During the early-'90s alternative rock explosion, several female singer/songwriters rose to prominence, but few were as distinctive or as widely praised as Polly Jean Harvey. Over the course of three albums, Harvey established herself as one of the most individual and influential songwriters of the '90s, exploring themes of sex, love, and religion with unnerving honesty, dark humor, and a twisted theatricality. At the outset of her career, she led the trio PJ Harvey, which delivered her stark songs with bruisingly powerful, punkish abandon, as typified by the 1992 debut effort Dry. Following the noisy, uncompromising follow-up, Rid of Me, the trio fell apart, and PJ Harvey became the sole property of Polly Harvey. Her next record, 1995's To Bring You My Love, became her mainstream critical breakthrough, confirming her status as one of the cornerstone figures of '90s alternative rock.
Harvey grew up on a sheep farm in Yeovil, England, where she was raised by her quarryman father and her artist mother. As a child, she learned how to play guitar and saxophone, and when she was a teenager, she played in a variety of bands as a sideman. She formed PJ Harvey in 1991 with bassist Steve Vaughan and drummer Robert Ellis, and the trio recorded its debut record for under $5,000. The band signed with the British indie label Too Pure and released "Dress" that fall. "Dress" became a indie rock sensation, as did its follow-up, "Sheela-Na-Gig," with both singles receiving lavish praise in the U.K. music press. Although Harvey was a reluctant interviewee, she cannily used the press to her advantage, whether it was through her candid interviews or startling, occasionally disturbingly sexy photo sessions, which subverted traditional concepts of female sexuality.
PJ Harvey's debut, Dry, was released in spring 1992 to considerable praise; it was distributed in America by Island Records. The trio followed it with an extensive tour, culminating with an appearance at that summer's Reading Festival. Shortly after the tour, Harvey moved to London, where she nearly suffered a nervous breakdown due to the extraordinary pressure and expectation surrounding her second album. The group hired former Big Black frontman Steve Albini (Pixies, Breeders) as the producer of their second album, Rid of Me. Albini imposed his trademark noisy, guitar-heavy sound on the record, which mirrored its harder-edged themes. Rid of Me was a major critical success and expanded Harvey's cult greatly. She supported the album with a tour featuring herself in a fake leopard-skin coat and a feather boa, signaling her developing interest in theatricality. At the end of the year, Harvey released 4-Track Demos, a collection of her original versions of the songs on Rid of Me.
Albums list:
4-Track Demos
Dance Hall at Louse Point
Is This Desire
iTunes Originals - PJ Harvey
Let England Shake
Rid of Me
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
The Letter, Pt. 2
The Peel Sessions 1991 - 2004
To Bring You My Love
Uh Huh Her
White Chalk
White Chalk (Exclusive Edition)
EPs list:
A Woman a Man Walked By - EP
Black Hearted Love - EP
Dress - EP
Sheela-na-gig - EP
You Come Through - EP
Singles list:
Shame - Single
Stone - Single
The Devil - Single
The Letter (CD 1) - Single
When Under Ether - Single
You Come Through - Single
Black Hearted Love - Single
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/pj-harvey/id252623