Rid of Me

Couldn’t really get into it, not sure why but I struggle with the genre, too much “noise” and not a huge fan of the vocal styling on some of the songs. Hit or miss.

Another really good album from PJ Harvey, deserves to be on the list, but I think it just gets a bit weird in the middle for me to listen to this again vs her other albums

When I think of PJ Harvey, this is what I think of. A few things keep it from being a perfect album, but the production is great, and I like it a lot.

Ride On Me” ist ein energiegeladenes, (Hard) rockiges Album einer Rockröhre, das mit seiner kraftvollen Dynamik und intensiven Gitarrenriffs beeindruckt. Die Band zeigt hier ihr Talent für mitreißende Melodien und leidenschaftliche Performances, die den Hörer sofort in ihren Bann ziehen.
Allerdings wirkt das Album stellenweise etwas zu unruhig und überladen, was den Hörgenuss trüben kann. Die ständigen Tempowechsel und die Vielzahl an musikalischen Ideen lassen das Gesamtbild manchmal chaotisch erscheinen.
Insgesamt ist “Ride On Me” ein solides Werk, das vor allem Fans von energiegeladenem Rock ansprechen wird.

I like so much about this album but wish I liked the sum of its parts more. Abrasive and uncompromising, this album is a feast of distortion and discordance, a harsh sounding exploration of harsh feeling. It has the sonic signature of late 80s/early 90s alt-rock in the wake of the post-hardcore DIY bands like Husker Du, Fugazi, or the Pixies - dark, aggressive, and brutal guitar-driven noise that leans into soft/loud dyamics and gritty texture to build up loads and loads of tension, taking a punk ethos but a more expansive experimental approach to song-writing, with strange time signatures that change, and evocative personal lyrics. It sounds amazing, all the instruments are presented raw and direct in their full intensity, overwhelming the vocal, which struggles valiantly to rise above the riotous noise. It's not an immediately approachable album, the songs don't have instantly memorable hooks/melodies to invite you in or allow you to hold on, and so requires a few listens to work its way toward familiarity so its power can sink in.

I think this wraps up all the PJ Harvey on the list. I'd probably benefit from doing a marathon chronological listen of her stuff at this point--there's a shortlist of artists with a bunch of albums on the list, and for me she's at the David Bowie level of "ok I actually did kind of need to listen to so many of these to get the hang of this artist"

The lyrics! The production! Possibly the optimal early PJ Harvey album.

Pure, raw, emotional energy, with a good portion of noise.
Completely helped by the famous minimalist touch of Albini's production, which makes the album sound claustrophobic at times and straight in your face at others.
When PJ Harvey turns to storytelling, it's always injected with a lot of dark humour, but when the songs turn autobiographical the music and lyrics are seething with anger and lust.

This album is incredible

I'm really struggling to think of something nice to type out. I absolutely hated this album. I don't like her voice, I don't like the lyrics, I don't like the production.

A good album from a truly great artist who I adore.

This record has a raw, uncompromising punk energy that feels intense and immediate. The production is stripped back and abrasive, which only adds to the power of the songs. It sounds urgent, confrontational and completely authentic. PJ Harvey commands every moment.

“50ft Queenie” is explosive and full of attitude, while “Rid of Me” is tense and gripping, building and releasing with incredible control. The whole album feels fearless and unapologetic.

Favourite songs: 50ft Queenie and Rid of Me
Least favourite song: Yuri G
Album artwork: A great cover that perfectly matches the stark, uncompromising feel of the music

I'm not understanding how this album is considered iconic. Didn't like a single song on this album.

The second half of this record is absolutely loaded, but the opening title track is just otherworldly good. The dynamics are incredible, it’s so subtly melodic amidst the tension and primal nature of it, and those background vocals are perfectly gnarly. I also do think “Missed” makes for an interesting second track, with its odd time signature goodness and solid guitar work.

The experimentalism of “Man-Sized Sextet” is just effortlessly cool, as is the cover of “Highway 61 Revisited”, one of my favorite Dylan covers out there. PJ shines on guitar throughout the whole record, especially on the punky blast of “50ft Queenie” and the slide guitar textures of “Dry”. “Snake” is a sub-2 minute burst of intensity that perfectly sets up the ruthless closer “Ecstasy”. Although these most recent re-listens of Dry helped raise it in my estimations, I do still slightly prefer this killer sophomore effort. Riding along at a very strong 4 stars.

4/5

ehhhhhh more PJ Harvey grunge. Not my thing. which is a terrible conclusion to come to in the first 3 songs because there are 14 on the album and now its just a drag. The mix is reallllly bad.

PJ Harvey-arvostaminen on kyl tämän listan ehkä parhaita tuloksia -- en ollu aiemmin kuunnellu niin paljoa. 4/5 voimakas platta!

It's pretty raw and grungy. I don't find it particularly compelling. It's alright.

Af en toe komt er wel een aardige vinding voorbij. Maar de uithalen in zowel stem als muziek zijn gewoon naar. Dieptepunt is Man-Size Sextet. Het doet pijn aan mijn oren. Alles in het kader van de kunst?

A stunning album, that I was just too young to understand and appreciate at the time. She is a new stalwart of my music rotation, and someone I hope to hear more from on the list.

5 days ago, I reviewed a PJ Harvey album called "Let England Shake". It was a chamber folk album. This IS NOT that. This is more of grunge/indie rock, but very shitilly done. It's full of thrashy guitars and drums, and really weird time signatures. The first half of the album is REALLY weird, culminating with the most fucked song on the record, Man-Size Sextet.

In this album, PJ Harvey has a tendancy to sing at almost a whisper for about 2 minutes, then for some reason, turns everything up to 11 and renders you deaf for a few minutes. For fuck sakes, how hard is it to just leave the fucking volume knob alone and sing your song?!? Although, I would take deafness over listening to this horseshit any day. Harvey's voice is angst filled, and nasally. And she seems to enjoy moaning instead of singing.

Why is this on the list? What could this have possibly influenced? Droves more garbage music apparently. The world would be better off without this trash. I will never listen again, and can't wait to rinse this shit out of my ears and forget about it. I only pray this is the last PJ Harvey album on this generator.

Favorite songs: 50ft Queenie, Dry, Rub 'Til It Bleeds, Yuri-G

Least favorite songs: Rid of Me, Legs, Man-Size Sextet

2/5

Oh Rock OUT girl. YES. Five Stars.

Con PJ Harvey tengo una relación de amor/odio. Me gustan canciones sueltas mucho y cuando hago el esfuerzo de escuchar un album entero me aburre. Este iba por el mismo camino, por suerte mejora pasado la mitad: "Hook", "Man-size sextet" y sobre todo "Highway '61 revisited" y "50ft Queenie" lo salvan.