PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
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Free Music Notes for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Free Music Review: CD
Hit: 3 Stars
PJ has always been very avant guard. This cd is probably the least strange of all her stuff. Still, although I like it, it's not something I can listen to all the time.Free Music Review: Avid Listener
Hit: 5 Stars
I was hesitant at first but after I listened to this CD I came to realize that every song is catchy and interesting. I listen to this CD every day. Free Music Review: P. J. Harvey's Finest Hour.
Hit: 5 Stars
P. J. Harvey is an English songwriter who has performed as a solo artist since her 1993 release Rid of Me. Although many critics have frequently compared her to Patti Smith (a comparison which she dismisses as "lazy journalism"), Harvey says she was influenced mostly by Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, the Pixies, Television and Slint. Personally, I can hear the Patti Smith influences as well. (For instance, on Harvey's song "Horses In My Dreams," I can hear Smith's album Horses.) In concert she is known for her "Joan Crawford on acid" look: ballgowns, pink catsuits, wigs and garish, vampish make-up. With songs written in Dorset, Paris, and New York, Harvey's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is her best album to date for several reasons. First, it features a duet with Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) on the track "This Mess We're In," as well as his backing vocals and keyboards fon the songs "One Line" and "Beautiful Feeling." Second, the album is more accessible than most of Harvey's other albums. The material here is uncharacteristically melodic, with pop-rock sounds fused with the gritty, thrashing, guitar-driven punk energy she is also known for on her other albums. Complete album setlist includes:
1. Big Exit (3:51)
2. Good Fortune (3:20)
3. A Place Called Home (3:42)
4. One Line (3:14)
5. Beautiful Feeling (4:00)
6. The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore (4:00)
7. The Mess We're In (3:57)
8. You Said Something (3:19)
9. Kamikaze (2:24)
10. This Is Love (3:48)
11. Horses In My Dreams (5:37)
12. We Float (6:09)
G. Merritt
Free Music Review: Her Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
Polly Jean Harvey is one of those respected artists that never seems to make a bad move in their career. The albums that preceded this one were the intimate and intense debut "Dry", the ravaged and punkish "Rid of Me", the ominous, bluesy "To Bring You My Love", the avant-garde John Parish collaboration "Dance Hall at Louse Point", and the surreal, mostly electronic "Is This Desire?". Harvey modifies her musical talents yet again, this time focusing on slick, glossy, urban-inspired pop/rock. This may seem surprising to some, since Harvey's records both before and after this one never had this much polish. But it all works brilliantly, meshing Harvey's trademark earthy sound with lush pop melodies and arrangements. The album kicks off with "Big Exit", a glamorous, sexy rocker with a first-class hook. The upbeat love song "Good Fortune" comes next, followed by "A Place Called Home", an atmospheric ballad with layered guitars and a honking harmonica. The passionate, driving "One Line" and the dark yet gorgeous "Beautiful Feeling" come next, both featuring ghostly background vocals by Radiohead's Thom Yorke. "The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore", one of my four personal favorites on the album, is a swirling and tense rocker, with a dense Wall of Sound effect created by the layers of guitars. Yorke takes lead vocal duty and duets with Harvey on "This Mess We're In", my second personal favorite and a yearning love song that floats above the New York City sunset. Another of my four personal favorites comes next, "You Said Something", a luminous, Manhattan-set ballad that reminds me of a waltz. The storming "Kamikaze" and the bluesy "This Is Love" come next, and the album winds down a bit once the somber "Horses in my Dreams" comes hovering by. My fourth personal favorite and the album's finest track comes with its finish, the ethereal anthem "We Float". The song just sweeps over you, with a gentle, swaying beat and Harvey assuring you, in her gorgeous choir girl voice, "one day we'll float/take life as it comes". This album kind of signaled the end of an era for Harvey, with the follow-up album, the lo-fi and murky "Uh Huh Her", being a major disappointment, though still listenable, and her latest release, "White Chalk", being an excellent yet polarizing album due to it being almost exclusively acoustic.Free Music Review: Stories From The City...
Hit: 5 Stars
I'd heard PJ Harvey over the years, as her music has appeared on multiple soundtracks I own. And I'd never heard one of her songs I didn't like. But I never owned one of her albums. Then, on CNN.com they had Time's Top 100 Albums of all time, and lo and behold "Stories..." appeared. I thought, what a strange selection amongst Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, etc. So I bought the album.
There was no doubt in my mind after one listening, this is not only as good as any of the aforementioned artist's work, but sometimes better. And the modesty... she even let's Radiohead's Thom Yorke take the lead on one song, apparently conceding just for the better of the project. This sort of rare artistic integrity is so rarely seen and so very welcome. I played this CD at home, in my truck, at work for a month straight non-stop! And I even shy away from putting back in any player as it becomes all I want to listen to.
This is an incredible collection of songs. PJ is a genius.