Reviews (page 14 of 14)
This Mess We're In: Io gli voglio tanto bene a Thom Yorke però quando fa le collaborazioni raramente riescono un po' come per tutti i cantanti con una forte identità artistica. In Conclusione: Questo disco mi ha messo un po' in difficoltà. Conoscevo i PJ Harvey solo di nome e non avevo mai ascoltato nulla. Al primo ascolto li ho trovati molto congeniali ai miei gusti e ho trovati alcuni pezzi interessanti del tipo "questo vorrei risentirlo" e la mia impressione generale era da 4, però qualcosa non mi convinceva. Al secondo ascolto credo di aver messo a fuoco cosa non mi convinceva: in questo disco i PJ Harvey sono un gruppo con una forte personalità, però mi sembra ci si adagino molto. I pezzi funzionano, l'atmosfera è coerente, però a livello compositivo sono tutti un po' scarsi, sembrano appunto il risultato del gruppo di musicisti che si chiude in sala a scrivere un pezzo, ognuno pensando al suo strumento e poi registra i pezzi cotti e mangiati. Non sembra esserci una visione olistica dei pezzi, magari è pure che non c'era un produttore a guidarli? (Non lo so perché non ho letto nulla a riguardo ancora). Comunque questa consapevolezza mi ha fatto rivalutare l'album ad un 3.
Inizialmente non avevo avuto una buona impressione poi con lo scorrere del disco è andata sempre meglio. C'è qualcosa che non mi convince nel suo stile però in generale è stato un ascolto piacevole che vorrò ripetere.
Tolle Frau, tolle Sängerin!
3/5
People who love the music I love adore Harvey, and think I should also. I do not love Harvey. It's another case of the voice grating on me, I'm afraid. I'm so influenced by that when enjoying music, and her voice really turns me off. It's a shame really because musically this could be pretty great.
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.
My intro to Polly Jean. Still in my top 5 albums.
muito ruim
One of those artists that I've been aware of but never properly listened to. Elements of Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Radiohead etc. Very good. Would give it 3.5
2/5
I haven't really dabbled in PJ after the first couple of albums. Not as raw or barbed down as the earlier albums. This is a good album, with good songs.
Not come across PJ Harvey before. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand her voice!
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.
I don't think I've heard of her before and don't understand why this album has any significance. I don't think it's bad and it does have pleasant moments, but it just doesn't really seem interesting or innovative to me in any way. Sounds like radio-friendly background music to me. 2.5 rounded down.
Me gustó el álbum aunque necesito más escuchadas para profundizar en el por qué (?), pero así de rápido me gusto que suena como una Alanis Morissette gone dark(er?).
Ok but nothing that blew me away - enjoyed the alternative listen though
bleh. not a relisten. fine. 3 stars?
I’m ashamed I hadn’t heard this earlier. What a marvelous album.
Unreal, very Patti smith
La primera parte de la carrera de PJ fue forjada bajo la cruz del blues. Acá yo, meco que soy, noto una onda más jingle jangle en la guitarra, mucho más melódica (esa línea de los Byrds que atraviesa los 80 y regala cumbres con R.E.M.) y arpegiada. Big Exit es una gran entrada (pun intended) para este disco. Good Fortune capitaliza ese sonido que intuyo. Brillante y muy emocionante, una de sus mejores canciones. A Place Called Home me remite a muchas cosas, todas muy cinematográficas, de esas de heroísmo pasional y romántico, también me retumba otra vez las formas vocales de Michael Stipe y en cuanto a sonido, las ondas pop de electrónica orgánica del Adore de los Smashing. Canta hermoso aquí. Puedo seguir con cada canción pero la neta mejor escúchenlo completo y díganle que lo haga a la persona que más confianza le tengan. Pd. La de The Whores Hustle.... le hubiera encantado a Kurt Cobain.
I thought this was pretty good, just a strong alt rock album. Her voice is great and it didn't fuck around with being super soft then loud then soft again like Rid of Me does. Like this more for sure
not my usual taste honestly but I did find one song I liked! This Mess We're In ft. Thom Yorke = good
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
Just like ya mate made an album and now you feel like you have to listen to it. This never really got me going and there were also a couple of shite songs.
Never been a fan of PJ Harvey, but I get the appeal. Was good to be forced to listen to an album of hers and I did like it. But I don’t think it’s converted me into a fan.
I enjoyed it, but no real standout tracks and I probably wouldn't revisit. 6/10
Pleasantly surprised by PJ Harvey. She gave me a Rashida Jones vibe. I give her album three Quincy's!
Pretty eclectic but not really my vibe.
Ace. Great voice and rocks when it rocks
Not my style.
Similar to other folks, its just a generic Indie sound and not one that I particularly enjoyed
Not a bad listen at all. Good background noise for when I was working. Nothing stood out as amazing but still a good album.
Good
Joni Mitchel's album was more varied than I expected, I really got into the atmosphere of her songs and the storytelling and that. I got more out of this than her Blue album. Listening to PJ Harvey while cleaning really helped with the cleaning. It had a lot of energy. Will listen again when I'm running or angry, or both.
Sounds a lot like something my dad would listen to. Nothing about this is really gripping me, i don't dislike it and the individual songs are okay though
Pretty boring. I don't usually say this, but the singer's voice started to wear on me a little.
Not bad, good background music. Pretty chill.
Aguante PJ Harvey! Un disco variado, sad, pesado, pegajoso, con ritmo, con depre, con melancolia. Tracks favoritos: this is love y kamikaze. Mood: viendo la lluvia escurrir por la ventana de un camión
3.1 + This one finds PJ Harvey with a sleeker sound, wearing an on-trend early aughts outfit on the cover and with guest appearances by Thom Yorke at his prime. I remember listening to this in 2000 and seeing her perform in Paris. The concert was blander than expected, and listening to this album again I can see why I found that show disappointing. What's all but absent here is the raw power, the angst and anger, the sexual ferocity. The album's look and sound are like a TJ Maxx version of PJ Harvey.
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.
Mayormente rock instrumentista de una polifacética artista. Canciones con variedad de estilos en su interior, se puede escuchar bien. Le ha faltado algo, que quizás solo sea escucharlo más
It was alright. I liked the songs with Thom Yorke and I thought the songwriting was pretty compelling, but her voice was frustrating at a lot of points. Worth another listen at some point but generally just some okay alt-rock.
Haunting and soulful... Thom Yorke guest vocals... miss not listening to this album.
8/10 jiji
Polly Jean es una de esas artistas en mi vida que no están presentes todo todo el tiempo, pero que me encantan. Tiene una fuerza creativa muy chida, "Beautiful Feeling" fue por mucho tiempo mi favorita de este disco, aunque "This Is Love" y "This Mess We're In" también tenían lo suyo. Reescucharla con atención hizo que ahora me gusten mucho "A Place Called Home" y "Kamikaze" (con todo lo rockera que suena está última). La voz de PJ me encanta, tanto cuando se aloca como cuando canta tranquila, en calma. El disco abre enérgico y tiene un cierre más moderado. La quiero mucho. No tengo skips en este disco.10/10
Nice indie rock stuff, cool collab with thom yorke thrown in as well
PJ showing the world she can climb the charts keeping her alternative integrity perfectly untouched. Monumental.
Actually really liked this one. An album that was honestly a little heavier than I expected and would go back and forth from that to more of that singer songwriter vibe. Good stuff. Favorite Tracks: “Big Exit,” “Beautiful Feeling,” and “The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore
Felt overall like very average indie pop rock. I listened to it three times and never disliked a song, but had trouble connecting with anything.
Great one, never heard it in full until now
great
It was a good listen, definitely of a certain era/point in time in altpop music. I didn't love it, but no complaints.
meh
Fairly ambivalent about this album. Didn't dislike it, but didn't care either
Decent background music but nothing stand out.
Nice P.Js Simpson
Recordaba a PJ Harvey como parte de esa ola de mujeres del rock alternativo noventero con cierta actitud que me agradaban. De hecho quizá como una de las que más personalidad propia y fuerza tenían. En especial le recordaba un par de canciones del disco Rid of You que valían mucho la pena. Este disco... no es malo... es... promedio. Tanto las letras como la música pareciera que perdieron la pasión anterior. Este disco se siente mucho menos crudo, más maduro y vulnerable. Para muchos eso sería quizá algo bueno pero en mi opinión siento que pierde lo que le daba chispa y se siente ahora sí como una música medio promedio, aburrida del montón. La idea de las letras basadas en lo que le inspira de NY pues... bien... algunos coros decentes, a ratos pareciera imitando a PAtti Smith pero a final de cuentas sintiéndose medio vanal tanto musical como líricamente. Todo se siente promedio con algunos puntos que la levantan apenas lo necesario para no llamarle mediocre (Kamikaze se siente lo suficientemente honesta y This Mess es interesante) pero no suficientes como para salvar el disco. Una lástima que la recordaba como un artista mucho más interesante y en este disco pareciera que perdió su dinamismo.
i liked this one actually
Good fortune is a great song and certainly evokes a Chrissie Hynde vibe. Album was quite varied with a cool Thom Yorke cameo. Enjoyable but i don't expect to listen to it again.
Gran disco. Mi favorita es This Mess We're In aún con la voz de Yorke. 4.5 que bajan a 4 porque la mitad es un poquito monótona pero igual es muy disfrutable.
she's got a fantastic voice, but her music in general just kinda leaves me a little cold.
This album doesn't make sense to me on this list. It's nondescript and doesn't really stand out musically. Maybe there are some deep lyrics buried in there, but my interest in finding them is low. There were thousands of albums that sounded like this in the late 90's and I'm not sure what made this one stand out enough to make this list.
Dig PJ's sound
Not for me
Beetje slappe rock
Este es uno de esos discos que me alegro de haber escuchado, ya que de no ser por este sitio probablemente hubieran pasado desapercibidos para mí. No recuerdo haber escuchado sobre PJ Harvey ni nada de su música, pero es un disco que me impresionó: la calidad de la música, su voz y el uso de métricas inusuales: ¿notaron que "One Line" está en 7/4? Otra cosa interesante es que en esta lista hay otros grupos con vocalistas que tienen timbres de voz similares a Harvey: Siouxsie And The Banshees y los Yeah Yeah Yeahs, y probablemente habrá otros. A pesar de este review mayormente positivo, temo que mi calificación no será tan alta. Prácticamente todo el disco tiene una vibra dark/depresiva al punto que parece a propósito que una de las canciones más oscuras del álbum se llame "Beautiful Feeling". Las dos canciones que guardé del disco fueron "This Mess We're In" y "We Float".
Creo que su cambio hacia el pop fue más por estrategia de ventas, era un tiempo en el que tenía que competir contra Natalie Imbruglia, Alanis Morrissette, Sheryl Crow e incluso Shania Twain. Espero en la lista venga alguno de sus anteriores discos. This mess we're in, this is love y Horses in my dreams son muy buenas.
PJ Harvey es una de esas que incluso he sentido sobrevalorada a veces. No es que me desagrade, incluso tiene un par de cosas que me gustan, pero de pronto a la segunda vuelta ya no le hayo el gusto. De este disco sí me gustaron Big Exit y This Is Love, que creo que además son de sus muy muy famosas, pero la que canta con Thome Yorkee, blaagh.
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.
Tiz alright, not something I would run out and buy
I love this album!
Some songs a bit forgettable but others are excellent
Won the mercury prize - must have been an average year
not very interesting
Poor man’s Fiona Apple
People who love the music I love adore Harvey, and think I should also. I do not love Harvey. It's another case of the voice grating on me, I'm afraid. I'm so influenced by that when enjoying music, and her voice really turns me off. It's a shame really because musically this could be pretty great.
Not bad, the rock and roll of the times
Didn't really get anything out of this.
Chill vibes.
Cool, but not anything I haven't hear before
Good Fortune - huge Patti vibes, although I guess she hadn't heard of her until people started comparing them. The middle felt like some generic 00s rock songs and honestly by the last two I was checked out.
Kun enkelte gode sange, meget larm
Great - had not really listened to this before, but really enjoyed it.
I heard good things about her and I really enjoyed this album. It had some great songs and was really consistent. Thom Yorke feature was also amazing. 8.8/10
Like Horses but way better
Good but not my style...again
Great stuff - everything I hear from PJ Harvey I love.
A bit too grungy and atonal for me. Tom Yorke featured track 7 wasn't too bad, and the intro to track 11.
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.
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.
This is the kind of album where if you like it, you say that the artist displayed her range, whereas if you don't, you say that it's inconsistent. I fall into the latter camp. Some of the songs were pretty good, though I hesitate to call any of them great, and many of them fell flat. I don't really like her affected growl, and there's something about some of the backing instrumentation that didn't age well, but I can't put my finger on what it is. Best track: This is Love
Great alt-rock album which fits perfectly with the fall weather. Thom Yorke made some great contributions aswell
Enjoyed this one. PJ’s seemingly odd and occultist personality really comes through in her own perception of love.
Solid
Meh. Very bland and unspecial.
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"
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
Nice album, but I was going in with expectations of the sound to be more eerie. Not a bad album by any means, but it did not blow me away
Punky.
Nice, but not really my thing.
One can be forgiven for thinking that PJ Harvey had gone metropolitan in regards to this album's cover and that her ambitions had grown wider and higher as a result. While that much is true, it is also a bit of a disservice given what she's offering to the table. Stories... had not abandoned what made PJ one of the more provocative women in rock; if anything, it allowed her to obtain more lenses for storytelling and those lenses give her reason to expand the musical palate. As with all of her records, Stories... is the kind she needed to make for the time. Favorites: Big Exit, Good Fortune, A Place Called Home, Beautiful Feeling, This Mess We're In, Kamikaze, This is Love, We Float.
Heart vibez. Enjoyable album
Disappointing
The undisputed queen of indie rock pulls out her masterpiece!