Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.53) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (6/10/93) - 3 Stars - Good - "...explore[s] the toxic consequences of intimacy with a lacerating explicitness reminiscent of Marianne Faithfull's BROKEN ENGLISH..."
Spin (9/99, p.138) - Ranked #37 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Spin (5/93, p.79) - Highly Recommended - "...plung[es] into the battle of the sexes with a saber that sharpens with each cut....the band's songs prove to be as surefooted on rocky terrain as on pop's rolling hills..."
Q (12/99, p.76) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."
Q (1/94, p.87) - Included in Q's list of `The 50 Best Albums Of 1993' - "...about as exciting as three-piece rock music gets without actually being the Jimi Hendrix Experience..."
Alternative Press (7/95, p.80) - Ranked #19 in AP's list of the `Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...RID OF ME's `tough woman' scream attests that Harvey's lineage includes, but doesn't begin or end with, Patti Smith. Tough because the music likes it that way, woman because she was born one. This has everything to do with rock and roll...and nothing to do with some textbook treatise on womanhood..."
Melody Maker (1/1/94, p.76) - Ranked #11 in Melody Maker's list of the `Albums Of The Year' for 1993 - "...Steve Albini captured her band in all its abrasive glory..."
Musician (7/93, p.90) - "...Unlike DRY, which drew most of its strength from the uncluttered eloquence of Polly Harvey's songwriting, RID OF ME keeps its focus on the churning, Beefhartian clangor of her band..."
Village Voice (3/1/94) - Ranked #3 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
NME (Magazine) (8/12/00, p.29) - Ranked #19 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums".
NME (Magazine) (12/25/93, p.66) - Ranked #15 in New Musical Express' list of `The Top 50 Albums Of 1993.'
NME (Magazine) (4/23/93, p.29) - 8 - Excellent - "...RID OF ME rises from a whisper to a scream, over and over until you can hardly bear it anymore....Don't look now, Polly, but you're a WOMAN!..."
PJ Harvey: Polly Jean Harvey (vocals, guitar, violin, cello, organ); Robert Ellis (vocals, drums, percussion); Steve Vaughan (bass).
Producers: Head, PJ Harvey, Robert Ellis, Steve Albini.
Engineers include: Head, PJ Harvey, Robert Ellis.
Slicker in production and tighter as a band, RID OF ME finds PJ Harvey's dynamic blend of siren sing-song and leering guitar groomed and ready for show.
As a band, their evolution into an empathetic unit rather than mere accompaniment is obvious in their tight yet subtle arrangements. Recorded by Steve Albini, this forceful sophomore effort veers from hoarsely quiet to ferociously looming in one beat. Drummer Robert Ellis and bassist Robert Vaughn's precise rhythm pocket and Ellis' background vocals spill over with a confidence that was lacking on DRY, and the band's grasp of the material is envious.
RID OF ME'S songs further examine Harvey's love for farce (in particular, "Me-Jane" and "50 Ft. Queenie"), and rework the accusatory mysticism of DRY ("Snake" and "Man-Size Sextet"). "Man-Size" offers the lyrical stab, "I'll calculate my birth right," while "Me-Jane" hurls insults at an unresponsive Tarzan. With a quick nod to Bob Dylan on "Highway 61 Revisited," Harvey sheds a glimpse on her lyrical influences and strong taste for innuendo. RID OF ME proves PJ Harvey and her band to be a consistent and driving force in the face of 1990s rock.
