Let England Shake

It's... okay? Not what I wanted from PJ Harvey.

Pretty good, I will deff relisten.

This person put out 11 albums? The bar is in hell. Isn’t pj Harvey a college basketball player?

Oooo I love England mmmm England yeah England mmmmmmmm engerlaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand!!!! Yeahhhhhhh englaaaaaaaand! Fuck yes! Yes! England! Oooooo :/ war :( Waaaaar :( war :/ death :/ deeeeaaaaath :( death and war :/

1.25

Pretty interesting songwriting and performances, but lacking the ferocity of her earlier records.

The music itself was fine, but I found her voice a little hard to take and at times when she was just performed vocables, it got irritating for me.

7/10 Nice concept album, but the songs arent really there. Highlights: In the Dark Places The Glorious Land Let England Shake Bitter Branches

Now I know what type of music PJ Harvey makes. I won’t seek it out, but I wouldn’t skip away from it.

10/08/2026 I've had a run of 3 stars recently. I'm just gonna add this one to the list too. Spotify listeners: 1.4 million

Everytime I get a PJ Harvey album I always make the same mistake of comparing it to “stories from the city, stories from the sea” which isn’t fair cause that album is amazing and perfect. This album wasn’t on that level unfortunately. It did start off on a good foot with the title track, which was probably my favorite song from the album. I also really liked the songs “the words that maketh murder” “hanging in the wire” and “written on the forehead”. But unfortunately most of the album wasn’t for me. It was either too slow or too sad to grab my attention. In the ranking of PJ Harvey albums so far it would go like this: Stories from the city, stories from the sea Dry Let England shake Rid of me I know that is probably a controversial order, but that’s my honest opinion so far.

I wasn’t aware that PJ Harvey kept making music after her groundbreaking early work in the 1990’s.

Не пам'ятаю цей альбом взагалі, хоча точно слухав, бо він в топах скрізь був. Музчино мені не завжди вистачало гачків. Є хороші фолк-рок номери, але й є такі, що мені майже не запам'яталися щойно пісня закінчилася. Тексти антивоєнні, але я не можу сказати, що всі рефлексії мені тут близькі. Приємні враження. Хоч і є відчуття, що трохи занадто арті для мене.

Я слухав різні альбоми Пі Джей Харві доволі давно і доволі багато, але якось все одно погано орієнтуюсь в її дискографії. Саме цей альбом пам'ятав поганенько, тому переслухав із задоволенням. Є в ньому якась така приємна складова, важко висловити в чому саме вона проявляється. Щось таке ніби як течія ріки, потік небанальної фолкової музики. При тому що хітів тут ніби й нема. Коротше ставлю 4.

Maybe is not the most PJ style but I think is my fav from her

PJ never misses. She’s made a career of making thought provoking interesting albums. On Let England Shake you can see that she’s softened a bit but it’s a great listen nonetheless. I love this woman.

I wasn't sure where I was going with this as it started, then went on. There were a few times I didn't get into it, but for about 75% I loved it. A less gritty and more thoughtful record than the other two recommended so far (Rid of Me and Dry). The themes were clear. The first four songs, Dark Places, and Written on the Forehead were all brilliant. This could easily be a 5 on more listens.

This was good but I preferred Dry

I put this on the other day and was thrown by the music and somewhat annoyed by the seemingly shrill vocals, I also didn't have time to finish it and had to wait a few days before trying it again... So I put it on again today from the start... This time it felt much different, I'd read about about the album and was able to listen closer to the lyrics, the music was still somewhat strange in it's arrangements, but it was good and the vocals didn't seem anywhere near as annoying. I generally enjoyed it. It was a really interesting listen and although I didn't adore it, I will definitely be giving it more goes on the future.

Ei

5/10

Love PJ but honestly not sure what to make of this one on first couple of listens. It’s pretty different from her other stuff. I see many similarities between her and Nick Cave in the way they approach music making. 3.5 rounding up because I imagine it’s a grower

Really strong. 4½ at least.

A good album, i liked Let England Shake and The Colour Of The Earth the most.

This is fantastic! So mysterious, mystical, and militant, all at once. A new discovery for me. A 4, for sure, maybe a five. I’ll be back to listen again!

In 2011 this sound was already pretty popular. Not a bad album by any means, I just have a hard time believing this had a big impact on music today. (More than the music that inspired it, to be clear.)

Knew her by name but never actually listened before. Feels like a more accessible version of Kate Bush with a Thom Yorke fetish and a slight Bowie twist. I was pleasantly surprised at first, but it grew stale after a few songs. The arrangements are all right and she has a nice voice (although too high-pitched for me), but she relies on the same vocal gimmicks over and over again, which tends to become grating. The yodeling was especially annoying. If you're not Björk, please don't try to yodel. The "concept" of the album didn't really convince me either, it feels weirdly random and out of place in 2011. Not a bad record overall, it certainly has a personality. I wouldn't run out of the room if someone played this, but I can't say I'm really impressed, or even interested. 4/10

I had listened quite a lot of teh first two albums dry and Rid of me and that's it. I like this one as much. It's unconventional, smooth and rough...

PJ Harvey had already completed her shift from tortured rock to folk and other, sometimes unlikely, influences. They call it maturity… and this album was praised almost unanimously for its supposedly richer songwriting and more elaborate lyrics. Maybe. But I’m not convinced that’s an improvement when so much of the urgency and darkness disappeared along the way. That said, this is still a solid album. It never truly stands out, especially the 2 last songs, but I genuinely enjoyed revisiting it. Even in this more restrained phase, PJ Harvey can still move me in a way that countless other pop stars selling a thousand times more records simply can’t.

Who has heard of this album beyond pretentious music people?

2.5/5 The instrumentation were very nice and soothing.

Out of the 5 PJ Harvey albums I've heard, this is my least favorite. It doesn't really speak to me in any way. It's not bad, but it is just fine at best. There are a couple of moments that remind me of Bjork which are nice, but I'd rather just listen to Bjork. Mid 3.

I liked the musical atmosphere created on this album. Lyrics are simple but thought provoking and PJs voice is eerily angelic.

A surprisingly bland and oddly monotone album, with nary a memorable melody from start to finish. Safe to say I did not enjoy this as much as her Stories album. Some solid lyrics and earnest themes save this from being a 2.

Recorded in the church cool, really poetic

Just getting in to PJ second album I heard of hers and I must admit I like her voice it has real quality. The songs are decent enough here without being amazing. Lacks a decent riff or two. In there and the lyrics ain't the strongest still it's pleasant enough

Solid

This album is beautiful, really a wonderful record so full of interesting sounds and directions. The first half really is outstanding, and, maybe because of that, I have not enjoyed much the second half, which becomes less brilliant, even though, lyrically, this album is a delight, from beginning to end. I love how a softer rock blends with many folk elements and some other eclectic sounds that really make of this record something unique and deliciously warm. And, still, it is pretty much of a socially conscious album about war and the horror it generates. And, in that sense, it really transmits uncertainty though the songs, a certain sense of chaos, but embracing some kind of beauty in all of that, in the history and what us as humans can learn, and the dichotomy, or not that much of a dichotomy, between life and death. It really is a tremendously daring album that faces human issues and confronts us with what history should teach us, even though some people do not want to face those problems. And, PJ Harvey really does her best at delivering a wonderful and a very beautiful album that emerges from that place of horror, fear and death, a place from which life should grow.

As of this writing I had only listened to one PJ Harvey album… but that album was “Dry”. So obviously I came into this with high expectations. Now, I knew that it probably wasn’t going to live up to what is quite possibly her greatest work; but wow I was not expecting this. This is soft. This is folk-y. This is… not great. Her voice is grating here, almost hard to take at times. And the song are just not good. It sounds like a folkier, shittier version of the Cranberries. She’s even like… yodeling on one song. I don’t know what else to call it. This is bad, and I’m really disappointed.

Semmosta perusmenoa ja menee sinne yks levy muiden joukossa

Ohutta yläpilvee, mutta jäi sinne leijumaan.

Joo. Annoin nelkun edelliselle Pertti Jorman -liepuskalle. Annan tällekin. On hyvä.

Ihan hauskoja biisejä, ja jotenkin vangitseva tunnelma.

I didn't really appreciate this at the time it came out but paying more attention to the lyrics on a re-listen, I can definitely can get behind the anti-war message and found it an incredible album. There are many evocative lines so I noted some of the writing which I liked the most. What is the glorious fruit of our land? / Its fruit is deformed children I've seen and done things I want to forget / I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat Death was in the staring sun / Fixing its eyes on everyone On Battleship Hill I hear the wind / Say cruel nature has won again Went hellwards / And some of us returned / And some of us did not This album is a fascinating lamentation of the role that armed conflict, imperialism and wasted lives have on England's psyche. The perfect antidote to the flag waving, jingoistic, poppy idolising, pro-war narrative that has somehow made dying in a ditch "for one's country" a glorious aspiration. You know what's more glorious? NOT being fed to machine guns for the benefit of the elite! Peace ✌️

Starts out strong but really drags towards the back half.

An incredible work

Sometimes weird but I totally get the appeal. Will listen to again.

really nice album, reminded me a bit of wolf alice

ten album ma to czego nie miał album Amy Winehouse

I like the ambition of this album, but I can't say that I really enjoyed the listening experience a whole lot. At another time, I might have given this a 4, but I've been handing out too many 4's and 5's lately. Gotta bring my average back down.

I like PJ Harvey's first two albums the very best because, unsurprisingly, they're pretty goddam noisy. But the great thing about PJ Harvey is that she writes damn fine music regardless of the style, and this album is no different. It's full of great songs that sound kind of anachronistic, but also sort of track her use of minor keys and odd harmonies. I'll take it!

I had never listened to this album. It was not what I was expecting, in a good way. I had to listen to it 3 or 4 times to figure out my thoughts on it. Usually that is a good sign. There were songs that resonated immediately, but not all or maybe even most. It's continued to grow on me. Glad it was on the list.

A lot of cool sounds. Will return to this.

5/5 - This came out of left field for me, and I wouldn't have been able to label it as PJ Harvey if you didn't tell me. Listened to it 3 times, and I loved it. Many of these songs sound like they have been around for ages, like a folk revival cover album or something. Great mood.

Great album and tunes - fab find for me thx!

Love PJ Harvey but the 2011 production sucked some of the life out of the album.

7.99/10 = oh my god banger after banger in this album selection for me yippee, i have this album on my i-pod so it used to be in my sleep rotation super heavily especially during high school so i know each song really well and it really brings me back to like year 9/10 vividly, i also loveeee pj harvey deeply and when i saw her live i teared up when she sang songs from this lol, sometimes i find her voice a little shrill on some and i wouldn't choose to listen to it much on my phone anymore now and i probably would not rate it so highly if i didn't have a prior connection to it, but when it comes on randomly or i sleep to it i love it, i really like how she describes and sings about england and war in this and you can hear all the instrument and singing choices aligning with that the whole time, not my fav album by her but probably the one i know the best, thanks parents for putting me on

A tender, urgent, gorgeous record

This is lyrically great, beautiful, well written music but it does not appeal to me. I get this being someone's favorite ever, I think it's just not my genre. Still could see it swinging to a 5 some day.

This album is bizarre, it’s all over the fucking place. It sounds like a bad Bjork impression mixed with your least favorite Coldplay album from the mid 2010s. It’s weird to me because I liked her stuff in the 90s and it sounds like she tried to make an album 20 years later by copying what everyone else was doing at the time and put it in a blender. What you have left is an unsatisfying puree of all the sounds from the time.

Not quite sure I got it.

Incredibly forgettable album. The only thing that stood out was that I was annoyed by it any time anything catches my attention. 1/5

Not my favorite. This seems like an album you need to soak in a bit and understand the lyrics after reading up on the context. I did appreciate it more on the second listen through, but a lot of homework.

One of my favourites by PJ Harvey. It’s so melancholic and raw. Perfect album!

There is a folky, nursery rhyme feel to this album - the eldritch darkness of folk, a rustle in the hedgerow - with the dark undertones that PJ always brings, and some sly humour. This could be the soundtrack to a film like The Wicker Man

legit thought this was made in like 1963

Sad in a cathartic way :)

For me it never really hits as deeply as it should do

This was really fresh and quirky, the love for England is really there, so patrotic. Totally gave British vibes, maybe a couple songs too long, but enjoyed it a lot.

Never knew of this. I feel foolish. This is great. Repeat.

Repetitive lyrics, repetitious melodies, repeated chords, reiterative themes. I tried - again - to understand why PJ Harvey gets a nod as worthy of being included in 1001, more than once. I just don’t get it. “Let it Burn” is about right

All right

Not a fan feels like a medieval movie intro music 2/10

This is ok Stories... is the superior album, but I didn't mind this

sounds like it was made shortly after a terrorist attack. i enjoyed pj harvey's vocals again but it feels like she's trying to ride the florence welch wave a little too much here. album feels well-crafted but doesn't really speak to me much and is marred by a lil bit of stomp stomp clap mumford and sons stink. fav: on battleship hill

what the hell is this? i mean don't get me wrong, i'm intrigued, but what is this? the glorious land--is that the second bugle call rag reference on this list??? what was the first??? oh zombie by fela kuti. i need to go back and check if that's actually a reference. also tbf tho bugle call rag is also just a reference to just a reg ol bugle call england--is that a lute? not an ood? but it has that north african progression at the end there drum circle jam sesh open poetry night; theme: anti-empire it was intriguing enough to give it a three, but i'm not sure i'll listen again to give it anything higher

This is three stars but because it is PJ Harvey i bump it up, otherwise I probably would not rate it so high. Very slow moving at times and seems like this was a pet project for her. I feel a lot of Radiohead influenced her music as it is experimental, etheral, and kind of out there. A good record but I would rate at least two of her others above this.

Day912 - an interesting attempt at a concept album. i’m not a pj harvey fan so maybe it’s better than i think

I like Ms. Harvey, the more stripped down the better. Good stuff on here, but some is overly complex.

Ouch, not good

Caca

It was fine, however I think I enjoyed the previous PJ Harvey offering more. This felt like it warranted a proper, closer listen, and perhaps I'll come back to it sometime.

What if Nick Cave was a british woman? This. This is what happens. It was ok.

Better than I thought it would be going into it. I found that every song had its own charm and the dynamics of the album were great. There are delicate, soft parts and then other hard hitting (relatively, nothing crazy) punchy parts that cut through. Great album

So god damn good

Better than Coldplay

PJ Harvey's OK, but four albums on this list? Are there more??? Maybe pick two and be done with it. I like her older, more raw, less "produced" albums.

3.0 - Ok

Cet album est trop calme, à la manière d'un Ryan Adams, vu que les musiques calmes ne m'ont pas transporté, cela implique une notion d'ennui, que j'ai malheureusement ressenti dans l'album malgré une bonne voix et des musiques que j'ai apprécié

Fiery and sharp but also a bit underwhelming in the scheme of things

don't know if this is my favorite pjh album, but there aren't many that are better

Enjoyed more than I expected!

Initially I had trepidations, but something clicked for me and I ended up really enjoying this!

listened to other PJ harvey album

Love my earlier PJ but think I need more time with this concept record.

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake ⭐️⭐️ I don’t think that I’ve ever heard a PJ Harvey song before, so I had no frame of reference as far as what to expect from this collection. It’s actually pretty dull. There was nothing here that was of any interest to me, although it wasn’t terrible.

Listening to this, I had to wonder if it would have sounded better with Bjork’s vocals and quirky take on things. I get that everyone in the world apparently is mad for PJH but I’m over here like … her?

i enjoy the vocals on each track its sorta out of the range of music i listen to only liked 2 songs on the album

when somebody whose music could shake a small island apart calls an album Let England Shake, and then the music is autoharp, it's hard not to be disappointed lot of effort, lot of thought, lot of range though. too England for me, not quite enough shake for me.

If you were super cool in 1992, and you’re making an album for 2011, it’s a mistake to try to be cool in a 2011 way. Huge downgrade, can’t possibly benefit you. Cheuginess didn’t even exist yet in 1992. Not that this album is cheugy. There’s some cool and wild stuff on it, because PJ Harvey is cool and wild. But it still sounds 2011 in a way that PJ Harvey simply did not need to mess with.

This was not what I expected, but still a solid 4.

I admire the ambition of this album and the bravery of moving so far away from what is expected of you as an artist. I just don’t love actually sitting and listening to it.

Too moody and whiny. No real faves, but some better than others.

craftmanship is here everything intentional artist in control

Nope.

This album starts up as 5/5 album, but it kind of fades towards the end. One of the best PJ Harvey albums anyway!

Just can't get a grip proper grip of this album. I like this it but in the same time feels somehow slippery and demands second or third listening in the positive way.

#419 / 1089 Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I like some of PJ's music, but am definitely picky with it and I've mostly listened to "Stories From the City...". I like this one quite a bit and am a bit puzzled as to why I haven't found it earlier. I'm sure it was played at the office quite a few times at the time of release, but I guess at that point I wasn't receptive to her style. Strong 3/5, nearly 4/5

Softer than her previous stuff, which I like a little less.

I liked it!

There are some really cool and weighty songs on here, but some real misses too, like the last two tracks. If she can, she should embrace the gravitas every time.

Let England Shake is probably my least favorite of the PJ Harvey albums on the list, but it's still pretty good. I honestly wasn't really into something this heavy today (an album about war), but I can still appreciate it. I like the instrumentation, especially the autoharp.

This was not for me.

war mal auf dem Gurten, meine ich; nicht mein Ding

Not for me.

I really enjoyed this. Have been off for a while and this was really refreshing to come back to. A gorgeous mix of folk and experimental pop. Would defo listen again.

I have tried to listen to this once before years ago as I was intrigued by the concept. I remember finding it quite challenging as I'm fairly unexposed to folk and folk-adjacent music. I enjoyed it this time round and found lots to like with it. I think it successfully explores its themes with both the lyrics and instrumentation, and avoids cliche.

REVISIT

Sounding this good 20 years into your career is pretty damn impressive, especially for an artist as versatile as PJ Harvey. She's always been very hard to pin down, and this album only further adds to her wide collection of genres she has mastered. I really like the approach she takes to more organic pop rock, with many tracks having such an interesting and quirky vibe, but at the same time having the album have almost a quite mysterious and suspenseful sound.

I like me some feminine angst post punk rebel music. Always have, always will. PJ Harvey is "genre core" and quite very worthy. I am in kind of a weird mood this day so have little ambition to go on too long, just to say this is as good now as it was when it came out and I am happy for the re-intro.

Harvey is a generational talent. Such a great mix of energies and thought provoking ideas.

Gorgeous and melancholic

I've never been keen on the English singing 'bout England - The Clash, the Sex Pistols, to me they sing about universal themes - but count on Polly to be an exception to just about every rule out there. PJ is also universal, but the record is undoubtedly curated for the British sentiment. 'Death was in the ancient fortress / Shelled by a million bullets / From gunners waiting in the copses / W/ hearts that threatened to pop their boxes.' That Harvey is literary goes w/o saying, but here she goes for the highest registers of the form: you can almost hear the echoes of Wilfred Owen & Isaac Rosenberg in these lines. Not as transcendent as her earlier works - it's all a bit too grave in the end - but her genius is a forceful reminder of her joys & reality.

love PJ and love this album, very happy about its inclusion

pretty solid pj harvey stuff with some björkesque allures that sometimes are annoying. anyways, i enjoyed listening to it a lot.

Eh. Some was good some was annoying and all of it was England.

(97/100)

This sounds like something made by a middle schooler in their basement.

Listened

3.8/5

england has done too much shaking

Meh

This didn't work for me. The themes, the vocals - it's ambitious but it didn't come together right.

I enjoyed this album more than I expected! The songwriting is beautiful AND powerful. I'd like to revisit this album when I am caught up on my challenge list!

Pj is growing on me.

Eh... it was fine. That's about all I feel about it. A bit too english for me Rating: 3/10 Favorite Song: In the Dark Places

I really love PJ Harvey but this album isn't for me

Even if it wasn't for me, I understood why her older material might be important to listen to. This...I'm struggling to see why it's relevant.

I’ve never heard this album but really liked it, I think more than rid of me

Started off a bit meh, got to On Battleship Hill and thought "This is more like it" and then it stayed at a plateau until the end. I think I had more expectation from PJ Harvey, although I did like the overall 'minor key' feel of the album

So close between a 3 and a 4 for me. I think I prefer ANGRY PJ Harvey, but this has some great stuff on it.

Female rocker

Dreamy, dreary punk sound

Subdued but occasionally lush compositions! Enjoyable Highlights: "England", "Bitter Branches", "Hanging in the Wire"

A gorgeous album full of wistful nostalgia, traumatic memory and haunting nationalism. I find it to be completely transportive and deeply felt. The arrangements, like the cover art, sound like a swarm of birds converging and blotting out the sky on a cold, damp fall day. It's airy, with little low end. Instead, guitars, autoharps and the occasional horn float in and around the voices, changing shape, rippling and twisting. Elsewhere, eerie martial rhythms create a foundation for skeletal folk. Harvey's vocals vibrate with electricity, even in their delicacy. Is there a better album about the Great War? Stunningly beautiful and utterly devastating.

This album was a bit weird. There were some tunes I liked but which were cut into by strange musical decisions or lyrics. I can't say the album is bad, in fact in some ways I think it's pretty good. I can see some really good musical ideas in it, but it's not an album I'll be coming back to.

Very excited to explore this artist as I was only aware of her from the collaboration with Nick Cave which was great. Hearing this now on the first time and it's not disappointing at all, quite interesting and seems like could be a concept album although I haven't done any research and might be wrong here. Definitely easy 3 stars, but could be more and she seems like an artist I should Revisit

RATING: 10/10 HIGHLIGHT: The Words That Maketh Murder LOWLIGHT: England

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Det här var något helt annat än Rid of me. Då Rid of me är stökigt rockig och med mycket attityd så är detta albumet tillbakalutat med soft och behaglig produktion, gjort för att bara luta sig tillbaka och ta in. Gillar albumet, det har en konsekvent produktion och sound, nästan så de olika spåren flyter in i varandra. Bäst är Let England shake, The last living rose, The glorious land, On battleship hill, In the dark places, Written on the forehead.

Need to come back to this and listen to it properly. 3/5 holding rating.

War bad Fave track: The Last Living Rose

Been a long time since last listen. Still holds up. 3.5/5

Oh PJ

La había visto en un tiny desk y escuchado algún tema con Patty Smith pero nunca un disco entero de ella. Me gusta, es fresca, se la juega musicalmente, va cambiando sus melodías. Difícil encasillarla en un género. Me gusta como juega con su voz. En algunos temas me hace acordar a Bjork.

Este es un disco que nunca escuché en mi vida .No se parece a la PJ.harvey que conocía la verdad no me atrapó musicalmente ,en algunos pasajes vi a siouxie en otros a Kate bush. Pero lo que me atrapó fue el concepto del álbum cuando leí las letras .y la verdad que cerré los ojos y sentí el olor de la pólvora y la carne quemada .Un tratado sobre la locura de la guerra .Ojalá le de más tiempo y lo vuelva a escuchar quisas lo pueda apreciar más.

Sinceramente no es de mis gustos, lo dejé por la mitad porque no me movía nada, talvez no es el álbum o la artista. La voz de la artista me da creepy y eso me la baja al escucharla. No hay Top Picks

Every PJ Harvey album I hear is a similar experience despite how different they can be. My initial listen is “that was nice, but doesn’t stick with me” and a 3. I’ll throw it on again later and some songs will click a bit more, but I’ll still end up giving it a 3. But it is a 3 of interest, a 3 that feels like there’s more here for me if I get more familiar with the songs, or hear them in the right setting or at the right time. So I’m sticking with a 3, but just sense her albums are growers on me…or maybe they’re just a decent listen that’ll eventually fall to the side. But this one is quite airy, spacious, understated - folky in a unique way, in an exploratory, unconventional, lightly experimental way - particularly for an album about war and England. I do dig her as a singer - again, a bit peculiar of melodies but they can stick with you. She covers a lot of ground with those pipes.

PJ Harvey is a legend, and deservedly so. Now with that out of the way, this album just fell flat for me. Brilliant lyrics, stellar vocals by PJ, but the album as a whole is a little one note to my ears and I was bored with it by the end

good fun

This didn't make much of an impression.

Так красиво, что плакать хочется. Идеальная музыка по всем параметрам. Ангелочек плюс великая. Лучший альбом за все пики.

раньше был больше знаком с творчеством из 90х, прослушал альбом 2011 года без особых ожиданий, а он прям понравился, в другой непривыяной стилистике - это 4

Hipster bs

8/10

Wasn't horrible but i wouldn't add it to my playlist

Didn’t think I’d like it at first, but it snuck into my brain, song by song, and by the time it was finished, I pressed play immediately. I like the ambiance and her songwriting in the album. Many tracks don’t really push the standard, but as an album, instead of a collection of songs, it’s really solid.

I have to admit, I don't have a whole lot of hope for an album that was released on Valentine's Day. Any album released on Valentine's Day 2011 at least gives us a chance for it to be interesting, however. Unfortunately, it's still PJ Harvey. We'll go ahead and get the mic drop/title drop out of the way with *Let England Shake*, which is a song that leaves me with mixed feelings. Keep in mind this is 2011, written in 2010. Sixteen years in the rearview mirror at this point. Maybe it's a little prophetic to say, "I fear our blood won't rise again," given the current unpleasantness in the UK. I'm going to give it a half point for that. But in terms of being a rallying cry for political activism, no matter what that activism is, well, it's no Sex Pistols. This isn't helped by the sing-song monotone of PJ Harvey, which sometimes abandons the idea of scansion and meter for something that would be more at home in a prog rock bassline. As a way to start an album, not really doing it. Normally, opening a song with the line "Goddamn Europeans" would be a sure path to at least getting half a point. But then the rest of the song happens and I have to look askance, especially in the wake of the first track which earned half a point, which I am now going to claw back. See, here's the thing: I don't think PJ Harvey actually likes England in *The Last Living Rose*, which is a bit of a problem, honestly. I'd kind of like to get PJ's feelings on the current state of old Blighty, except I know that it would leave me irritated. Honestly, if you offered me the opportunity to have good old damp, filthy London with its battered books and fog rolling down behind the mountains and on the graveyards, then I'm going to tell you that sounds preferable to whatever PJ is trying to sell me. Unfortunately for her, she completely fails to follow up on saying what she actually wants. Instead, in the last verse, instead going for just some nature imagery. Sweetheart, you lined up on a kick and then you walked off the other direction. Failure. If you just imagine me rubbing at my face with an exhausted look, you'll probably just sum up my response to *The Glorious Land*. Now I see why it was such a well-rewarded album. It is full of shallow, politically leftist, mindless mouth noises. Gotcha. Everything's clear. Thumbs up. Oh no, war is bad, even though it preserved our life and allowed us to extend our power in ways that made life better for other people. God knows tanks and infantry are terrible things, and I'm sure that the world would be better if we had none. What is the glorious fruit of our land? Its fruit is deformed children. Well, PJ, you are one of them, so I suppose that brain damage does probably count. But let's set aside the vapid lyrics for a moment and talk about how this song is just structured for shit. You set up the opening with two quatrains, which are basically call and response. Then you have "Oh England, Oh America," followed by one quatrain, but not a second one, which would mimic and mirror the structure of the first block. It's like two lines got cut out of the second verse and were never replaced. But then you get two copies of the chorus, and then we go back to two quatrains. The second one is in fact deformed without actually putting together the last few lines. Basically, this is stupid and it reads like a first draft. What the hell? It really doesn't get any better from here, does it? The words that maketh murder is shallow, and we've returned to the wide-eyed, mindless sing-song monotone from PJ. We get essentially four verses of things that are bad about war and sort of like saying, "I like puppies," saying, "War is kind of bad," is the safest sort of mindless thing you can say. But you've also got this repeated bridge that just gets ground into the floor like beating a dead horse. "These are the words that maketh murder." Sure, all right, fine. What words? This goes on for some time, as it were, and leaves us with, again, another highly repetitious chanting of, "What if I take my problem to the United Nations?" Are those the words that maketh murder? I'm willing to believe and accept that they are, given the UN's actual success rate on intervening in damn near everything. It's a wholly incompetent international organization, heavily backed by England, perhaps unsurprisingly. If that's what it's trying to say, I'm willing to agree, but I feel like I want to argue just because the argument is so stupid. PJ, don't make me hate the people that I agree with. This would normally be another situation in which I offered at least a half point to someone who did a modicum of research about World War I and penned a song about the Gallipoli Campaign from 1915. That's when the fighting for Bolton's Ridge took place during the landing at Anzac Cove. See, these things have history and meaning. Not that you would actually learn that from listening to *All and Everyone*. Bolton's Ridge had the Australian Third Brigade push inland to secure Bolton's Ridge, went up against the Ottoman Seventh Company, and got mired down right there on top of it. It became a serious part of the frontline trenches and held by various Anzac units until they were finally evacuated in December of 1915. What was the point, you might ask? The Allies wanted to break the stalemate on the Western Front, knock the Ottoman Empire out of World War I and open a sea route to support Russia. Just for the record, I want to make sure you know the Ottomans were the bad guys here, and if you need to know why, do a little basic research. Seriously, I can't do your high school teacher's job all the time. Essentially though, while the Anzacs weren't able to push all the way through and achieve their aims, it did buy time and cost the Ottomans resources, which led to them signing an armistice with the Allies in late 1918. However, at no point, I feel comfortable saying, did anyone sing, "Death to all and everyone." This is just PJ going back to the vapid, "War is bad and ugly and I hate it" concept, except with a thin veneer of having looked in a book at least once. Okay, maybe PJ Harvey has looked into a book at least twice because we get the second song in a row about Gallipoli with *On Battleship Hill*, or at least a specific location during the 1915 Battle of Chunuk Bair in Turkey. It's the most surface-level empty reference that you can possibly make, of course, because that's what we expect of this at this point. The refrain, "cruel nature has won again," is obviously supposed to talk about both the erosive nature of actual physical processes in the world, as well as the cruel nature of man and his hunger for death and warfare—but I have to ask, if you believe that it is part of the cruel nature of man to kill and be killed, then what's the point of complaining about it? You make peace with it and figure out how to use it in your favor. You don't sit and whine while looking at the places where other better men have died for you and to try and protect you, even if their efforts were in vain. This is some hollow bullshit. When it comes to the song *England*, I'm going to have to quote another very popular English writer and say, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," especially in the context of a pile of discordant wailing that triggers all of the responses to a crying baby, thanks to the grating nasal delivery and vocal fry. We get it, PJ. You think the land of your birth is a horrific, nasty place which leaves you sadness and there's nothing you can do about it, and it's bitter in your mouth, and the people are stagnated. Frankly, if it wasn't for the rest of the songs of this album I've experienced so far, I would think that this might have a hope of leading to an epiphany of realization. But no, it's just screeching at the sky. Great. *In the Dark Places*. Oh, lovely. How about what this album needs is yet another, "war is bad" quote, vapid, repetitive, monotonic slag off of a song. That's exactly what this album needs. Yes, young men march off to war, and some of them die and don't come back, and some of them do come back. Yes, that's how it works. That's how it's always worked and how it will always work. But you don't get to be a part of England's green and rolling hills, then say, "But not one man and not one woman has revealed the secrets of this world as a result of war." England's going to war ended slavery in a very literal sense. You didn't think Africans and Arabs stopped trading slaves because they were asked nicely, did you? It was because of going to war that India could become a world power, even if part of going to that war ended up with them throwing off the yoke of English rule. This anti-war sentiment always irks me because as a modern human being who lives in the West and takes advantage of all of the goodness it allows, including selling millions of albums using the internet and having the ability to engage in self-determination, all of those things were a direct result or a direct byproduct of war. Everything good in your existence is the result of war, including your very existence. But PJ is starting to make me wonder if it was worth it if millions of years of evolution and hundreds of thousands of years of warfare led to PJ Harvey. This is an all anti-war album, isn't it? This is the manifestation of the weakest kind of thinking in the modern age. *Bitter Branches* is not helping matters, not just because it's another wailing song for screaming at the sky about the injustice of existence and the necessity to remain within it. Oh, no, no, no. The real crime here is that it's two minutes and 30 seconds of words that would take about 15 seconds to say. The musical accompaniment isn't worth the additional cognitive overhead. "Oh no, young men go off to war and some of them die. Women hardest hit." That's the song in a nutshell. It pains me that I have three songs left on this album to make it through. I'd love to wave goodbye, thanks. Yeah, we're still here in WWI. Thanks, *Hanging in the Wire*. What we needed on this album was a simplistic melody tied to lyrics about the perspective of a corpse hanging in barbed wire as the battle continues going on elsewhere. I don't know what you want from me here. As a mood piece, it's not even really moody. The melody is too upbeat for that. It's not cheerful, but it's not even a lament. It's like a tone poem, but the tone is gray. Not even an interesting gray, not slate or ruddy, it's just 50% gray, with a melody that sounds like somebody is having a good time somewhere else. I can't say this is where the album goes off the rails, because frankly, it was never on the rails to begin with. But at least it had something it wanted to say and was saying it, however poorly and ill-conceived. But "Written on the Forehead" just decides to step off and go haring off into the weeds. What it wants to do is paint a picture of what the civilian population and refugees from war experience, and it deliberately chooses to frame and couch that imagery in that of the Middle East. Sure, not a problem. We've got plenty of war over there for the last 6,000 years or so. The core idea here seems to be the one that Harvey can't get beyond: "War is bad and there are terrible things." But then there's the choice of sample she chooses to leverage for the background, which is from The Observers' 1970s reggae classic *Blood and Fire*. Now, I love reggae, which may come as a surprise, but I had never heard of this song. However, now I have to go look it up because the bit that she sampled was, quote, "let it burn, let it burn, let it burn, burn, burn, blood, blood, blood, blood and fire!" Look, one of the things that you should never do in the course of making media you want people to listen to is remind them of something better than what you've created that they could be doing instead. I want to go listen to that album and I'm going to do it after I'm done here. What I'm saying is that perhaps ending your anti-war song with the literal chant of "let it burn, let it burn, let it burn, burn, burn" may not be accomplishing what you wanted in the grander scheme. The final song on this wretched album, *The Color of the Earth*, actually helped me figure out what it is that bothers me about a lot of these songs on a very elemental and structural level. They sound like children's songs. They have children's song melodies, simple, structured for a tiny mind. Unambitious. When they do strive for something broader than that, it turns into a discordant jangle. This song is no different. In fact, it epitomizes all the childishness found elsewhere. We're back to Gallipoli, talking about how a guy's buddy died out in the darkness and that he still thinks about him 20 years later. The color of the earth was dull and browny red, the color of blood. That's it. That's all it has to say. Again, "war is bad." That's the full depth that we have on display here. I have heard a lot of anti-war albums and songs over the decades. A lot of them are tedious and wretched and short-sighted. At least most of them involved a call to action, an encouragement of the listener to higher aspirations, a suggestion that they do something to help change the world in which we live, to make it a better place free of war, even if that is an impossibility. The suggestion that even the effort improves the world for everyone. Not this album. No, this album is just sitting in a corner, rocking back and forth, crying, looking at a World War I picture book written for eight-year-olds. That's it. That's the whole thing. Perhaps that's why it's so frustrating and irritating. It could have been something, it could have said something, it could have wanted something, but it didn't. It just didn't. No, I didn't like it, sir. Not one bit.

Actually docela dobry, jsou tam vlozeny zvuky do peknych riffu, coz mi nekdy vadi asi 4

Really gone thru a bell curve of enjoyment over the PJ Harvey albums on the project (this is my 4th and final), and I’m back to enjoying but wouldn’t seek it out. Overall 3.25/5

This is a good example of something I've been told is good, I should like it, but there's something I just can't connect with. Lyrically I just find it off for some reason. It's not terrible but not great in my opinion.

4/10

worl wour won innit

I think I listened to one other PJ Harvey album before and it wasn’t my favorite. But wow this album was great! So much interesting stuff going on. It’s very Anglo centric and I don’t know what a lot of the songs were about but the music and vocals were captivating.

Not quite as good as other pj Harvey albums I know but I definitely want to listen again

Underwhelming cover but good music throughout.

I like PJ Harvey, but this is not her best. Very inconsistent.

Nothing Earth shaking. Was a little bit underwhelmed.

no suena agresivo aunque hable de violencia, habla de guerras, agotamiento. me gusto, siento q es fuera de lo comun(? un poco

Beautiful album. I must have downloaded this without written on the forehead. I find that song slightly out of place as a result hut still can’t be faulted

no me gustó

This album really didn't do it for me. It's definitely really unique and seems to have some real artistic merit, but the obscure style wasn't my thing. I feel like the guitar is off in one direction, the keys and drums somewhere else, and the vocals back and forth doing their own thing. I get that it likely wasn't intended to produce radio friendly, top 40 singles, but I found the abstract style to be dissociating from what I recognize and look for in music I enjoy. No disrespect and I don't think it's "bad" but not my style.

This album doesn't quite hit for me the same way some of her earlier albums do. I still enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll be returning to it; if I'm ever in the mood for some PJ Harvey, I'd be reaching for Rid of Me or To Bring You My Love. Honestly, do we really need 4 PJ Harvey albums in the list?

It’s not that easy to make an album like this, especially when you are 42.

Couldnt finish this one

2,8/5

Great stuff.

Alright, last PJ Harvey record on my album journey, and I was curious what direction this one would take. As it turns out, this is rather simple to describe - Let England Shake is her anti-war album. Having spent two-and-a-half years researching the history of conflict and trying to find the right words, PJ put forth a collection of songs that explores the many facets of armed conflict, including the preceding climate and aftermath. The beauty of this record is that, aside from the mentions of her country, England, and allusions to the 1915 Gallipoli campaign in the First World War, the themes explored are universal. There are the xenophobic sentiments expressed on "The Last Living Rose", the government's narrow-minded focus on warfare instead of other avenues like agriculture on "This Glorious Land", the failed diplomacy on "The Words That Maketh Murder", the disastrous mismanagement of soldiers carried out on "On Battleship Hill", the vain nationalism on "England", the loss of innocent life seen on "In the Dark Places", the thorny pervasiveness of military expansion into other territories on "Bitter Branches", the hasty retreat of civilians and refugees from wartorn cities on "Written on the Forehead", culminating in the grief over loved ones killed in action expressed on "The Colour of the Earth". The fact that so much of what PJ has described on this record can still be felt to this day is equal parts disturbing and poignant. It certainly helped that this record is also just as catchy as PJ and company worked their way between jaunty tunes and somber ballads, with PJ's singing in her upper vocal register as the central focus. I genuinely appreciate how I could hear the contributions from John Parish, Mick Harvey, and Jean-Marc Butty, giving these songs a very communal feel as their backing vocals harmonized with PJ, all the while using a variety of instruments, such as the autoharp, zither, Rhodes piano, bass harmonica, and horns. Heck, I was even surprised by the incorporation of a few samples, including the "Regimental March" bugle call on "This Glorious Land" or the refrain and chorus from Niney the Observer's "Blood & Fire" expanded upon with "Written on the Forehead". All in all, Let England Shake is such a strikingly potent record that holds nothing back, as PJ went into graphic detail on what armed conflict entails. Her words and performance certainly shook foundations.

I don't know why, but I never think of PJ Harvey as British, even though I think Ive known this. Rid Of Me, which I heard first and set the tone, even now sounds to me like it comes from the US. Never questioned it much beyond that, granted I don't really follow PJ. She's super-cool and I've always liked what she does. This album is for the fans. Like, it's cool, but it would mean a lot more to longtime fans than to PJ laypersons like myself. I probably wouldn't return to it, but it's good, quality-ass PJ Harvey music.

I didn't like this album as much as the other PJ Harvey I've heard on here. The music wasn't as deep, dark, or harsh which was my favorite part of Rid of Me. Let England Shake was more simplistic sounding and the lyrics way more politically focused (which is fine and not an issue here, just not what I prefered), but theyre very attention grabbing. The whole album seemed more childish or playful in style, which is kind of weird to me in relation to the subject matter of the album. If there was any time to be dark and gloomy on an album, I'd say it would probably be the concept album about war. Maybe it's this juxtaposition that makes it a bit intriguing though? Still, cool album, was an interesting listen. I'd have probably liked it more if I was British, but it's a solid 3/5. Solid idea, decent-to-well-done execution, but far from perfect to me. I really like PJ Harvey though and can see how people love this album, but I think her other work suits me a bit more. Standout tracks for me were "All and Everyone" "On Battleship Hill" and "Written on the Forehead."

I don't like what she's doing with her voice in this one. It's so grating. It was like nails on a chalkboard, except for one song, which she sang softer.

Compared to the raw, guitar-driven intensity of Rid of Me, this album feels far more restrained and atmospheric. As someone who does not fully understand British history, I sometimes felt there were layers of meaning I could not completely grasp. In the Dark Places stood out to me the most, however, capturing the album’s haunting and reflective atmosphere particularly well.

Female vocals were very screechy

I'd never heard any of these songs or this artist, but it was pretty fun! Gotta love weird English music!!

Irrelevant music.

Dogwater. Better than Bolt Cutters (barely). Couple of decent songs, a few ruined by out of tune trumpets. Let England Shake is the kind of album that feels like it was designed to impress critics first and actual listeners somewhere around tenth place. Out of tune horns and falsetto singing really annoy. It’s so wrapped up in its own sense of importance that it forgets to be, you know, enjoyable. The whole thing plays like a school assignment where the rubric demanded “historical references” and “serious themes,” and PJ Harvey turned in a project that checks every box but forgot to include a pulse. The autoharp—an instrument that can be haunting in the right hands—gets hammered into the ground here until every track starts to sound like the same brittle, jangling dirge. It’s less “innovative texture” and more “someone shaking a metal coat hanger over a microphone.” The production is intentionally stark, but often it just feels thin, like the songs were recorded in a cold room with the heat turned off. Lyrically, the album aims for gravitas but often lands on vague, distant commentary that feels strangely hollow. Instead of visceral emotion, you get a kind of academic detachment, as if the album is observing war from a safe balcony seat. It wants to be devastating, but too often it’s simply dreary.

“The Glorious Land” is as pretty as pretty as can be. While much of this music could be filed under “period piece”, this song is the real distillation of its vision. Her vocal on “Battleship Hill” is mystifying, especially after she was singing a while octave lower for most songs before. I really enjoyed this song, maybe the best on the album. The somber melody of “In The Dark Places” was super catchy too. So many pockets of excellent writing like that, scattered around this record - like the delicate way “Hanging In The Wire” resolves it vocal melody. Some incredible work as always for PJ Harvey, and shes the right person to do well by a concept like this. Maybe not my favorite stuff shes ever put out, but still super solid. Soft 4/5

Super Dope

Enjoyable album, I don't see why this one specifically ended up on this list though.

This might have been my favorite one of hers I have listened to on this list. At least its the most accessible I think. I was never a huge fan growing up, so it wasn't the quickest thing to dive into one of her albums. This album was easier than the others though. Biggest Hit - Let England Shake Biggest Miss (if I had to choose) - Hanging In the Wire Hidden Gem - All And Everyone

She sounds so much like Karen O on this record it's kind of insane. I like the folksy/indie vibe she was going for here, but I don't think the songwriting was as strong overall here as it was on SFTCSFTS, where each track had a catchy chorus or strong instrumental part of some kind

Physical and personal

I prefer her early 90s stuff. This was a bit boring.

3.5

A very good war album

This is one of those albums that needs a few listens to appreciate i think, feel bad scoring it low just didn't really enjoy it

PJ!

1.90

this is sucks

Obssessed?!? An unexpected win! Favourite track: The Last Living Rose

New

Fairly entertaining.

I would listen again

A far cry from her album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, which I gave a solid 3/5 when I listened to it about 5 months ago. This album was straight dog shit and a sonic assault on my ears. It reminded me slightly of the bad Fiona Apple album I had toward the beginning of my journey, but this was much much worse. Harvey’s “singing” was described by my wife (we were road tripping, so she was subjected to these albums as well) as sounding like a cat getting its tail stepped on, a perfect descriptor thinking back. The music does nothing to give it any redeeming qualities. This PJ Harvey album will enter the Hall of Shame as my tenth 1/5.

This album felt like it got better as it progressed. Solid.

I guess we are getting another PJ Harvey album. The editors of this book saw PJ Harvey had an album with "England" in the title and didn't even listen to the album. Automatic inclusion. It does not matter how many PJ Harvey albums this book gives me, I am not going to change my mind on the music. It's not bad but this isn't an artist I will sit down and just listen to voluntarily. I wish PJ Harvey albums would stop popping up on the list. They all sound very similar to me and I don't need to hear them over and over to determine if I like them. The song "England" is basically just moaning. I beg you. Stop. PJ Harvey is just fine. Favorite songs: Let England Shake The Last Living Rose In the Dark Places Written on the Forehead

album of the year is insane, but her lyricism is incredible. she's different on this album versus rid of me and Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. I find it overall ok though. doesn't get me longing for more

I have a strange disconnect with her. I like what I listen, enjoy her shows, and then completely forget what it was that I heard. It's all great. Just not something I attach myself to.

Björk-lite. On Battleship Hill is incredible.

As a Welshman it’s ingrained in me to dislike the English. I don’t HATE our neighbour but I wouldn’t say I’m a fan. This album may have shifted my view of the England. That’s the biggest compliment I can give this propaganda. Really good and I want to listen to more PJ. The Colour of the Earth was my favourite

- Quite weird, seems to be telling a story of war and England, but not really enjoyable to listen to

Love this. Favourite PEEJ

That was fun

Yep yep yep!

I thought I would enjoy this one, but I didn't. Maybe it's her voice, which sounds Björk-like to me, and I've had enough Björk on this list (are there any of her albums *not* on this list?). I don't see why it's on the list. Mostly forgettable for me.

Ok

Fav- on battleship hill 2/5

Even with a gun to my head, I don't think I could choose my all time favourite PJ Harvey album, but today it was this one

Some absolutely stunning songs, some of her best esp. All And Everyone, and On Battleship Hill. Knocking a point off as I've never enjoyed the last two or three tracks, which don't seem to fit on the album

A duplicate day but a great one…Four stars!!!!!!!

норм.

Interesting music, interesting vibe. If I hadn't read about the album, would I have picked up what it was about? Yes, there are enough plain indicators - eg inclusion of Reveille in Our Glorious Land (which is actually my favourite track on the album). I'm not satisfied this is brilliant or wonderful, but it's definitely interesting - it gave me pause, to spend more than a day on this before moving on ... Edited to say it hasn't drawn me to re-listen, I'm currently calling it Good, 7/10.

Worthy

Let England Shake was definitely a really good album. This one definitely took a turn from the last PJ Harvey album i heard going from a very grungy sound to a more pop-esque sound. I may not like this as much as the former but i still really can't deny how textured and detailed all these songs feel especially with some excellent production. PJ Harvey herself also had a great voice which helped add to these songs. But the main show stealer is the production. I genuinely sounds so great here, it sounds incredibly polished and expensive no matter which producer worked on it. It's not my favorite kind of PJ Harvey album but its still a really good one. Best Song: Let England Shake Worst Song: The Words That Maketh Murder

Not a fan of the affectation she put on for the vocals on this one. I read an interview about how she said.the songs resonated more with a new voice. But, what do I know, it did win her a second Mercury Prize 🤷‍♂️

Loved this on release. Like it a little less now. Words That Maketh Murder is my most re-listened PJ track but the rest of the album kind of sacrifices musicality for atmosphere.

This didnt really do much for me. Wasnt into it, but it was pleasant enough background music.

8/10

Okaay PJ

Didn't enjoy it as much as I did Stories From City.... but it's just as good. Seems like a love letter to England, warts and all. 3

i liked it

Liked this a lot

Doing this project got me into finally digging Nick Cave, so it stands to reason the same would happen with PJ Harvey. This is a much more eclectic album than I expected, and all her different modes are really engaging.

Odd album. It works and doesn’t work at the same time? I didn’t like the vocals and then I loved them?? Definitely a strange one

Holt mich wesentlich mehr ab als Stories (...). Das hier macht mir richtig gute Laune. Mehr Art, weniger Alternative, me likey.

A bit repetitive, nice vocals, but mostly boring instrumental.

Definitely the weirdest PJ Harvey album I’ve listened to yet. Sounds a bit like Joanna Newsom at points. Still very good though

This was like listening to The Clash's career-ending single, "This is England" on repeat for forty minutes. English musicians complaining about England only works if it's a little bit fun. The Sex Pistols and Idles can spit on the Union Jack and make a crowd pogo-dance at the same time. Maybe if the album's slick hitmaker producer, Flood, had been replaced by Steve Albini, it might have had a chance. God Save the Polly Jean.

This was, of all the PJ Harvey I've heard, the least interesting for sure. A lot of this stuff kinda blends together, and I think she's dealing with a less interesting sound than on Is This Desire? or the one I listened to for this. Not that it's a bad album, but it felt like kind of a letdown because she's been so strong before this. It wasn't bad though, just not as much my thing. Favorites: The Last Living Rose, All and Everyone, On Battleship Hill

That’s morbid PJ. World War II memories, trenches, blood soaked dirt, detached limbs, and cruel nature. This album is an ode to the war dead. It’s acoustic, it’s good, but it’s just plain depressing. Bitter Branches and On Battleship Hill are the least depressing tracks. I liked her raw, earlier, electric album better. This one shakes it up, but only to the (2.3*s) rate. Our land is plowed by tanks and feet, its fruit is deformed children. Yikes, that and the many, many other war torn thoughts get Let England Shake onto The 1001 Must Hear List.

I did not like this album as much as PJ's previous list entry, "Stories from..." She takes a more political, artsy turn. Some weird additions like battlefield horns and babbling old ladies tried too hard to add uniqueness. Having the male back-up vocals was not a plus either. I understand that Harvey wanted to write something completely different from her previous works and she did, I just don't prefer it. Despite my less enjoyment this round, it's not bad and you can tell there is a talented lady behind the music. Actually hoping for maybe one more from PJ, an early one, so I can get a feel for her career. I like her enough to go out my own too after this project to explore her other records. 2.4 stars for ripping on American and England in a poetic way.

Another decent album from PJ Harvey. Didn't enjoy it quite as much as her prior entry, but still liked it enough where I'm wondering how I have zero prior exposure to her. As a somewhat contemporary artist it seems like I should have had run into her from the radio or a random Spotify recommendation. Perhaps her work never took root across the pond but seems like she is a pretty solid musician. 2.75 stars

ist mir zu langsam und wehleidig

ganz ok, nicht mehr, nicht weniger

Dudel Dudel Dudel

Not my thing but I can appreciate it

Great, another PJ Harvey record.

echt prima maar wtf is die trompet. beetje blonde redhead achtig.

Jättebra! Gillar Harvey lite mer rockig än så här men det är fortfarande väldigt bra. Hon skapar något nytt här och det är alltid ett plus. Let England Shake, The Last Living Rose och Written on the forehead gillade jag lite extra.

Decent 3

7/10

This album reminds me of Frank Turner! Which is complimentary, but definitely not as good. Listened three times trying hard to get into it but ultimately did not.

Honestly hard to believe this is the same artist from Rid of Me, but I think PJ is known for constant reinvention. Did not expect an almost-concept album about World War I?? Some haunting tracks here to be sure - still a lot of dark and brutal lyrics but in a completely different sense than her earlier more personal works. Will probably go back for a repeat listen or two as I think albums like this probably benefit from that, but overall thought this was pretty impressively constructed.

3/5 INTERESANTE, LE DARIA OTRA ESCUCHA

need to listen to more pj

Rounding up to three stars because it’s not a bad album, but against the other PJ Harvey albums on this list, it’s the last I’d listen to again.

Interesting

I let England shake as long as they keep this music for themselves. Even though it wasn't extraordinarily bad, it was pretty damn bad.

Yeah, this one didn't do anything for me on any level.

Very interesting. I made a note at one point that read, "What if the B-52s wrote an antiwar song?" The lyrics are pointed and brutal, the performances polished and precise; it reminds me of some of Peter Gabriel's work, and I mean that as a compliment. I don't think it's something I'd listen to for enjoyment, but it's a meaningful and well-executed work.

First time listening to anything by PJ post To Bring You My Love and I was surprised by how much less aggressive this was than her early work. This was really good, pretty much every song had something in it that grabbed me. Too bad the album art is so bland.

Another day, another extremely stellar PJ Harvey release from this generator. Seriously, she's the best artist this site's introduced me to, no question. While I prefer her experimentations with noisy alt rock and soulful blues, her going chamber pop is an excellent fit. She's a true chameleon to rival Prince and Bowie, and from me, that's the highest of compliments

PJ Harvey’s first two albums “Dry” and “Did Of Me” get most attention. I don’t think they are anything special. I much prefer the third album.”To Bring You My Love” and the fifth album “Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea”. They are well written, well produced and full of catchy, angsty music. Both deserve a place on this list because they offered something new. Genuinely influential for later generations. Alas, this list which features FOUR PJ Harvey albums doesn’t include the good albums. That’s a shame. “Let England Shake”? Yeah, it’s not great. Pass.

I dunno. Instrumentation very cool. Vocals didn't do it for me on the particular day I listened to it.

01) Let England Shake - 7,5 02) The Last Living Rose - 7,5 03) The Glorious Land - 8,0 04) The Words That Maketh Murder - 8,5 05) All and Everyone - 7,0 06) On Battleship Hill - 7,5 07) England - 7,0 08) In the Dark Places - 7,5 09) Bitter Branches - 7,5 10) Hanging in the Wire - 7,5 11) Written on the Forehead - 7,0 12) The Colour of the Earth - 7,5 TOTAL: 7,50 (75/100) Current ranking: 363/863

Eh. It was ok.

Her other stuff is betwr

Could be a grower.

Pretty much everything I’ve heard by PJ Harvey has been via this project, and once it’s over, I’ll probably never listen to her again.

england has been dealt with

Ballt men tyckte inte låtarna riktigt höll hela vägen

PJ Harvey är cool och det här har en speciell vibe.

Underbart rätt igenom! Så glad över att sån här musik görs i det här århundradet <3

Stundtals spännande och riktigt bra, men jag vet inte riktigt alltså.

Thoughts before listening: I have never really understood why music press makes such a big deal about every new PJ Harvey album. I have heard a few good songs over the years, but nothing just absolutely blows me away. I think I listened to this album when it came out, but I don't remember much about it. Review: You know, some of this is okay. I like the title song as well as the "The Glorious Land", but a lot of this is just lost on me. Lots of mid-tempo songs here with lyrics focused on English war I think. Every once in a while a horn line will pop in and catch my ear, but for the most part these songs are just ambling by without really grabbing me. I guess I'll give this 3-stars cause its not bad, its just not really something I'm all that interested in.

It's good. Will need to listen to it some more once I'm in the mood for it.

Have you ever been on an airplane and there are storms and so much turbulence? For me, this is the musical equivalence. I feel at any moment this album might crash and burn but it somehow seems to stay flying. It’s not an enjoyable flight or listen. When the plane finally lands and this album finally stops, I’m left with a relief that it’s all over and that I’d rather not go through that again. It made me too uneasy.

Fine, but not my fave

It left me with a whatever feeling, didn't hate it but also didn't make me want to listen to it again

Very environmental. I love it. 5/5

usually i like pj harvey but this was kinda lost on me 2.5/5

Gran álbum. Primero que escucho completo de PJ Harvey. Me gustó. Tiene una clara mezcla de tradición o cosa inglesa con crítica a su política o idiosincrasia. En alguno temas se me hacía algo molesta la voz, pero bueno, son cosas que vienen ya con el artista digamos. 6/10

PJ Harvey has a unique vocal style to say the least. It takes a little time to adjust to it, but once you’re accustomed, the music and lyrics come together and you have a solid album of alternative pop music. At first listen, I thought she reminded me of Kate Bush and others who followed in her footsteps. But PJ has created her own art here. Reading reviews, I found that this is not necessarily her best effort and she may be worth looking further into. A solid 3 stars

I need to go visit England

this was pretty good pj harvey is consistently great

While I've heard the name before, this will be my first listen of any PJ Harvey song. Seconds into the first track, I thought "well, this is different. I usually don't like different, but I think I like this." ⭐⭐⭐.75

This is what Margaret Thatcher is listening to in Hell.

This was a chore to sit through. An album I'd never want to revisit.

I don't understand why this album specifically was must-listen. The other PJ Harvey was so much better. I did like The Last Living Rose though

I liked this more than I was excepting and will be revisiting it

mi è piaciuto, è un album immersivo e molto interessante