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From the start, she's made an ideal record for people who already like her.
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''Uh Huh Her'' reasserts that Harvey, now the grande dame of this genre, remains unrivaled.
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It's a near-perfect piece of art, a level of accomplishment Harvey achieves with amazing consistency.
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Polly Harveys contradictory sure, but the complexities of her character and where she is right now are expressed with an honesty and intensity few artists can ever even begin to think about mustering.
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Once you get acclimatized to the torturous messages and the dynamic, diverse musical accompaniment shifts from song to song, it becomes obvious that Uh Huh Her is one of Harvey's most rewarding albums.
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This album sounds in many ways like an amalgamation of her previous work.
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Rather than coming across as an unfriendly piece of self-indulgence--which may or may not have been the intention--her latest CD is quietly captivating.
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SpinThe rubbed-rawness of Uh Huh Her might seem like backpedaling. But the best tracks use the pleasure principles of Stories to update her old approach. [Jun 2004, p.101]
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But if Uh Huh Her doesn't rise to the level of Harvey's best work, it does possess a grim, unvarnished beauty; a beauty that, while it might repel a few of the fans she gained with Stories, capably rewards devotees of her earlier, unburnished and uncompromising works.
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Alternative PressOften reaches back to the unfettered rawness and earthy seduction of earlier albums like Dry. [Aug 2004, p.116]
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I hate to say it, but she might have finally overextended her ambition, resulting in an uneven, discomfiting album.
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Perhaps the most nuanced album in PJ Harvey's body of work, Uh Huh Her balances her bold and vulnerable moments, but remains vital.
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PJ Harvey can still pack a resonant, emotional wallop, even when the recording is devoid of frills.
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It's truly intriguing in the way PJ albums haven't been since the commanding "To Bring You My Love" back in 1995.
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Uh Huh Her is as discrete--and ravishing--as her other works.
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Q MagazineWhen Harvey stretches herself things really become interesting. [Jun 2004, p.100]
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If you take it as a whole, Uh Huh Her is deeply engrossing: Harvey has never explored the minimal-verging-on-primitive side of her music so thoroughly, or captured so exactly the sound of a mood swing.
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It is a short disc (41 minutes), and not an entirely satisfying one: instead of stories and characters, we get a series of gestures, a few false starts, pockets full of poses. This is an album of shards, then. But they're sharp. [7 June 2004]
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UncutIt's hard to deny the emotional weight and beauty of Polly's personal, if comparatively uncommercial, sixth album. [Jul 2004, p.108]
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Harvey doesn't brandish many new moves here.
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Under The RadarThe single-mindedness with which she approaches these songs is ultimately responsible for much of the album's distinctive flavor. [#7]
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MojoAt times, it's almost too tasteful a refinement of her work.... Yet there are some fabulous moments from both sides of Harvey's brain. [Jun 2004, p.100]
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Uh Huh Her is a lesson in contentment, anger, disappointment, independence seductive psychosis.
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BlenderFor an album almost four years in the making, it's frustratingly half-finished, like a series of preliminary sketches. [#27, p.142]
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Her varied approach yields varied results: Sometimes the disc sounds like a mature summing up of previous work; at other times, it sounds like a closet-cleaning.
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Both pared down and unengaging at the same time, this appears to be a dead end.
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While nowhere near as unlistenable as Is This Desire?, Uh Huh Her is one of Harvey's bleaker efforts.
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Uh Huh Herb is a disappointment, the tepid, not-quite-there record that many artists seem to make after hitting a career peak.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 42 out of 54
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Mixed: 5 out of 54
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Negative: 7 out of 54
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SetherbOct 31, 2005
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vandeyJul 6, 2005
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MattTMar 23, 2005