PJ Harvey / Is This Desire?
Artist PJ Harvey
Album Title: Is This Desire?
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Alternative & Punk: Indie
Format CD
Released 09/29/1998
Label Island Records
Catalog No 314-524-563-2
Bar Code No 7 314-524563-2 8
Packaging Jewelcase
Tracks
1. Angelene (3:34)
2. The Sky Lit Up (1:52)
3. The Wind (4:01)
4. My Beautiful Leah (1:59)
5. A Perfect Day Elise (3:06)
6. Catherine (4:05)
7. Electric Light (3:04)
8. The Garden (4:12)
9. Joy (3:40)
10. The River (4:52)
11. No Girl So Sweet (2:45)
12. Is This Desire? (3:25)
Date Acquired 11/11/1998
Personal Rating
Acquired from Amazon
Purchase Price 11.00

Web Links

All Music Guide entry:
Discogs entry:
MusicBrainz entry:

Notes

Recorded at Small World Studios, Yeovil and Whitfield Street Studios, London, April '97-April '98. Mixed at Whitfield Street.
'The Wind' contains portions of 'Planet Of The Apes' (J. Goldsmith).
℗© 1998 Island Records Ltd.
Printed in the U.S.A.
All songs published by Hot Head Music Ltd./EMI Music Publishing Ltd./EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI) except
'The Wind' Hot Head Music Ltd./EMI Music Publishing Ltd./EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI)
Lyric reprint © 1996 EMI Music Publishing Ltd./ Hot Head Music Ltd. All rights for Hot Head Music Ltd. controlled and admin. by EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)
Artwork [Images] – Polly
Design – Maria Mochnacz, Rob Crane
Performer [Musician] – Eric Drew Feldman, Jeremy Hogg, Joe Gore, John Parish, Mick Harvey, Polly Jean Harvey, Rob Ellis
Photography By [Cover Photographs Assisted By] – Julia Hember, Nick Daly
Photography By [Cover Photographs With Thanks To] – Simon Jacobs
Photography By [Cover Photographs] – Maria Mochnacz
Recorded By [Record Made By], Mixed By [Record Made By] – Flood, Head, Polly Jean Harvey
Songwriter – Polly Jean Harvey
Recorded At – Small World Studios
Recorded At – Whitfield Street Recording Studios
Mixed At – Whitfield Street Recording Studios
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Island Records Ltd.
Copyright © – Island Records Ltd.
Published By – Hot Head Music Ltd.
Published By – EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
Published By – EMI Blackwood Music Inc.
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Made By – PMDC, USA
Barcode (Text): 7 314-524563-2 8
Barcode (Scanned): 731452456328
Matrix / Runout : 314 524 5632 01% C
Mastering SID Code : IFPI L007
Mould SID Code : IFPI 0359
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed Folder: PJ Harvey - Is This Desire_dr.txt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR         Peak       RMS        Filename                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR9        -0.01 dB   -11.60 dB  01 - Angelene.flac            
DR6        -0.50 dB     -9.70 dB  02 - The Sky Lit Up.flac      
DR9        -0.01 dB   -11.75 dB  03 - The Wind.flac            
DR8        -0.01 dB     -9.28 dB  04 - My Beautiful Leah.flac  
DR9        -0.01 dB     -9.86 dB  05 - A Perfect Day Elise.flac
DR9        -1.32 dB   -12.70 dB  06 - Catherine.flac          
DR9        -0.98 dB   -12.23 dB  07 - Electric Light.flac      
DR9        -0.01 dB   -11.01 dB  08 - The Garden.flac          
DR9        -0.41 dB   -12.01 dB  09 - Joy.flac                
DR8        -0.01 dB   -11.43 dB  10 - The River.flac          
DR7        -0.01 dB     -9.20 dB  11 - No Girl So Sweet.flac    
DR11      -0.01 dB   -15.24 dB  12 - Is This Desire .flac    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Files: 12
Official DR Value: DR9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reviews
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

Retreating from the limelight after the tour for To Bring You My Love, PJ Harvey returned to her small hometown of Yeovil and isolated herself from most pop trends, eventually writing the material that would come to comprise her fourth album, Is This Desire? Released over three and a half years after To Bring You My Love, Is This Desire? has all the hallmarks of a record written in isolation; subtle, cerebral, insular, difficult to assimilate, it's the album where Polly Harvey enters the ranks of craftsmen, sacrificing confession for fiction. It's an inevitable transition for any artist, especially one as lyrically gifted as Harvey, and though her words are more obtuse and not as brutal, painful, or clever, she still draws some effective character sketches. Similarly, the music on Is This Desire? is hardly the immediate, blunt force that characterized her first albums, nor is it the grand theater of To Bring You My Love -- it takes its time, slowly working its way into the subconsciousness. There are a few guitar explosions scattered throughout the record, but it's primarily a series of layered keyboards, electronic rhythms, and acoustic guitars; it's so quiet that at times it barely rises above a murmur, and occasionally floats away without leaving a lasting impression. It seems to challenge the listener to accept it on its own grounds, but once you dig deeper, it winds up offering diminishing rewards. It is more concerned with texture than any of her previous records, but it doesn't push forward enough -- it's either standard hard rockers or mournful ballads underpinned by lite electronica beats, which would have more impact if they were more pronounced. Since Harvey is an extraordinarily gifted songwriter, the album is hardly devoid of merit, but it's her least focused or successful record to date.


Cover 1
Cover 2
Cover 3
Cover 4
Cover 5