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Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
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Track Listings
| 1. Big Exit |
| 2. Good Fortune |
| 3. A Place Called Home |
| 4. One Line |
| 5. Beautiful Feeling |
| 6. The Whores Hustle and The Hustlers Whore |
| 7. This Mess We're In |
| 8. You Said Something |
| 9. Kamikaze |
| 10. This Is Love |
| 11. Horses In My Dreams |
| 12. We Float |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea--the sixth album from the most incendiary female British performer to emerge in the 1990s--is as powerful a record as any Polly Jean Harvey has made. Masterfully striking a balance between her blues-folk roots, avant-leanings, and soaring pop sensibility, it serves as a summary of Harvey's prior achievements. The abrasive, jagged guitars hark back to her fiery 1992 debut album, Dry, on the ballistic yet anthemic opener, "Big Exit," while the dreamy, opulent closer, "We Float," demonstrates her maturity as a songwriter. The clamor and emotional rush of a heady relationship--particularly on her duet with Thom Yorke, "This Mess We're In"--gives the album a ferocious clarity. The production skills of Mick Harvey (Nick Cave's Bad Seeds) lends depth and assurance. And, though PJ quotes from many influences--the Who, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, and even West Side Story--her indomitable presence shines throughout. Stories from the City is the work of a singular talent at the peak of her powers. --Gavin Martin
Product Description
She may not break new ground with Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, but Polly Jean Harvey proves one thing: she sure knows how to tend to her plot. Hard-rocking, guitar-driven numbers, mesmerizing vocal wordplay, and plenty of noisy atmospherics prove that Harvey is still the queen of rock-noir. --Jason Verlinde
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Masterpiece? No, but underappreciated
July 10 2004
Format:Audio CD
This album simply has some of Polly's funnest songs. Big Exit, Hustling, and This is Love are simply fun, adrenaline-pumping (if not sexually arousing in the case of This is Love) songs that are better than most of the so called thrashing rock that is played on our radio stations. I think some of the dissent against this album comes from the fact that it's so "pop-rocky", well, maybe so, but if it's done well, so what? And yeah, This is Love is not T.S. Elliot when it comes to poetic lyrics, but it's just a FUN song no matter who wrote it. So many people are overly enamored w/ the depressing side of Polly Jean, and I loved Is This Desire? too, but you take the songs for what they are. The guitar work of "This is Love" also straddles the line between minor and dominant tonality, and that helps to give it a grindy, seductive sound. "We Float" has a beautiful vocal line, and is a good ender to the album, solemn yet resilient, a hope earned through suffering that is perfectly reflected by PJ's passion and melody. A good solid rocking album w/ enough maudlin pieces to satisfy that fix, I'd still rank "Is This Desire" ahead of it, but not by much, and I'd take this album over "Rid of Me" and "To Bring You My Love".
Searing and Epic
Jun 18 2004
Format:Audio CD
Following, in outstanding overall quality, many years on the heels of the superb "Rid Of Me," "Stories From The City" is, for all intents and purposes, a masterpiece......a homage to life, and the hope of love, previously only seen in Harvey's work intermittently. Of course, as there must be (for we love her for it, and it is her specialty) there is raw, defiant power there, too; particularly in the opening track "Big Exit." The closing number, "We Float," is arguably Harvey's best song of all time. Largely a love poem to New York, this album captures both the beginining and the ending stages of what it is to be in love, simultaneously, with another person and the geography of an era. Most distinctly, it explores the viability of a working relationship between tortured genius and simple human contentment.
Dark and mysterious
Jun 14 2004
Format:Audio CD
This album is my introduction to PJ Harvey. I must say it's great work even though some people say it's more polished than her earlier albums. I'm sure my opinion about this album will change once I listen to her older albums (I may like them better, who knows) but for now I am content with this. Standouts include 'Big Exit' (which includes one of my favorite lines 'This world's crazy, give me the gun!') the optimistic 'Good Fortune', the unique 'The Whore's Hustle And The Hustlers Whore', the crazy 'Kamikaze', and my favorite 'This Is Love'. If you are looking for a female songwriter/singer/guitarist that is a cut above the mainstream then PJ is your choice. Enjoy.
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Most recent customer reviews
Peej gets happy, we get blown away
The editorial review above misses the point - far from being more of the same, Stories from the City breaks into territory PJ Harvey never dared to venture before - peace and... Read more
Published on Jun 12 2004 by E. Kutinsky
pj is one of the most unique artists of our time
Stories was my introduction to PJ's work, and it's one of my favourite records. Some of the tracks don't grab you and may seem slow, but they eventually grow on you. Read more
Published on May 27 2004
Incredible
My first real taste of PJ Harvey, recommended to me by a friend, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. Read more
Published on May 26 2004 by Philip
Still bursting with passion
Easily PJ's most accessible and immediately catchy album. Many of the songs have soaring anthemic chorus's and the arrangements aren't as dark and skeletal as her previous 2... Read more
Published on May 5 2004 by BBgun9
An Underrated Masterpiece
I've been a big fan of PJ Harvey since her debut album Dry back in 1992, and I feel that Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea is her greatest album yet. Read more
Published on Feb 15 2004 by Eric
Great PJ CD; Not Best PJ
I really like this CD as a CD: that is, it is very listenable as a whole and has some very good songs. Read more
Published on Feb 10 2004 by Sarah
loverly. but a little too light for my tastes.
Great sounding record. Many of the live boots from her last tour contained great versions of her earlier work, i.e., previous albums. However, I prefer her 'Stories.. Read more
Published on Feb 4 2004 by "deafeningwhisper"
The Taming of Polly Jean
I've heard many speak of how this album is the "taming down" of the enigmatic Ms. Harvey and while it may turn away some of her fans who prefer her "Dry" days,... Read more
Published on Jan 23 2004 by Kelly Thompson
Check it out, I did
My good friend Gillian Anderson introduced me to this band. i think this is the cd i have. Good rock and roll with an "edge" to it.
Published on Dec 4 2003 by monkeytot
Suprisingly good.
I admit I didn't know much "PJ Harvey" before, but I was extremely impressed with this cd. She can craft the softest beautiful songs, or the aggressive rockers, and both equally... Read more
Published on Oct 29 2003 by H3@+h
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