Ever since PJ Harvey started her reissue program of vinyl reissues and albums of demo recordings this is the album I’ve been looking forward to the most. This is mostly because of the following 3 reasons:
- In my opinion it is easily PJ Harvey’s best album and best collection of songs. To me it has always been a bit more special than her other masterpieces.
- It’s the album where the demoes were most likely to sound different, since the album itself is a lot more produced than her other work.
- It’s where the sound quality of her CDs started to go downhill, because of the loudness wars. Therefore it’s the first album in the series that absolutely needed a sonic upgrade.
Let’s talk about the original album first. How does this album stand up 21 years after it first came out? As a timeless classic. “Big Exit”, “Good Fortune”, “The Whores Hustle And Hustlers Whore” and “This Is Love” are still as powerful as they ever were. Ballads such as “You Said Something” and “Horses In My Dreams” have only improved after repeated listening, they tended to get lost in all the musical violence when I first heard the album but still get better with each listen more than 20 years onwards. The electronic beat in “We Float” is something I thought would quickly date, but it still sounds fine today. The same goes for Thom Yorke’s voice, which usually gets on my nerves but here it still sounds acceptable. If there is a slightly weak song it is “Kamikaze”, musically it’s a bit too simple and it doesn’t fit in well with the rest of the material. But when it comes to the rest of the album, it’s really as good as PJ Harvey gets.
How about the sound quality? The downloads offered for free with the vinyl are simply digital files of the original CD we’ve all been listening to for more than 20 years. So absolutely no improvement there, still compressed and very fatiguing on the ears. When it comes to the vinyl, fortunately things are different. Because the drums are often so low in the mix don’t expect a lot more dynamics, but the sound is absolutely clearer and there’s more seperation between the instruments. PJ’s voice also sounds a lot more natural. The pressing is also dead quiet, it’s sometimes hard to believe you’re listening to a vinyl source.
How about the demoes? They’re not just interesting to hear for fans who really like the album, most of them sound like finished recordings that could have been included on the actual album. Some of them are even better than the versions that ended up being released. Let’s do a shoot out.
With just 2 guitars “Big Exit” sounds like something coming from Neil Young’s Le Noise album, I must say I prefer this heavy take to the more polished one from the album. “Good Fortune” misses some of the power of the full band version, but with the distinctive guitar riff and the backing vocals already in place it’s clear PJ Harvey already knew exactly how she wanted the song to sound when she recorded this demo. A lot more different is “A Place Called Home”, which is nothing but drum machine, accordion and vocals here. It’s obvious why she decided to drop the accordion entirely for the final version, but it’s interesting to hear the song in a completely different way.
The disc’s absolute highlight is the demo of “One Line”. The drums, keyboards, vibes, bass and backing vocals that were added to the final version made it fit in better with the rest of the material. But this original demo with just PJ’s guitars is much better for the song’s subject, it’s like her picking up a guitar and speaking directly to her boyfriend. It has been suggested in reviews that “Beautiful Feeling” is exactly the same take without Thom Yorke’s vocals, but comparing them side by side reveals they are slightly different takes. Perhaps she re-recorded the demo in a recording studio or used a different demo as the source for the final studio version. Anyway, PJ sings better on this demo and Thom Yorke’s vocal overdubs aren’t missed, making this demo the clear winner.
“The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore” is a song that really benefits from the big sound of the final recording, but the guitar only version on the demo is an interesting take on a great song. “This Mess We’re In” is the only song that doesn’t really work in its demo form. The male/female duet of the album version has always been what makes the song great, without the song loses most of its power. The spoken verse also doesn’t work that well with PJ doing both parts. For those who aren’t keeping track of the score, it’s now 4-3 in favour of the final album.
The demo of “You Said Something” (always one of my favourite songs from the album) makes me think of Elvis Costello’s “New Amsterdam”. Where that demo had already said it all, this one does leave you wanting more, especially if you’re familiar with the final version. The biggest surprise of this album of demos is the aforementioned “Kamikaze”. As I said before I don’t really like the finished version, but this demo which sounds like coming straight from one of her first 2 albums really hits the nail on the head. “This Is Love” is the album’s most straight ahead rock song and one of the best songs ever written about infidelity, with annoying echo effects the demo sadly misses the power and focus of the final version.
“Horses In My Dreams” does not yet have the extended intro of the final version, but this more simplistic guitar only version suits the song’s hypnotic feel better. “We Float” works better on the final album, the most important difference is that the demo was recorded on cheaper, worse sounding instruments.
That makes the final score 7-5 in favour of the album. So we have a winner, but really only just. This demo album is not an interesting curiosity for fans, but an amazing album in its own right that only just misses out on being as good as the finished album. The demos of “One Line” and “Beautiful Feeling” are even right up there with her very best recordings.
So in the end both the vinyl reissue of the original LP and the CD of demos are not just as good as I hoped for, but better. Hearing the demos has made me appreciate the original album even more. I’ll now not just call it PJ Harvey’s masterpiece but also one of the best albums of the new millennium. It’s that good. With the new demos disc we have not one but two amazing albums that I’ll keep returning to often for as long I’ll be listening to music. If you like the album you really need both of these. If you don’t, these releases might just finally convert you.
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