Harvey’s catalogue rivals Joni Mitchell’s as just about the
most varied released by a woman in the history of rock. It incorporates the brutal early three piece
albums, at least one highly commercial album, an experimental head scratcher
(2004’s Uh Huh Her), a piano based work (2007’s White Chalk) and the folkish
Let England Shake (2011). How some
people out there seem to regard her as a Patti Smith clone has always been a
mystery; that both are strong women with powerful voices who are able to write
memorable songs from a woman’s viewpoint are superficial points of
similarity. Instead these people should
be asking why there are so few women with these attributes and, as usual, it
would appear that the blame should be directed to either the record industry or
the music media.
(# 655) P.J. Harvey – Dry (1992)
The word intense is not often used
to describe debut albums yet intensity pervades everything on this
release. The playing by the three piece
was above average post punk/alternative rock in which no effort seems to be
spared to ensure that quiet spots were completely obliterated; for evidence
check out the use of strings towards the end of the impressive Dress and
especially on the ballad Plants And Rags.
Lyrically, the tunes frequently give pause for thought accentuated by the
spectacular use of her vocals, especially the throatiness on Oh Stella and the
vocal gymnastic display on this album’s standout track Sheela-Na-Gig and its “I’ve
got to wash this man out of my hair” call and response.
(# 656) P.J. Harvey – Rid Of Me (1993)
Initially this album sounds like a
rawer version of Dry courtesy of the Steve Albini’s typically coarse
production. It brilliantly suits strong
songs of the calibre of the title track, Rub ‘Til It Bleeds and Man-Sized
Sextet, the latter incorporating strings to brilliant effect. An almost unrecognisable version of Dylan’s
Highway 61 Revisited appears to function as some form of internal marker or
release valve. The remainder of the
album, headed off by the churning 50ft Queenie is absolutely explosive and Yuri-G,
Man-Size, the title track, Me-Jane, Snake and Ectasy ride this groove home. For something even more brutal, try her next
album (4-Track Demos) which includes 8 of this album’s tracks in a more
primitive form.
(# 657) P.J. Harvey – To Bring You My Love (1995)
Harvey seemingly begins to polish
her basic sound towards more conventional rock starting with the dismemberment
of her original trio and the use of Flood’s more lush production style. Certainly the simmering Working For The Man,
the acoustic folk with strings of C’Mon Billy and Send His Love To Me and the
keyboard dominated The Dance could not have been created by the original
band. But some tracks, notably To Bring
You My Love, Meet Ze Monsta and Down By The Water were on hand to keep fans of
her original sound happy.
(# 658) P.J.Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000)
Havey’s next album, 1998’s Is This
Desire? Consolidated and completed the movement away from her original
sound. This album is the closest she’s
ever come to releasing a commercial sounding rock album and it tempting to
argue that her subsequent albums have been deliberate attempts to stay well clear of
replicating this. The opening cuts Big Exit and Good Fortune are big sounding
tracks employing a sound that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a U2
album. On You Said Something, she
employs a vocal tone and musical backing that results in a track that sounds
uncannily like a long lost Pretenders track, and one can easily image the gorgeous
Horses In My Dreams residing on a Nicks/Christine McVie Fleetwood Mac
album. However, three tracks late in the
album Kamikaze, This Is Love and the closer This Wicked Tongue are on hand to
remind you that this is a P.J. Harvey album.
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