or something would be nice! Much lesser bands have done it...

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Quiet Revolutionary

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And Pulp were never the most prolific band were they? I think they have it them for a coffee table book. Like a Taschen published one. Im sure Jarvis would screw his face up at that - but f*k me they were a good looking band. All those promo shots from TIH and all those Designers Republic sleeves... I'd salivate over something like that...

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cutcopy wrote:

And Pulp were never the most prolific band were they? I think they have it them for a coffee table book. Like a Taschen published one. Im sure Jarvis would screw his face up at that - but f*k me they were a good looking band. All those promo shots from TIH and all those Designers Republic sleeves... I'd salivate over something like that...


 

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Quiet Revolutionary

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I'm thinking more this - like Nick Cave's been doing with his 'the red hand files'. www.theredhandfiles.com/

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Ian, you mention the song 'Mr.morality' as been recorded but left unmixed?
Are you sure?
I thought it was a 2nd attempt at taking the plunge/sink or swim that was unfinished?

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The Only Way is Down

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Peter Boam told me they had a go at Mr Morality during the It sessions and it met with the same fate. It's possible he'd mid-remembered and was thinking of Sink or Swim.

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Sturdy wrote:

Peter Boam told me they had a go at Mr Morality during the It sessions and it met with the same fate. It's possible he'd mid-remembered and was thinking of Sink or Swim.


 That's what I read on one of your other posts years ago. 



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