717 PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (1993)

 717 PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (1993)

Studio album - Alternative Rock



About the Act:

In 1991 Polly Jean Harvey left her band Automatic Dlanini, with two of her bandmates and founded a 3-piece band called P.J. Harvey. The name worked out well for her, as when the band split up she continued as a solo artist with the same name.

She has had 9 albums under that name, the first two with the band. She is regarded as being a pioneer of edgy alternative rock.

She's from the British West Country.

About the Album:

This was the second album for the trio.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Hmm, once again this is hard to do without comparisons. Let's throw them out: Nirvana, Jeff Buckley, Skunk Ananse, Garbage.

So there are only three of them, and this is obviously a vehicle for Ms Harvey, singing and playing electric guitar and writing most of the songs. The drums and bass are excellent, but they are obviously supporting roles here. The guitar is gutsy, heavy, and heady, lots of overdrive, and lots of changes of tone. These sound like songs written on guitar with the others added later. 

Musically, quite wild. Mostly sensible chords, some odd time signatures and bar patterns, lots of chuggy guitar and loud guitar and very quiet guitar. The dynamic range is big. It's got a real heart of darkness and mayhem, and is expressive and energetic, and the vocal performance goes with that too. She can sing, when she needs to very well, but also she can scream and growl and whisper. It's quite a rush, with the unrestrained feel that Jeff Buckley's album Grace has. Some of the words are lost in the mix and some others I didn't follow, and some are curious. I looked some up. Some are on the rude side.

The production is, well this is Steve Albini who I have heard of. I didn't really know but he has been very influential, using distantly-placed mics, I guess which gives it that "recorded in a bathroom" sound. This is something that seems to have become popular, as I have commented on several Alternative Rock albums which sound like this. In this case I think it's effective. I suspect also that this was one of the first albums for this, as some critics specifically hated this aspect.

There are two anomalies on the album, a cover of Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan, and a reworking of one of the tracks as a kind of "classical" sextet. This sounds like modern chamber music to be honest, and is good, and reminiscent of Frank Zappa's classical stuff. Musically it is challenging. The same track appears later as a "normal" version. I like both versions.

It's definitely a head-rush. At the time some critics were very unconvinced. I disagree (and it maybe that time has opened the door to this sort of thing more). It's a great album. My one criticism really is that it is either a bit too long or does not have enough variety in it.

8.5/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fDJpBJhtloxzUENHlU9JB

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiN-7mukU_RHIHRv_RfGzKlbD2_-tczjk

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rid_of_Me



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