Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey is yet another in a too-long list of outstanding musical artists who I somehow just simply missed altogether when they were definitely available to me as a listener and concert-goer. I remember hearing her name a lot, and she was spoken very very highly of by a number of people whose musical tastes were similar to mine. Anyway, even though I can't quite explain how I didn't listen to her 21 years ago when this album was released, I can say after having listened to it that I think it's fantastic work. Compelling, intriguing, very interesting chord progressions and rhythms, and I just dig the overall vibe. Dark without being too self-referential or too harsh. Really solid album.

It starts off innocently, a couple of fairly standard rocky numbers, which had me worrying about lack of diversity. Then we hit the numbers she did with Thom Yorke, which sandwich the genius of "The Whores Hustle..." Now we start hearing the Nick Cave influence. There is light, shade, darkness. She uses that voice to stab you in the heart. When it's over, you feel bereft. Thank God for replay. I knew she was good, but this is the best album I've heard in years.

Her most accessible album, and quite possibly her masterpiece (it's either this or Rid Of Me). It's as close as mainstream America finally got to embracing Generation X's Joni Mitchell. It might be due to the fact that Polly Jean sounds happy and playful, at least compared to her earlier work. Polly Jean Harvey deserves to have as many albums on this list as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. And this one's my favorite.

Enjoyed this one. PJ’s seemingly odd and occultist personality really comes through in her own perception of love.

An exquisite album from an extraordinary artist at the top of her game, PJ Harvey’s song writing and playing hits another level. Beautiful, melodic love songs that rock hard.

Substantive and coherent. Thoughtful and driving. No real huge hits but a certain timelessness -- professionally executed at a very high level. Holds up and will continue to. Thom Yorke's guest appearance tells you all you need to know about the overall quality and band's position at the time.

This is the first artist that I've heard of - This is a solid album and PJ Harvey gets high marks for being influential, but it's not quite a 5 star album for me. Some obvious influences are Patti Smith on "Good Fortune" and Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl on the opening of "This is Love". There's also a great collaboration with Thom Yorke of Radiohead.

Strong female vocals with driving guitars and a punk sensibility. I really like this! Favorite Tracks: Big Exit, A Place Called Home, One Line, Beautiful Feeling, The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore, We Float. Least Favorite Tracks: Horses In My Dreams

In which critic’s darling Polly Jean evokes rather than describes new love darkened by a generalised dread that, if you want to take things too far, kind of adumbrates 9/11 the following year. Twenty years on, it’s a useful reminder of two truths. One, love always wins the day. Two, the West had been demonstrating its skills in geopolitical goat-fuckery for decades, and 9/11 wasn’t the bolt from the blue many like to pretend. Anyway, the album. Again and again, Harvey throws a rope around her unwieldy themes: “I’m immortal when I’m with you, but I want a pistol in my hand”; “Does it have to be a world full of dread? I want to chase you round the table and touch your head”; “I can’t believe the axis turns on suffering when you taste so good”; “This world all gone to war. All I need is you tonight.”; “I draw a line from your heart to mine. A line to keep us safe.” Her themes are distilled to bold and beautiful physical gestures, but they wouldn’t carry half as much heft without the sonics that are the album’s greatest achievement. It’s a sound you feel could sweep across an ocean. That’s no coincidence, as there are more than a few references here to Polly’s separation from her man. If I’m reading it right, he’s in London and she’s in New York (omg, omg, omg: 9/11). The surprisingly sparse arrangements match the economy of her writing, averaging (yep, I’ve done the sum) 4.3 instruments per track. Only the blissful ‘We Float’ gets a big-finish 12! Shit, Polly, quit flexin’. As always, it’s not about how much is there, it’s about what it does. And the standard guitar-bass-drums—sprinkled with harmonium, harpsichord, tambourine, maracas, electric piano, E. bow, bells, and djembe—are deeper than a full orchestra because you can feel the spaces between them. At the dawn of a century (oh god, what am I doing?) defined for many by the alienating effects of globalisation, evoking ’the spaces between’ is pretty damn clairvoyant. And so I thank Polly for reminding me of the lines you can draw across those spaces, from one heart to another. [Vomits]

It's a good album, but not a great one. A lot of the songs sound very similar to one another. Where they vary, the album is a lot more exciting (This is Love, This Mess We're In, Kamikaze). Dry and Rid of Me are far more interesting records.

Overall: 9/10 PJ Harvey is just in a world of her own. Her songs are simultaneously cool, fun and beautiful. I've actually listened to most of her discography since I got Dry in this list a while ago and I love that even though they all sound like her, they also sound very different from each other. This is one of her best and the vibes are immaculate. Fav Song: Horses in My Dreams Least Fav Song: This is Love

Unreal, very Patti smith

5/5, this album was fantastic, I was torn between 4/5 for a while but the last couple tracks swayed me. The album does it all and does it well, most tracks felt unique and well produced, the antepenultimate taking you high, followed by the horses taking you low was cool, but coupled with the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ resolution to end the album, truly impressed me. This is a prime example of the necessity of this website

PJ showing the world she can climb the charts keeping her alternative integrity perfectly untouched. Monumental.

The undisputed queen of indie rock pulls out her masterpiece!

Pulsating alternative rock. Even without Thom Yorke's cameos there are shades of Radiohead there. PJ Harvey certainly does concept albums well, these songs are indicative of New York

You know, I didn't hate this album. I didn't love it either. It was just ... okay. I enjoyed listening to it in the background as I got stuff done. There aren't really any standout tracks and, on a whole, the album felt like a bit of a jumbled mess. Maybe it's my lack of connection to the material. The wiki says that this was a bit of a love letter to New York. That city doesn't need a love letter. It needs a tetanus shot and a month in rehab. But it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. It really wasn't. Perfectly adequate. Extremely middling.

I still don't get why she's on here at all let alone multiple times.

Wow. Ive been Polly Jean adjacent for a number of years and enjoyed some singles without ever getting into it. How I regret that now! This is great fun. The energy and drive at the top of the album hits hard and then it gives way to the great lyrics, the beautifully balanced vibes and the more spacious sound. I listened to this 4 times in a day and will keep doing so around engaging with her back catalogue

Beste plaat van PJ. Zo vaak gedraaid al en blijft elke keer prachtig.

8/10 Was not familiar with her game. But I really enjoyed this piece and will be returning again.

What a great album, the rock the softness in parts, surprise Thom Yorke, I really had a fun time and will be back again.

This was my second PJ Harvey album to listen to on this list, the first, being 'Rid of Me.' I enjoyed this album, albeit not as much as I enjoyed 'Rid of Me.' I thought the vocals here were fantastic, as were the guitars and drums. The songs featuring Thom Yorke were really great too. "Big Exit" and "You Said Something" were my favorite tracks here.

Альбом, уже ставший классикой и обязательным для прослушивания любому любителю рока. Для себя отмечу песни с Томом Йорком из Radiohead. 7 баллов из 10.

Really enjoyed this. More rocky and less experimental than I expected. Such a powerful voice. A few real banging tracks. Liked the Thom Yorke cameos

Great storytelling sick guitar. Loved the little piano/organ situation on a track I can't remember the name of and can always get around a Thom Yorke feature. Kamikaze is my highlight.

Favorite Song(s): This is Love, This Mess We're In This sounds like something my dad would play when I was a kid (in a good way). Weirdly very soothing to me. In addition, her voice sounds a bit like Lana del Rey.

This album sounds so 90s to me. At least it did when it started. As it got closer to the end I was like oh shit, this is where Patti Smith's influence had taken us in the early 2000's. As I was thinking how much she sounded like Patti on the song "This is Love," the very next track was called, "HORSES in My Dreams." Coincidence?! Probably, but damn she was serving my Patti on a few of those songs. Vocally at least. I didn't feel the feverish raw energy that Patti brought me and the songs kind of sounded like the epitome of late 90s/early 2000s alternative. I'm sure at the time it was a head turning sound, plus we were visited by everyones favorite alien, Thom Yorke, on "This Mess We're In," so I'm not going to come down on it too hard.

Sparse, very 2000s. I like Thom Yorke's appearance. I also like this record a ton more than "Let England Shake". A little bit more rock foward, with some slow spots here and there. Favorite tracks: "Big Exit", "One Line", "The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore"

I really want to be a PJ Harvey guy, but I'm just not a PJ Harvey guy. A couple of tracks stood out on this to me, but the combo of her vocals + the music just doesn't work for me. I'd do 2.5 stars if I could, but by sticking to my rounding down policy I feel like I'm betraying the music fan I wish I was.

POV: Your friend is driving you around in his mom’s car because his is in the shop. You don’t want to listen to the radio so you decide to rifle through her CD booklet. You pick one at random and pop it in. It’s boring. I like some of the PJ’s songs, but this is peak 2000 Toyota Corolla music imo. I unfortunately only started vibing at the chorus of We Float. However, I will give props for probably inspiring a lot of In Rainbows

Two albums by PJ Harvey in one week!?!? Am I being punished for something?

Fucking hell

As much as I try to like PJ Harvey, I always end up getting annoyed with her music.

Not come across PJ Harvey before. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand her voice!

Disappointing

Lol

#122/1001 🇬🇧 Simply perfect. I love Polly Harvey and this sits with Rid of Me at the top of an astounding body of work. It's without a doubt her most accessible record. From the beauty of You Said Something to the banshee's yell of Kamikaze, this record twists and turns in all directions. Thom Yorke guests on 2 tracks but this album truly owes more to collaborators Mick Harvey and Rob Ellis. Best Tracks: The Whores Hustle...., You Said Something, We Float, Good Fortune, This Mess We're In.

PJ is one of my all-time favourite artists, and this is my third-most listened to of all her records according to lastFM. But my top two are, unforgivably, not on the 1001 list, so this is getting 5* in their stead. Not that it's not worth it: Harvey has a Bowie-like ability to change her sound with every album while still being recognisably PJ Harvey. This is her take on classic rock and is perhaps her least "interesting" record but also her most melodic and soulful, crammed with great riffs and a powerful sense of yearning.

🥲

relistening since this morning cause what an awesome album!!! first song kinda feels like hole and then it moves on to like bjorkish fionaapplish boaish collectively very 90s the whores hustle and the hustlers whore is a phenomenal song-- "speak to me of heroin and speed, of genocide and suicide, speak to me the language of love, the language of violence, the language of the heart" AND THOM YORK IS THERE TOO hell yeah awesome. music.

As well as introducing me to some new artists, this project has been a welcome reminder of how much I bloody love PJ Harvey. I’ve already given five stars to Dry and Let England Shake, and this isn’t going to break the streak. At the risk of sounding like her mum, it's nice to hear her sounding happy.

I really enjoyed this album. One of my favorites from this this.

I spent the early 00's constantly reading spin telling me to listen to PJ Harvey and I never did. That was my bad. Great record.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea I listened to this a lot when it came out, mainly on the strength of This Mess We’re In, which I loved. It really reminds me of coming home from Japan for Christmas in 2000. I haven’t listened to it in a long time, so I’m glad it came up. Big Exit, is a cracking start, great lyrics, kind of punkish and new wave but accessible. Good Fortune is similar, a bit less aggressive perhaps, but a great song with a great hook and an evocative lyric. A Place Called Home is excellent too, from relatively simple instrumentation and arrangements she manages to make very engaging and interesting songs. One Line has a kinship with those first 3 songs, but again is great, with a vaguely unsettling atmosphere. Beautiful Feeling is fantastic, has a very folky feel, like the Unthanks, with those great backing vocals from Thome Yorke. Superb song. The Whores Hustle and the Hustler’s Whore is the kind of spiritual centre of the album, a great melody with an undeniable edge and a searching, impressionistic lyric sketching loneliness and isolation in a big city. This Mess We’re In, still great, a lovely melody with a sad and resigned feeling and two great vocals from them both. You Said Something is another great melody and hook - again the strummed guitar and minimal instrumentation conjures up an atmospheric and intriguing song. Kamikaze has that aggressive punky edge to it, and nice unhinged-ness suiting the title and coming after two pretty pop melodies This is Love I really remember from when it came out, love the swooping riff and that great tinkly piano. Another great melody and lyric too. Horses in my Dream, feel like the title is nod to Patti Smith, who she obviously shares a commonality with, but it’s a great and haunting low tempo ballad, with an edgy folkiness to it. Her voice sounds great on this one too. We Float is great too, a sense of ending and coming to terms with the end of a relationship, with that hazy drifting chorus with that superb melody. Hidden tracks were such a CD thing, and This Wicked Tongue is a good aggressive and angry song, but feels kind of unnecessary now. Doesn’t detract from the quality of the album at all though. This has reminded me what a great album this is, kind of amazing how engaging and interesting each song is, despite it in the main being relatively simple drums, strummed guitars and bass with minor additional instrumentation (although from my limited understanding there are some interesting chords happening). Like Let England Shake, I can see how she might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and how if you don’t buy into her style you probably wonder what all the fuss is about, but I think she’s fantastic and like Let England Shake this is an easy 5. 📖🌃📖🌊📖 Playlist submission: Still love This Mess We’re In, but I’ll go Beautiful Feeling

My 1001th album, and it’s a cracker, probably my favourite PJ Harvey album, very accessible but also brilliant. Love Thom York appearance on this too.

I was unaware of this terrific album. In my defense, we had two kids under three at the time.

The best album ever made.

Brilliant album

YEAH!! Love PJ love this record! Easy 5/5 for me on this one!

Wow this is fantastic. I knew a few of the songs already but it’s really incredible as a whole. The standouts for me are the songs with Thom.

Two PJ records in one week! I dithered over giving a 5 star rating to Rid Of Me, because I love it but it’s simply not as flawless as this. So I’m essentially saying this would get a 5 plus, if such a thing existed. Every song is great; the beautiful softer moments just as much as the powerful rock tracks. The opening bars make me feel as excited now as they did when I first heard it age 13. Still looking for a karaoke place where I can belt out Good Fortune.

PJ Harvey was not fucking around when she put this album together. A lot of fantastic songs. Excellent stuff! Fave track - the duet with Thom Yorke was great an all, but I have to go with "Good Fortune" overall, but like three quarters of the other tracks come in a close second place!

I love PJ Harvey, and I love this album. One of her best. 5 stars.

Great album, great songwriter. She’s influential as hell, there’s not much more I can say about her

This Mess We're In - awesome Kamikaze - rock & roll The Wicked Tounge - Hidden track but on another spotify session album good stuff

I’m ashamed I hadn’t heard this earlier. What a marvelous album.

I love this album!

AMAZING album that I was unaware was a thing. Added it to my list of go-to albums and could listen to this on repeat with no issues.

She’s never lost her distinctive melodic lurches and vocal swerve, though I miss the rawness of the first two albums. A pretty good PJ Harvey album, which means it’s excellent.

Pretty good, although her most straightforward record, and her most Patti Smith-inspired (in a good way; the excellent "Good Fortune" echoes "Frederick" nicely). Spoiled partway through by the atonal whinings of a gammy-eyed ogre, as was fashionable. Scrapes a 4 overall.

Great album. PJ, both voice and words, works extremely well for me. One of my favorite artists, and this album one of my faves from her. I'm going with 4 indie stars but question if I actually think it's a 5. Because along with Cat Power, I'm a big PJ fan and this is one of her best full albums.

First saw Polly Jean live in 2025 and this album has similar feeling to that show. Great range of styles from Big Exit to quieter more subdued The Mess We're In with Thom Yorke then back to harder Kamikazee and This is Love. Requires more than one listen to appreciate the lyrics.

Very tempted to give this a 5. This is a New York album — maybe the single quintessential New York album — the way, like, After Hours or Do the Right Thing are New York movies. It also feels like such a landmark turn-of-the-century record (and was, fittingly, released Jan. 1, 2000). This and its predecessor, Is This Desire, probably represent the PJ Harvey sound I best connect to, a midpoint between the earlier grunge sound and the art rock tendencies that later took over her work. Fantastic opening run of tracks, but it's the closing songs that are the true all-timers here. There's Horses In My Dreams, in conversation with Belle & Sebastian's similarly themed closer to If You're Feeling Sinister, and also evocative of Michael Clayton. And then We Float stands as a career high, with such a massive, life-affirming chorus. What a beautiful album!

This was a surprise. I went into it only really knowing PJ Harvey from "Down By The Water," and came out wondering how this album flew under my radar for so long. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea is a confident, well-crafted album; it's equal parts gritty and melodic, with a great balance of energy and emotion. It feels like one of those records that grows even more rewarding with each listen.

Absolutely deserving of the Mercury Prize. PJ Harvey’s songwriting is haunting and even Thom Yorke blesses us with his presence. I wonder if she might have released another Mercury Prize winning album precisely a decade later, that we could enjoy later into the journey of this list? Let’s hope.

<3

I'm sorry but this was just boring to me. A three for not being bad, but not being good either.

I feel compelled to listen to this again in the near future while at the same time not thinking it is spectacular.

This album is the most mid album I have gotten so far

Not bad, again not my cup of tea but not too bad.

Enchanting in its melancholy. This one is a callback to early 2000 with their uncertainty and dread. Tom York’s cameo was a surprise but a welcome one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the album's instrumentals, but the lyrics felt overly bland, and the lead singer had the same flow for most of the tracks. Listening to this album, I felt as though this was a softer, female-led Nirvana, trying rock instrumentals of different intensities with a lack of depth in the lyrics and singing. Overall, 2/5.

She’s overrated

I don't think I love this vocal style, or this singer song writing style. I don't feel anything strong on any of these songs. They don't grate or irritate me, but they also don't compel me either. I do like the track with Thom York. Repeats: this mess were in

Gof I hated this. Just noise

Scattered rythm, but good voice. Songs are sooo long and for what.

Not for me

Ноу

I just don't get the appeal

One good song, the rest sucked. One star

just not my vibe, but go girl ☆

My Absolute favourite PJ Harvey album, where many of her best songs were located, including: This is Love; You Said Something and Beautiful Feeling. None of her other records come close to the mastery she exhibits here for melody and lyrics. Boffo.

An absolutely fantastic album. Favorite track was This Mess We're In.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Frábær plata hjá PJ. Ótrúlega góð tónlistarkona og textahöfundur. Áhrifin frá Patti Smith augljós.

This would be in my top ten G.O.A.T albums

ABİ ALGORİTMA ŞAKA MI NİYE HEP FAV ALBÜMLERİMİ ÇIKARIYOR PJ HARVEY QUEENDİR.

The intersection of Patti, Joni and Neil.

This was the album where I really got PJ Harvey - I'd heard bits and pieces off her previous albums, and liked them OK, but never delved deeper. But this one grabbed me, hook, line and sinker. It's the sound of Polly Jean in New York, and in love. Alternates between tender and loving (A Place Called Home, You Said Something, This Mess We're In, Beautiful Feeling) and rocking out hard (Big Exit, Good Fortune, Kamikaze, The Whores Hustle and The Hustlers Whore, This Is Love). It's all fantastic and I love it.

Love you PJ, you gorgeous genius

Project 1001 #3 Pre thoughts - with Myles Davis i'd heard of him but never listened to jazz REM i'd heard of but never sat down with PJ i somehow have never heard of at all, yet she sits here with a top 1001 album on RYM. Post thoughts: Holy shit. Bumping Steps while an album like this came out the same time seems bizarre (even if i was 5 at the time) Even the first tracks that are your by the numbers rock tracks instrumental wise is still captivating. Then tom yorke comes in and its a sign of things to come which is "yeah we're gonna try some stuff out" Fav songs: All of them tbh

Fååk det var godt! Jeg ved det er godt når den 11 årige siger: "Den var du spillet for mig før, og jeg elsker den stadig!"

PJ Harvey formår at være både skramlet, intens, skrøbelig og smuk på en gang.

PJ Harvey is simply one of the best to ever do it. This might be her best album but I think I say that every single time.

I love Polly H but even I’m surprised that she has had three albums in the first 134 RPG, glad she has though and this is her very very best in my view, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Tom.

This is the first artist that I have gotten that I know really well. I probably have played this album at least half dozen times before this re-listen. Even this time, I played it two and a half times and had a hard time making notes. Let me try and explain. The listening window for this album came around the time by personal life was exploding and then the world changed. Again. I'm not sure how much it affected my listening this time but the way I listened to music from about 2000-2003 changed. I wanted something to escape or so enrapt me in the analysis in a way that wasn't too serious. I don't remember much about the first go around here. This time, a lyric would hit and I would go off and think about it and come back. The song would almost be over and another line or two would push me away from the currency of the song. So good. Like a good lick of ice cream that slows you down so much that you can't eat it quick enough. "I can't think and I'm silenced" Or the 90s repackaging of particular sounds of Elastica and Luscious Jackson but in a new way on A Place Called Home. This is her beautiful sounds for ugly people. It marks a change in what she had been doing in terms of ugly sounds and anger. I hate to say mature because it is just different. It was the first of two Mercury's for her. I really appreciate PJ. While This is Love is one of the only kinda singalong here, the rest are well worth a listen if only I could keep my attention on the lyrics. Many listens are rewarding. This is why I think this is a 5 for me.

So delicate, excellent song writing, meaningful lyrics. Music composition by PJ and her band I regard as very underrated. Keeps things interesting and exciting

The beginning of the middle of her career…and it’s a triumph!

God she's so cool