The Violent Desire of PJ Harvey's "Rid Of Me" | New British Canon

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So she's the daughter of a stonemason and a sculptor. No wonder she went into Rock music. :P (i'll show myself out)

I saw PJ Harvey at Slim's in San Francisco in August of 1992. I had never heard any of her music but she got a positive writeup in one of the local alternative weeklies and I liked the opening act (Her Majesty the Baby) so I decided to check it out. They opened with "Rid of Me" and the tension built and built. When they exploded into the chorus, the audience exploded with them into a leaping, writhing mass of bodies, and when it was over I said "WHAT was THAT!?" out loud to no one in particular. It was one of the most thrilling, mind-blowing experiences I've ever had at a live show.

I remember listening to Rid of Me at 15 and thinking nothing will ever be this hardcore.

I'd like to thank Beavis and Butthead for introducing a very young kid hungry for new music to PJ Harvey in the mid-90s. I learned about so many great bands through that show.

I just discovered P.J. Harvey and when I listened to Rid of Me (after hearing Down by the water and Bad Fortune) i felt absolutely captivated. It made me become obsessed. I can't get rid of her now.

A mate in high school lent me his CD of 'To bring you my love'. I listened to it once and thought 'wtf did I just listen to?'. Then I listened again. A couple of weeks later, I gave him his CD back, then went out and bought my own copy along with 'Dry' and 'Rid of Me'. Been a fan ever since.

When you said she had been offered a place to study sculpture at St Martin’s College , all I could think was “She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge, she studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College…”

To this day I still listen to "Rid of Me" and "4 Track Demos". They are amongst my favorite of all time. The arrangements alone have me ill with envy and yet at the same time just brimming with inspiration.

holy shit is this real I’ve been wanting this video forever this is the best day of my life

So she came from Dorset and could've studied sculpture at St Martin's college?

The last line is gospel. "After she gets her hooks in you, you will never get rid of her" She has no equal!

I was a baby when my mom would play this album. It's in my DNA and I love it.

I believe her and Beefheart became friends and she was one of his few connections or avenues of communication with the outside world after he retired from public life.

I shat my pants the first time I heard 'rid of me'. I must've been 11 or 12, was in my grandmothers house and I had this CD borrowed from a friend of mine. It was a terrifying experience. then I tried again, felt this deep discomfort and kept coming back to it in secret in an attempt to unveil the stranglehold it had on me.

The greatest, gnarliest guitar tone ever committed to tape is on Rid Of Me. Gretsch Broadkaster 7609 and a Boss DS-1. Stereo amp rig. Nothing else like it. Polly’s playing & time signatures, humorous lyrics, and Rob Ellis’s intricate & thunderous drumming make this album her crowning achievement.

50 ft Queenie electrified me in 1993 when I saw it on MTV. Before it, music was just a background thing, and afterwards I was actively interested in music.

I've always loved the vocal range of PJ Harvey

Is This Desire and White Chalk are probably my favorite albums of hers, but all of them are very good. Dry and Rid of Me are obviously fantastic, but they are definitely very separate from the rest of her work, she totally abandons that sound and reinvents herself with each subsequent album. Extremely underrated and talented artist.

I bought Rid Of Me in 1993 and I have listened to it ever since. A true classic!