PJ Harvey

Satisfaction doesn't become Ms. Harvey. Her last CD, 2000's Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, was her most upbeat, but while critics gushed over it, many fans missed the rabid qualities that marked her best work. This time around, the nastiness is back, and thank goodness -- although goodness has nothing to do with it.

Harvey serves as her own producer, and if the results aren't quite as spare and serrated as her earliest salvos, they're just as emotionally naked. "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth" and "Who the Fuck," larded with accusatory lines such as "Who the fuck you tryin' to be?," have the highest splatter factor, but even the quieter material can be devastating. Witness "The Darker Days of Me & Him," in which she says she's going to "tape the broken parts together/And limp this love around."

The rest of the disc isn't limp in the slightest. Uh Huh Her works because Harvey gets hard.