Reviews (page 2 of 8)
PJ Harvey is a wonderful human
Much better than I remembered
nice
Ton of fun. Love the guitar tone so much
very good
Excellent grunge inspired album that inspired many new female artists. The music matches the title of the album, dry yet heartfelt and well-executed with some great standout tracks like "Joe", the chaotic "Plants and Rags" and the in-your-face lyrics of "Dress". Definitely deserving to be on the 1001 list, mostly for the fact that it is one of the best female "grunge-raw" style albums out there.
PJ harvey does not miss
Very good. Powerful lyrics, great punk aesthetics, love the basslines.
Better as it ages. Nick Cave-esque
As fate would have it, PJ Harvey’s debut album will wind up being my final album of hers to review. Heading into this project, I had only listened to Let England Shake, and her other three albums were first-time listens for me. Rid of Me really blew me away, earning five stars from me, and her other two albums earned four stars each. I’m expecting to enjoy this album as well. Dry will wind up being my least favorite PJ Harvey album that I’ve reviewed, but it was still pretty good. On all of her albums, I love PJ Harvey’s vocals and her guitar playing. Her sound is raw, and I love that the tone and emotions of her lyrics match that raw sound really well. The thing that I find most impressive about that raw sound is that it’s not achieved through crummy production, or a lack of technical finesse, but through vivid and often shocking imagery. I didn’t find any of this album to be unenjoyable, but it just didn’t create the reaction from me that PJ’s other albums did. Most of the songs were just fine in my opinion, although there were some songs that stood out to me: -“Happy and Bleeding” was really good. The harmonium in particular was really great. I thought this was the most unique song on the album, and even with a more eastern influence in the sound, it still had that raw sound that fit in well with the album as a whole. -I loved the guitar and strings on “Dress.” The rhythms on this song were really great, and I loved the different pace of the chorus and the verse. The violin had a screeching sound to it that I really loved, and it sounded great with the twang of the guitar. -The distorted guitar and pulsing drums sounded great together on “Joe.” I loved how the song started off a bit softer, before those drums started, and the heavily distorted guitar added some depth to the sound that I really loved. Even though this was my least favorite PJ Harvey album, I’ve really come to appreciate her as an artist, and I can’t see myself passing up an opportunity to listen to her music again in the future.
No my favorite PJ Harvey album. But it did remind me how much I love and miss that gritty, dirty 90s sound.
A little too indie for me but I liked it more than other stuff, & PJ (to the extent of my knowledge) did this relatively early. A lot of the songs are about men (some are good, some are eh). The second half of the album is when it gets good. BT - Oh My Lover - Plants and Rags - Fountain - Water -
Eh, idk, it wasn't bad but it was fine.
Cringe era , repetitive rock
Первый трек задаёт балдёжный настрой. И ещё какие-то. На какие именно - хз. Ладно, Sheela-na-gig какая-нибудь. Просто разбирать по трекам не хочется, они душить начинают. От прослушивания тупо устаёшь. Я в начале подумал, что из-за некой комплексности без подготовки возникает подобная реакция. Но нет, прослушал раз 5-7, это действительно во многом душная музыка. Так что был бы рад поставить 4, ибо музла то хорошего завозят, если бы не уставал. Был бы балдёж-нормас - ещё лан, но балдёж-усталь - уже не.
неплохо так то, ее вокал на фоне тяжелой гитарки звучит норм, правда не там где вой начинается, первый трек самый лучший вроде
I thought PJ Harvey was a man. Shows how much I really know about acts that are before my time.
I was excited to have another album by a female artist, but I really wasn’t vibing with the angst and edginess on this one. I was honestly relieved when I got to the end of this listening experience. Sorry to say it was a 2/5 for me.
Dear PJ, Please remove me from your subscriber list. Thanks, Jackson
Edgy und grungy, spricht mich aber nicht wirklich an, wat teils ein bisschen monoton
Sounds like she’s a few felines short of a cattery. Shrill and stressful - not for me.
Ehhhhh
Not a huge PJ Harvey fan. This is certainly better than Stories from the City but I've yet to find an album by them that makes me think more then "meh" before abruptly moving on and forgetting about it. I can see why this appeals to some people, I'm just not those people
Eh. Guitar is good on this but other than that it doesn't speak to me.
For whatever reason, I'm not able to listen to this album. Which is great, cause I didn't want to. How does she have 4 albums on this list?
Edgy, guttural and in your face. Also, 100% forgettable afterwards. She refined this formula in layer albums.
It's just OK. Not crazy about the sound of the band; pretty meh 90s alt type stuff. Her vocals are expressive but nothing I'm particularly drawn to. I do hear flashes here that intrigue me. Interestingly abstract lyrics and plenty of passion. I'd be interested to hear one of her later albums, but not a huge fan of this one. Best song: Dress
Pretty dry.
Didn’t really connect with this record. I like this female vocalist more than others, but a lot of the songs are bland and repetitive.
Bah.
Lyrics is a bunch of non-sensical emo stuff, not much going on with the instrumental. Overall quite bad and I can't decide between 1 or 2 stars. 3/10
On a par with a teen basement band.
Another artist that I've definitely heard of, but never really listened to. And, uh... if the rest of her stuff sounds like this? I probably never will. Her voice is just very abrasive to me. I do not enjoy it. It warbles between being barely tolerable to sounding like nails on chalkboard. Is it because I'm getting older? Am I becoming what I hated? The actual music is pretty decent though.
That was just noise.
Production is terrible, couldn’t hear a thing. Not my jam.
1.5
Need to finish album, hated the 1st 3 songs, go back listen more
This punk stuff is all turning out terrible
Plants and Rags is bad. I know a hot girl singing atonally is a thing, but this album does nothing for me. I want to worship at the alter of PJ but this isn’t the alter I want to be at.
even water was dry
I normally try to give albums a second or third listen, but this was terrible.
Last pj Harvey album was dreary. Yep this one was no better.
"Alternative" as in "i don't like it emo kinda way", cringy
I kinda liked it a lot Will I listen to again: 100%
Just fantastic. Blues and garage rock bangers with Harvey showing off her vocal prowess.
Polly Jean Harveys skramlede, intense rock masserer mig helt perfekt.
I was like, come on. I’ve really enjoyed some of PJ Harvey’s other, later albums on this list, what could her debut have to offer? Turns out, a lot. The songs on this thing kick so much ass. I guess I’ve been won over to being a full blown fan. The palpable attitude, rage, disdain, passion, even winking slyness at times - she is so goddamn expressive. Another must-listen from PJ. #365
This shit is so good man. How in the world was this her debut? So full of angst in a very polished, endlessly listenable kind of way. Having not listened to any of the rest of her discography, I have nothing to compare this to -- which is probably good, because I feel no shame in giving this a 5. The only thing that could make this better is if I were a woman, and that's on me.
Loved this!
Hhhhrrrrnnnggggghhhhhhh
Oh yeah I fucked with this heavy! Immediately on the wavelength of this much more than the other PJ Harvey albums I’ve gotten (one of which I got just last week). This is so raw, and 90s indie rock. Right up my alley. You can hear so much Riot Grrl in this. First couple Sleator Kinney albums are just trying to sound like this essentially. Liked that it was so raw and intense without losing big, catchy choruses and nice harmonies too. Really really dug this.
How was PJ Harvey not a bigger name back in the day? This was amazing. I had always heard the name but never heard any of their music until now. I always thought they were electronica for some reason so I was pleasantly surprised with this album.
Great
Banger
++*: Sheela-Na-Gig ++: Oh My Lover, O Stella, Dress, Victory, Happy and Bleeding, Joe, Plants and Rags, Fountain, Water +: Hair 9,7/10
Favorite Song: Sheela-Na-Gig
Have heard of PJ Harvey Had not listened to Dry Had heard one or two songs I really liked this. Great lyrics, fantastic musicianship. I'm not sure if there was much else around at the time like this with a female singer in the UK. I think this definitely belongs in the list
I’d heard of PJ Harvey but had never heard one of her songs prior to this. Loved her grit and emotion and voice. And it rocks instrumentally, too. I’m all in.
PJ's like Alanis Morissette meets Elastica meets Pearl Jam, this was awesome! Best album that has showed up for me on this website.
Don't have much to say except: niiiice. Here's a five for you, PJ.
I was obsessed with this record. It is still fantastic. The lyrics and the interplay of the three musicians. She was the kind of musician who needed to move on to different arrangements but this was a cracking band.
Love her. She has such a unique presence and viewpoint. Cracking
An amazing raw debut. She really comes out swinging.
9 / 10 - roher, ungeschminkter female-lead Rock - Sehr coole Vibes - sehr abwechslungsreich mit interessanter Orchestrierung, teils mit Streichern, und verschiedene Taktarten Favs: - Dress - Oh My Lover - Hair
I fuck with this
i love girls
she's everything
I'm more familiar with the next album, Rid of Me as I own that one, but this one I think I've streamed a few times in the past. But ya, it's great, nice raw sounds, great emotion in the singing to go along with it.
Just great stuff.
Want to dive deeper.
This was really great. Raw, emotional and really well done. Listened to it a couple times. 4.5 but let’s put it on the 5 side.
PJ Harvey's debut album is excellent. The three piece band with Polly Jean on guitar and vocals is so strong. Every track is really interesting, raw and engaging.
Loved it! Emotionally and musically it's totally in my taste. From the first song I knew it will be genious. Got the idea of buying the vinyl record on the third song, i believe. Pure poetry.
I bought this when it came out and even though I haven't played it in a long time, it's still a great album.
Didn’t used to, but man do I love angry feminist crunchy chick rock these days.
One of the most frenetic debuts in recent history
Zuhause, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Fantastisches Album.
This is just brilliant. Such a great debut. Not a dud on it.
Blind spot for me but it's obviously great
What a cool, heavy sound! I really enjoyed this!
kinda incredible 5
one of the coolest to ever do it. music: appreciated. (⌐■_■)
Holy hell this rocks. Sometimes I get too precious and talk myself out of giving 5 stars to an album I’ve only just heard the one time, but the closing song on this one prevented that.
this was excellent
I’ve heard of her, but never heard her. Great music. This is the reason I started this.
Holt mich sehr ab
, ehrlich, gut
PJ Harvey is definitely an artist who has grown on me as a result of going through this list. The first one I listened to was Stories From The City which didn't quite grab me. Subsequently hearing this one and Rid of Me, I really like her now. Like her 2nd LP this is a raw and powerful album, emotionally punchy and sets her aside as a really unique artist. Those 3 people make a lot of noise, that's for sure.
This was pretty damn amazing. Don't really know how to compare this to her other albums, but I really have nothing bad to say about this one. Banger after banger
Me gusto
Fantastic debut. Many bands cant even reach these heights in their entire career, and what a career Polly Harvey has had. My personal favourite on this has always been 'Sheela-na-gig', top songwriting and great guitar work.
Robert Christgau once pointed out that, for certain artists, the way they sing a particular word or phrase encapsulates something really essential about them. For Joey Ramone it's "wanna." For Robert Smith it's "never." For Billie Joe Armstrong it's "care," as in he doesn't. And so forth. PJ Harvey sings the word "lover" like she's addressing God. Throughout this explosive song cycle she worships and begs and rages and self-flagellates at the feet of her deity, twisting and swirling like a frenzy of ancient legend. The Earth Mother figure showed up in female-led Nineties rock in a million different ways but never as compellingly as it does here. And we often call rock music "wild" but rarely do we hear it like Harvey makes it - feral, instinctual, fecund, consumed at all times with a gaping maw of need and lust. *Fuck*.
Such a strong, singular voice, so exciting and invigorating. Reminds me of a quote whose source I can't remember that "when someone doesn't sound like anyone else, it's because that's who they really are."
PJ Harvey’s raw, visceral debut is a nervy punch to the gut, showcasing one of the most powerhouse rock vocalists of the 1990s.
Fabulous debut album I celebrate her entire catalog!
Really like the grit and honest of this album.
How did I never know I loved PJ Harvey until this project? Great shit!
Where has this been and how had I missed it! Rid Of Me, her second album, is a favorite in my collection and I think I like this one even more. Infectious musicianship, intense lyrics, fantastic vocals, brilliant dynamics. This has all the interest that the too perfect Crosby, Stills and Nash lacked. Maybe it won't survive in perpetuity like the classics, but it burns like a 1000 watt bulb from start to finish. Anyone liking this should definitely check out her follow up album, also in the 1001.
Enjoyed this, good to.finf
A perfect debut record. It has everything I love about alternative rock.
Dress
In one of those happy coincidences that this list sometimes throws up, yesterday’s album was PJ Harvey’s 2000 release Stories from the City and today’s is her debut. I’ve gone from not knowing much about her to being a fan in the space of 24 hours. This is a great album, unjustly overlooked in 1992 whilst the media at the time were obsessed with those cob nobbling bands over in Seattle for some reason. Harvey is a great musician and her songs are boldly and unapologetically feminist without falling into riot grrrl cliches. The highlight is Sheela-na-gig which takes the idea of the male gaze and shoves it right back into the face of the patriarchy. I hope that some of the critics who were snooty about this record looked that word up and were suitably surprised when they did!
This does not sound like it’s 30+ years old. Fresh as hell. PJ is amazing.
This album grabs you by the lapels and pulls you in close from the opening track. I can't believe I've never heard the whole thing before. I'm feeling a very punk\grunge albeit a melodic presentation at play and it is working very, very well.
Never listened to this PJ Harvey. Actually loved it. I listened through 3 times. It's got it going on. 4.5/5
dress is the best song ever btw
It’s just, amazing. PJ’s vocals are the star of the show, but it can’t be understated that this album rocks from front to back. The only “flaw” in this record is I think they should have ended the album on Fountain. The harmony in the coda would have been an incredible way to go out.
Ça vaut la peine de découvrir "The Demos" sortis entre 2020 et 2022. Ses albums de Dry à The Hope Six Demolition Project sont représentés en ébauches/outtakes.
Connaissais pas, j'aime le côté grungy qui m'a fait beaucoup penser à Radiohead. Après j'ai lu sur PJ Harvey, et ça l'air qu'elle est justement pas mal pote avec Thom Yorke. J'ai aussi trouvé sa persona inspirante. A réécouter et découvrir les autres albums! Je discutais récemment avec Alice de la place de la femme dans la musique. Je trouve qu'il y a eu une explosion inégalée dans les 90s (Tori Amos, Love, Bjork etc etc etc) où l'identité féminine "rock" n'était plus qu'une émule de ce qui se faisait déjà. C'est un phénomène intéressant.
Je savais deja que j’aimais PJ, étant un grand fan de To Bring You My Love et Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, ainsi que Let England Shake. Sans compter son duet savoureux avec Nick Cave. Mais c’était ma première fois avec son debut album et wow! La madame savait rocker dès le début. J’ai dèjà hâte de réécouter.
2nd PJ album and I'm really impressed. Unique, creative, all around enjoyable listen.
Дуже вайбік дуже сподобався
PJ Harvey is always good. Dress is a banger. Sheela-Na-Gig is a banger.
Very rugged sounding. a great listen while doing my homework.
#114/1001. I discovered PJ Harvey around Rid of Me and 50 ft Queenie on MTV Alternative Nation / 120 minutes somewhere around -92 or -93 I think. Then To Bring You My Love really blew me away, and I had to get her back catalogue (which by the way seem to be my most valuable vinyls nowadays since everyone around me was already bracing the cd world). Ok, it might be that the current collection contains a disc or two from my sister as she didn't want to take her vinyls overseas when she moved to the States. Anyway, for some reason Dry is the Record I have played the least, and now listening closely I don't know why. For me she is the perfect missing link between top of the pop Morrissettes and "I don't give shit" Riot grrrls, I think both of these extremes have dozens of clones, but there is only one PJH. The songwriting is clever, but mostly listener friendly, yet the sound is in no way polished or forgiving, if rhat is a fitting word here...i love the use of the strings, not to mellow out the tunes - exactly the opposite: distorted guitar sounds mellow compared to the staccatos here. Somehow the song mood changes are perfected on Bring You My Love, but they are present over here as well, making the album an exploration, a trip, which can be taken again and again, with something new revealed every time.
de los mejores albums nuevos que escuché este año. wow. artistaza, una locura de álbum.
An unexpectedly refreshing album. It's a very raw experience. Lots of electric guitar with nothing but a distortion pedal, raw vocals with very little mixing on them, and the songwriting itself is very emotional and raw. A great listening experience.
Dryer
What an awesome surprise. This was fantastic
Never heard this. Loved it
I was 21 when this album came out first album I played in my car. Solid 5 stars
My group has had PJ before, so it's nice to see she came out of the gate running with her debut record. 4.5 bumped up to 5.
Great record.
REINAAAAH
PJ MY QUEEN, all of her albums are incredible imo. Hope to see To Bring You My Love or Rid of Me on here 🙏 Highlights: Dress, Happy and Bleeding, Sheela-na-gig
Very nearly a perfect album
Polly Jean and I go way back.
Raw and gritty but really well put together for a debut album. New artist to me but I’m a big fan, favorite track was ‘Victory’ but I easily listened through a couple times. 4.5/5
Absolutely rips
Proof that PJ Harvey has always been knocking it out of the park. Incredible debut from an incredible artist.
Incredible debut from PJ Harvey. Clear vision from the get-go and the ability to make it work.
Amazing album. Raw and powerful.
Definite piece the music topographical puzzle
No complaints from me
Weird, raw, gritty, not always connecting during the first listen but makes we want to seek out more of her... Far from perfect, but maybe that's a good thing... 4.5
An absolute belter of an album: Raw and honest, catchy and witty.
Aggressive, angsty, and shockingly well produced. I've liked all the PJ Harvey I've had so far, but this album is definitely my favorite from her. O Stella, Victory, Sheela-Na-Gig and several others are standouts here. This is a highlight of the decade for me.
Excellent album love it!!
The cover for this album made me incredibly uncomfortable and not excited to listen to it. I thought it would be one of those albums that seems to go out of its way to make you uncomfortable, with song topics and lyrics that make you squirm and a sonic palette that makes the hairs in your ears stand on end. That isn't really at all what I got, thankfully, and I actually ended up quite enjoying this more than I thought. It was much more...cohesive and interesting and engaging than expected. It has attitude, it has a little sneer, it's musical. "Dress" is an insanely catchy and fun tune. "Victory" feels like it could've been a Nirvana song. The overall sound is a little too clean in places to be grunge, but it definitely has grunge-adjacent sounds and sensibilities. I don't know what else to say except that I loved it. The cover aside, the entire experience is such a cohesive listen. Each song is different from the last, while still also feeling like they belong together. The energy, the arrangements are amazing and I honestly was left wondering how I never heard of her before now. Five stars, honestly. This is exactly what this project is supposed to do - introduce me to artists I didn't even know existed and now love. Standout Tracks: O Sella, Dress, Victory, Sheela-na-gig, Joe, Plants and Rags
classic, always happy to get an excuse to listen to this. not quite as good as Rid of Me but, like, nothing is
GOOD
I did not expect to love this so much! What a banger
One of the best albums I've heard in a long time. Fantastic raw grungy feel
Good music
I'm about halfway or more done with this, and so far, if nothing else, this list has taught me two things: A lot of acclaimed music does indeed suck; and PJ Harvey kicks ass.
4.5 - No wonder PJ Harvey and Nick Cave were together briefly, they really fill the same space for me. Loved the album
Nice
Excellent 👌
Overall: 9/10 Patti Smith for the modern age! I loved this, it rocks hard and doesn't hold back. PJ not only has an incredible voice, but her lyrics are some of the best I've ever heard about women, how they perceive the world and how they are treated. It's brave and thought provoking stuff. Definitely a favourite so far. Fav Song: Dress Least Fav Song: Water
🤘 Crazy that this album is over 30 years old. Unfortunately still very relevant, fortunately still kicks absolute ass. Love this damn album even after not listening to it for YEARS.
I discovered PJ Harvey at the right time - she definitely spoke to me as a teenager. But even without the angst, this is such a great debut from an artist who arrived fully formed. I also don’t think she gets enough credit for the tunes - Sheela-na-gig is straight up catchy.
Pierwszy raz próbowałem tego posłuchać do treningu, ale już przy pierwszej piosence zmieniłem album, bo wiedziałem, że ten będzie ode mnie wymagał więcej uwagi. Fantastyczny krążek. Kilkakrotnie kojarzył mi się z "Debut" Bjork, choć PJ Harvey jest oczywiście bardziej rockowa, niż popowa, a także mniej eklektyczna od islandzkiej królowej. I ma mniej "crazy factor" w sobie. Ale to wciąż fantastyczna wokalistka o ciekawej barwie głosu, tworząca intrygujące światy w każdej piosence. Jest cięższa, bardziej surowa. Duży bonus za rozbudowaną i dominującą sekcję rytmiczną, dla mnie to zawsze ogromny plus. Trochę wahałem się między bardzo mocnym 4 a słabym 5, ale idę w piątkę, bo jednak dla mnie poziom artystyczny tej płyty jest bardzo wysoki.
Alternative music sang by a girl with great voice. This is just a baseline where I would give 4 but this album is so much more.
Debiutancki album PJ Harvey, "Dry", to surowa, emocjonalna i niezapomniana eksploracja kobiecej siły i wrażliwości. Nowatorski kierunek dla alternatywnego rocka, łącząc minimalistyczne brzmienia z intensywnym, niemal prymitywnym przekazem. Brzmienie albumu jest surowe, zdominowane przez potężne gitary, oszczędne aranżacje i pulsującą perkusję. Produkcja podkreśla autentyczność i intymność muzyki – nie ma tu miejsca na nadmiar, wszystko jest skoncentrowane i celowe. Wokal – raz subtelny, raz pełen furii – jest rdzeniem tej płyty. Moje top tracki to "Oh, my lover", "Dress" i Sheela-na-gig". Ale cały album jest prawie idealny. Słabe 5
That blew me away. I've gotten a couple of her later albums very early on in the project and was pretty indifferent. This one I loved from start to front. I think the front half rocks a bit more than the second half but there's genuinely not a song I didn't enjoy. Rating: 4.8
This is Harvey’s most typically 90s alternative rock album but it’s wonderful nonetheless.
Brutal
i listen to this every day and i love it beyond belief what can i say. seeing pj harvey live changed my life.
So damn good! Remembers me of Fugazi. Garage/grungy sound, lots of balls 💪🏼💪🏼
Loved it, grungy
14 days in and I received the first new-to-me album that was worth listening to! This album was amazing - driving and immediate; visceral, cryptic, pleading and powerful. The music perfectly complementing and bestowing, delivering, offering, bearing the message of the song to the listener. Nothing superfluous, everything crucial to the communication. Exquisite.
It's rare that one of these albums is something that I find myself looking for again the next day, but this was one. Loved it.
So good. Amazing vocals, great songwriting, dynamic arrangements, eclectic, rough, sensual.
Such a killer debut. It's raw, intense, and passionate. I love how she portrays female sexuality in such a positive way, but without shying away from it or its power. The instrumentation complements the lyrics perfectly.
im so hyped for PJ Harveys other album bc the songs I know on there are actually so fkn good. this was also good tho.
This went hard
An easy five. The Wikipedia roundup of the critical praise for this is kinda definitive. The brooding dark angel - and what a voice - and what poetry - no wonder she flitted with Nick a but. The French DJ here form 'Bury'field was right in giving me some Polly. And the Englishman from 'nes borough for introducing me to her. It's a match!
Blind album, and after I thought I gave up on PJ Harvey, 2 of her albums did not hit right, but this strikes that chord perfectly that feels edgy and angsty but awesome in so many ways. So many deep cuts that sound great.
What does it mean to review something? Is it subjective or objective? Does it depend on the context of the review? Is it a review of what someone thinks of it, or what something is itself? Dry by PJ Harvey is an exceptional album, that is everything alternative rock should be. Every song spoke to my soul and showed innovation that only a decent artist could achieve. Why did we go from this to the shit rock of the 00s that has continued today? I am not a fan of Let England Shake or her latest album, but these songs are so fuckin' good. I wish I was cool enough to hang out with Polly Jean! 5 ⭐s
I’ve always enjoyed this one, but put it a tiny bit below the extremely high bar set by some of the albums that would follow. I… think I was wrong? The two singles remain the high point for me, but I enjoyed every second of this listen. I don’t know if it’s been remastered or what, but the OG trio sound great here. Grading on a curve be damned, Dry gets the 5 it deserves.
Very good. Love this pyjamas Harv guy does a good woman voice. 9/10
Kurdt liked it
Never heard of PJ Harvey ahead of this listen and it was a pleasant surprise. This album is a gem. PJ's singing is vibrant and passionate. The band behind her does a great job as well. A nice mix of fast and slow pacing. Reminds me of one of my favorite bands, Paramore.
It's dark, it's raw, it's brooding, it's sexy, it's rock 'n' roll.
What a debut!
Sounds quintessentially PJ Harvey, although her posh accent is quite jarring against the loud guitars sometimes! Still very good, worth a relisten 5*
this album is great but its not five stars
Great album! Wonderful voice filled with such desperation and emotion. Lyrics were good. Loved the hard rock, raspy nature of the album
really cool record! i have heard pj harvey's name forever but have never explored her music. i greatly enjoyed this album. in some respects, it reminds me of sleater-kinney (who would follow) but in other respects, it reminds me of grunge like nirvana. really cutting, biting lyrics, aggressive instrumentation. great songwriting and great musicianship exhibited here. awesome stuff!
The queen of indie rock herself is back. And this time I got the chance to experience her debut 1992 record. Where Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea was a turn of the century exploration into Harvey’s love for the city of New York, Dry focused on love itself. But not the good parts of love. The nasty, complicated parts people don’t like to talk about because they make it seem less enjoyable. But music actually happens to be one of the best, and one of the most common, mediums of art where these experiences and emotions are spoken out and expressed. And Dry does an absolutely fantastic job doing so. And much of these feelings are reflected through the sound of the music itself. It seems like in the 8 years between this and her aforementioned album from the year 2000, her sound softened quite a bit. This is a biting and intense debut record. And of course because she excels in everything she does, Harvey sounds wonderful on this. Her voice is almost on the cusp of not being good, but she stops at just the right point, and has some powerful moments on this particular record. I love the way her voice rises on the chorus of Water. She really knows how to keep things balanced between simple and effective. Even after seeing the grunge genre label, I was still surprised at how heavy and punk sounding this album is. But it’s awesome. The riffs are nothing to scoff at. I find that she either goes for a more methodical style of grunge, like what can be heard in the early days of grunge on Doolittle, and just straight up bangers. Some of these songs go unreasonably hard, and I love it. The previous album I heard from Harvey proved to me the versatility of indie rock, and of course, further proved how underrated solo female artists like her continue to be in the music industry. What this album showed me is the versatility of Harvey herself, and deepened the love I already had for her. But hey, if none of that is enough to convince you, Kurt Cobain liked this record. Rating: 9/10
Remember hearing Sheela-na-gig on the radio in '92 - cheers, John Peel - and having heard nothing like it before (didn't know Patti Smith back then, or much of anything). Still sounds fantastic and fresh today. Those early PJ Harvey albums are so great.
I loved this.
What a bold and forceful debut. I loved this.
"Dry" is the debut album by English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. Alternative rock, indie rock, blues rock and post-punk. Sounds about right. Besides being the lead vocalist, PJ played the guitar and violin. Steve Vaughan played the bass and Rob Ellis was on the drums and harmonium. The album hit #11 on the UK charts and had wide-spread critical acclaim. "Oh My Lover" opens the album up. Slow. Deep bass. A bluesy guitar. PJ emotionally singing. A raw, unique sound. The band kicks it up a notch in "O Stella." Drving guitar. The band really rocks it out. Pounding drums carry throughout the first single "Dress." A crawling guitar which eventually goes to a guitar solo...evil sounding. PJ describes a man falling for the dancing costume and not the woman. A defiant chaotic ending. A slow, crawling guitar opens the second single "Sheela-Na-Gig." The band rocks out again. PJ is having trouble impressing a man. The song keeps the intensity ratcheting up until it just ends. "Fountain" starts slow and builds. PJ emotional vocals carries the song as she seems to repeat the cycle of starting and ending a relationship. This album is raw, rockin' and just great. PJ leaves no doubt that she will be a force to reckon with in the future. Her voice and music have an intensity. The lyrics are personal, sexual and straight to the point. I can't think of a PJ Harvey album I wouldn't recommend. Her debut is an obvious place to start.
Brutally brilliant
Nice album
Raw, angsty and angry - loved it!!
90's alternative rock. I knew nothing about PJ Harvey before today and I liked what I heard -- this is what the 1001 Albums thing is about. Edgy, energetic rock overlaying a singer-songwriter vibe. This record had lots of songs featuring well-crafted lyrics with interesting and nonstandard chord structures. The musicians were on point though none of them blew me away with virtuosity and the entire record kept my interest. Dress and Victory were my favorite tracks but all of them were solid, as well as being individual and differentiated. All in all, good stuff and a cool addition to my rotation.
Insane this is what she sounded like on her debut. & while some of her later output might be 'easier,' I'm not mad at the righteous, fired up feelings her early work engenders.
hell yes. i don't know how i hadn't listened to this before now but i love it.
I like her voicd
(approvingly) You can tell that this is from the same general time period as "vampire western" movies.
Loved it
Now we're talking! Day three and this is my style. Excellent songwriting, mood, raw production. Love this. Have never given PJ the time she's due. FFO pixies. Excellent.
An awesome album of guttaral indie rock. Huge dynamic swings which I love. Every song is tough and uncompromising but with melodies that stick with you. Dry is slightly but just slightly. Both are must hears. 5 stars
Я не знаю почему, но это мне реально заходит! Блин, я сперва думал поставить 4, а теперь может даже и пять. Пиджи просто ебошит, простите за мой французский, она прям разматывает. Агрессивное панковое звучание, лирические тексты, надрывный женский вокал, всё как я люблю. Я не знаю, я напился кофе или альбом отличный. Артур сказал что и то и другое, будем верить ему. Пятёрка, я это был бы рад переслушать
An amazing precursor so what Sleater-Kinney and others would evolve. Amazing album :-)
Amazing early ‘90s sound. Every song is a keeper. Glad I found this here.
Very familiar with quite a few PJ Harvey albums but not this one. Quite a shame too as this is one of the best records I think has appeared on the list so far (imo!). She’s definitely one of those artists who are in that ‘legend’ category, and its crazy that this was her debut and is so ridiculously good. It has that unique sound that she has throughout her records, a sort of powerful-without-seemingly-trying voice. Very effortless. Angry and powerful without ever raising her voice. Much. I dont get how she can make power chords so interesting too. I dont know how you’d categorise it. Alternative / dark indie / rock. Like a modern day Patti Smith. Very very good.
What an INSANE debut album! No skips, no complaints, no notes.
Lush, raw, powerful
Liked this a lot, gonna check out more from her.
What a dry album in the best sense of the word! Just plain anger being a woman in a world that is cut out for man. Still the production is phenomenal, live music!
I really like this album, it has a rawness often ignored in many over-produced album, many standout tracks.
Stone cold classic from one of Britain's most important female singer songwriters. If she hadn't been so true to following the beat of her internal drum, she could have been even bigger but instead she's truly been an artist, (and an artist's artist), making what she felt had to be made. Check out Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea as her most accessible album which contains a lot about her love affair with Nick Drake.
oh yeah. PJH got a new fan
5/5. Short and sweet songs that don't overstay their welcome but leave you wanting for more. They are heavy and loud while still feeling restrained, in a good way. This is the aggressive and punk feminine energy album we need. Her singing imitates pain but also pleasure that is hard to determine, giving an uneasy welcoming but uninviting message. I love it and glad I was surprised by this one.
I like stories from the city, stories from the sea better as an album - but this is brilliant in any case. 5/5
I think getting the PJ Harvey albums backwards was the incorrect way to do things, because I was surprised by "Rid of Me", and I'm equally surprised and blown away by this one. It's got a swagger to it. I love the strange, jerky rhythms it works with. Maybe I'll give the newer records another try. Favorite tracks: "Water", "Dress", "Hair"
I loved this album and PJ Harvey. One of my favourites so far in this project
In the album list that got me through college, this is on it.
The more albums I listen to by PJ Harvey, the more I'm convinced she's the true queen of rock. And it all started here.
I wish I was obsessed about anything as much as Polly Jean Harvey seems to be about water. This one has the distinction of being on Kurt Cobain's infamous hand written list of the 50 greatest albums, but if Cobain would have lived longer, he would have had two or three different PJ Harvey albums listed instead. As it stands, this is a remarkable debut that serves as a foretaste of the feast to come. My gut tells me I should just slap a 5 on any PJ Harvey effort that appears here, and that wouldn't be wrong (as of this writing, I'm in the 4.5 stars camp, but I'm curving up). Legend has it that this was the only album Polly Jean believed she would be allowed to make and therefore threw everything she had on it. Thankfully, she had a lot more up her sleeve and was allowed to make a slew of incredible albums.
so funky and comfy
The way her breath is cut short when she moans "Oh my lover / You can love her / You can love me at the same time" tells you everything you need to know about PJ Harvey. From the very first second of this *raw* debut, this particular moment tells you everything about the sort of disturbing-yet-oddly-enticing world Polly Jean wants to convey to her audience. It tells you she's a unique talent with a unique voice, both seductive and scorching, and that when *Dry* came out, she was about to become one of the most important artists working in the rock idiom for many decades to come (and she did become exactly that, did she not?). I don't even really feel the need to list all the gems in this record. There are too many of them anyway: swampy rockers such as "O Stella", "Dress" or "Sheela-Na-Gig" ; slower menacing bluesy cuts like "Oh My Lover", "Victory" or "Happy And Bleeding" ; hypnotic odes to love and lust such as "Fountains" and "Water"... And so on. They're all great. 5/5, what else? Number of albums left to review: 510 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 233 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 113 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 143
Good! Next!
Virtually flawless. An astonishing, raw and powerful debut album. And better was to come!
Superb
So awesome, so powerful, so PJ Harvey. This was her DEBUT no less. Fearless, bold, incredible. A true pioneer and her influence is under-rated.
Nirvana, Pearl Jam. Allemaal goed en wel. Maar PJ Harvey kan toch ook wel stevig goeie muziek maken!
Bem maneiro! Ouvi umas 3 vezes ate
Suosikkilevy, aina ja ikuisesti.
Me arrepiento mucho de no haberlo escuchado antes, que maravilla de álbum, es lo que buscaba, que mujer tan poderosa con sus letras y su ritmo, es fantástico y se volvió de mis favoritos, no he dejado de oírlo cada que puedo (aunque sólo está disponible la versión Demo en mi país) pero es un 10000/10.
Sequência muito poderosa e envolvente de rock vital. Valeu demais o "esforço" para escutar no YT, já que não está mais no deezer, nem spotify.
Wow, this was so much more enjoyable than let England shake and the other one she did.
I'm having a pretty good run on this list lately. Love PJ Harvey. I love that she gave this album her all thinking it would be her only chance and yet here we are 10 albums later and still going strong. Faves: Dress, Sheela-na-gig
I vacilate on whether Dry or Rid of Me is her best album. Great song after great song on both albums. This week Dry is my fave. Next week? Who knows 5 🌟
Brilliant. Her voice. Those guitars. The drums. Perfect
Really good riot grrl garage rock meets singer songwriter stuff.
Apenas perfeito!
Gritty and minimal. I like it. Liked Songs Added: Happy And Bleeding Sheela-Na-Gig
90s PJ Harvey is even better than the 2000s. I only have one more PJ album after this. BOO!! I gravitate more towards this kind of feminine rock than, say Britney or what not. Give me this hard, intelligent woman over the teeny bopper bullshit. More PJ 4
This is a pretty epic debut. Sheela-na-gig is the standout here - it’s liquid fire - but most of the other tracks are confident, creative and unyielding. After a slow start, this is a tremendous album, a foundation that helped shape almost every powerful female voice that I have grown to appreciate and respect over the 30 years since this album’s release.
loved this one
Solid PJ Harvey album.
Ok so much like my last Pj Harvey review I can’t help but acknowledge that I didn’t like it nearly as much as I liked “stories from the city, stories from the sea”. That album is just completely fucking perfect and totally up my alley when it comes to personal tastes. But this album was much better than “Rid of me” (despite having a worse cover photo). The best songs were “O Stella”, “victory”, “sheila na gig”, “Joe”, “water”, and “plants and rags”. She’s got a great vocal delivery that feels completely unique, not to mention her songs feel so emotional and heavy. Especially during songs that have really interesting and creative orchestral parts like “plants and rags” which is definitely my favorite song on this album. In fact until I got to that song I thought this album was in the same 3 range as “rid of me”. Not bad but not great, that specific song is what really made this album special to me, it actually elevated all the other songs with its presence. Seriously even if you don’t like her just check out that one song, it’s great!
Baby one more time IS the ultimate hit
Honnêtement presqu'un sans faute. Si j'ai clairement un coup de coeur pour Joe, Dress et Victory, et trois autres chansons qui ne m'ont pas plus plu que ça, c'est un album que je réécouterai tout en entier sans problème!
Appears on Kurt Cobain's handwritten "top 50," chronologically the last album on the list. I jotted down some of my favorite tracks but, really, the album sounds consistently great throughout. This is our listening group's fourth and final PJ Harvey album. Maybe she's a little overrepresented (maybe not), but I've enjoyed every album and I'll miss hearing from her over the remaining couple years of this project.
Really enjoyed this, almost as much as Rid Of Me.
Decent
My 3rd PJ Harvey album on this journey and probably my favourite of the 3. Raw, angst but still polished. Good stuff. 👍
Awesome!
I have really liked PJ Harvey since a while ago and this album was no different- great layering and sound
PJ Harvey is proving to be one of my most consistent artists on this. Three albums ans three ratings of 4. This is as brilliantly poetic and powerful as the others, if not more. Tipping towards a 5 at points.
Faves: O Stella
My opinion of this album is somewhat mixed. I can't say any one song stood out as particularly mind blowing or impressive, but I still kept listening along enjoying the music. PJ Harvey has some strong vocals and her voice is quite unique, which I appreciate. I also enjoyed some of the meaty guitar playing, though part of me wishes there was more of it. It has made me curious about the rest of her discography to see if she improves from what is a solid debut album. I even nodded along to a lot of the songs! If I downright dislike an album, I can barely bring myself to even keep listening, let alone move to it, so that's a plus for Dry.
Not my favourite PJ album, but still very good. Her usual vitriolic delivery is as acerbic as ever
I really enjoyed listening to PJ Harvey's debut album. I predict that I'll enjoy her later albums a little more, but you can still hear the raw passion and emotion in her voice here and it's a great listening experience. Favourites: Oh My Lover Dress Hair Joe
Polly did a cracker.
Really enjoyed this album, nice grungy riffs, no bad songs
Je savais qu'il fallait que j'écoute PJ Harvey depuis un moment, c'est maintenant chose faite. Excellent album, et c'est encore plus fou quand on se rend compte que c'est sorti en '92 ! Et moi qui pensais que Hollysiz était originale, bah non, tout vient de là en fait... Playlist pick : O Stella - yohohohoh yohohohoh yohohohoooh yo! yo!
Tight album with a cool grungy feel
Dark. She sounds like angsty Gwen Stefani. This is a good debut. The volume level this is playing back at is too quiet. She's like the solo lady Pixies. I bet her and Black Francis get along great. Bjork too. Plants And Rags is just fine up to the violin screeching. I would say I am a bigger fan of Grrl Power music than I thought before I started this project. This album isn't great, and kind of sounds like a Pixies knockoff, but it has its moments, like Water.
Very cool. Probably what Nirvana think they are.
Fucking raw and sweet.
I like what PJ Harvey does but think I’d need to listen to this album a bit more to be sure of my feelings about it. Having said that I enjoyed it enough to score it a 4
8/10
Rocking band.
A couple of her albums literally enchant me. This isn't one of them. But it's got some great moves and it reminds me of those others periodically.
Wow, I liked this! Unpretentious, noisy, feels a lot realer than the later stuff we heard before.
Haven’t listened to this album in ages! Better than I remembered. Shocking how powerful this album is for a debut.
Dress Sheela-Na-Gig
Love the sludgy, driving bass to back her raw energy. This I dig a lot. Also, cellos are always great.
One of the great debuts of the 90s, noisy, angry, and powerful without feeling angsty, Polly Jean came out of the gate swinging. It is pretty insane to watch her artistic journey begin here with her most extreme record (her words, not mine), and ending up basically doing a spoken word folk album. Usually I would suggest starting with a more mainstream album to get into an artist, but her journey is very much worth starting from the beginning.
A fantastic debut from an alt rock British legend.
Good album by a great artist. I do think her latest album is one of the best things she has fone
Hell yeah
great stuff!! prefer how heavy Rid Of Me sounds but this is really cool too. love how the drums sound. sheela-na-gig is excellent and the folkiness of plants and rags really caught me off guard
thank you generator (i'm still mad over blunderbuss). the crashout would've been immeasurable if i had to listen to alt j or some shit. now pj harvey? def an artist to listen to B4 you die. --------- (actually related) for me she's never really had any comparison. like i hear her influences. ultimately she's her own thing. there's no one out there making pj harvey type beats (soccer mommy lowk 👁️). anyways. dry. i'd describe it as a straightforward (as "straightforward" as you could describe a pj harvey project) rid of me. lyrics are as cutting (tracks 5-7 {as a formerly repressed depressed SBC attending queer lady} Activated me) as always. guitar work nice and grimy. drums are grungy as needed. it's good rock. not gonna say kurt bit plants and rags but he's clearly inspired. (related but unrelated) i also appreciate her following the maxim of all great british singers: cutting out that fuckass fake fucking accent. 3.5-4.4
Pretty rad, sorta post-punky gritty casual rocker that has the mystic trait of making my volume settings feel wrong no matter where I put them
Girl boss punk from a punk girl boss.
While some of the songs start off too quiet for car stereos, the raw power is emotionally captivating.
P.J Harvey's debut album. It's a confident debut album, somewhat raw and sparse in its sound, production and arrangements, especially for the time. Four stars. 1 "Oh My Lover" (4/5) 2 "O Stella" (3/5) 3 "Dress" (5/5) 4 "Victory" (4/5) 5 "Happy and Bleeding" (5/5) 6 "Sheela-Na-Gig" (5/5) 7 "Hair" (4/5) 8 "Joe" (3/5) 9 "Plants and Rags" (5/5) 10 "Fountain" (3/5) 11 "Water" (4/5) Total - 45 Sum - 4.09 297/1001 159/297 albums reviewed were new to me
Harvey just ripping off her own skin to show us what's underneath.. kind of a raw, visceral experience. Focused, channeled frustration in grunge form. Spins: 2 Playlist Additions - Dress - Victory - Happy and Bleeding - Sheela-Na-Gig
122. -1 star for being british
4/5. Very raw and sporadic album but had that same vibe similar to nirvana. Part of a genre I love very much and will always love music like this. It did get a little stale at points and potentially missed out on some opportunities, hence the rating (likely because it was her debut album. But still a great album
I just love the sound of this record. Pure early 90’s goodness. True to the album title, everything is so perfectly dry. Especially the drums, which still manage to sound huge. Rob Ellis is, in many ways, the secret weapon of this album. Equally creative, tasteful, consistent, and powerful. He, Steve Vaughan, and PJ are really just a hell of a power trio. “O Stella” has such a killer punk-blues energy; “Victory” is another barnburner, and PJ’s slide work is next level; “Sheela-Na-Gig” is the ultimate example of “how can only three people make THIS much noise?” In the best way of course. There are highlights abound for me. I love her take on Samson and Delilah on “Hair”, as well as Vaughan’s bass work on it. I also love her guitar playing on “Joe”. I think the acoustic demo-ish feel of “Plants and Rags” is a nice dynamic change of pace for the record, especially with those cool-as-shit strings. However, “Dress” is the shining star of the album. Although I think she progresses as a vocalist and lyricist throughout her discography, she’s firing on all cylinders on this song. Vocals and lyrics aside, she also contributes a hell of a guitar track and some sick violin for good measure. I know there are some albums coming up that I’ll ultimately prefer, but this is a pretty damn solid opening statement from Polly Jean. Solid 4 stars. 4/5
What is happening to me????? I HATED the first pj harvey album we had on here, and I thought the second one was ok. However, I genuinely enjoyed this one.
“This could be a Soundgarden song”. I can’t wait to listen to Badmotorfinger and think “This could be a PJ Harvey song”. That’s a compliment, by the way.
4 stars for album #44 This is actually my second PJ Harvey album in a row. I got stories from the city yesterday and gave that a 3. I think dry sounds more from the heart than the other one and overall this one is a fun listen So yeah 4 stars
I’ve had a long string of bad to mediocre British albums lately, and I’m so relieved this one came along. It was really good. I had heard of PJ Harvey but never knew any of their songs. I liked how raw and gritty it was.
Bei PJ Harvey bleibt bei mir nichts dry.
UMA MULHER!!!!!!! mas o album nao ta disponivel no spotify T^T FAVS(top 3): oh my lover, happy and bleeding, hair mençoes honrosas: dress, sheela-na-gig, plants and rags, water um album SUPER bom mas como nao ta no spotify dificilmente vou ouvir ele de novo... que tristeza gente... mas foi bom enquanto durou eu adorei!!! nota final: 4.5/5
Really liked this one. Will explore more from her.
I know the name PJ Harvey but never really heard her music. I like this opening track. Instrumentally at least. Not sure about the vocals. On track 4 “victory”. I’m digging this track.
This was solid. I'd buy a copy.
I love this genre of women
Very good.
Brilliant, compelling and raw. High 4
This is a low key brutal album. I’m impressed with the propulsive, rough and tumble energy PJ Harvey is able to create with such a barely-held-together-with-sticky-tape sound. In 1992 she must have been at the forefront of this slightly distorted, lo-fi approach. I feel like I’ve heard various artists aping this style since - and not in nearly as accomplished a way. The chaotic, confessional lyrics pack a punch, and when the instrumentals decide to kick in there is a big whoosh of energy. PJ pulls so much focus that it’s easy to forget the band, but the hefty, relentless bass playing in particular must be applauded. Sheela-na-gig shows that if she wanted to be radio friendly she absolutely has all of the pop sensibilities required. I like that for the most part she chooses to cannibalise that into something a bit rawer, a bit more unsightly. But my god, once again - how many artists nowadays are ripping off and softening this exact sound in the pop sphere?!
And Dry gets a solid to high 4 from me, having only heard Let England Shake I had no idea PJ Harvey’s early stuff was this raw and heavy, great record
Another very strong PJ Havey album - particularly enjoyed Sheela-Na-Gig. Preferred it to Rid of Me - maybe is got a marginally less agro/in your face vibe. High 4.
This album should've strangled 90% of the grunge movement at birth, sounding as it does like a stripped down garage-band doing existential Pixies numbers, coming out of Dorset, and doing it with vim and vigour - unlike most of its whining American counterparts. The tight riffing and tracks coming in at reasonably sharp length, means the album avoids any suggestion of dirginess. 'Plants and Rags' has a classic grunge approach - slower tempo, acoustic guitar, anguished lyrics. The use of violin in the volume swell is a differentiator, and the vocal does a hell a lot of heavy lifting. It's crystal clear, and not the faux-pained drawl of countless grunginistas. From the opening imperious swagger of 'Oh My Lover' the album feels beautifully off-balance, engaging, and sidesteps the performative pain of most grunge. An excellent debut.
Never listened to her before and I actually really liked this! More rocking than I thought it would be and I like that
can’t believe ive gone this long without ever listening to this album.
Album 67 Top 3 favorites off the album: Dress, Plants And Rags, O Stella I was initially unsure from the opening track. I wasn't digging the vocals plus the spare instrumentation, and then it got more fleshed out and the vocal style made a lot more sense in that context. As the album went on, I started really getting into it! The sound is like if Florence + The Machine were grunge. It's an interesting mix of gritty and neat. Does that make sense? It doesn't feel rough as in unpolished or amateur, but it's got texture to it. A good listen!
Best Track - "Sheela-na-gig"
Enjoyed the album quite a bit, but not a lot of individual songs that I’m drawn to.
2012-2016 I consumed all riot grrrl music I could find. Even had extremely rare stuff downloaded from extremely sketchy websites, surely loaded up the family computer with all the malware & viruses that existed at the time. PJ Harvey was always in conversation with the genre but always separate. Kind of like Sleater-Kinney, on the fence of being “riot grrrl” or not. (Not that the label really ever meant anything. Just ask Bikini Kill) Shockingly I had never heard anything from her until now, or maybe subconsciously saved this progenitor of the genre for later. She’s name dropped in a handful of riot grrrl songs. Obviously this is my my shit, but I do think this album tapered off near the end. Regardless, I will listen to much more PJ Harvey now. Side note: is the story of Sampson & Delilah the reason why bald men are considered less masculine/desirable? (& I don’t mean bald like The Rock, I mean like a Costanza)