Rid Of Me

(3/5) So, our group of four have had three PJ albums in as many weeks. Some of the Reddit forums on this project have noted that sometimes happens. What it's doing is giving me a bit of a Harvey hangover. I like her stuff enough and finding her through the list has been revelatory, but I'm not in **love** with her stuff to go deep diving. I'd honestly say that 4 of her albums is too much. So, this album is super grungy, 90s sounding and I like it for that time and place, but damned if I'm not getting tired of her. DIMERY ducks it up again by giving us too much of something and not moderating better. I think 2 of her's would have sufficed. This and her later "Stories.." would have been a fine showcase of her work, talents, and growth. Now, I'm suffering from the headache and I need a break. It's not her, it's me..

When I heard "Steve Albini" and "grungier," I really expected to get into this one, despite it being her 3rd entry we've gotten in the last two weeks. Alas, that impression was short lived. While the three works we've reviewed have been rather varying stylistically, I can't say that I've loved any of them, and this one falls somewhere between "Stories" (my personal preference) and "Let England Shake," but it's not getting the nod up from a 3.5/5, either.

I know she’s well respected, but I just find her … grating.

I’m still not on the PJ Harvey bandwagon but there was something compelling enough about this album that kept my attention. I can’t say I really liked it but I didn’t hate it either. Interesting Dylan cover. About on par with the last one we had so sticking with a 3.

Don’t I wish I was rid of her. What’s the obsession with PJ Harvey and this 1001 project? We have yet to hear a good album from her and despite that very important fact we’ve now been served up with three of her albums. Good instruments and whiny lyrics over and over. No thank you.

This one takes a while to get going and that is time I just don’t have to give. I guess I disagree with the critics … again.

A musical modern art piece that doesn't speak too me, too chaotic. I don't like the product, but I respect the risks taken and like the idea of an album like this.

Didn't hate it, didn't love it

Despite this artist being named after a sleeping garment, do not make the mistake of thinking this is an album of lullabies.

Great album. Such energy and angst all in one place.

Хороший гранж, грязный, дерзкий и с грувом хорошим. Конечно местам чувствуется фемнизим, но тексты иногда мне и самому понятны, только в противоположном направлении

Look. This album is the equal or better to any of Nirvana's. It's one of those special albums that, if someone tells me what they think about it, I can not only outline their musical taste pretty accurately but probably make a good assessment of their identity. Albini's production is great, the mix is expressively dynamic, I just love the sound of this album. The songs are just nuts musically and lyrically. If I try to find filler, I look at "Hook" for a second, but though it might be the weakest track here, it's still a keeper. If I try to pick a favorite, I basically jump from track to track. Man-Size isn't the answer, just an example, but holy shit it's got everything. On my personal top 100.

Like this more than the previous PJ Harvey sample that was generated a few months back. Dig the raw energy and authentic grunge feel. I can imagine it would have been unreal to see this album toured live. Previously felt like I didn't really get the hype around PJ Harvey but this has definitely changed that perception.

This is peak Polly Jean Harvey and it's so much noisier and more raw than I remember. I love it!

This album would have been my first exposure to PJ (through 120 Minutes and of course Beavis & Butthead) in college, but I didn't really get into her until a few years later on Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. I know I've heard the Dylan cover but I don't remember where. I thought it might be on the compilation Chimes of Freedom, but that appears to not be the case. I know I don't have "an ear" for such things, but I have never understood the fascination everyone has with Albini's production -er, RECORDING work. This seems to be mixed really quiet and murky like the Breeders' Pod was. There were several times I couldn't tell there was any music and had to crank up my speakers. Maybe it would be better in noise-canceling headphones? "50ft Queenie" was the highlight for me but probably because I already knew it.

I think this is good? But it left me feeling quite uninspired. Might be what I was doing simultaneously rather than anything else, but still.

I just re-listening to this album while making Riley’s playlist. An all timer

Emotional, messy, and unrelentingly horny. This album is a lot, even before you get to the unconventionality of a lot of it. The guitar work is excellent and the production from Albini is a perfect fit. Fantastic record.

Até hoje não consegui me conectar com os discos da PJ Harvey. Particularmente eu acho muito ruim, e esse aqui pra mim é o pior disparado.

Rid Of Me was another really good entry in PJ Harvey's lineup. This one seems to take after Dry way more than any of the other PJ Harvey albums on the list as it has this very rough grunge sound that Dry also had. I really do like this sound mainly due to my love of grunge music in general with my only issues with this album being some parts of it's production and the fact that it did feel like it was dragging a little bit. Other than that though, i really can't think of anything else that this album does wrong, guitars have that rough sound i love, the vocals are great and the melodies are super enjoyable. This was a great album to say the least. Best Song: Highway '61 Revisited Worst Song: Man-Size Side note: Last PJ Harvey album, meaning: 1. Dry 2. Rid Of Me 3. Let England Shake 4. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

a lot of nothing here for me 1014/1089

I would gave up alternative, I just don’t understand what’s in it.

Introduction to her music. Have heard of her of course but did not expect her early work to be all punk. It was fine punk music I suppose with the Dylan cover in it also. I'd expect her later music to be much better.

Consistently good, and not likely to have me come back to the album. Perhaps not a very detailed review, but some music just doesn't evoke interest in me.

3.75 fantastic, gritty, raw.

So-so

Everything about this was just kind of weird. It’s a weird picture for the cover. It’s weird vocals. It’s weird lyrics. It’s weird music. It’s just all felt weird and that doesn’t necessarily mean bad just weird.

🙄 some chick sayin’ something, who cares

First half great second half headache

Am I wrong to think Jack White got a lot of inspiration from this album? Best Song: Man-Size Rating: 8.5/10 Stars: 4

90s alt rock. Strong, agressive and bold.

223. Rid of Me - PJ Harvey (1993) 10.3.26 Variety: 5 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 4 Uniqueness: 5 Emotionality: 5 = 4.6 rounded up to a 5 "I'll measure time/ I'll measure height/ I'll calculate/ My birthright" Wow. Our third PJ Harvey album in about two weeks. I think that might be the tightest cluster for a single artist we've had yet. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea I consider to be her best album, and I gave it 5 stars. Let England Shake was quite good, but only got a 4 from me. Dry is the other one left we haven't gotten to yet, and I honestly do not remember much about it except that I liked it enough to hang on to the CD. Rid of Me I remember liking quite a bit, but it's been so long since I listened to it, I'm not sure how it ranks with her others. I think going forward whenever I finish the last album by an artist with multiple entries I might try and listen to other albums around it and see where everything sits. Harvey is one of those musicians who doesn't seem to have made a bad album yet, my measure, though I have yet to listen to her last two all the way through. And that doesn't even include all the collaborations she's done. I also appreciate that Harvey tries to do something completely different on each album and seems to hate repeating herself. This puts her up in an echelon of artists who have long careers full of experimentation but who still manage to bed and shape that experimentation towards something they still think people would want to hear. She's up there with Bjork, Radiohead, Nick Cave, Beck and a few other big acts to come out of the 90s that managed to stay relevant by adapting and updating their sounds. And I'm pretty sure at this point in time, she's only maybe ten years older than me, so hopefully she has several more decades of putting out cool shit. My memories of this album are very colored by seeing her very striking music videos, and then discovering this album first before I even knew Dry had been out. At the time I think I has also just started listening to Tori Amos, and I found Harvey to be a more raw and muscularly rock n roll antidote to the ( still very raw) piano stuff Amos was doing. But they are tied together in time. Bjork I had already been well aware of, and had maybe primed me for some more esoteric music by talented women. Of hose three I think Harvey has maybe held up the best. Amos I eventually fell off and stopped following, and Bjork I still hear occasionally when my wife picks up her latest. Harvey feels both more approachable than either of those two, and I think straddles the line better between experimental and mainstream, with the other two being pretty squarely over the fence in each direction. Hopefully this one holds up. THE TRACKS Side one "Rid of Me" - The title track starts off with a droning repetitive bit that build and builds until Harvey comes in with her husky, menacing vocals and takes us on a creepy little journey through obsession, possession, and jealousy. When the chorus EXPLODES it's full of anger and power, and it leaves almost as fast as it came in, and gives the impression of danger and harm in way some of the best metal songs are able to do. I'm not sure if it's Harvey herself providing the background vocals, or Rob Ellis or both, but it's creepy and very effective. "Missed" - I've read that Harvey was a fan of Slint and this track has more than a little bit in common with their stuff on the Spiderland album, at least rhythmically, and the repetitive, tense, hangdog guitar lines make the comparison pretty strong. Where she differs is in her embrace of the dynamic range between the cold droning beat, and how full of emotion her voice is. There's also more than a little blues DNA in here, though it's so twisted around and mutated, you have to listen closely. "Legs" - This one dives even deeper into the blues sound, though through a GIANT, ragged punk lens that also feels like it was more than a little influenced by some Noise Rock. The guitar work is maybe the only thing on here approaching the grunge sound, and I still get confused by that being applied to much of any of her work. This has far more in common with stuff like Pixies, or Pere Ubu than anything coming out of Seattle at the time. We get another darkly obsessive, possibly romantic song here, and with more threats of bodily harm and mutilation. "Rub 'til It Bleeds" - More than anything yet, this one sounds like it could have come off a number of later albums, with it's rubber bandy guitar lines, the understated drum work, and Harvey's vocal gymnastics. The Slint influence is still there, and it's the very dry and almost reverbless production sound that ultimately gives it away, and makes it sound raw and frayed and like you're sat on the stage in the middle of the chaos when it jumps up, and they're just playing all around you, Harvey yelling right in your face. As an ode to masturbation, it's maybe not quite up there with "She Bops", "Turning Japanese", or "Dancing With Myself", but it's certainly pretty damn memorable. "Hook" - This one had the sort of Tom Waits-sh, banging on a garbage can lid, hobo band sort of feel to it which was interesting, but all the interesting noises sort of drowned Harvey out of her own song, and it feels like her vocals are barely there. The first one on the album that has back of my neck itching in anticipation of more of the same. This is the type of song I can imagine being much more impressive live. That doesn't translate as well here though. "Man-Size Sextet" - This was very cool and unexpected. Had completely forgotten about it. A sort of re-interpretation of her own song ( still 4 away) and quite the swing, especially as a side one closer. It's sort of like performance art piece, withe the lyrics of that song almost more spoken than sung over top of some very tense strings that feel straight out of a postmodern Krzysztof Penderecki orchestral piece. I can see a lot of people choosing to stop here, and not sure i could blame them. I liked it though. Side two "Highway 61 Revisited" - Dylan's classic (though never one of my favorites of his) is barely recognizable here, and Harvey performs the magic trick of making something so well known into something she absolutely owns. I stopped to go back and listen to the original for comparison's sake, and yeah... I think Harvey's is the better experience. The opening tinny radio sound that then busts into nervous and almost panicky sounding piece that sounds like it's falling down an endless staircase is augmented by multiple dynamic and distinctive sections, which make the Dylan original sound boring. "50ft Queenie" - Harvey gets to tackle some pyschobilly sounds on this one, with some sleazy, crackling guitars the Cramps or the Butthole Surfers would be proud of. And all of it's buried underneath some MASSIVE drum and bass that gives the impression of some crazed revelers dancing around a giant bonfire that's rising ever higher. Also - hand claps! "Yuri-G" - Much as I love the previous track, and the one right after this one - this is maybe my dark horse pick for favorite. The atmosphere is dark and dirty, and the processing on Harvey's vocals give the impression of another obsessed, lost and confused state of mind. And this tie we've got a ton of cool textures like the cello bits, the buzzsaw guitars and the frenetic drumming. "Man-Size" - The actual, legit inarguably best song on the album and one full of awesomeness. The guitar work alone on this is enough to elevate it into 5-star territory, but it's one of Harvey's best and most magnetic vocal performances throughout her entire catalogue. It's sexy, and threatening, and full of a confidence and commanding power you don't often see outside of some of the top tier metal vocalists like Rob Halford or Bruce Dickinson. It's also got a hell of a music video that melted by teenage brain at the time. This is an all-timer, one of many that Harvey has contributed. "Dry" - How can you follow that up? With something that's much more of a standard bit of catchy and simple alt-rock where we get a some more sexual metaphors, housed in a very straight forward dressing down of a romantic partner and their ... inadequacies, that's almost as funny as it is poppy. Well, as poppy as Harvey gets. "Me-Jane" - Some more psychobilly guitar and bass work here on an awesomely crunchy and rhythmically exciting piece that see's Harvey writing from the point of view of Tarzan's long suffering mate Jane. Even in 1993 Tarzan is a reference that was WELL past it's sell date, and the fact that she manages to pull this off without it being a complete joke is nothing short of impressive. That it fucking rocks is just a bonus. "Snake" - Assuming the voice of the put upon women of fiction is a well Harvey is not afraid to immediately draw from again, only this time it's a burner of a track in which Eve ( of Garden fame) gives that damn serpent a piece of her mind. Rob Ellis's drum work throughout has been amazing, but deserves a special callout here, as it's especially explosive. Harvey gets her rasp on and ends up providing some very cool and crazy vocal effects, almost sound like one of those accordion straws when you pull them apart. Crazy. "Ecstasy" - The downright bluesiest track on the album, the guitar riff repeats and bends within an apocalyptic bed of thrashing cymbals and Harvey's emotional and tortured vocals that for some reason reminded me of Lene Lovich in the vibrato and twisted syllables. This really makes me want Harvey to record a punked out blues standards cover album. I can easily see Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs being a big fan of this song in particular. HIGHLIGHTS - "Rid of Me" - "Missed" - "Legs" - "Rub 'til It Bleeds" - "Man-Size Sextet" - "Highway 61 Revisited" - "50ft Queenie" - "Yuri-G" - "Man-Size" - "Dry" - "Me-Jane" - "Snake" - "Ecstasy" MIDLIGHTS - "Hook" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS I like that Harvey, whether she may or may not be working out personal issues in her music, never makes it obvious or spells out anything and lets the listener build these narratives out of what at least appears to be dark little vignettes. You get very little stuff form her that could ever be mistaken for an "I feel this way or that" heart on your sleeve type thing that someone like Tori Amos is great at. If Amos is making her narratives up out of whole cloth, she manages to convince you it's real. With Harvey it could be the very opposite, and you'll never know. There remains a wall of ambiguity that I really, really like. This is probably Harvey at her most rocking, and would be the album I'd recommend to someone who was into metal or grunge. I had forgotten just how damn good it is, and would probably put it up right amongst her finest. I think Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea is still her overall most accomplished album that I've heard, and I full expected White Chalk ( an easy 5-stars but not on the list) to beat this out, but now I'm not so sure. This is at least in rival for second best I think. I'll try and find time to work in a full catalogue re-listen before we get to that last one. Unless it also pops up within the next week or two... She's also got a couple of albums she collaborated with John Parish that I don't think I've ever heard, so might work those in as well. Overall an excellent album, and a joy to revisit. Harvey deserves all her spots on the list and remains fully cemented as one of the rock greats. Possible turn-Offs might include: - raw, and dry production sound - lyrics that might have you blushing if you don't wear headphones - lots of left turns into more artsy territory that come out of nowhere You Might enjoy this if you: - dig strong female vocalists - like complex textures in your heavy music - are looking for something that varies in style throughout PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Nah FURTHER LISTENING Precursors: - Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan - Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart - Easter by Patti Smith Group - Surfer Rosa by Pixies - Goat by The Jesus Lizard - Spiderland by Slint - Stateless by Lene Lovich Contemporaries: - Debut by Bjork -Last Splash by the Breeders - Under the Pink by Tori Amos - Bricks Are Heavy by L7 - Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair Descendants: - In Utero by Nirvana - Tidal by Fiona Apple - Garbage by Garbage - Call the Doctor by Sleater-Kinney - Fever to Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Marry Me by St. Vincent - The Record by Boygenius

Our third PJ Harvey album in 15 days. I wish they could've been spaced out farther apart but thus is the nature of randomness. "Stories from the City..." got a 4 from me and "Let England Shake" a three. It was a bit jarring hearing this one right after that 2011 album. "Let England Shake" I said was an album that one does 20 twenties years into your career. Well, this is the debut and it sounds like the album you make when you're at the beginning. Its a raw sound and full of the alternative rock of the time. Its performing angst if not always truly feeling like angst. No surprise, I enjoyed it more. "Rid of Me" falls right in the middle of the three albums we've had, I prefer it to "Let England Shake, but not as much as "Stories..." 4/5

No sir, I will not lick your legs.

with each pj harvey album i get like i her more and more

More dull alt rock from the 90s, *Rid Of Me* is chock-full of overly dramatic singing against unimaginative guitar parts. The antiseptic production by Steve Albini only emphasizes how slight the songwriting is on this record.

Another that can be categorised as influential but not for me

3.5

I read on Wikipedia that Warren Zevon was a big fan of this album, so I was expecting something Zevon-esque. Imagine my surprise when after expecting something like, "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in its hand," I instead heard, "Lick my legs, I'm on fire." After that initial shock, though, yeah this album is great

A while back, I started my own ‘greatest albums if all time’ playlist and this is already on it. It’s frustrating that I was 30+ years late to the PJ Harvey bandwagon, but I’m glad I got here eventually. I'm fortunate that this list gave me PJ Harvey's first album, Dry, first and let me start at the beginning. I've since also reviewed Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, but I try not to compare albums to the artist's later works when possible. Compared to Dry, this record shows some remarkable growth and a much more focused sound. That's kind of a weird thing to say about an album that Steve Albini was brought in to produce, but it's true. Where Dry felt very DIY and raw, Rid Of Me has about as much polish as you would put on a grunge record in 1992/1993. The little bits of cowpunk twang have been omitted - or at least they're now running through a fuzz pedal so they don't twang like they used to (see "Ecstasy"). Dry was gritty because the recording equipment probably wasn't good but this feels gritty because they CHOSE to make it feel that way, it doesn't feel like you're hearing the recording equipment or the process at all (if that makes any sense), just a band playing themselves into grunge history. That all sounds like I'm giving reasons why this record is better than Dry, and I'm actually not sure I feel that way. Both albums are amazing in different ways and I don't know if I could pick one over the other. That said, Dry had some unrealized potential (mostly in the recording) and I gave it 4 stars for that. This album doesn't suffer thesame problem (at least by comparison) so I'm going to rate it higher. I think it's a case of two 4.5 star records being rounded differently. required postscript: I love to talk about how this album was recorded by Steve Albini in the same remote Minnesota studio - in the same winter(!) - as Nirvana’s In Utero. This one was recorded first and, for my money, it's the better of the two albums. I don’t think anyone gets as excited as I do about this incredibly niche fun fact, but I also don’t think I know anyone who rates Polly Jean as highly as I do. Some day I'll make a pilgrimage up to Cannon Falls so I can see Pachyderm Studio for myself.

It's a wonder how such a bold and forward-thinking album turned out to be so flawless. Everything is just how it should be. Albini's mixing is marvelous, making the most out of every guitar strum and drumbeat. The music demands your attention every step of the way and constantly surprises you with so many little nuggets of creative brilliance. The real star is obviously Polly, though. She offers a phenomenal, charismatic and diverse vocal performance, enriched by great lyricism. It's as blunt and aggressive as it gets, exactly the way these themes should be presented. With all of that said, her subsequent two albums are even better and it's an absolute shame they aren't included in the list. Favourite track: Yuri-G 5/5

I had never spent much time with this one, and it did not move me the way the next four albums do. Still, points for power and commitment.

Tiresome. She was appealing for one album and this isn't it.

Should not be on this list.

Thought I would like this more than I did. There’s something off where the songs feel more like individual statements than songs. Idk

I was really into her when she came onto the scene, I played the crap out of this record! Fierce, unapologetic with something to say/snarl this album is my fave of hers

This is straight-up beef carpaccio. It's so very raw. And for many, it's cringy to their delicate palates. The very thought of uncooked meat makes their stomach turn, but for the rest of us - wow! This one is high quality all the way, with lemon that gives it a zesty kick in the ass. Eat up!

Most albums are released. This album is unleashed. Where her first album was emotionally brutal - Rid of Me matches that brutality musically. The first side especially is the feeling of breaking down and verges on falling apart completely. Voice and drums are right at the edge of falling into the abyss with shards of guitar pushing them ever closer. Side two is tighter and has some songs that could be described as catchy (depending on you mood) before Me-Jane charges in to knock your block clean off. Ferocious. You simply can't leave this album without feeling something.

I don’t know how to really rate this at lowest it’s 2.5 at its highest for me it might be a 3.5 with multiple listens. It definitely going for something just not sure if that something is for me DRY is best track. Light 3/5

Intense, brutal, unique, jarring, kinda' violent. I don't know that it's something I'd pick up for myself but yeah...it's something.

Honestly, putting on Rid of Me feels less like listening to music and more like bracing for an attack. Steve Albini’s production is so raw and abrasive that the sudden jumps from quiet to deafening actually hit you like a punch. Polly is an absolute force here, she sounds feral, snarling and whispering her way through songs about obsession and power with a post-punk blues energy that doesn't care if you're uncomfortable. Some of the production choices, like the screeching strings on "Man-Size Sextet", are definitely jarring, but it all feels intentional. Beyond the killer title track and "50ft Queenie", her cover of "Highway 61 Revisited" is completely unhinged. She takes Dylan’s song and turns it into a frantic, nerve shredding sprint that she makes entirely her own. It’s an exhausting, uncompromising listen that isn't exactly built for casual background music, but for pure, raw intensity, it’s one of her most powerful records.

The energy in this album is inconsistent. You go from one track building momentum, only to throw that all away in the next. It settles near the end of the record, but it's way too late at that point. Also, what's up with the "man-size" thing? Favourite Track(s): 50ft Queenie, Dry, Missed Least Favourite Track(s): Hook, Man-sized Sextet, Man-Size

Ужасный жанр рока под безголосые женские вопли

There’s no shortage of intensity here, but I find myself getting tired of it surprisingly quickly. Harvey’s vocals and the abrasive guitars keep hitting the same nerve until I struggle to distinguish one song from the next. The tracks change; my reaction doesn’t. I don’t need the rough edges smoothed out, but I do need something beyond them to hold my attention. On 𝘙𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦, they’re too often all I hear. By the end, I remember the album’s abrasive sound more clearly than any individual song.

A bit of a din but not totally unlistenable

This is very good. Very very good. But not quite a 5. A 4,5!

Don’t get me fuckin’ started. It’s a 7/5. An all timer. A friend for life. It makes you want to go back and retrospectively lower the scores of all the other albums. I like it.

Didn't particularly enjoy this one, too grungy for my liking and quite dull. Cool looking album cover though.

The vocals and honestly everything else too just don't do it for me. 1/5

When this album, there were aspects of this band/album that I liked and aspects that I didn't. I still listened a lot, without loving the album. I feel the same now - it's nice to hear now as nostalgia, but I still don't love it. If I could, I would give it 3.5

On her second album, PJ Harvey once again blew me away. The immediacy of this album, the intimacy and the (in the most positive way) dirt of the album are incredible. It lives in a grim and menacing world that constantly fluctuates between paralyzing quietness and overwhelming noise, accompanied by a voice that demands your attention and guides you to the light - or maybe to disaster. An impeccably produced album that showcases the force that Harvey’s voice can create without being overwhelming. There is no artifice on here, there is only PJ Harvey’s soul projected onto us.

I much preferred this album to the previous P J Harvey album that came up in this list (whatever that was?). Stripped back alternative rock album, I can hear echoes of Siouxsie Sioux and Patti Smith here.

While the raw and gritty Steve Albini production is great, this record would not work as well as it does without the charisma of one PJ Harvey. She is so effortlessly cool on here and her primal screams make for a compelling listen. The slow-burn opener builds up anticipation before exploding into a chorus of noise. This record could be described as grunge-adjacent that gets weirder as the record progresses. I throughly enjoyed every track on here.

Really liked this. Sounds familiar but not heard anything like it ironically.

I liked the rage

I like PJ Harvey, usually, but there's something just off about this album that rattles my nerves a bit. Maybe it's the weird mix. It's either too quiet or too loud. Some bits I love, some bits make me recoil. Maybe that's the point. I prefer other Harvey albums, this all seems so undecided and confusing.

2.6/5

I really like her. This is the third of her albums this site has sent me. I really liked 2011's Let England Shake. 2000's Stories from the Sea... didn't compare favorably but was still decent. This is her second album, from 1993, and is wonderfully raw. Great stuff. Not as "listenable" as Let England Shake, but has an original core energy that must have carried her through 3+ decades of work.

solid

The quiet parts were a little too quiet at times. Then when I turned up my speakers, thinking something was wrong, I got blasted out of the room. I was never big into PJ Harvey, but I do respect her. There were moments I really loved, and some stuff that just didn't hit.

Raro, ya se veía que tenía potencial y bastante fuerza

I know that Rid of Me was critically acclaimed, and for cause: it’s raw, grungy, aggressive, left-field and doesn’t follow guidelines, which usually, critics loved. But for me? It wasn’t. Besides the grungy part, which I loved, all the rest was tough. I thought it was noisy, deconstructed and everything was scattered in every direction. 2/5. Rough listen for me. I understand what the album is, but definitely not for me. Won’t listen again. Rid of Me : 2 Missed : 2 Legs : 2 Rub 'til It Bleeds : 3 Hook : 2 Man-Size Sextet : 1 Highway '61 Revisited : 2 50ft Queenie : 1 Yuri-G : 2 Man-Size : 2 Dry : 2 Me-Jane : 2 Snake : 1 Ecstasy : 2

She rocks

Canções carregadas de eletricidade contagiante e vocais viscerais com marca pessoal e cativantes. Ótimo disco.

I like some of her other albums, but this album does nothing for me. Odd.

1. "50ft Queenie" 2. "Missed" 3. "Rid of Me"

I wonder if everyone would agree that if there could only be one album per artist that this would be hers. Not knocking the others, though I didn’t love Dry, but this is just clearly her best, right?

Braucht man nicht.

I wanted to like this more than I did, so I may need to revisit. The lyrics were captivating and the music fit them well. 3.4/5.

Miss consistent. Never a bad album, always interesting and unique.

Me re gustó, pero me agarró en un momento en donde necesitaba algo menos sufriente u oscuro. Sólo por eso le bajo un punto, porque quizás otro disco me guste más, pero la verdad impresionante. Musicalmente genial, las baterías me gustaron mucho. Me encantaría escucharlo nuevamente prestando mayor atención a las letras. Me gustan los juegos que hace con su voz, muy a lo Sinnead o Dolores O'Riordan.

Sehr Cool!

Love how the title track is just one riff for like five minutes—she pulls it off too. Such a classic

Really boring

I like the other one better, but this one's a banger.

Pretty good but probably not something I'll seek out. I think maybe the production/sonics of the LD don't fully do the tracks justice. I like the last track 'Ecstasy' best, the guitar's bad ass, but I wish they turned the bass line up.

Bon, je vais la faire simple mais un disque qui commence par un ordre chuchoté puis qui fini par nous sauter à la gorge comme un pitbull affamé mérite qu'on s'y attarde quelques minutes. En 1992, le monde découvrait une tornade nommée Polly Jean Harvey avec Dry. C’était aride, abrasif, tranchant, foutrement prometteur mais putain qu'est ce que c'était bon. Puis pour son deuxième album, la fille du Dorset qui ne voulait pas juste confirmer l’essai dans son coin de campagne anglaise, a pris un vol pour Chicago afin de s’enfermer avec l'ingénieur du son le plus intransigeant et puriste de la scène indépendante américaine : Steve Albini. Le résultat ? Rid Of Me. Quarante-huit minutes d'une violence psychologique, charnelle et sonore inouïe. Autant le dire sans détour, je lui colle un gros 4 sur 5. Car c'est un disque immense, une baffe monumentale et même si sa radicalité brute et sans concession peut en effrayer plus d'un. Pour bien piger le truc, il faut tout d'abord retourner en 1993. Le rock alternatif commence à puer le fric et la récupération des majors, le grunge devient un produit de supermarché et les chemises de bûcheron s'achètent en prêt-à-porter de luxe. Débarque alors cette Anglaise décharnée qui, sur une pochette en noir et blanc signée Maria Mochnacz, balance sa tignasse trempée dans un mouvement quasi animal, le regard noir, prête à t'égorger. Pas de maquillage baveux façon MTV, pas de pose calibrée, juste une femme, son corps, et une tension électrique prête à déborder. Ce qu'on remarque dès la première seconde, c'est cette alchimie dévastatrice entre Polly Jean et la patte Albini. Le producteur de Shellac et des Pixies ne « produit » pas au sens où les maisons de disques l'entendent ; il documente une agression sonore. Les amplis crachent, la basse grogne et la batterie sonne comme si Robert Ellis cognait directement sur votre cage thoracique au milieu d'une pièce vide. Albini applique ici à la perfection sa marque de fabrique : des dynamiques poussées dans leurs derniers retranchements. On passe d’un murmure étouffé, presque inaudible, où Polly Jean rampe sous tes draps, à une déflagration sonore qui t'explose les tympans sans crier gare. Sur le fond, Rid Of Me est une autopsie sauvage des rapports de force, de la domination masculine, de la luxure et de la vengeance où Polly Jean ne joue pas les victimes larmoyantes. Elle incarne des monstres, des furies, des obsessions toxiques. Le morceau-titre qui ouvre les hostilités donne le ton : ça démarre dans une intimité toxique et malsaine pour finir en un hurlement terrifiant où elle réclame qu'on lui lèche les jambes en feu. Sur « 50ft Queenie », elle se transforme en géante vengeresse, beuglant qu'elle fait dix mètres de haut avec une rage jubilatoire et totalement démente. Tout l'album est traversé par ces éclairs carnassiers, à l'image de « Man-Size » qui taille en pièces la prétention virile avec un sarcasme mordant. Même sa relecture du « Highway 61 Revisited » de Bob Dylan est un coup de génie pervers : elle dépouille le classique folk-rock de son flegme d'origine pour en faire une cavalcade furieuse, hystérique et complètement possédée. Alors, pourquoi ce n'est pas un 5 sur 5 absolu, me demanderez-vous ? Parce que Rid Of Me est un bloc de granit tellement abrupt et suffocant qu'il peut parfois être difficile à écouter d'une traite. L'austérité voulue par Albini, ce son presque trop sec et anti-commercial, frôle par instants l'exercice de style masochiste. C’est précisément cette intransigeance qui fait sa grandeur, mais c'est aussi ce qui le rend moins universel ou envoûtant que son successeur To Bring You My Love, où elle apprendra à marier cette fureur primitive avec une dramaturgie plus ample et théâtrale. Il n'empêche que Rid Of Me est un album majeure dans le rock des années 90. Un manifeste viscéral où PJ Harvey a démontré qu'une femme avec une guitare électrique pouvait être dix fois plus menaçante, imprévisible et viscérale que n'importe quelle bande de gars à cheveux gras. Une œuvre brute de décoffrage, éprouvante mais indispensable.

Rid of Me offers a different perspective on youthful angsty; instead of insecurity and bashfulness, it’s explosive and almost manic. “Man-Size Sextet” was the climax of this for me; it was so full of derangement and unsettling production. PJ Harvey also offers an uncomfortable dissection of sexuality. It’s not sexy, but rather it’s a means of controlling power, an outlet of obsession, and self-immolation. Two tracks that really demonstrate this are the track “Rid Of Me,” which is purely about sexual domination and humiliation, as well as “Rub It Till Bleeds”. PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me offers one of the most energetic but messy depictions of femininity and youth. There’s a rawness on this album that’s maybe unmatched in all of music.

Day 389 Don’t know if I’m just in a good mood at the moment or what but this is the 3rd 5/5 album I’ve had in a row. This was amazing. Highlights Legs Rub til it bleeds Dry

Shocked this is my first listen. Female vocals on some heavy grunge? Sign me up. 4/5.

Raw, emotive, feminist post-punk. This is PJ Harvey unleashed by Albini's production, and the result is perhaps her strongest album. One of the great female fronted rock albums of all time, and the early introduction to one of the most interesting pop artists of the last 20 years.

Bit of a change of tone. Maybe 3.5

It's got good guitar sounds and her voice sounds pretty good too, but the style of music is too grunge for me, didn't really like any songs

I didn't like it at the time and haven't changed my opinion.

It's an emotion. Hate and vengeance flag this album

Not necessarily an easy listen: the songs are angular & challenging, but while most rock tends toward raw intensity, the cold energy of the production & Harvey's voice works for me.

I always forget how good she is. Surprised to bring you my love isn't on this list

Generally enjoyed this! "Rub 'Til It Bleeds" "50ft Queenie" "Yuri-G" and "Man-Size" were the standouts for me.

wanted to like this more than I was able to. cool vibe but honestly a bit of a slog.

Meh