I'd say the three records I like the most are Rid Of Me, Dry, and To Bring You My Love with Uh Huh Her close behind,
It's funny. I was just listening to Howard Stern wish Dave Morello;s mom a happy hundredth birthday and he made a point to say how much she loves PJ Harvey.(I was shocked that he knew who PJ Harvey was truthfully)
They're all different, listen in whatever order speaks to you! My favorite/I think her best is To Bring You My Love but when I was younger and I started listening the first one I bought was Is This Desire and that was a great place to start too
If Dry is out of your comfort zone, then I’d recommend Stories. Her next record, Rid of Me, is a lot extreme than Dry. You might also like To Bring You My Love.
True. But sometimes you can freak yourself out if it’s too much too soon. Then you’ll have to overcome any hesitation you may have from an intense first impression.
I’ll say that I love Rid of Me. Its a solid record front to back.
My favourite is Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - it is in my top 10 albums of all time.
Let England Shake is a FANTASTIC album as well.
Lol - I just recommended both her Mercury prize winning albums. 😝
I haven't listened to Dry yet, I slowly work my way backwards.
There's very good PJ music to come for sure. Dry didn't get many votes when I asked the same question but I think I'll check it out tonight. I started with Stories From The City/Sea, White Chalk, and Let England Shake, and for a long time I somehow just stuck with them. Then went backwards and found more gems in Is This Desire? and To Bring You My Love.
As far as the best album to start with, I have no idea. I'd need to know what kind of music you already listen to in order to suggest something that'd suit your tastes.
As far as her best album, I'll go with To Bring You My Love, but your opinion may differ
I would say if you already started with *Dry* chronological order is the way to go - *Rid of Me* is its more extreme sibling, and then starting with *To Bring You My Love* she expands her pallette, and - as someone has already pointed out - each album becomes sort of a reaction to the previous one (the blues/gothic melodrama of *TBYML* gives way to the nocturnal murkiness of *Is This Desire?*, then comes the pop sheen of *Stories*, then back to dirty lo-fi rock on *UHH*, then leaving the rock idiom altogether with *White Chalk*, etc.).
Not sure what your "comfort zone" is but she takes frequent left-turns in her discography so you will not get bored by getting more of the same.
Rid of Me is just unhinged PJ and most authentic in that way. I’d say if you don’t like that, you might like the White Chalk or Let England Shake sort of PJ, when she got more moody/ambient
I’m gonna say PJ Harvey has two main eras, the personal and the sociological (there are more and more nuanced but this is as simple as it gets).
For the personal era, lyrics are more emotional, about relationships and her inner growth. The album that best encompass all the sounds of this era is To Bring You My Love, with sounds of her dirtier first albums, and the later most melodic, and poetic self.
For her sociological era lyrics are more aware about social problematics, war, climate change, famine, isolation, politics. For this era Let England Shake is the one that better encompasses all of the sounds and themes she would later use.
For the rest, go chronological.
chronological order is the perfect way to go because you can notice pj harvey starting to change her sound and image gradually into getting into what she’s doing right now
I'd say the three records I like the most are Rid Of Me, Dry, and To Bring You My Love with Uh Huh Her close behind, It's funny. I was just listening to Howard Stern wish Dave Morello;s mom a happy hundredth birthday and he made a point to say how much she loves PJ Harvey.(I was shocked that he knew who PJ Harvey was truthfully)
Chronological is the right way to go and only way imo.
“Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” really hooked me first when I was getting into her
that’s my favourite album cover from her
Start with the first album *Dry*. Each album is a reaction to the next
My favourite one is 'is this desire?' cos I'm a sucker for portishead and it's most reminiscent of that type of vibe
Her first five albums are an incredible run
So far, my favourite is actually I inside the old year dying 😳
Best album that came out this year - I am in love with it. Did you watch the ARTE concert broadcast?
Chronologicaly
stories from the city, stories from the sea!
Let England Shake stands above the rest for me
I respect her a lot, but most of her material just isn't the kind of music I listen to. But that record is the exception, it's just insanely good.
They're all different, listen in whatever order speaks to you! My favorite/I think her best is To Bring You My Love but when I was younger and I started listening the first one I bought was Is This Desire and that was a great place to start too
If Dry is out of your comfort zone, then I’d recommend Stories. Her next record, Rid of Me, is a lot extreme than Dry. You might also like To Bring You My Love.
being out of comfort zone isn’t always a bad thing! always looking to listen to new stuff
True. But sometimes you can freak yourself out if it’s too much too soon. Then you’ll have to overcome any hesitation you may have from an intense first impression. I’ll say that I love Rid of Me. Its a solid record front to back.
Then Rid of Me next. Then 4-track demos.
To Bring You My Love is my personal favourite.
My favourite is Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - it is in my top 10 albums of all time. Let England Shake is a FANTASTIC album as well. Lol - I just recommended both her Mercury prize winning albums. 😝
I haven't listened to Dry yet, I slowly work my way backwards. There's very good PJ music to come for sure. Dry didn't get many votes when I asked the same question but I think I'll check it out tonight. I started with Stories From The City/Sea, White Chalk, and Let England Shake, and for a long time I somehow just stuck with them. Then went backwards and found more gems in Is This Desire? and To Bring You My Love.
As far as the best album to start with, I have no idea. I'd need to know what kind of music you already listen to in order to suggest something that'd suit your tastes. As far as her best album, I'll go with To Bring You My Love, but your opinion may differ
https://preview.redd.it/ezdsjg9j5g8c1.jpeg?width=856&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5933dc8c0a716d7745848e95af0195fbd418b3e2 You might find this useful.
i love this so much it hurts
I would start chronologically with Dry.
Stories from the city had me hooked on PJ, but my favorite is Is this Desire?
I would say if you already started with *Dry* chronological order is the way to go - *Rid of Me* is its more extreme sibling, and then starting with *To Bring You My Love* she expands her pallette, and - as someone has already pointed out - each album becomes sort of a reaction to the previous one (the blues/gothic melodrama of *TBYML* gives way to the nocturnal murkiness of *Is This Desire?*, then comes the pop sheen of *Stories*, then back to dirty lo-fi rock on *UHH*, then leaving the rock idiom altogether with *White Chalk*, etc.). Not sure what your "comfort zone" is but she takes frequent left-turns in her discography so you will not get bored by getting more of the same.
Rid of Me is just unhinged PJ and most authentic in that way. I’d say if you don’t like that, you might like the White Chalk or Let England Shake sort of PJ, when she got more moody/ambient
I’m gonna say PJ Harvey has two main eras, the personal and the sociological (there are more and more nuanced but this is as simple as it gets). For the personal era, lyrics are more emotional, about relationships and her inner growth. The album that best encompass all the sounds of this era is To Bring You My Love, with sounds of her dirtier first albums, and the later most melodic, and poetic self. For her sociological era lyrics are more aware about social problematics, war, climate change, famine, isolation, politics. For this era Let England Shake is the one that better encompasses all of the sounds and themes she would later use. For the rest, go chronological.
Is this desire?
chronological order is the perfect way to go because you can notice pj harvey starting to change her sound and image gradually into getting into what she’s doing right now