The Garden, a PJ Harvey Discussion Site

Are these Is This Desire & Stories demos like the TBYML demos? Are they almost identical to the finalized versions on the records? But with less instruments? The TBYML demos sounded almost exactly the same as the finalized versions.

GerriSferrazza wrote:Are these Is This Desire & Stories demos like the TBYML demos? Are they almost identical to the finalized versions on the records? But with less instruments? The TBYML demos sounded almost exactly the same as the finalized versions.

Never mind. I checked the track listing times against the Is This Desire finalized versions and they’re all identical lengths. So, it’s another case of the demos being the versions that went onto becoming the finalized versions. Polly just had the band work on top on them. Just like the TBYML demos. Too bad. I guess the Dry & Rid of Me demos were the only ones that were completely different from the finalized versions.

I think only tracks 1, 3, 5, and 7 on TBYML used tracks from the demos, no? The rest sound like they were built using new foundational tracks.

Only 3 of the ITD? demos have been heard so far, so no one knows the answer yet, I’m afraid. January 29 the whole thing’ll be released.

Edited to add: I guess “C’Mon Billy” used the same acoustic guitar as on the demo. But the rest are all completely different.

The snippet of "The Garden" demo sounds very different to the album version. She definitely used some demo recordings in the final versions of TBYML and ITD but I wouldn't go as far as saying they sound 'almost exactly the same'.

I also think some of her later albums (for sure LES and Hope Six) were recorded with the band from scratch and not worked on top of home recordings. Maybe Stories too? The demo records for these ones will for sure sound different to the final product.

Uh Huh Her was a home recording to start with, sans the drums, so I wonder how different the 'demos' will be - probably not much. No idea about White Chalk, possibly a mix of home and studio recordings, like TBYML and ITD?

TheNightingale wrote:The snippet of "The Garden" demo sounds very different to the album version. She definitely used some demo recordings in the final versions of TBYML and ITD but I wouldn't go as far as saying they sound 'almost exactly the same'.

I also think some of her later albums (for sure LES and Hope Six) were recorded with the band from scratch and not worked on top of home recordings. Maybe Stories too? The demo records for these ones will for sure sound different to the final product.

Uh Huh Her was a home recording to start with, sans the drums, so I wonder how different the 'demos' will be - probably not much. No idea about White Chalk, possibly a mix of home and studio recordings, like TBYML and ITD?

I never listened to all of the TBYML demos. I only heard DBTW and it sounded like the finalized version. The vocals. I just assumed they were all like that. I’m listening to I Think I’m A Mother right now and I think it is different. Maybe I’ll buy the record now. I’m glad I was wrong. I’m also pleasantly surprised that This Mess We’re In demo is entirely different from finalized version. Like the version that was labeled Polly Vox on the Album Mixes CDR promo of Stories. I’m definitely buying Stories demos next month.

GerriSferrazza wrote:...The TBYML demos sounded almost exactly the same ...

The only demo track of the lot I've bought so far is 'The Dancer', which is wildly different from the album version: it's virtually a pastiche, completely tongue-in-cheek pseudo-flamenco. Or so it seems to me!

As apparently the only person in the world who likes the album version of 'Joy', I'm very pleased to hear how close the demo is to the final version! Even I began to think it might possibly have been some kind of accident, an aberration produced by mucking about in a studio, but it clearly wasn't.

AineteEkaterini wrote:As apparently the only person in the world who likes the album version of 'Joy', I'm very pleased to hear how close the demo is to the final version! Even I began to think it might possibly have been some kind of accident, an aberration produced by mucking about in a studio, but it clearly wasn't.

I was also surprised when I heard "Joy" demonstration. I like this track exactly as it is. I know some people expected the demo to be an acoustic version or something like that, but it seems that the idea has always been for her to have this electronic beat.

I like the album version, too! But for some reason I assumed the '98 live version was based on a demo (like, for instance, the 2008 live version of The Garden was) so I didn't expect something so similar to the final track. I wonder what she used to make the beats for this and "No Girl So Sweet" - perhaps the QY20 sequencer as well?

I'm probably repeating myself but the TBYML and ITD demos, while actually way less exciting to listen to than I had initially expected, really reflect how complete her vision was for these two albums. It's amazing that "Down by the Water" or "Joy" or "Monsta" were basically 100% arranged at the demoing stage, and that so many vocal takes, guitar and keyboard parts were directly lifted from Polly's home recordings.

Having said that, I'm also really looking forward to hearing the demo version of her later albums (like LES) that were later re-recorded in live sessions with a band.

I’ve never been a big fan of the studio version of Joy. I never skip it when I’m listening to the album, but I also never put it on just to listen to it. But I do love the live version. My problem with it is that industrial music was my first love so by 1998 it just sounded very dated. That’s, of course, just my opinion. But something I find really fascinating, like TheNightengale said, is how much of a completed vision she had for these records in demo form when she was working on them by herself. She’s such a fantastic artist.

Yeah, almost all of the album and its demos sound dated to me because of the drum machine and the industrial fixation, but that’s just a matter of taste—people who love that kind of music or just love the album, period, aren’t going to care if it’s dated, and I don’t blame them. I’ve never liked any of it. However I’m pleasantly surprised by the very organic “Sky Lit Up”—what a great demo that is!

Would the moderator or whoever please update the thread title to reflect the next release’s date?

^ Edited the original post, done!

Thank you, Nightingale! Onward to the next single track release: the “Good Fortune” demo on Monday, Feb. 1. Two more days!

Out of curiosity, where do you get those single release schedules, Bob? Are they posted by her label somewhere?