Rid of Me
Encyclopedia
Rid of Me is the second studio album
by British musician PJ Harvey
. It was released by Island Records
in May 1993, approximately one year after the release of her critically acclaimed debut album Dry
. It marked a departure from Harvey’s previous songwriting, being more raw and aggressive than its predecessor.
The songs on Rid of Me were performed by Harvey’s eponymous trio, consisting of Harvey on guitar and vocals, Rob Ellis on drums and background vocals, and Steve Vaughan on bass. It was the last album they recorded as a group before disbanding in late 1993. Most of the songs on the album were recorded by Steve Albini
. Rid of Me was met with acclaim by critics. It has been ranked at number 405 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
." She signed with indie
record label Too Pure
and relocated to London
with her band mates. Almost immediately after the single’s release, she began to receive serious positive attention from music critics in both the UK and United States. This led to several major record labels vying to sign her. Harvey was initially reluctant to sign to a major label fearing she might lose artistic control of her music, but eventually decided to sign with Island Records
in February 1992. A month later, Too Pure released her debut album Dry
, containing both "Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig
", her second single. Island would later distribute Dry under its Indigo imprint.
The band toured extensively in the UK and US to support Dry. Harvey turned down an offer to play the Lollapalooza
festival in the summer of 1992, but did play the Reading Festival
that August. By this time, non-stop touring had begun to take its toll on Harvey's health. She suffered from what has been described as a nervous breakdown, brought on by a number of factors including exhaustion, poor eating habits, and the break-up of a relationship. Making matters worse, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
, where she had been accepted for study, refused to hold her place for her any longer. She left her London apartment and retreated to her native Dorset
. While recuperating in October 1992, she worked on the songs that would appear on Rid of Me.
, who she was particularly interested in at the time. Stylistically the record was a natural progression from the heavily guitar-driven punk-blues of her debut, though it also embraced both the noisy elementary dynamics of the Pixies (she claimed their Albini-produced 1988 debut Surfer Rosa
as one of her favourite albums), and 1960s-1970s blues-based rock acts such as Led Zeppelin
and Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Structurally, Harvey continued to complicate her songwriting by utilizing "strangely skewed time signatures and twisty song structures" resulting in songs that "tilt toward performance art".
The vocals were also handled differently on Rid of Me. Harvey began to increasingly experiment with what her voice could do, and on several songs she pushed her voice to a higher register. This higher voice can be heard on the bridge of "50 ft. Queenie" as well as in "Man-Size" and "Me-Jane." Ellis also altered the delivery of his background vocals. His vocals on Dry were sung in his normal voice (most notably on the song "Joe"), but for Rid of Me he sang in a high-pitched, almost hysterical-sounding falsetto
.
The albums lyrics have been widely interpreted as being feminist
in nature. Harvey, however, repeatedly denied a feminist agenda in her songwriting, stating "I don’t even think of myself as being female half the time. When I’m writing songs I never write with gender in mind. I write about people’s relationships to each other. I’m fascinated with things that might be considered repulsive or embarrassing. I like feeling unsettled, unsure." Some of the lyrics were inspired by her personal experiences. The title track, for instance, was admittedly influenced by one of Harvey’s relationships coming to an end. When told by an interviewer that "Rid of Me" sounded psychotic, she replied that she wrote the song "at my illest" and added "I was almost psychotic" at the time. But, she made it clear that not all of the lyrics were to be read autobiographically, saying "I would have to be 40 and very worn out to have lived through everything I write about".
The album also includes a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Highway 61 Revisited
". Harvey's mother and father, both Dylan fans, suggested she record the track.
in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Harvey chose Chicago musician and sound engineer Steve Albini
to record the album. Harvey had admired Albini’s distinctively raw recordings of bands like Pixies, Slint
, The Breeders
and The Jesus Lizard
.
The recording session took place over a two week period, but according to Harvey the bulk of the recording was done in three days. Most of the songs were played live in the studio. Harvey spoke highly of Albini’s recording, stating, "He’s the only person I know that can record a drum kit and it sounds like you’re standing in front of a drum kit. It doesn’t sound like it’s gone through a recording process or it’s coming out of speakers. You can feel the sound he records, and that is why I wanted to work with him, 'cause all I ever wanted is for us to be recorded and to sound like we do when we’re playing together in a room"
She also gave insight into his recording methods, saying "The way that some people think of producing is to sort of help you to arrange or contributing or playing instruments, he does none of that. He just sets up his microphones in a completely different way from which I’ve ever seen anyone set up mikes before, and that was astonishing. He’d have them on the floor, on the walls, on the windows, on the ceiling, twenty feet away from where you were sitting… He’s very good at getting the right atmosphere to get the best take."
The song "Man Size Sextet" was not recorded by Albini. It was instead produced by Harvey, Rob Ellis, and Head.
Shortly after finishing Rid of Me, Albini was hired by Nirvana
to record the album that would become In Utero. He sent Nirvana a copy of the recently completed record as an example of what the studio could sound like.
When the photo was delivered to Island Records, Mochnacz was told that the imperfections in the picture (such as the water drops on the wall and the house plant) could be removed. She protested this decision, responding, “It’s supposed to be like that – It’s part of the picture”.
raved that "No other British artist is so aggressively exploring the dark side of human nature, or its illogically black humour; no other British artist possesses the nerve, let alone the talent, to conjure up its soundtrack". Veteran UK broadcaster John Peel
, a supporter of Harvey since the beginning of her career, added "You’re initially so taken aback by what you’re hearing. But you go back again and again and it implants itself on your consciousness." The San Francisco Chronicle
called Harvey "A talent and a singular voice that demands to be heard." The album also drew attention from more established musicians. Elvis Costello
, for example, commented that a lot of Harvey’s songs "seem to be about blood and fucking", a statement Harvey disagreed with.
Steve Albini's production of the record proved controversial. Critics were divided over whether his recording complemented Harvey’s voice or buried it. On the positive side, it was written that "Albini deftly balances heavy feedback and distortion with unexpected quiet breaks, making this release more musically diverse- and ultimately more satisfying- than PJ Harvey’s debut." But others considered the recording too harsh, saying "Steve Albini’s deliberately crude production leaves everything minimal and rough, as if the whole album were recorded in somebody’s basement, with the drums set up in a bathroom to clatter as chaotically as possible." Another review called it simply "a trial to endure". Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
tried to reconcile Albini’s production with Harvey’s songs. He admitted the album has a "bloodless, abrasive edge" that leaves "absolutely no subtleties in the music," but theorizes that Albini’s recordings "may be the aural embodiment of the tortured lyrics, and therefore a supremely effective piece of performance art, but it also makes Rid of Me a difficult record to meet halfway."
Harvey herself was pleased with the end result. "I do everything for myself primarily," she said, "and I was happy with it. I don’t really listen when people say good things about my work because I tend to not give myself praise about anything. But I was really pleased with Rid of Me. For that period of my life, it was perfect. Well, it wasn’t perfect but as near to as I could get at that time". She remained friends with Albini afterward, finding in him a kindred spirit. "People read things in and make him what they want him to be," Harvey said. "He's the only other person I know that that happens to besides myself. People have a very specific idea of what I am- some kind of ax-wielding, man-eating Vampira- and I'm not that at all. I'm almost the complete opposite."
The album yielded two singles; "50 ft. Queenie" and "Man-Size." The music video
s for both songs were directed by Maria Mochnacz. "50 ft. Queenie" was named a buzzworthy video by MTV
in the Spring of 1993.
song "Wang Dang Doodle
". One reviewer praised Harvey’s version and called it "perhaps the definitive version of that song."
In August they finished the tour with a string of dates opening for U2
during their Zooropa
tour. In the fall the trio started to disintegrate, first with the departure of Ellis and then Vaughan shortly afterward. By September Harvey was performing as a solo artist.
album charts at number three and quickly went silver, and enjoyed a Top 30 hit in the single "50 ft. Queenie". In the U.S.
it generated major college-radio airplay and expanded her growing cult fan base. It also won considerable critical acclaim and featured in various Top Ten album-of-the-year lists in respectable press, like The Village Voice
, Spin
, Melody Maker
, Vox and Select. Spin gave it a rare ten out of ten review rating. Rid of Me was also nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize
, but lost to Suede
. If anything its critical stature has grown over the years—Rolling Stone selected it as one of the Essential Recordings of the 90s, and in 2005, Spin ranked it the ninth greatest album of 1985–2005 after it had ranked it only the 37th greatest album of the 90s after To Bring You My Love at number 3. In 2003, the album was ranked number 405 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. In 2011, Slant Magazine
ranked Rid of Me as the 25th greatest album of 90s.
The album was recorded and mixed at Pachyderm Recording Studio
, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
.
As of 2005, Rid of Me has sold 207,000 copies in the U.S.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by British musician PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
. It was released by Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
in May 1993, approximately one year after the release of her critically acclaimed debut album Dry
Dry (album)
Dry is the debut album by PJ Harvey. It was recorded at the Icehouse, Yeovil, UK, and released in the UK on Too Pure , and subsequently on Indigo Records in the US...
. It marked a departure from Harvey’s previous songwriting, being more raw and aggressive than its predecessor.
The songs on Rid of Me were performed by Harvey’s eponymous trio, consisting of Harvey on guitar and vocals, Rob Ellis on drums and background vocals, and Steve Vaughan on bass. It was the last album they recorded as a group before disbanding in late 1993. Most of the songs on the album were recorded by Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
. Rid of Me was met with acclaim by critics. It has been ranked at number 405 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Background and History
Harvey’s first two albums were recorded in quick succession and their histories intertwine. In October 1991, she released her debut single "DressDress (song)
"Dress" is the debut single by English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey from her debut album Dry Released in 1991, two promotional music videos were also recorded.-Background and history:...
." She signed with indie
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
record label Too Pure
Too Pure
Too Pure is a London-based independent record label that was formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox.-History:Too Pure started off as a small experimental label and had built their reputation by releasing primarily alternative/independent music which they felt was being ignored by the major...
and relocated to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with her band mates. Almost immediately after the single’s release, she began to receive serious positive attention from music critics in both the UK and United States. This led to several major record labels vying to sign her. Harvey was initially reluctant to sign to a major label fearing she might lose artistic control of her music, but eventually decided to sign with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
in February 1992. A month later, Too Pure released her debut album Dry
Dry (album)
Dry is the debut album by PJ Harvey. It was recorded at the Icehouse, Yeovil, UK, and released in the UK on Too Pure , and subsequently on Indigo Records in the US...
, containing both "Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig
Sheela-Na-Gig (song)
"Sheela-Na-Gig" is a song by English alternative rock singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, written solely by Harvey. The song was released as the second single from her debut studio album, Dry, in February 1992. The single was the second, and final, single from Dry and only single from the album to enter...
", her second single. Island would later distribute Dry under its Indigo imprint.
The band toured extensively in the UK and US to support Dry. Harvey turned down an offer to play the Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
festival in the summer of 1992, but did play the Reading Festival
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
that August. By this time, non-stop touring had begun to take its toll on Harvey's health. She suffered from what has been described as a nervous breakdown, brought on by a number of factors including exhaustion, poor eating habits, and the break-up of a relationship. Making matters worse, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
, where she had been accepted for study, refused to hold her place for her any longer. She left her London apartment and retreated to her native Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. While recuperating in October 1992, she worked on the songs that would appear on Rid of Me.
Music and Lyrics
Musically, Rid of Me is more raw than what Harvey had written for Dry. On her first album, she experimented with two-guitar harmonies ("Happy and Bleeding") and acoustic guitar ("Plants and Rags"). The songs on Rid of Me, however, are played mostly with one electric guitar, and heavy distortion is used on many of the tracks. She also used vocal distortion on "Hook" and "Yuri-G". Most of the songs are played using just guitar, drums, and bass. Only four songs on the album use additional instruments (strings are used on "Man-Size Sextet", "Legs", and "Yuri-G", and organ is used on "Hook"). She was still drawing heavy influences from American blues music, especially Howlin' WolfHowlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, who she was particularly interested in at the time. Stylistically the record was a natural progression from the heavily guitar-driven punk-blues of her debut, though it also embraced both the noisy elementary dynamics of the Pixies (she claimed their Albini-produced 1988 debut Surfer Rosa
Surfer Rosa
Like Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa displays a mix of musical styles; pop guitar songs such as "Broken Face", "Break My Body", and "Brick Is Red" are featured alongside slower, more melodic tracks exemplified by "Where Is My Mind?". The album includes heavier material, and prominently features the...
as one of her favourite albums), and 1960s-1970s blues-based rock acts such as Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Structurally, Harvey continued to complicate her songwriting by utilizing "strangely skewed time signatures and twisty song structures" resulting in songs that "tilt toward performance art".
The vocals were also handled differently on Rid of Me. Harvey began to increasingly experiment with what her voice could do, and on several songs she pushed her voice to a higher register. This higher voice can be heard on the bridge of "50 ft. Queenie" as well as in "Man-Size" and "Me-Jane." Ellis also altered the delivery of his background vocals. His vocals on Dry were sung in his normal voice (most notably on the song "Joe"), but for Rid of Me he sang in a high-pitched, almost hysterical-sounding falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
.
The albums lyrics have been widely interpreted as being feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
in nature. Harvey, however, repeatedly denied a feminist agenda in her songwriting, stating "I don’t even think of myself as being female half the time. When I’m writing songs I never write with gender in mind. I write about people’s relationships to each other. I’m fascinated with things that might be considered repulsive or embarrassing. I like feeling unsettled, unsure." Some of the lyrics were inspired by her personal experiences. The title track, for instance, was admittedly influenced by one of Harvey’s relationships coming to an end. When told by an interviewer that "Rid of Me" sounded psychotic, she replied that she wrote the song "at my illest" and added "I was almost psychotic" at the time. But, she made it clear that not all of the lyrics were to be read autobiographically, saying "I would have to be 40 and very worn out to have lived through everything I write about".
The album also includes a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited (song)
"Highway 61 Revisited" is the title track of Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. It was also released as the B-side to the single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" later the same year...
". Harvey's mother and father, both Dylan fans, suggested she record the track.
Recording
In the late fall of 1992 the trio embarked on a short U.S. tour. When the tour concluded in December they stayed in America to record their new album at the secluded Pachyderm Recording StudiosPachyderm Studio
Pachyderm Recording Studio is a residential recording studio located in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota, United States, 35.8 mi southeast of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. It is located in a secluded old-growth forest with a vibrant trout stream. The studio was founded in 1988...
in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Harvey chose Chicago musician and sound engineer Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
to record the album. Harvey had admired Albini’s distinctively raw recordings of bands like Pixies, Slint
Slint
Slint was an American rock band consisting of Brian McMahan , David Pajo , Britt Walford , Todd Brashear and Ethan Buckler...
, The Breeders
The Breeders
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 by Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. The band has experienced a number of line-up changes; the current line-up consists of Kim Deal , her twin sister Kelley Deal , Jose Medeles , Mando Lopez Todd the Fox...
and The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard was an American alternative rock and noise rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial...
.
The recording session took place over a two week period, but according to Harvey the bulk of the recording was done in three days. Most of the songs were played live in the studio. Harvey spoke highly of Albini’s recording, stating, "He’s the only person I know that can record a drum kit and it sounds like you’re standing in front of a drum kit. It doesn’t sound like it’s gone through a recording process or it’s coming out of speakers. You can feel the sound he records, and that is why I wanted to work with him, 'cause all I ever wanted is for us to be recorded and to sound like we do when we’re playing together in a room"
She also gave insight into his recording methods, saying "The way that some people think of producing is to sort of help you to arrange or contributing or playing instruments, he does none of that. He just sets up his microphones in a completely different way from which I’ve ever seen anyone set up mikes before, and that was astonishing. He’d have them on the floor, on the walls, on the windows, on the ceiling, twenty feet away from where you were sitting… He’s very good at getting the right atmosphere to get the best take."
The song "Man Size Sextet" was not recorded by Albini. It was instead produced by Harvey, Rob Ellis, and Head.
Shortly after finishing Rid of Me, Albini was hired by Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
to record the album that would become In Utero. He sent Nirvana a copy of the recently completed record as an example of what the studio could sound like.
Artwork
The cover of the album depicts Harvey topless and swinging her drenched hair into the air. The photo was captured by Harvey’s friend and photographer Maria Mochnacz, and was taken in Mochnacz’s bathroom. Due to the small size of the room, she had to place her camera against the wall opposite Harvey and couldn’t look through the camera’s viewfinder. The photo was taken in total darkness and only illuminated by the split-second flash.When the photo was delivered to Island Records, Mochnacz was told that the imperfections in the picture (such as the water drops on the wall and the house plant) could be removed. She protested this decision, responding, “It’s supposed to be like that – It’s part of the picture”.
Release and reception
Rid of Me was released on 4 May 1993. It immediately started to draw praise from music critics in the U.S. and Great Britain. Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
raved that "No other British artist is so aggressively exploring the dark side of human nature, or its illogically black humour; no other British artist possesses the nerve, let alone the talent, to conjure up its soundtrack". Veteran UK broadcaster John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, a supporter of Harvey since the beginning of her career, added "You’re initially so taken aback by what you’re hearing. But you go back again and again and it implants itself on your consciousness." The San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
called Harvey "A talent and a singular voice that demands to be heard." The album also drew attention from more established musicians. Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, for example, commented that a lot of Harvey’s songs "seem to be about blood and fucking", a statement Harvey disagreed with.
Steve Albini's production of the record proved controversial. Critics were divided over whether his recording complemented Harvey’s voice or buried it. On the positive side, it was written that "Albini deftly balances heavy feedback and distortion with unexpected quiet breaks, making this release more musically diverse- and ultimately more satisfying- than PJ Harvey’s debut." But others considered the recording too harsh, saying "Steve Albini’s deliberately crude production leaves everything minimal and rough, as if the whole album were recorded in somebody’s basement, with the drums set up in a bathroom to clatter as chaotically as possible." Another review called it simply "a trial to endure". Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
tried to reconcile Albini’s production with Harvey’s songs. He admitted the album has a "bloodless, abrasive edge" that leaves "absolutely no subtleties in the music," but theorizes that Albini’s recordings "may be the aural embodiment of the tortured lyrics, and therefore a supremely effective piece of performance art, but it also makes Rid of Me a difficult record to meet halfway."
Harvey herself was pleased with the end result. "I do everything for myself primarily," she said, "and I was happy with it. I don’t really listen when people say good things about my work because I tend to not give myself praise about anything. But I was really pleased with Rid of Me. For that period of my life, it was perfect. Well, it wasn’t perfect but as near to as I could get at that time". She remained friends with Albini afterward, finding in him a kindred spirit. "People read things in and make him what they want him to be," Harvey said. "He's the only other person I know that that happens to besides myself. People have a very specific idea of what I am- some kind of ax-wielding, man-eating Vampira- and I'm not that at all. I'm almost the complete opposite."
The album yielded two singles; "50 ft. Queenie" and "Man-Size." The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s for both songs were directed by Maria Mochnacz. "50 ft. Queenie" was named a buzzworthy video by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the Spring of 1993.
Tour
Harvey and her band toured in the spring and summer of 1993 to support Rid of Me. The tour began in the UK in May and moved to America in June. Maria Mochnacz documented aspects of the tour, and her footage was used to create the long-form video Reeling with PJ Harvey (1994). Harvey’s concert setlist drew from Dry and Rid of Me, but also highlighted songs that did not appear on either of those recordings. For example, she regularly performed a cover of the Willie DixonWillie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
song "Wang Dang Doodle
Wang Dang Doodle
"Wang Dang Doodle" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon for Howlin' Wolf at Chess Records in Chicago. It has been covered by many artists, including Love Sculpture, Koko Taylor, Z. Z. Hill, Ted Nugent, the Pointer Sisters, PJ Harvey, Grateful Dead, Ratdog, Savoy Brown, Charlie Watts, Booker T....
". One reviewer praised Harvey’s version and called it "perhaps the definitive version of that song."
In August they finished the tour with a string of dates opening for U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
during their Zooropa
Zoo TV Tour
The Zoo TV Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 through 1993...
tour. In the fall the trio started to disintegrate, first with the departure of Ellis and then Vaughan shortly afterward. By September Harvey was performing as a solo artist.
Accolades
Rid of Me entered the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
album charts at number three and quickly went silver, and enjoyed a Top 30 hit in the single "50 ft. Queenie". In the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
it generated major college-radio airplay and expanded her growing cult fan base. It also won considerable critical acclaim and featured in various Top Ten album-of-the-year lists in respectable press, like The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, Vox and Select. Spin gave it a rare ten out of ten review rating. Rid of Me was also nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
, but lost to Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
. If anything its critical stature has grown over the years—Rolling Stone selected it as one of the Essential Recordings of the 90s, and in 2005, Spin ranked it the ninth greatest album of 1985–2005 after it had ranked it only the 37th greatest album of the 90s after To Bring You My Love at number 3. In 2003, the album was ranked number 405 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. In 2011, Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
ranked Rid of Me as the 25th greatest album of 90s.
Track listing
All tracks written by Polly Jean Harvey, except where noted.- "Rid of Me" – 4:28
- "Missed" – 4:25
- "Legs" – 3:40
- "Rub 'til It Bleeds" – 5:03
- "Hook" – 3:57
- "Man-Size Sextet" – 2:18
- "Highway '61 RevisitedHighway 61 Revisited (song)"Highway 61 Revisited" is the title track of Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. It was also released as the B-side to the single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" later the same year...
" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) – 2:57 - "50ft Queenie50ft Queenie"50ft Queenie" is the third single by English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, and the first from her second studio album Rid of Me. It is performed by Harvey's eponymous trio, consisting of Harvey on vocals and guitar, Rob Ellis on drums, and Steve Vaughan on bass...
" – 2:23 - "Yuri-G" – 3:28
- "Man-Size" – 3:16
- "Dry" – 3:23
- "Me-Jane" – 2:42
- "Snake" – 1:36
- "Ecstasy" – 4:26
Personnel
- Polly Jean Harvey – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, organ - Robert Ellis – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion, vocals - Steve Vaughan – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Production
- Steve AlbiniSteve AlbiniSteven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
– production - Polly Jean Harvey, Head, and Robert Ellis – production (on "Man-Size Sextet")
- Maria Mochnacz – photography
- Robert Ellis – string arrangement
- Brendan Ashe – direction (on "Man-Size Sextet")
- John Loder – mastering
The album was recorded and mixed at Pachyderm Recording Studio
Pachyderm Studio
Pachyderm Recording Studio is a residential recording studio located in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota, United States, 35.8 mi southeast of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. It is located in a secluded old-growth forest with a vibrant trout stream. The studio was founded in 1988...
, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
Cannon Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,795 people, 1,550 households, and 996 families residing in the city. The population density was 946.4 people per square mile . There were 1,611 housing units at an average density of 401.8 per square mile...
.
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Heatseekers | 10 |
| 1993 | UK Album chart | 3 |
| 1993 | The Billboard 200 | 158 |
As of 2005, Rid of Me has sold 207,000 copies in the U.S.
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 (May) | "50ft Queenie" | UK Singles Chart | 27 |
| 1993 (July) | "Man-Size" | UK Singles Chart | 42 |