Rid of Me

Якийсь такий альбом, що мені нема що сказати. Просто ок.

Not my cup of coffee

It was fine. If a friend made me listen to this I would say I liked it

I quite like the lady version of Bukowski. She's tough but fair and we need more like her.

I like some songs by PJ Harvey, so I had high expectations for this one, but it's a big NO from me. 2.5⭐

There were a few good moments, but the screaming and wailing got to me after a bit. Very different than the only other song I know by her.

Better than Coldplay

I think I’m at a 5. A slightly muddled & hard to explain 5, but I’ll try to get there.

Everyone has those occasional thoughts that pop into the head for just one moment; some deeper part of the psyche that buries itself 99% of the time, and yet that 1% creeps through to suggest something that feels unlike yourself. This album, to me, is what happens when the 1% tries to influence you more & more; it’s what happens when one's deepest anxieties & unspoken thoughts try to coexist with a carnal feeling of innate desire. PJ Harvey wrote this album after suffering a nervous breakdown, going through a breakup, gaining an eating disorder, and getting effectively kicked out of college. It is a perfect cocktail for those thoughts to creep in, and instead of letting them "win", I think she managed to distill their essence into this album.

These are all written from a feminine perspective; not an explicitly feminist one, but a lot of those themes go hand-in-hand on this album, with those deeper thoughts probably acting as a subliminal hatred of patriarchy & male expectation. Granted, sometimes it’s pretty blatant, given that “Legs” is about her murdering a boyfriend by fully cutting off his legs, but I digress. A lot of the album is rooted in a conflicting desire for both love & revenge, probably inspired by her own relationships of the era. It’s kind of bipolar, in a very understandable way. For as much as she takes pleasure in seeing this pain inflicted to other people, she also seems to reach out and beg for forgiveness. It is hard to reconcile with the idea that one’s attempt at healing might just involve pulling other people down, but it’s captured perfectly here, with those snapshots of regret coming through just as quickly. I can’t say I’ve heard that cocktail of emotions captured so potently in audio form.

The other aspect of desire is explored in other ways than just love; “Missed” is directly about missing out on the fruits that other people find in religion, wondering how a God so big can be so hidden to her eyes. Even the cover of “Highway 61 Revisited”, for as strange as it may seem, has a place here; it’s a track that’s all about seeking approval, whether it’s Abraham seeking it from God, Mack seeking approval to place all his scattered bullshit on the highway, or the family members seeking approval from their parents. Didn’t think I’d get a Bob Dylan song through PJ Harvey’s interpretation, but here we are.

I want to really specifically point at “Man-Size Sextet” & “Man-Size”, which may end up getting away with being the only example of a remix on the main tracklist actually working to the benefit of an album. The “sextet” version has more instrumentation, with an eerier tone to it, as the strings piercing the soundscape bring to mind the shower scene in Psycho. I see it as a representation of multiple voices in the head, blurring the expectations of the night to come in a negative way. The other version forgoes the full sextet to just let one person try to pull off the whole song. There’s an emptiness to it, and one that comes across as more clear, but more desperate, since a single person can’t carry a melody by themselves. The emptiness is really potent, and it shifts the entire mood of the track. It somehow works, and it didn’t leave me mad.

All of the intent aside… how does it sound? You can have a great concept for an album, but if you don’t execute it with the respect it deserves, you end up with something like “Antichrist Superstar”. Thankfully, this album’s high concept doesn’t need intense ambition behind it, or at the very least, PJ Harvey makes it feel effortlessly executed. Her compositions / structures here give a lot of space for her vocal power to breathe, along with giving each instrument a sense of intrusion that makes each track pop that much more. Steve Albini’s production work here is as good as I had hoped it would be; he uses a sense of space & volume for each track that fully grabs the ears every time. Whenever a major drop happens, or a silence washes over, it adds a living atmosphere to each track. In a way, I’m reminded of “The Downward Spiral”, but through the lens of rock bottom angst instead of pure rock bottom depression.

All of my yapping aside, I think it’s an album where you have to hear it & buy into it to grasp what it’s going for. I don’t think it’s one where everyone will grasp that, or feel it in the same way that I did here. I admire the hell out of it though, and I think it deserves all the critical acclaim it gets. There are spots where the execution feels a little anti-album; a few longer outros & intros and some repetitive moments, but for the most part, it’s a 48-minute snapshot of emotions of all kinds captured in a way that I’ve never really heard before. It kept me really captivated, even if it took a bit to get there. I think it’s a 5, and for the last PJ Harvey album we’ll get on the list, I think this is one hell of a way to get rid of her.

Overall, then, for someone who I’d never heard of going into this whole 1001 albums thing, it’s a hell of an impact. I really need to relisten to “Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea”, which I gave a 3.5 bumped down to a 3, but everything else was a 5 or higher. That’s a 4.625+ average, and that speaks to her versatility. I think she’s a damn fine artist, and I certainly need to seek out more of her stuff. Good job, PJ.

3.2

Of all the PJ Harvey albums the generator had thrown at me this is pretty easily my favorite. The first half is good, but the second half just turns it up to another level that just has this really manic and raw energy. Any album that features a Highway 61 Revisited cover is also appreciated. Favorite songs were Rid Of Me, Rub Til It Bleeds, Highway 61 Revisited, 50ft Queenie, and Me-Jane.

Why the hell have I slept on this for 30 years?! This album is outstanding. it really is like nothing else. This is the second PJ Harvey album I got and honestly, the first one was pretty much what I thought a PJ Harvey album would sound like, albeit with a couple surprisingly good songs. THIS one, however, is a goddamned juggernaut from start to finish. Is it a 5 star album? Probably not, it's a 4.5 in a world that's just, and fair. But it's an absolute rocking good time, and I would absolutely listen to it again for fun. Like Skunk Anansie, I think this gets an extra half star for the surprise factor - and the fact that there really isn't a weak song on the album.

Pretty noisy and many lyrics are repetitive.

it good but stories gooder

PJ is such an interesting and talented musician. I love that her songs inspire thought and reflection. Really good album. The only thing that might improve it is some more variety in the track listing with style and tempo. 4/5

…in which she buries him and spits on his grave

First time listening to this artist.
Grunge
Did not like, very shit

I don't know why, but I've never really listened to PJ Harvey, but I do enjoy this a fair bit. I might listen to this again.

When this came out, I remember reading in the music press how scary and intense it was. However, as a 15-year-old girl in 1993, I found the unapologetic rawness so exhilarating. Even today, when I got to 50ft Queenie, 47-year-old me was lip syncing along while adopting a power stance in the living room. This was just such a formative album for me and I love it.

Really nice

This is some lesbian rock.