In Praise of Stories

[bluesman]

Love your avatar supersonic

[supersonic]

Love your avatar supersonic

Me to. A true kodak moment

[Pollyphoniac]

http://www.culturebully.com/pj-harvey-stories-from-the-city-stories-from-the-sea-best-of-00s

I don't understand the hate this album gets from a lot of fans. Okay, so unlike her other albums it's fairly melodic and radio-friendly and she said she did it more-or-less just to prove she could make a record like that. The fact remains it's a great album.

this is the album most commonly owned by people who aren't PJ fans. it's so typical when I meet somebody who tells me "I got one CD by PJ Harvey" and I can be almost certain that it's Stories.

of course it's a great album, considered on its own terms, but perhaps it should come as no surprise that real PJ fans are prone to disparage it.

if I was allowed to substitute several songs on this album, by removing the few that I find boring and inserting those Stories-era b-sides that I love the most, then I might be inclined to rank Stories among my top favorite PJ albums.

somehow I find it significant that the two songs which bore me the most on this album are This Is Love and Good Fortune, precisely those songs that were the big singles and became the most popular. (and my two top Stories-era faves weren't even included on the album.)

[bluesman]

http://www.culturebully.com/pj-harvey-stories-from-the-city-stories-from-the-sea-best-of-00s

I don't understand the hate this album gets from a lot of fans. Okay, so unlike her other albums it's fairly melodic and radio-friendly and she said she did it more-or-less just to prove she could make a record like that. The fact remains it's a great album.

this is the album most commonly owned by people who aren't PJ fans. it's so typical when I meet somebody who tells me "I got one CD by PJ Harvey" and I can be almost certain that it's Stories.

I've always wondered about people that got into Stories and then went backwards and ran head first into the first three albums (excluding 4-tracks). Must have been a bit of a surprise. Surely it turned some people on but just as many probably walked away. The average FM radio listener didn't even bother looking backwards I bet.
Coming forward from '93 into Stories I have to admit the first time I heard it I thought wtf it's all over, nice while it lasted. That didn't last long though, got it down a few times, started to like it and waited it out. I might not play it as often as others but I don't think I've ever played it and thought "I really don't like this" I enjoy it when i do hear it

Oh...poor orphaned sftc sfts

[Hell and High Water]

When ITD came out, I thought it was too strange, and then I thought Stories was just kind of boring. It all changed when I heard live versions. If all her albums were like Stories, I would probably still be bored, but in context of the rest of her work, it fits in very well, going to the outer extremes of her imagination and back to her more mainstream work.

After following her for so long, I can never bring myself to say I don't like any particular song or album. Sometimes it just takes a while for me to appreciate it.

[yarnforhair]

I can never bring myself to say I don't like any particular song or album. Sometimes it just takes a while for me to appreciate it.

I'm kind of the same; I can't say that I dislike a song because I appreciate them all for what they are and what she was trying to do. There's just some I listen to less than others. But the point is they still get listened to.

[DrDark]

http://www.culturebully.com/pj-harvey-stories-from-the-city-stories-from-the-sea-best-of-00s

I don't understand the hate this album gets from a lot of fans. Okay, so unlike her other albums it's fairly melodic and radio-friendly and she said she did it more-or-less just to prove she could make a record like that. The fact remains it's a great album.

this is the album most commonly owned by people who aren't PJ fans. it's so typical when I meet somebody who tells me "I got one CD by PJ Harvey" and I can be almost certain that it's Stories.

I've always wondered about people that got into Stories and then went backwards and ran head first into the first three albums (excluding 4-tracks). Must have been a bit of a surprise. Surely it turned some people on but just as many probably walked away. The average FM radio listener didn't even bother looking backwards I bet.
Coming forward from '93 into Stories I have to admit the first time I heard it I thought wtf it's all over, nice while it lasted. That didn't last long though, got it down a few times, started to like it and waited it out. I might not play it as often as others but I don't think I've ever played it and thought "I really don't like this" I enjoy it when i do hear it

Oh...poor orphaned sftc sfts

That would be me!

From what I remember, within a few weeks I got ROM, Dry, TBYML and slightly later ITD (I started with UHH and Stories). I remember thinking that ROM was just too raw, but some of that I later found was due to Albini's production. I got 4 track demos a little after that and learned to love those early songs. ITD is still a rough listen in spots, but I found when I started collecting PJ gigs that there was almost always a live version that was even better than the album track. And then there were the B-sides, many of which were better than some of the album tracks.

I actually listen more to live tracks than album tracks.

As for Stories, there's quite a few DVD boots from that era. Perhaps it's the visuals that improve the experience in that case.

[Pollyphoniac]

When ITD came out, I thought it was too strange, and then I thought Stories was just kind of boring. It all changed when I heard live versions. ...

this reminds me of my own ill-fated first listening to those albums, which meant my appreciation (and eventual becoming a hard-core follower) of PJ was delayed by more than two years:

I had both ITD and SFTC on loan from the local library, along with a load of other music (on CDs, VHS tapes, and such), and upon first listening totally failed to like either album well enough to continue exploring the creations of PJ Harvey. if only that library had had some or other of the earlier albums rather than those (at the time her most recent ones) in their catalogue, then I would most probably have been hooked instantly (the way it happened later, when I got to listen to Polly's earlier works).

regarding ITD (which I'm now inclined to rank as my top favorite) and SFTC (which I'm more fond of than ever), however strange my initial failure to appreciate them would seem in retrospect (in the light of my overwhelming passion for Polly's music in all its periodical permutations), somehow it still makes sense to me that I didn't take to either album on first listening.

but if only I'd taken the time to listen twice, or three times, through each CD, before hurrying on to other items. it makes me feel ashamed, almost, and remorseful for sure (because I missed two tours, 2003 and 2004, because of this delay).

[bluesman]

As for Stories, there's quite a few DVD boots from that era. Perhaps it's the visuals that improve the experience in that case.

Yep, not to hard to look at during that time period. Well any time period I guess but you know

Thanks to both of you for sharing your Stories stories

[Soph]

http://www.culturebully.com/pj-harvey-stories-from-the-city-stories-from-the-sea-best-of-00s

I don't understand the hate this album gets from a lot of fans. Okay, so unlike her other albums it's fairly melodic and radio-friendly and she said she did it more-or-less just to prove she could make a record like that. The fact remains it's a great album.

this is the album most commonly owned by people who aren't PJ fans. it's so typical when I meet somebody who tells me "I got one CD by PJ Harvey" and I can be almost certain that it's Stories.

I've always wondered about people that got into Stories and then went backwards and ran head first into the first three albums (excluding 4-tracks). Must have been a bit of a surprise. Surely it turned some people on but just as many probably walked away. The average FM radio listener didn't even bother looking backwards I bet.
Coming forward from '93 into Stories I have to admit the first time I heard it I thought wtf it's all over, nice while it lasted. That didn't last long though, got it down a few times, started to like it and waited it out. I might not play it as often as others but I don't think I've ever played it and thought "I really don't like this" I enjoy it when i do hear it

Oh...poor orphaned sftc sfts

That would be me!

From what I remember, within a few weeks I got ROM, Dry, TBYML and slightly later ITD (I started with UHH and Stories). I remember thinking that ROM was just too raw, but some of that I later found was due to Albini's production. I got 4 track demos a little after that and learned to love those early songs. ITD is still a rough listen in spots, but I found when I started collecting PJ gigs that there was almost always a live version that was even better than the album track. And then there were the B-sides, many of which were better than some of the album tracks.

I actually listen more to live tracks than album tracks.

As for Stories, there's quite a few DVD boots from that era. Perhaps it's the visuals that improve the experience in that case.

I'm going through a simliar stage now. Stories was the first album I listened to...but 8 years after she released it. So I wasn't following the crowd so to speak. She'd completely passed me by initially. So I was a real latecomer to PJ.

Stories does sound beautiful. But I agree with others. If all her albums were like Stories I don't think I'd be as intrigued with her as I am and would have quickly lost interest. What makes her so capitivating is that she is so diverse as an artist and no one album sounds the same as another. Every album is a surprise. And that's why I'm thoroughly enjoying playing catch up through the Polly ages....

[yarnforhair]

Yeah I have to say that if I had only heard Stories I probably wouldn't have invested in her like I have; first I heard was When Under Ether and I was entranced by that so I had to find more. And I agree, if all her albums were like Stories, I most likely wouldn't be into much. She's truly on her own level with diversity and quality.

[cat on the wall]

For me stories has just never been one of her stronger albums when compared to her other amazing records, I've never fully been able to explain why. I know for PJ though in my opinion I hold the standard higher by far then most artists today. Stories is not a bad album, but it's not a stronger PJ Harvey album if that makes sense. Still I'd take any PJ album as far better then most of the stuff popular today in music.

[megique]

I'm going through a simliar stage now. Stories was the first album I listened to...but 8 years after she released it. So I wasn't following the crowd so to speak. She'd completely passed me by initially. So I was a real latecomer to PJ.

Stories does sound beautiful. But I agree with others. If all her albums were like Stories I don't think I'd be as intrigued with her as I am and would have quickly lost interest. What makes her so capitivating is that she is so diverse as an artist and no one album sounds the same as another. Every album is a surprise. And that's why I'm thoroughly enjoying playing catch up through the Polly ages....

i second that. Stories was my first album (everyone reccomended it for start because it's "the most accesible one") and i like it but i'm quite sure that if next album would sound similar i would probably loose interest. but of course it didn't sound similar so that was a real pleasure to discover all her albums one by one

[yotpan]

I think that the lyrics of "this is love" are trully wise!! They have crossed my mind several times because of the absence or the presence of various circumstances...

[yarnforhair]

Agreed, yotpan! It's so simply stated. "I can't believe that life's so complex when I just want to sit here and watch you undress, this is love that I'm feeling." How true is that? Polly the Philosopher.