PJ Harvey - The Peel Sessions 1991-2004

PJ Harvey is simply brilliant. Having garnered something of a cult following over the 15+ years since her first release, 1992's "Demonstrations", PJ Harvey is known for both the straight forwardness she displays in her music, as well as the broader, more experimental stroke she sometimes paints with. With "The Peel Sessions", she focuses more on the former, and the result is near-perfection.

While the songs here span most of her career, it's actually the pre-"Demonstrations" material that speak loudest of the brilliance that has been PJ Harvey. The songs included here, hand-picked by Polly herself as a memorial to the late John Peel, show as much raw emotion and passion as is possible. The recordings are stripped down, played as a 3-piece band (including PJ handling guitar duties for most of the album), and are mostly a straight-up live recording throughout, showcasing the ability of the band in its truest form, void of excessive overdubs and overdone production.

It's hard to focus on any combination of a limited number of tracks that standout on "The Peel Sessions", as almost all of what's included in this all-too-short 41 minute compilation is as brilliant as it gets. Listening through this cd, I was instantly reminded of my younger days, where the likes of PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, and Jesus and Mary Chain were the cd player mainstays. This tribute to one of the most popular broadcasters, here or abroad, showcases all that was good about alternative music, long before alternative music became the over-saturated "norm" it is today. When music was pure, and terming music as "alternative" really meant something, PJ Harvey was there to help start it all. This is a perfect representation of those days.