White Chalk
by PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey bestography
White Chalk is ranked 6th 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 277 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,924.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to White Chalk on YouTube
White Chalk track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
White Chalk rankings
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White Chalk ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 255 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days ago | Exist-en-ciel | 11,867 | 70/100 | |
| 04/25/2026 21:50 |  Robert Anton Wil | 1,141 | 84/100 | |
| 02/28/2026 00:07 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 | |
| 12/29/2025 17:40 | mutant | 1,671 | 56/100 | |
| 12/21/2025 05:11 |  zags7000 | 20,468 | 64/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.3/100, a mean average of 77.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.7.
White Chalk favourites
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White Chalk comments
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Brad1770 05/25/2021 11:43 | #270046
Released at roughly the halfway point of Polly Jeans career ‘White Chalk’ is in many ways her forgotten album quietly dropped between the mega hits ‘Stories . . . ‘ (2000) and ‘Let England Shake’ (2011)
When it first came out I for one was not prepared for the intricate delicate nature of this album, like a fine china cup or broken heart and I moved on pretty quickly. However time has been kind to this one and is now one of my favourite Harvey albums even if John Parish’s fingerprints are all over it
I'm a great fan of PJ Harvey but on this album she took a huge directional change. I understand artists mix it up a bit but this done nothing for me. An entire album of plink plonk piano and haunting vocals. I tried to like it, I really did. Multiple listens but it didn't take. To far removed from her previous work for my liking. If you've just started checking her music out, I recommend starting with her other albums.
Very solid album. Not my favourite of pj’s but it has its moments
Another brilliant PJ Harvey album. White chalk, is a haunting record full of piano based songs that sound like they were recorded in a church. It's a superb album, full of great songs, no weak tracks here. This is one of my favourite of her records. Brilliant.
A departure, but not necessarily a bad one. This is brooding, haunting, heartbreaking.
eclab 02/20/2014 04:02 | #103698
Definitely underrated; great stuff.
meccalecca 02/07/2014 21:00 | #102498
Following a career filled with gritty rock, White Chalk was seen as a departure for PJ Harvey. Sparse arrangements focused around piano and harp, it's her most haunting record. The desperation, fragility and loneliness speaks more to me than anything else she's done.
Always liked PJ, but this album completely won we over for her. It is radical departure from the explosive debut albums, but the aggression or passion is still very much there, although much more hidden. She uses her voice in a different way, very much at the limit of her reach. Daring and haunting album; an absolute favorite.
Bach 10/25/2013 23:20 | #89221
Another good album from PJ.
Best tracks: The Devil, Silence, The Mountain, White Chalk.
Stellar, unsettling album. There are times when PJ seems to be melodramitic to the point of absurdity, but the songs (and the subjects) seem to be talking about such strange, though rather sad, subjects that the occasional over-reach seems more than forgive-able. "The Piano" in particular is utterly haunting (and haunted), seeming personal despite it's literary allusions
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