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- Summary:
- Record Label: Island
- Genre(s): Rock, Alternative
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 23
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Mixed: 1 out of 23
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Negative: 0 out of 23
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Chiming, richly textured and potently rhythmic, this is starkly, explicitly rock n' roll, and the back-to-basics approach beautifully frames Polly's tales of fear, love, sex, sadness, ugliness, and beauty.
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Her strongest work since 1995's To Bring You My Love.
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The WireGiven her capacity to align reinvention with a developing maturity, the 13 lucky songs of Stories deliver a complex text. It is certainly less frenetic, as if Harvey is finding new ways to exert her presence. In addition, its thoughtful spaces and pauses suggest room for doubt and manoeuvre. [#202, p.49]
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A beautiful album that even non-Harvey fans might relate to, Stories is an undeniable, unrelenting triumph.
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The swampy exotica that was draped around both 1995's To Bring You My Love and '98's Is This Desire? has been forgotten: as proved by the likes of Big Exit and the pleasingly frantic Kamikaze, the dominant sound is that of a three-piece garage band, fused with enough production panache to prove that Harvey remains an admirably intelligent auteur.
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The happiest-sounding album she's ever made.... it may also be the best. While her austere sonic signature remains, the vocals are discernibly more relaxed, the tunes welcoming and even expansive.
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On her fifth solo release, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, she may be maturing, or more vulnerable, or more vulnerable to her maturity. But regardless, the sheen gets slicker and her music gets duller as the time passes.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 24 out of 24
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Mixed: 0 out of 24
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Negative: 0 out of 24
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ofanFeb 10, 2005just like a script for a movie, great story in it
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Jun 25, 2014
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SusannahMMay 16, 2004PJ is amazing. This is her best work. I can't stop playing this CD.
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JamesB.Aug 8, 2008Amazing! There's something new at every listen... can't say that about many CD's or artists. One for the ages!
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PerspicaciousCriticJul 23, 2007Dear Pitchfork: Regarding your review, I have just three words: wrong, wrong, wrong.
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Sep 4, 2017
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RobBSep 25, 2007
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