4-Track Demos

RID OF ME seems over-produced by comparison. The drums are just overkill on whats already perfectly balanced. It's like comparing 50's BB King to the big band King of today. The personal quality and strength of the songs is diluted; reduced to entertainment. It may sound stupid but, to me, this stuff is more than just entertainment. It's some sort of personal cult of deep sound from the back of the heart. You rarely hear people go here!

This album STILL almost hurts me. When I first bought it (I was 15 or something- a girlfriend recommended it) I simply hated it. HATED IT. Too honest. Too sincere. It was too raw, to open, too discomfiting. This makes most punk, hardcore- goth, whatever look like bland treacly window dressing. Polly Jane, within these terrifying little gems, cuts her throat open and spits venom in your ears. She hangs you with her guts. Wow. This music is so personal its a tad disturbing.

And still gorgeous. This razor sharp lil' collection is vastly better than the more polished and mediocre 'Rid of Me,' from which most of these tracks ended up- albumwise. It was her second, which makes this her 2 and a half, right before her masterful "To Bring You My Love,' a milestone.... it's been downhill trek from there, in my opinion.

Which is not to say that the album is noisy or subversive or transgressive or some other such pc, tame lit-jargon BS. It's just that she doesn't care how she affects the listener- you can tell she's singing these songs primarily for herself.

Trivia!!!! A great scene in a great little movie- 'Strange Days,' Juliette Lewis is in some post-grunge band and covers two PJ Harvey tracks, 'Rid of Me,' and 'I can Hardly Wait.' Both are from this album. Ms. Lewis, who can sing quite admirably in fact, pales in comparison with Ms Harvey.

Stand out tracks: Easy (my fave- what a great guitar lick!), Rid Of Me, Yuri-G, Ecstasy, M-Bike, I Can hardly Wait and Legs (the way she wales still raises the hairs all over my body)

A great catch!

One thing I've admired about PJ Harvey is her willingness to sound bad. That is, not always singing in a pretty or melodious voice. Sometimes her voice is used as an instrument of discordance. Wailing, shreiking, moaning, you name it, PJ does it.. and there is a lot of it on display here. It can be quite alarming if your listening tastes are a little more sedate. Certainly unlike most of what has been heard on the radio or MTV over the last 20 years. But if you are a Diamanda Galas fan? no sweat. Nothing will surprise you here! Of course, when PJ Harvey wants to she can sing with the sirens, but with this record, her prettiest singing is left elsewhere.

This record contains many songs that ended up on the 'Rid Of Me' of me record. Some people prefer this record to that one as PJ's vocals are more "there" here, as opposed to the studio 'ROM' record, which lowers the vocals a bit in relation to the instruments. On balance, I prefer the studio 'ROM' a little more, as there is a little more filler on this 4-Track Demo record. Still, lots of great stuff here, and a must for any major fan. For everyone else, unless my description appeals to you, I would suggest this be the last PJ record you explore. Check out some of her other ones first.