PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (UK 1st pressing) Vinyl rip in 24 Bit/96 Khz + CD

PJ Harvey's fifth album "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea" is the singer/songwriter's finest album and should please fans of her older albums and new fans alike. "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea" is somewhat slicker, less rough-around-the-edges than her other albums. I would recommend this album to start off with, as it is probably her most assessable work.

I personally feel that this album has her best collection of songs. From the opening rocker "Big Exit" to the beautiful "We Float," every song is a winner. There isn't any filler to be found. Each song is well written and memorable. It's a good mix of fast paced rockers, mid-tempo songs, and slower ones. The listener never gets bored. This CD deals with themes of love, relationships, etc, but never gets tedious or trite. Everything on this album is sincere and straight from the heart.

The album opens up strong with "Big Exit" an excellent rocker with a good, infectious hook. "Good Fortune" keeps up the momentum. "A Place Called Home" is a beautiful, somewhat morose, slower number whose enchanting background vocals stay with the listener long after the song has ended. The album slows down a bit for the next few songs. The mid-tempo "One Line" leads in perfectly to the dark, atmospheric "Beautiful Feeling." The pace is picked up with "The Whores Hustle, and the Hustlers Whore." "The Mess We're In" features a duet with Thom Yorke. Their overlapping vocals work nicely together. "You Said Something" is another softer number in the vein of "A Place Called Home," only slightly more upbeat. The pace picks up considerably with the excellent rockers "Kamikaze" and "This is Love." The album starts to wind down with the beautiful "Horses in my Dreams" The duel piano and guitar make "Horses in my Dreams" enchanting. The album ends with its' finest track, the majestic "We Float." The verse serves mostly to build up the song and it's mesmerizing chorus totally engulfs the listener.

If you don't own any PJ Harvey albums, this is a good place to start. It's a really good album and should please old and new fans alike. –Amazon.com

Tracklist:

1. Big Exit (3:52)
2. Good Fortune (3:20)
3. A Place Called Home (3:42)
4. One Line (3:16)
5. Beautiful Feeling (3:59)
6. The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore (3:59)
7. This Mess We're In (3:57)
8. You Said Something (3:19)
9. Kamikaze (2:24)
10. This Is Love (3:48)
11. Horses in My Dreams (5:37)
12. We Float (6:09)

Personnel:

PJ Harvey: vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, djembe, maracas, producer, engineer
Rob Ellis: drums, piano, synthesizer, keyboards, harpsichord, tambourine, electric piano, background vocals, producer
Mick Harvey: organ, bass, drums, percussion, harmonium, keyboards, background vocals, producer
Thom Yorke: vocals, keyboards

Head: engineer, mixing
Victor Van Vugt: mixing
Howie Weinberg: mastering
Rob Crane: design
Maria Mochnacz: design, photography