I'm not sure if I'll be able to listen to "Rid of Me" without a (more) severe bought of castration anxiety.

October 6, 2007 2:32 PM

PJ Harvey suggests that all the castration imagery of Rid of Me isn't necessarily metaphorical.

Polly is the greatest, and to celebrate White Chalk, her little piece of Victoriana, the Internet has been giving up some interesting videos of her.

"Grow Grow Grow", live on French TV, with an autoharp and an owl.

"Ballad of a Soldier's Wife", a Kurt Weill cover.

"Satisfaction", with Björk.

posted by Weebot (93 comments total)

That cover of satisfaction is really great. What a pair of crazies, I love 'em.
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:42 PM on October 6, 2007

Good Fortune video
posted by autodidact at 2:48 PM on October 6, 2007

The Satisfaction cover is genius. I've loved it since I've first heard it.

I wish people would stop calling Bjork 'crazy' though.
posted by jokeefe at 2:49 PM on October 6, 2007

She fits my definition of crazy, good crazy, not bad crazy. Oh well.
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:57 PM on October 6, 2007

Seriously, the Satisfaction cover is in fact Best Of The Web class, no question.
posted by effugas at 2:59 PM on October 6, 2007

I worship the Peej. It's a little creepy. But my boyfriends know not to cross me.
posted by katillathehun at 3:00 PM on October 6, 2007

Hot damn, I'd not seen the Satisfaction cover before. That's fantastic.
posted by honeydew at 3:03 PM on October 6, 2007

heh, their voices actually go really well together. Yeah PJ is the shit, A #1
posted by edgeways at 3:12 PM on October 6, 2007

I've been listening to White Chalk today, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. It's so remote and creepy - it's also so unlike her other stuff that it's eerie.

I kind of liked her old voice...
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:12 PM on October 6, 2007

In the Jay Leno appearance, does anyone else think she's singing "lick my interface"? Made me think of a 9V battery.
posted by exogenous at 3:24 PM on October 6, 2007

@chuckdarwin

Count me as ambivalent on White Chalk. I can't fault her for ambition, and it has some spectacular tracks (particularly the title track.) It's also by far her most difficult album she's put out. Moreso than even Dance Hall at Louse Point.

The question is, of course, does the album pay in dividends to those who want to take White Chalk head-on? I've been reading some best-since-Rid of Me reviews floating around, so it look like it might.

I'm not sure I'm willing to go that far though, but I'll certainly keep it on rotation for a while.
posted by Weebot at 3:28 PM on October 6, 2007

Art. Jaded me still gets chills from most of her work.
posted by stagewhisper at 3:33 PM on October 6, 2007

Nthing the awesomeness of that satisfaction cover.
posted by empath at 3:43 PM on October 6, 2007

Y'all might enjoy her performance in Hal Hartley's The Book of Life. I sure did.
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:45 PM on October 6, 2007

PS She's Mary Magdelene.
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:45 PM on October 6, 2007

Satisfaction is definitely the meat of this FPP. Leno can lick my ass. I've always liked PJ Harvey in passing, she definitely needs more of my attention.
posted by Eekacat at 4:10 PM on October 6, 2007

Wow, thanks for this post. The Satisfaction cover was amazing. I need to pick up some more of her albums.
posted by pombe at 4:13 PM on October 6, 2007

Hot damn, the Bjork, PJ piece was amazing.
posted by oddman at 4:26 PM on October 6, 2007

@chuckdarwin

No @ notation, please.
posted by delmoi at 4:26 PM on October 6, 2007

5 years ago, I brought home an 18mth old wolfhound cross puppy. She got home, ran around and licked my legs. So we called her Polly-Jean. Every now and then, one of the vet nurses will be a little more musically hip and give us funny looks. PJ rocks.
posted by tim_in_oz at 4:26 PM on October 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

She fits my definition of crazy, good crazy, not bad crazy. Oh well.

Sorry, DW. This became an irritant for me this summer when she performed here, and every article or review seemed to begin with something along the lines of "that Bjork she so crazy!" and I got a leedle fed up with it.

Also, Pitchfork can bit my shiny metal ass with their review of White Chalk, which they slated in large part, as best I can tell, because the reviewer found it too depressing. Allow me to laugh my indie-rock friendly socks off.
posted by jokeefe at 4:30 PM on October 6, 2007

The satisfaction cover is a real gem. I shall now scour the nets for an mp3 of it.
posted by butterstick at 4:48 PM on October 6, 2007

I liked the Satisfaction cover, even though I can take or leave Bjork generally. PJ Harvey's not bad, but she did do an ill-advised cover of "Wang Dang Doodle." Don't know what made her think she was up to that,
posted by jonmc at 4:50 PM on October 6, 2007

i'd like to be the lunchmeat in a bjork/pj sandwich.

no mayo necessary. yum.
posted by CitizenD at 5:03 PM on October 6, 2007

Psst, butterstick.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 5:05 PM on October 6, 2007

"Don't know what made her think she was up to that"

Hey jonmc, please don't try to comment on PJ. Stick to Bob Seger and his ilk, where you know what you are talking about.

Sorry but this sort of smug know nothing dismissal from self appointed experts really pisses me off.
posted by zingzangzung at 5:20 PM on October 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

zingzangzung: to me, just about anybody besides Koko Taylor, that song is a stretch. and as I said in the comment, I actually like some of PJ's stuff. But I suppose my failure to prostrate myself before her altar is a faux-pas. Forgive me.

Hey jonmc, please don't try to comment on PJ. Stick to Bob Seger and his ilk, where you know what you are talking about.

Bob Seger is actually a better songwriter and vocalist than either Bjork or PJ Harvey.

Sorry but smug historically ignorant from pretentious trendies really pisses me off.
posted by jonmc at 5:30 PM on October 6, 2007 [3 favorites]

(also, please send me a list of who is off limits to criticize. (note: I did not dismiss PJ Harvey, I said that she was not 'up to' Wang Dang Doodle.' Hardly an incendiary statement.))
posted by jonmc at 5:32 PM on October 6, 2007

C'mon jon, this is opinion not objective fact. You take a tone of authority on music, recognise that you will piss off those whose tastes do not align with yours.
posted by zingzangzung at 5:45 PM on October 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Pitchfork can bit my shiny metal ass</i?

Exactly. Mine too. Fuckers.
posted by psmealey at 5:58 PM on October 6, 2007

C'mon jon, this is opinion not objective fact. You take a tone of authority on music, recognise that you will piss off those whose tastes do not align with yours.

Obviously. And when I post about something I enjoy, I fully expect that people will criticize it. "Wang Dang Doodle" is a great blues song in the hands of Koko Taylor or Howlin' Wolf, but PJ Harvey didn't do all that great with it, in my opinion. That's hardly a very controversial opinion to venture, especially since I also added that I actually enjoy both Harvey and Bjork (although I liked Bjork better with the Sugarcubes than solo). As far as 'tone of authority,' goes, I only have the authority you're willing to grant me. I frankly don't know whay you even care what my opinion is.
posted by jonmc at 5:59 PM on October 6, 2007

please send me a list of who is off limits to criticize

Radiohead
Neutral Milk Hotel
Wilco
Leonard Cohen
Velvet Underground
Carrot Top
posted by psmealey at 6:00 PM on October 6, 2007

Radiohead
Neutral Milk Hotel
Wilco
Leonard Cohen
Velvet Underground
Carrot Top

Sucks
Meh
Loved 'em up until Summerteeth, then meh
Good songwriter, boring performer
Fucking Great
Get a rope.
posted by jonmc at 6:02 PM on October 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

West Country Girl
posted by strawberryviagra at 6:02 PM on October 6, 2007

See, there. You did it again, j. You're incorrigible!
posted by psmealey at 6:03 PM on October 6, 2007

Fantastic. I also love these ones:

A Perfect Day Elise video

Man Size video

This 2001 live performance of Rid of Me [warning: loud]

The epic Nick Cave post already mentioned this one, but his Henry Lee video with PJ is stellar.

Dress video

This is Love video

Who the Fuck video

I'll never forget first seeing one of her tour videos when I was young -- I forget which one, this was years and years ago -- and watching her warm up backstage with these beautiful opera scales, and then saunter out and just tear it up.

Oh Polly Jean, just marry me already. Marry the shit out of me.
posted by churl at 6:05 PM on October 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Heh. My point is that of course, it's just my opinion*. It's a thread about music, which is more or less an invitation to venture an opinion. If someone criticises the Dictators or the Replacements, I momentarily get irked, too, but then I remember there's no accounting for taste and our tastes arent sacred.

*and to reiterate, the opinion I ventured was not exactly dismissive
posted by jonmc at 6:08 PM on October 6, 2007

> also, please send me a list of who is off limits to criticize.

"Don't compare Bjork to anyone. She is off-limits. No linking her, no comparing. BJORK."
posted by churl at 6:09 PM on October 6, 2007

this is opinion not objective fact.

What else can there be in a music thread?
posted by me & my monkey at 6:09 PM on October 6, 2007

To be frank, it's not so much PJ Harvey I love, but it's Steve Albini and PJ Harvey together that I love together, passionately. That collaboration happened at the very apex of two very interesting careers, and it hits on so many levels.

On their own, I don't really think about either of them (other than to occasionally blow the dust off my old vinyl copy of Songs About Fucking).
posted by psmealey at 6:10 PM on October 6, 2007

That Satisfaction video was really cool. Thanks for that.
posted by caddis at 6:11 PM on October 6, 2007

"What else can there be in a music thread?"

It's the way he tells it!!

Jon has the belief that his word is THE word on music. He just has terrible taste.

(Sorry jon, just my opinion:)
posted by zingzangzung at 6:22 PM on October 6, 2007

it's Steve Albini and PJ Harvey together that I love together

Really? I thought the mix on "Rid Of Me" was one of the worst crimes ever committed against a performer. Just terrible to have those great songs buried somewhere beneath Albini's shitty mix.

Nthing the "Satisfaction" video, and noting with suspicion that Polly Jean looks to have had some work done (that's a new schnozz or I'm trippin').

And Bjork's a quirky freak who makes interesting records that artsy people take waaaaay too seriously.

IMHO.

Plus, she aids and abets Matthew Barney in the perpetration of pretentious, pointless, self-indulgent, ugly art. So there's that.

PJ, though...

*dreamy sigh*
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:26 PM on October 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

He just has terrible taste.

Uh, yeah... not really
posted by psmealey at 6:27 PM on October 6, 2007

It's the way he tells it!!

Oh, good lord. Please, you're just upset that I did something other than salaam at your favorite artist. And again, it was a fairly harmless opinion, unless you hold PJ Harvey as a sacred cow.


Jon has the belief that his word is THE word on music

Um, no. I have my opinions and tastes like everybody else.

He just has terrible taste.

(Sorry jon, just my opinion:)

And you're welcome to it. I just wonder why my opinion matters so much to you. Why do you even care?
posted by jonmc at 6:33 PM on October 6, 2007

I thought the mix on "Rid Of Me" was one of the worst crimes ever committed against a performer.

That's what continues to be great about music, I guess. I absolutely LOVE "Rid of Me" and "Dry", but the rest of her catalog moves me not at all. Similarly, "Surfer Rosa" makes me tear wallpaper off walls (literally... I have photos) but I think the rest of the Pixies' catalog is borderline tedious. I think Albini is a prick who took a potential once in a lifetime record ("In Utero") and turned it into a hobby project, but for a few records, he nailed his craft.
posted by psmealey at 6:34 PM on October 6, 2007

Cat Power -- Satisfaction
posted by flarbuse at 7:38 PM on October 6, 2007

You Said Something, on Letterman, also from "Stories From the City ..."

Tears of awesome.
posted by kenlayne at 7:51 PM on October 6, 2007

I'm in agreement with you, psmealey, re "In Utero". I think it illustrates why Rick Rubin is now a mogul and Steve Albini is a boutique. Rubin gets bands to sound like they sound in my head. Albini gets bands to sound like they sound in HIS head, which is sometimes fantastic, and sometimes inexplicable.

Not that I'm a huge fan of Rick Rubin (won't save music, seems like a bodhi-asshole, continues to inflict the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the world). But I do think that he brings some magic to the studio."South of Heaven" and the Johnny Cash stuff really is pretty great.

Yeah, I just made a Slayer reference in an indie rock thread.

/derail
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:07 PM on October 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

PJ Harvey played the best live show I ever saw. (12 years ago, now, I'd think.)

Had the worst opening act I've ever seen, too.
posted by maxwelton at 8:13 PM on October 6, 2007

Awesome post. PJ Harvey has got to be the sexiest female performer there is. And Bjork...*sigh*... She's *so* dreamy.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:56 PM on October 6, 2007

No, actually, Beyonce is the sexiest female performer there is, and damn the media for pointing it out, but PJ Harvey is the smartest. And I would lick her brain until it bled. And by brain I mean clitoris. And by clitoris I mean brain.

And to the ardent feministas who think I just disparaged PJ Harvey: I would be her slave. How much more explicit can I get in my admiration for her work?
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:28 PM on October 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Bjork? Bjork's not crazy. This is crazy.

Bjork is eccentric; Lene Lovich and Nina Hagen are batshitinsane. God love'em.
posted by stavrogin at 12:24 AM on October 7, 2007

Actually, the title of "Sexiest Female Performer" goes to Regina Spektor.

(That "Satisfaction" cover was fucking awesome. Loves me some Bjork and PJ.)
posted by Mikey-San at 12:31 AM on October 7, 2007

Actually, the title of "Sexiest Female Performer" goes to Regina Spektor.

Ahhh, Regina Spektor. Close your eyes and she sounds like Tori Amos singing in her garage through a scratchy mic.
posted by Justinian at 1:45 AM on October 7, 2007

Bob Seger is actually a better songwriter and vocalist than either Bjork or PJ Harvey.

*shudder*

I wish people would quit mentioning that fucking hack (Seger) in the same sentence with actual musicians.

As a kid, my mom tried to torture me to death with Seger's 8-tracks. I'm permanently scarred now. One of the best things about leaving the states is that I'll never have to hear another Bob Seger song. Thankfully, his appeal was so narrow that he didn't make it here.
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:19 AM on October 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

The first time I heard a Seger song, I hated it so much that I googled the lyrics to find out who it was so I could hate the artist fully and without remorse.
posted by stavrogin at 3:36 AM on October 7, 2007

Omg, you guys all sounded like the 8 year old Denofsizer when I was in love with Sean Cassidy, down to the Bob Seger-mother-torture reference. It's kinda creepin' me out.

I love PJ but I lost a huge amount of respect for her when she started going out with Vincent Gallo, for chrissakes.
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:38 AM on October 7, 2007

Am I the only PJ Harvey fan who heard "Sexyback" for the first time and thought "WTF is PJ doing these days?!"
posted by Billegible at 3:43 AM on October 7, 2007

I heard sexyback and thought JT was bringing back masculine body hair.
posted by stavrogin at 3:44 AM on October 7, 2007

I figured that it wouldn't take too long here in this post before "your favorite band sucks" came up. So I do think an advisory phrase should always be put up here in musical opinions:

"Opinions expressed here are opinions. Opinions are not facts."

This doesn't mean no one can be criticized. Hell, ANYONE should be criticized. I love Bjork's stuff and PJ Harvey's stuff but I'm not going to say you can't say anything about them. Leave that to those super pretentious assholes who run and write reviews for Pitchfork. That being said...

Haven't heard the new PJ Harvey. I heard her last album and wasn't terribly impressed with it. However, her first two albums (I thought) were really good. I've been listening to her since her first album came out, but that's just because there was a guy in my English class who was into 120 minutes as much as I was back in 1992. He Had her "Dry" album and told me he thought I'd like "Sheela Na Gig". Been a fan since. Hope the new album is good.
posted by Chocomog at 6:46 AM on October 7, 2007

zingzangzung: chuckdarwin just used much stronger language to disparage and artist I like, than my extremely mild critique of PJ Harvey and Bjork. But I'm not going to cry like a baby about it, since I realize it's just his opinion. See how that works?
posted by jonmc at 7:16 AM on October 7, 2007

> PJ Harvey's not bad, but she did do an ill-advised cover of "Wang Dang Doodle." Don't know what made her think she was up to that

After writing an entire album about castration, trashing 'Wang Dang Doodle' is genius.
posted by ardgedee at 7:33 AM on October 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

and no comments about that 'wtf' French TV show set plus her 'wtf' Addams family get-up... did she get that victorian outfit specially made or can you buy it a Nordstroms now and are the space-age 60's coming back, or maybe they never left in France? I was expecting Woody Allen to come stumbling out of an orgasmatron half-way through the song...

also, Rid of Me/Dry/Dance Hall good, the rest so far not very memorable IMHO. Maybe she has enough cash that she can give the stadium rock thing a rest... the 'Grow' song sounded at least promising.

the great saving grace of popular music is that it is ephemeral.
posted by geos at 9:43 AM on October 7, 2007

PJ Harvey has got to be the sexiest female performer there is
No, actually, Beyonce is the sexiest female performer there is
Actually, the title of "Sexiest Female Performer" goes to Regina Spektor.
No, actually the sexiest female performer is Alison "VV" Mosshart.
But since this post is about P.J. Harvey, I'll just say that Satisfaction cover is something else. Thanks for that.
posted by Sailormom at 9:45 AM on October 7, 2007

“The one rock star that makes me know I’m shit is Polly Harvey. I’m nothing next to the purity that she experiences.” — Courtney Love.

I was just reading a excellent timeline about PJ Harvey over at Exclaim! magazine (the best rock mag in Canada, yo!). I highly recommend it.

And yeah, that Satisfaction cover was pretty fantastic. Bjork amazes me with her talent and ability, not to mention that I think she's damn hot, and that her nuttiness just adds to her hotness. Best Satisfaction cover is hands down the Cat Power version previously mentioned, tho.
posted by ashbury at 9:55 AM on October 7, 2007

PJ Harvey has got to be the sexiest female performer there is
No, actually, Beyonce is the sexiest female performer there is
Actually, the title of "Sexiest Female Performer" goes to Regina Spektor.
No, actually the sexiest female performer is Alison "VV" Mosshart.

Um, no. You're all wrong. Here's the sexiest female performer.... Close second. and third.
posted by jonmc at 9:58 AM on October 7, 2007

I'd like to swing by here and say "Lydia Lunch" just because nobody else has.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:07 AM on October 7, 2007

Bjork is eccentric; Lene Lovich and Nina Hagen are batshitinsane.

I would like to add Tori Amos to that list.
posted by Pendragon at 10:49 AM on October 7, 2007

Great post weebot! But, bitteroldpunk, PJ clearly has not had a nose job. Thank God!

The day she gets work done is the day I give up forever. I still remember being shocked cos she was wearing make up. I miss the relaxed grooming standards of the early 90s.
posted by tiny crocodile at 11:42 AM on October 7, 2007

If Björk and PJ Harvey entered one of those hot dog eating contests, I'm not sure how I would place my wager.
posted by pracowity at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2007

monju_bosatsu, thanks for the download
posted by found dog one eye at 12:33 PM on October 7, 2007

If Björk and PJ Harvey entered one of those hot dog eating contests

If by hot dog you mean...well, sign me up.
posted by maxwelton at 12:35 PM on October 7, 2007

What, no votes for Wendy O. Williams?
posted by maxwelton at 12:37 PM on October 7, 2007

Holy shit, Lene Lovich! I haven't thought about her for years!

I love PJ but I lost a huge amount of respect for her when she started going out with Vincent Gallo, for chrissakes.

Ugh ugh ugh yes, but I had to work hard and remind myself that her personal life can't be used as a criteria for judging her work. Of course it would have helped if Uh Huh Her had been more to my liking. PJ herself has said that she felt it wasn't her best work.

I am loving without reservation the new album though. Genius.
posted by jokeefe at 1:36 PM on October 7, 2007

jonmc, I'm weirdly impressed that you put Jill Scott on your sexy list.
I impulsively picked up her new album yesterday and I've been loving it.
posted by ghastlyfop at 4:43 PM on October 7, 2007

Shit, but it must be said, though, that although the way you render your musical opinions annoys the shit out of me, your opinions are impassioned, and on your own terms, informed. But don't you sometimes feel like you're interpreting the fun out of your music? What I love about the music I love is that it's impossible to articulate what it does to me. That's why it's music.
posted by ghastlyfop at 4:50 PM on October 7, 2007

jonmc, I'm weirdly impressed that you put Jill Scott on your sexy list.
I impulsively picked up her new album yesterday and I've been loving it.

Well, my taste is weird: Bruce springsteen is one of the few male celbreties I'd gladly have sex with. Make of that what you will.
posted by jonmc at 5:35 PM on October 7, 2007

What I love about the music I love is that it's impossible to articulate what it does to me.

Same with me. Trust me, spend an afternoon listening to tunes and drinking beer with me and we'd understand eachother. My taste is based on visceral response before it's based on anything else.
posted by jonmc at 5:36 PM on October 7, 2007

like you're interpreting the fun out of your music?

Dude, have you listened my favorite songs(start here)? I'm about the fun before I'm about anything else.
posted by jonmc at 5:39 PM on October 7, 2007

actually, start here. easier navigation.
posted by jonmc at 5:41 PM on October 7, 2007

Count me as ambivalent on White Chalk. I can't fault her for ambition, and it has some spectacular tracks (particularly the title track.) It's also by far her most difficult album she's put out. Moreso than even Dance Hall at Louse Point.


I thought 'Dance Hall At Louse Point' was a great album and it fit in well with her other stuff of the time, even if it seemed a bit more raw. On the other hand, I haven't liked any new material she's put out since. It seems to me that she's lost all her edge. Still, I kept buying for several more albums. Guess I've given up on her now. Well, except for that Peel Sessions album that came out a while ago.
posted by DarkForest at 5:48 PM on October 7, 2007

Of course I haven't listened to your favorite songs! At least not in that order, with notes. I will be sure to do my research next time, though!
posted by ghastlyfop at 5:58 PM on October 7, 2007

awesome videos, makes me want to spend an hour flipping through the stuff on youtube looking for more. I wish she could put out a collection on DVD of performances like these, instead of the DVD she released last year.
posted by inthe80s at 6:15 PM on October 7, 2007

In my eyes, jonmc has his finger on the pulse of rock. I find his opinions to be informed and usually right on the button. When I'm looking for a good critique of somebody, I will usually see if jonmc has made a mention of them somewhere.

That said, he's firmly entrenched in the rock of the 60's, 70's and 80's, with a less firm grip on the 90's and an even lesser grip on the 2000's. But I think that comes from being of a certain age, and when it gets right down to it, we usually like what we were born into.

Yes, he does speak with a voice that says "I'm an expert and you should listen to me", but it's only what he sounds like, not what he actually feels. What he feels is that rock and roll, when it's good, it's good, no matter the decade it comes from, and that it's all about the good times that comes from it.

Anyway, what jonmc thinks or doesn't think about Bjork, PJ, Beyonce, Jill Scott, gusgus, kruder and dorfmeister, dj shadow, the Dead 60's or Louis XIV (yay! they have a new ep out!) or anybody else really doesn't matter. It's all about how you think and feel about 'em that counts.
posted by ashbury at 7:49 PM on October 7, 2007

I am having a fantasy of playing White Chalk back-to-back with Nick Cave's The Boatman's Call. Mmm...
posted by halonine at 9:54 PM on October 7, 2007

I thought 'Dance Hall At Louse Point' was a great album and it fit in well with her other stuff of the time, even if it seemed a bit more raw. On the other hand, I haven't liked any new material she's put out since. It seems to me that she's lost all her edge

I can only listen to Dance Hall in fits and starts. Some tracks of it are downright unlistenable. It's not an end-to-end album like To Bring You My Love.

I never understood the lost-her-edge criticism that her later works -- especially Stories -- garnered, to be honest. "Edge" never seemed to be something she was aiming at with those albums (well, maybe some of Uh Huh Her's rockers). What always endeared me to her work is her refusal to stay still. Every album has a discrete sound; where a band like Radiohead is lauded for going between rock and electronica, Harvey has already moved onto her fourth sonic persona. I'd probably be bored of her if she was still doing her Rid of Me snarls.
posted by Weebot at 10:43 PM on October 7, 2007

Well, maybe I shouldn't say that I never understood. Rather, I should say that I never gave that type of criticism much credence.
posted by Weebot at 11:33 PM on October 7, 2007

Edge" never seemed to be something she was aiming at with those albums

That could well be. I've got all those later CDs on my shelf but every time I get one out, nothing on it does anything for me, so it goes back on the shelf for another year or so. Maybe if I tried harder I'd find out what they're aiming at. Maybe. I'll take "Man Size" or "Yuri G" or "Is That All There Is" over the later stuff anytime.

I'll also admit that I get the same effect with Patti Smith. Early stuff: great, later stuff: just something missing, for me anyway.
posted by DarkForest at 5:18 AM on October 8, 2007

OK, I'm listening to "Stories From The City...", and 3 songs in, it just sounds like she wanted to move to the middle of the road, more toward pop. It's more slickly produced, more melodic, but the all the drive and rawness has been sapped out of it. It just loses what made her unique, without bringing anything new that a hundred other singers haven't done. Sorry for all the posts, but this has bothered me for a long time.
posted by DarkForest at 6:06 AM on October 8, 2007

I'm surprised more people aren't praising "Uh Huh Her" - I think it's fucking brilliant.

PJ, I love you. You're one of the most authentic and inspiring female artists out there. Keep letting it all hang out.
posted by agregoli at 9:31 AM on October 8, 2007

RHCP's Flea:

"Tell Polly I'm such a big fan that I would swim over the ocean just to play one note for free."

posted by NortonDC at 6:11 PM on October 8, 2007

I've listened to White Chalk about a half-dozen times, and it continues to give me goosebumps.

I could see that if you're expecting something like one of her earlier albums, you might be disappointed. I've owned Dry since it came out, and the albums are nothing alike.

But White Chalk is still haunting, and outstanding -- and her voice is just awesome on it.
posted by RalphSlate at 7:52 PM on October 8, 2007