Dry
by PJ Harvey

Dry by PJ Harvey
Year: 1992
Release date: 1992-03-30
Overall rank: 1,281st   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 362 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1992 (20th)
Award Top albums of of the 1990s (233rd)
Award Best albums of all time (1,281st)

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PJ Harvey bestography

Dry is ranked 5th best out of 22 albums by PJ Harvey on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by PJ Harvey is Let England Shake which is ranked number 267 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,064.

PJ Harvey album bestography « Higher ranked (771st)
Rid Of Me
This album (1,281st)
Dry
Lower ranked (1,699th) »
White Chalk

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Dry track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Dry rankings

Dry rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,281st | 1990s rank: 233rd | 1992 rank: 20th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 2 hours ago).

Dry collection

Dry ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 362 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 362 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
50/100
 !
5 days ago xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,50977/100
 
80/100
 !
06/21/2026 19:28 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,32470/100
 
70/100
 !
05/05/2026 17:15 Steve_Emmett  Ratings distribution  12268/100
 
80/100
 !
04/13/2026 12:02 Liks_on_music  Ratings distribution  65581/100
 
65/100
 !
03/20/2026 16:57 jeremy9  Ratings distribution  3,75770/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.7/100, a mean average of 78.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.1.


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Dry comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 17 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
85/100
This album has a confrontational quality which makes it pretty unique up to this time, despite its obvious influences (Patti Smith mainly). The vocals are dramatic and powerful, matched by the music which is also very powerful, and that's all three musicians, bass, drums, and guitar. I like the intense nature of their sound, however the quiet/loud dynamic gets a bit overdone. And the album runs out of steam in the final couple of tracks. But still a very good and impactful album overall.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/22/2022 15:20 | #281746
Dry guitars
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
Lifelong PJH fan here and ‘Dry’ is where it’s at for me , the debut ground floor entry for an amazing catalogue and here’s why

I simply love the guitars on this release from the driving “O Stella” to the classic “Sheela-na-gig “ and driving “Dress” the licks are on point and get me every time then throw in a bunch of weird sexualised lyrics and you’ve got an intoxicating mix

Polly may have released better albums that sold more copies and won more awards but for me nothing she’s done beats ‘Dry’ for shear brilliance and genuine X Factor lasting the test of time

Footnote:
I only realised recently that lyrically “Dress” has an uncanny resemblance to Pixies “Cactus “ off ‘Surfer Rosa’ , try and tell me I’m wrong because I know I’m not
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 07/20/2019 17:46 | #240012
Favorite Tracks:Happy And Bleeding
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 01/07/2018 22:28 | #204925
I'm concerned that I'm starting to present as misogynistic, as this is another female-powered album that eludes me on first listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 10/25/2016 13:50 | #177409
Great debut. Comparable to a roar from the heavens.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
Raw and uncompromising. Dry, the debut album from PJ Harvey, is a fantastically fresh and exciting record full of gritty rock'n'roll. Great songs throughout from an LP that is still one of Harvey's best. This is what it's all about.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/25/2015 23:02 | #140248
Brave debut!! RAW!

Dress and Oh my lover are my fav tracks!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/09/2015 10:08 | #131118
A great debut Side 2 (6-11)is better than Side 1 this was one of the last L.P.'s I bought on vinyl and it still sounds great. She went on to bigger and better things but this album is still special for me. Best Tacks - Sheela ....,Hair and O Stella. Oh My Lover, Fountain & Plants & Rags are also good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
Cracking debut. Chaotic and all the better for that. Raw and soul.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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