A Woman a Man Walked By

A Woman a Man Walked By
Studio album by
PJ Harvey and John Parish
Released27 March 2009 (2009-03-27)
RecordedJanuary 2006 – September 2008
StudioToybox Studios and Honorsound in Bristol, United Kingdom and Hothead Studios in New York City, United States
Genre
Length38:07
LabelIsland
Producer
PJ Harvey and John Parish chronology
Dance Hall at Louse Point
(1996) 		A Woman a Man Walked By
(2009)
PJ Harvey chronology
White Chalk
(2007) 		A Woman a Man Walked By
(2009) 		Let England Shake
(2011)
Singles from A Woman a Man Walked By
  1. "Black Hearted Love"
    Released: 13 April 2009

A Woman a Man Walked By is the second collaborative studio album by the English alternative rock musicians PJ Harvey and John Parish, released on 27 March 2009 by Island Records.

Background

It is the second collaboration between Harvey and Parish, following 1996's Dance Hall at Louse Point. The album was recorded in Bristol and Dorset, and mixed by Flood. This album is made up of ten new songs. All the music is written by Parish, who also plays most of the instruments. The vocals and all lyrics are by Harvey. The first single from the album is "Black Hearted Love" which is described as having 'anthemic grunge-pop guitars.'

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Mojo[2]
musicOMH[3]
NME(8/10)[4]
Pitchfork Media(6.2/10)[5]
Q[2]
Rolling Stone[6]
Robert Christgau(A−)[7]
Slant Magazine[8]
The Observer[9]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews".[10]

The album was described by journalist John Harris, as "...mischievous, deadly serious, elegant and poetic, and possessed of a brutal power – it is doubtful that you will hear a record as brimming with creative brio and musical invention this year..."[11] In a track by track synopsis on their website, The Fly described the album as "a body of folk tales, funeral songs and trapped, tangled love songs... brilliant."[12]

Track list

All songs written by PJ Harvey and John Parish.

  1. "Black Hearted Love" – 4:40
  2. "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen" – 3:35
  3. "Leaving California" – 3:56
  4. "The Chair" – 2:29
  5. "April" – 4:41
  6. "A Woman a Man Walked By/The Crow Knows Where All the Little Children Go" – 4:47
  7. "The Soldier" – 3:55
  8. "Pig Will Not" – 3:50
  9. "Passionless, Pointless" – 4:19
  10. "Cracks in the Canvas" – 1:54

Personnel

Additional musicians
  • Eric Drew Feldman – bass guitar on "Black Hearted Love," keyboard on "April"
  • Carla Azar – drums on "Black Hearted Love" and "April"
  • Giovanni Ferrario – guitar on "Black Hearted Love," bass guitar on "April"
  • Jean-Marc Butty – drums (live shows in support of A Woman a Man Walked By)

Chart positions

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[13] 25
Austrian Ö3 Top 40[14] 55
Belgian Albums Chart (Vl)[15] 11
Belgian Albums Chart (Wa)[16] 27
Danish Albums Chart[17] 28
Dutch MegaCharts Top 100[18] 46
French SNEP Albums Chart[19] 13
German Albums Chart[20] 62
Irish Albums Chart[21] 39
Italian FIMI Albums Chart[22] 45
Norwegian Albums Chart[23] 13
Spanish Albums Chart[24] 61
Swiss Hitparade Albums Chart[25] 24
UK Albums Chart[26] 25
US Billboard 200[27] 80

References

  1. ^ Phares, Heather. "Review: A Woman a Man Walked By". Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Music: A Woman, A Man, Walked By (CD) by PJ Harvey (Artist)". Tower.com Inc. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  3. ^ Pedder, Alan. "musicOHM: Review: A Woman a Man Walked By". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  4. ^ Lister, Kat (26 March 2009). "Album Review: PJ Harvey And John Parish A Woman A Man Walked By". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  5. ^ Klein, Joshua (30 March 2009). "Review: PJ Harvey and John Parish A Woman a Man Walked By (Island / Universal; 2009)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  6. ^ Hermes, Will (2 April 2009). "Review: P.J. Harvey A Woman a Man Walked By". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Archived from the original on 28 March 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (June 2009). "Review: PJ Harvey & John Parish: A Woman a Man Walked By (Island)". Microsoft. Retrieved 30 January 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (20 April 2009). "Review: PJ Harvey & John Parish A Woman a Man Walked By". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  9. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (15 March 2009). "Pop review: PJ Harvey & John Parish, A Woman A Man Walked By (Island)". Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  10. ^ "A Woman A Man Walked By Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  11. ^ Harris, John (January 2009). "A Woman A Man Walked By". PJHarvey.net. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. ^ "The Fly: Track by Track Preview of PJ Harvey's Latest". The Fly. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  13. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  14. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  15. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  16. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  17. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". danishcharts.dk. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  18. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  19. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  20. ^ "Album – PJ Harvey and John Parish, A Woman a Man Walked By". Media Control Charts (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  21. ^ "Discography PJ Harvey". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Notizie - Classifiche: Archivo" [Chart Information: Archive]. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (in Italian). Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2013. N.B. User must select a chart from the drop-down lists. For A Woman a Man Walked By, user must select "2009 > Aprile".
  23. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  24. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  25. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By". Hitparade (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  26. ^ "PJ Harvey and John Parish". Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  27. ^ "A Woman a Man Walked By – John Parish, PJ Harvey: Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 January 2013.