>PJ Harvey - Dry (1992)
I don't know what I was expecting, but this had a lot more of a grunge vibe than I was anticipating. PJ's vocals are really aggressive on this record, with a powerful raw sound.
What let this album down for me was the instrumentation. I suppose it's going for the same raw energy to support the vocals, yet for the most part it's just really uninteresting. The songwriting is very punk in a way, in that there's less emphasis on melody and rhythm, with the focus being mainly towards power and aggression.
The track Plants and Rags used an acoustic guitar and violin to support the preexisting electric guitar, which made it far more interesting than the typical alt rock that was present throughout the rest of the record. As a result I thought this was clearly the standout.
Is it worth listening to Rid of Me? How does that album differ from this one?