Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea

Solid alternative album through and through. I’ve previously gone through PJ Harvey’s discography and really enjoy her music, but don’t return to it as much as I probably should.

I completely forgot about Thom Yorke featuring on this album. Their duet works really well and you can definitely feel his influence on a couple songs.

PJ Harvey is proof that music is an art form, and she shows it by being a multi-instrumentalist and talented songwriter. just about every song sounds different to each other a is able to reinvent herself on just about every album. This album and Bring you My Love are probably her best, and This is Love is probably my favourite song that she has done

1001 Albums Vol. 0029: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
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Introduction: Alright! This is more like it. After two of the oldest albums on this site back-to-back, we finally have an album that I would consider to be "modern". I put that in quotes because...somehow this thing will be thirty years old in just four years....Yeah, time sure is something. Anyway, this album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, was released by PJ Harvey, an artist I've literally never heard of before, in 2000. As for what m-...yeah, I don't know what makes it influential. I say that pretty much every time, I know. However, from what I've read, this album is supposed to be influential due to a mature blend between Indie Rock and Pop. Huh...that actually sounds quite pleasant...maybe this album had influence on a certain band that I can pretty much guarantee is on this list even though I haven't seen or heard anything about them yet?...I wonder. Anyway, this album apparently features Thom Yorke on it. As you may already know, I believe that he is literally one of the best artists of all time, so any song that features him automatically gets a 10/10 by law....Unless...you know, it deserves anything less. What the hell am I talking about? Alright, anyway, this album also seems to have a pretty generalized concept across its entire runtime as well. PJ Harvey apparently wrote the entire album to serve as a message of love to New York City....Yeah, I'll just go ahead and completely agree with her on that one. I've been there twice and I can confidently say that it is one of the coolest places I have been to in my life. I mean, there is literally something new and interesting to see around pretty much every corner....We just...don't talk about the state of New York now....I'll just go ahead and clarify that I'm not trying to make fun of its mayor or politics in general. I just have to throw that out there so that someone doesn't get pissed at me in the extremely rare chance that anyone is even reading this. So, with my love of New York in mind, I'd imagine that I'd probably be able to relate pretty well with this album. I'm sure there's going to be a few things here and there that I don't understand due to me simply touring the place for a few days, but I'd imagine I'll have a pretty good grasp on the general ideas and themes that this album presents. Let's just see.
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Track 1: Big Exit: 10/10
Track 2: Good Fortune: 9/10
Track 3: A Place Called Home: 10/10
Track 4: One Line: 9/10
Track 5: Beautiful Feeling: 7/10
Track 6: The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore: 9/10
Track 7: This Mess We're In: 10/10
Track 8: You Said Something: 8/10
Track 9: Kamikaze: 7/10
Track 10: This Is Love: 9/10
Track 11: Horses In My Dreams: 9/10
Track 12: We Float: 10/10
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Conclusion: And...THIS! THIS is a really good album. THIS is one of the main reasons I even wanted to start this project in the first place. Masterpieces I've never heard before, such as this, motivate me to keep going through this project. Yeah, a lot of junk, masterpieces you've already heard before (not that this is bad), or just average stuff will rear its head along the way, but THESE kinda albums are undoubtedly the best part of this site. It's honestly a shame though that PJ Harvey isn't a bigger name in Pop. I mean, you can't tell me that...oh...wait...I don't know if I should bring HER up....You know what....You cannot tell me that Taylor Swift is better than this! I don't care if I get my door broken down! I'm just speaking the truth! You Swifties whining over your 8/10, what do you think about this statement?!...Huh? I'm still alive....I guess I'm alright...for now. Alright, anyway, enough messing around. So, what makes me call this album a masterpiece? Well,firstly, this is undoubtedly some of the best Pop material I have heard in recent memory, musically at least. To be fair, the music on this album tends to lean towards Alternative Rock as well, but the fact still remains. Every song follows a pretty typical Pop song structure: verse followed by chorus, second verse followed by chorus, bridge that removes most of the instrumentation and slowly builds back up to it, and so on. Basically, none of these songs really do anything groundbreaking or super unique with their song structures. In fact, I'd argue that some of these songs really use their own respective choruses a bit too much. That being said, every song manages to be extremely interesting and captivating through their entire runtime. This comes from a combination of factors. Firstly, most songs either add small layers of instrumentation throughout the runtime or simply change the already existing instrumentation to make the melody feel familiar yet fresh throughout the entire song. On top of this, there are some songs on this album that simply have angelic choruses...pretty much all my 10/10s. You'll know what I'm talking about if you were to listen to them. They're just moments that surprise you yet quickly reel you back in and make you feel...simply impressed. Now, on top of this too, each of these songs are just extremely well-written and easy to learn. Everything about each of these songs simply feels so tight and recognizable even on a first listen. Now, this in theory shouldn't work. You should be able to re-listen to a song multiple times and notice small details you missed before; however, these songs are just different in a way that I can't quite describe. A lot of these songs either convey an almost edgy or pleasant vibe to them that I felt I could fully absorb myself into after one listen simply because I already knew the melody. I think that is this album's biggest advantage it has over other Pop albums that would come after. It simply evokes a generally unique vibe that is easy to lose yourself in from song to song. It may be due to the presence of Rock throughout much of the album. I'm not entirely sure, but it's there regardless. Now, with this album's music out of the way, let's go over the lyrics real quick....They're actually pretty great. There are a lot of either love or breakup songs throughout this album. Now, I'm not typically a fan of either. Most of these songs either come off as whiny, stupid, or simply feel a bit...too obvious. Yet this album's songs just...work. It's probably due to generally well-written and thought provoking lyrics that take multiple listens to get a grasp on, but they...they just work. I don't know how else to say it. Apparently, We Float is supposed to be a breakup song about how two people will feel free again after breaking up. Essentially, they'll "float" after breaking up. The way that the angelic chorus kicks in presenting the main idea of the song, "We'll Float", backed by calmer verses describing the situation of that relationship in a vague way should be the perfect example of how this album's lyrics simply work in a beautiful way. As I literally just described too, the music only helps further add to the lyrics and vice versa. Now, on top of this, unlike what I said in the intro, I don't believe there is any song on this album that is directly expressing love to New York City alone. Some songs are clearly set there and show some form of appreciation for it, yet even these songs have a very general and personable meaning that one can easily relate to. Basically, no, you don't have to have been to New York to get the full experience of this album. I mean, it was cool to see some New York references, but that's pretty much all I felt from hearing them. The main focus of every song should be applicable to you no matter where you are. Finally, as I always do, I'll briefly mention PJ Harvey's vocals...they're extremely good. She can sound great trying to provide a rebellious and desperate tone to her voice as seen in Big Exit and This Is Love, she can sound great trying to sound like a typical Pop singer, and, like I said earlier, her voice is simply angelic in portions of the album. It's great...definitely one of the best voices I've ever heard in Pop....Oh yeah, and Thom Yorke's voice is obviously great too...just had to get that out there. Now, with all that said...yeah...this album is just a masterpiece. I will admit, I really am not that big of a fan of modern pop at all. I think most of the hits we hear nowadays are completely annoying or are too simple. That being said, and I know that this album is losing its "modern status" more and more everyday, this album proves me wrong. I can hear traces of modern pop throughout much of this album and it still managed to be enjoyable all the way through. Huh? It's weird to see an album that actually kinda changes my view on music. I mean, it's not a major change or anything...but...still a change regardless...Well, here's to hoping we see more underrated masterpieces such as this.
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Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea: 9/10
Song Average: 8.9/10

Good enough

First time listening to a PJ Harvey album. Love this gal, but I'm reluctant to give this a 5 because I think she's gonna have freakier stuff. Some fantastic songs on here, good horse content.

EDIT: Moving ar Polly Jean up to a 5. Keep coming back to this one, the songs are just banging. I don't fuck with that Thom Yorke one that's a moaning man (which is her most popular on Spotify), but the rest slaps

PJ Harvey wasn’t on my radar at all before starting this project and has been one of my biggest revelations. Admittedly, this isn’t my favorite Polly Jean album - I think I'll always be most fond of her early records - but this is in the top half of the discography, for sure. With most artists I insist on not comparing records to their later work, but for PJ my comparison will always be against the early records I love so much. Had I come to this record first, I might put it on a higher pedestal.

This album keeps (returns to?) the 'rough around the edges' aesthetic I love so much from the first records, but adds a complementary bit of maturity and complexity. With that combination, it makes sense that this would be her most commercially successful release (at least to this point). Everyone's allowed to grow and this is PJ doing that in a way that feels natural. She's still that same dark, lovelorn, soul but now with better (cleaner) production and more complex arrangements. If you believe this is Polly's masterpiece, I will agree with you. It certainly feels like the inflection point of her career where you can easily pivot to into the darker and bluesy-er early records, or just as easily into the even more complex pop-adjacent compositions of the later albums. If you don't like this record, you may not like any PJ Harvey records.

I remember when this came out. I was a big fan of Dry and (especially) Rid of Me, and I thought this was a bit commercial, bland and 'tasteful' by comparison. I think I appreciate it a bit more now, but I'm not sure if it's just because we've had a crappy run of albums on this project recently.

6.9

Fav track: This Mess We're In

Least fav: This is Love (sounds like a toothless version of her earlier stuff)

Nice. Listenable. Good writing. Good melodies - a little haunting. Could use more drive. Beat. To add heft. 3.

Absolute heater gonna be all I want to hear for weeks

I liked the more uptempo songs in the beginning quite a bit, but when the pace slowed down it kind of lost me. The slow songs at the end are too long and Thom Yorke really didn't need to be featured on here. Still, the regular alt rock is nice enough to warrant it from being bad.

Okay album. Nothing flashy though

I've been listening to PJ Harvey for quite some time now. She regularly appears in my stream, which is how I became aware of her. So far, I've liked everything I've heard from her. However, nothing from this album has really stuck with me. It's okay, but not outstanding. 4/5

A sadder, more thoughtful Chrissie Hynde.

Definitely a step down from Dry or To Bring You My Love. Polly's voice remains compelling, and there are a bunch of great songs, but it veers a bit too close to stadium rock at times and the Thom Yorke song is a bit yuck.

Enjoyed this, but still not the biggest PJ Harvey guy

Could have done without Thom Yorke telling me how much he wanted to make love to me tbh.

Favourite tracks: A Place Called Home, Horses In My Dreams, We Float

I love this record

I just listened to Let England Shake and I really liked it. I was interested in listening to this one, but it wasn't as good in my opinion. Got more loud and annoying. The addition of Thom Yorke was fun, but didn't really add anything for me. Not my style of album, but fine overall

This is an album I admire more than I enjoy. The songwriting is thoughtful, the performances are strong, and there’s a clear sense of place and intention running through the record. I understand why this is often cited as PJ Harvey’s most approachable work. It’s cleaner, more melodic, and more open than much of what came before it.

That said, it never quite pulls me in. There are individual moments that stand out, but as a whole the album keeps me at arm’s length. I find myself appreciating the craft and the atmosphere without ever fully connecting to it on an emotional level. I wanted it to resonate more than it did.

It’s a solid, well-made record, and I’m glad I spent time with it. But it lands as a respectful listen rather than something I feel compelled to return to. A clear three stars.

Strong memories of listening to this being announced as the winner of the 2001 Mercury Prize on Radio 1 and all the interviewees being bummed out because it was September 11 (my personal pick for that year was Elbow's Asleep in the Back, but this is still great).