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PJ Harvey Releases Rid Of Me

PJ Harvey, fronted by British alt rocker Polly Jean Harvey, release their second and last album as a trio, Rid Of Me. The album is later hailed as one of the defining albums of the decade, but at the time, critics are split over Steve Albini's aggressive production.

Polly Jean Harvey first unleashed her wrath on the trio's acclaimed debut, Dry, a year earlier, which incited a bidding war among the major record labels looking to capitalize on Harvey's marketable brand of pain. Island Records secured the rights to the woman scorned, who comes out in full force on Rid Of Me. Harvey, who wrote the title track in the midst of a nervous breakdown, alternately whispers and howls her way through the vengeful breakup song, setting the tone for the raw collection of tracks. Elsewhere, she's found chopping off her lover's limbs in "Legs," and asserting her dominance over the male-oriented rock scene in "50ft Queenie." Albini's equally aggressive treatment has Harvey screaming through walls of noise that threaten to drown her. "Obviously, some of the words were pretty strong, visceral, so the music had to be something that matched that," Rob Ellis, the band's drummer, told Spin. "It had to be quite aggressive in places because the lyrical tone was very aggressive. 'Rid of Me' is a classic example of that. It needed to be as aggressive as the words were." Albini recorded the band at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, during a snowy December that kept the band isolated in a nearby house. Tensions within the trio mounted in close quarters as Harvey dealt with her fragile mental health and the pressure to produce a stellar sophomore release. The friction only adds to the intensity of the album, which is too intense for some listeners. One Melody Maker writer is listening to "Rid Of Me" in her car when Harvey's unexpected screams cause her to crash. Another critic calls the production so rough it's a "trial to endure." But Albini, whose work with the Pixies impressed Harvey with its "very bare, very real sound," dismisses his detractors and recommends the studio space to bands wanting to achieve a sound similar to Rid Of Me. He sends a demo to Kurt Cobain, who decides to record at Pachyderm with Albini at the helm for Nirvana's In Utero. The band breaks down while touring in support of the album, leaving Harvey to embark on a successful solo career. Meanwhile, Rid Of Me doesn't garner any big hits, but the album goes down as one of the definitive alt rock albums of the decade and is named one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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