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10 songs that feel like This Is Hardcore

Matched to This Is Hardcore by Pulp on how the music actually moves — intensity, dynamic swing, texture, tempo — not by genre tag. Here's what makes each one a match.

The song you love
This Is Hardcore
Pulp
intense 73/100 intensity 70 BPM
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Lost in the World — Kanye West intense 120 BPM

A 89% feel-match — carries the same heavy pull and lands at almost exactly the same energy (74/100).

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Descending — Tool intense 90 BPM

89% match across our 8 measured dimensions; it runs a little hotter at 84/100. Same complex texture.

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Xanadu — Rush intense 95 BPM

Keeps the same heavy pull — lands at almost exactly the same energy (75/100). Measured 93% alike.

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FEEL. — Kendrick Lamar intense 95 BPM

Measures 87% the same. It sits a little calmer at 65/100.

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Mass in B Minor — Johann Sebastian Bach intense 60 BPM

A 91% feel-match — carries the same heavy pull and runs a little hotter at 81/100.

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St. Matthew Passion — Johann Sebastian Bach intense 100 BPM

88% match across our 8 measured dimensions; it runs a little hotter at 85/100. Same complex texture.

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I Am Who Am (Killin' Time) — Mac Miller intense 95 BPM

Keeps the same heavy pull — sits a little calmer at 65/100. Measured 87% alike.

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Mother — Tori Amos intense 72 BPM

Measures 89% the same. It sits a little calmer at 63/100.

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My Cosmos Is Mine — Depeche Mode moderate 90 BPM

A 87% feel-match — carries the same heavy pull and sits a little calmer at 67/100.

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Confutatis — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart intense 80 BPM

90% match across our 8 measured dimensions; it runs a little hotter at 83/100. Same complex texture.

…and if you want it calmer

Same feeling, measured gentler — for when This Is Hardcore is more than you want right now.

Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron
Pieces of a Man — Gil Scott-Heron moderate 90 BPM

Keeps the same feel of the original, but its dynamic range stays a gentler 7 where the original climbs to 9. Intensity 50/100, down from 73.

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Loser — Grateful Dead moderate 95 BPM

Its dynamic range stays a gentler 6 where the original climbs to 9, so it lands at 47/100 — the pull without the edge.

Before We Drown by Depeche Mode
Before We Drown — Depeche Mode moderate 95 BPM

If it's the same feel you're after, this delivers it while its dynamic range stays a gentler 7 where the original climbs to 9. Reads 58/100.

My Cosmos Is Mine by Depeche Mode
My Cosmos Is Mine — Depeche Mode moderate 90 BPM

Holds the same feel while its dynamic range stays a gentler 7 where the original climbs to 9. 67/100, versus the original's 73.

Where Do We Go by Solange
Where Do We Go — Solange moderate 85 BPM

Keeps the same feel of the original, but its dynamic range stays a gentler 5 where the original climbs to 9. Intensity 34/100, down from 73.

Cold by Chris Stapleton
Cold — Chris Stapleton moderate 65 BPM

It measures markedly calmer overall, so it lands at 59/100 — the pull without the edge. Nearly the same tempo, too.

Summertime/Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child by Mahalia Jackson
Summertime/Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child — Mahalia Jackson moderate 72 BPM

If it's the same feel you're after, this delivers it while its dynamic range stays a gentler 6 where the original climbs to 9. Reads 45/100. Nearly the same tempo, too.

A Burning Hill by Mitski
A Burning Hill — Mitski moderate 85 BPM

Holds the same feel while its dynamic range stays a gentler 5 where the original climbs to 9. 26/100, versus the original's 73.

Frequently asked

What songs sound like “This Is Hardcore” by Pulp?

The closest feel-matches we measure are “Lost in the World” by Kanye West, “Descending” by Tool, “Xanadu” by Rush — the top match scores 89% alike. Matching is by how the songs actually move (intensity, dynamic range, texture, tempo, predictability, vocal force), not by genre tag or popularity.

What songs are like “This Is Hardcore” but calmer?

“Pieces of a Man” by Gil Scott-Heron, “Loser” by Grateful Dead, “Before We Drown” by Depeche Mode keep a similar feel while measuring gentler — lower dynamic swing, fewer sudden shifts, or a calmer overall level.

How intense is “This Is Hardcore”?

It measures 73/100 on our intensity scale, computed from a dynamic range of 9/10, complex texture, moderate sudden shifts, and dynamic vocals. Tempo is 70 BPM.

How do you decide which songs are similar?

Every song in our catalog is measured on 8 dimensions — intensity, dynamic range, tempo, sudden changes, texture, predictability, vocal force and fine sound detail. Similarity is the distance between two songs across those measurements, so matches cross genres and eras. Shared mood tags break ties.

By the numbers: how this song compares

Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.

Where it sits in 19,000 songs

This is one of the more intense things in our library — more energetic than 91% of the 19,209 songs we've measured. Its intensity reading of 73/100 comes from a dynamic range of 9/10, complex texture, moderate shifts, and dynamic vocals. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.

What makes it unusual

What stands out most about this song is a huge quiet-to-loud swing: more extreme on that axis than 96% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on near-total stillness — steady volume, no surprises, a slow and unhurried pulse — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.

Feels almost identical to

Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.

What it’s good for

Sleep0/10
Focus2/10
Workout5/10
Dinner5/10
Party / hype6/10

Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.

1998 in context

The 339 songs we’ve measured from 1998 average a dynamic range of 6.3/10. At 9/10, this track is louder and more dynamic than its year.

Mixes smoothly with

Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.

The fingerprint

Intensity73
Dynamics89
Tempo17
Surprise50
Density60
Predictability100
Vocal force75
Trigger load50

The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.

Want the single closest match, with every dimension compared?

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