PJ HARVEY
STORIES FROM THE CITY, STORIES FROM THE SEA (2000)
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During her career, Polly Jean Harvey has had as many incarnations as she has albums. She's gone from the Yeovil art student of her debut Dry, to Rid of Me's punk poetess to To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire?'s postmodern siren; on Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea — inspired by her stay in New York City and life in the English countryside — she's changed again. The album cover's stylish, subtly sexy image suggests what its songs confirm: PJ Harvey has grown up. Direct, vulnerable lyrics replace the allegories and metaphors of her previous work, and the album's production polishes the songs instead of obscuring them in noise or studio tricks. On the album's best tracks, such as "Kamikaze" and "This Is Love," a sexy, shouty blues-punk number that features the memorable refrain "I can't believe life is so complex/When I just want to sit here and watch you undress," Harvey sounds sensual and revitalized. The New York influences surface on the glamorous punk rock of "Big Exit" and "Good Fortune," on which Harvey channels both Chrissie Hynde's sexy tough girl and Patti Smith's ferocious yelp. Ballads like the sweetly urgent, piano and marimba-driven "One Line" and the Thom Yorke duet "This Mess We're In" avoid the painful depths of Harvey's darkest songs; "Horses in My Dreams" also reflects Harvey's new emotional balance: "I have pulled myself clear," she sighs, and we believe her. However, "We Float"'s glossy choruses veer close to Lillith Fair territory, and longtime fans can't help but miss the visceral impact of her early work, but Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea doesn't compromise her essential passion.
1. Big Exit
2. Good Fortune
3. A Place Called Home
4. One Line
5. Beautiful Feeling
6. The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore
7. This Mess We' Re In
8. You Said Something
9. Kamikaze
10. This Is Love
11. Horses In My Dreams
12. We Float
4 comments:
Great talent. A friend of mine turned me on to "Rid Of Me". Then got "Dry". All are amazing and followed her career since. I have every album/CD PJ released. Of course some are better than others and I agree you posting "Songs... ", it's a great album to start with for the uninitiated. PJ could never do wrong. I've seen her play 3 times in Los Angeles. See her live!
EG626
I discovered PJ Harvey with this album. It's arguably the easier one to get started with, especially if your background has more pop than punk.
My favorite PJ Harvey albums are probably Is This Desire? and 4-Track Demos. Though To Bring You My Love and Uh Huh Her are great too. I'm not too keen on her earlier stuff or on her latest album (White Chalk). I'll buy the next one (to be released at the end of March) for sure, though.
Having first been exposed to Harvey on Rid of Me, and loving it for its primal energy, I'm interested in hearing this later (middle) effort and comparing it to White Chalk, which is still growing on me . . . Thanks!
It became the second major commercial success of PJ Harvey’s career, following her successful 1995 breakthrough To Bring You My Love.
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