PJ Harvey - Rid of Me LP 1993

I attempt to listen to a PJ Harvey album each year and to be honest I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the allure of music that's just so inaccessible, perhaps it's her refusal to compromise or it might be that it's just possible she may make another 'Dry'.

Don't get your hopes up though, this is the standard PJ Harvey formula of 90% pure dirge and 10% semi-engaging dirge rock. The two songs that I like, 'Rid of Me' and '50ft Queenie', I'd heard before and are perfectly pleasant memory joggers of what she is capable of. The rest of the album meanwhile, is PJ giving us the standard-issue dirge with not a hint of positivity, apart from the warm feeling you get when the whole thing ends.

I could only give it three listens and then I gave up. Why does she bother? Why do the masses seem to enjoy her work? She's won the Mercury Music Prize twice now! If you like PJ Harvey you'll love this, but I can't see me bothering anymore. I've done a decent sample of her early, middle and late work and I've got to use the word that has become synonymous with PJ Harvey one last time to sum her up; DIRGE!