Pulp vinyl reissues: We Love Life

I planned to review Different Class after His ‘n’ Hers but with eight different issues it proved to be too big a task for one week. Taking the easy way out I turned my attention to We Love Life. It’s been years since I listened to it all the way through. So long in fact that I couldn’t quite remember the track list. Shame on me.

First pressing, Island, 2001

Another confession: I never bothered to pick up a vinyl copy of We Love Life back in 2001. After the lavish packaging of Different Class and This Is Hardcore I expected far more than the plain packaging that it came in. The Island art department would never have settled for something quite as mediocre back in the mid-90s heyday.

On its release the vinyl issue proved to be difficult to track down in my home town of Birmingham. I ended my search at HMV’s massive Oxford Circus branch. But then I saw the £16 price tag, the measly single rather than double vinyl pressing and the uninspiring packaging. I shrugged with indifference, then placed it back on the shelf. Like a growing number of things about Pulp in 2001 it felt a bit disorganised, half-arsed and apologetic. I’d waited three years for a new Pulp record and for that singular moment when you walk into the record shop giddy with pride and anticipation. And when you’re in your early 20s, three years feels like an eternity.

The original 140g pressing is dependable but otherwise unremarkable. It was cut by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios and is another quiet cut with Side A exceeding 25 minutes and Side B exceeding 28 minutes. Not ideal. The vinyl artwork is ever so slightly different to the CD artwork when you look closely at the title which is rendered in the Dymo-style embossing tape (an odd typeface choice if ever there was one, even if the title was a last-minute decision).

Perhaps because of the production numbers as well as the unpopularity of vinyl back in 2001, this original pressing is hard to come by. When it does come up for sale the prices get ridiculous – £60 to £80 depending on the condition – so it’s good that it has been included in the latest series of reissues, especially given that it was overlooked as part of the 2006 CD Deluxe Editions.

Second pressing, Universal Music, 2016

Like the other albums, the We Love Life reissue is made by MPO in France and is pressed on 180g vinyl.

The first thing you notice is how well they’ve reproduced the artwork. It’s clearly the most competent effort of all the reissues thanks to how basic the artwork is. In other words there’s very little to mess up, as you can see from labels below: the original on the left and the reissue on the right.

Both pressings sound similar too. For the most part it’s difficult to tell them apart. Compared to the original there’s slightly more background noise on the reissue which detracts from the quieter moments, particularly when the record’s played at a higher volume. But otherwise the reissue is more than good enough.

My copy came out of the sleeve with minor scuff-marks on the record’s surface. I’m not the only one to notice this as it affects some of the other MPO pressings too. It’s nothing too serious but you’d certainly expect better quality control standards. If you buy a copy that’s also scuffed then don’t feel awkward about asking for an exchange.

Verdict

This is a really welcome reissue and it’s a relief to see they’ve done a competent job.  In my opinion it’s not worth anyone paying over the odds just to track down the original when the reissue is as good and as faithful to the original as this.

A final moan…

By far the greatest limitation of both the original and the reissue is that almost 54 minutes of audio is being crammed onto one record. It would’ve been far better to have issued a double vinyl package with each side having a 45rpm cut lasting around 13 minutes. There’s an ideal and even way to split the songs:

• Weeds, Weeds II and Minnie on Side A;
• Trees and Wickerman on Side B;
• I Love Life, Birds and Bob Lind on Side C, and
• Bad Cover Version, Roadkill and Sunrise on Side D.

How difficult can that be? Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years before Universal sees sense.

Next week: Different Class (wish me luck!)