Release and Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Entertainment Weekly | A |
| NME | (8/10) |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | (10/10) |
As of 2005, 4-Track Demos had sold 119,000 copies in the U.S. The album charted in both the United Kingdom and the United States upon its release, peaking at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on Billboard's Heatseeker Albums chart. Some reviewers preferred this version to Rid of Me, which they contended buried some of her vocal range and sonic experimentations under its noisy, in-your-face dynamics. For a side project, 4-Track Demos received remarkably high praise: Entertainment Weekly called it "a chillingly intimate peek into the fierce musical ethic of an independent and compelling voice", Melody Maker hailed it as "viciously aggressive music with no numbing narcotic qualities", while Rolling Stone said in its four-star review that "its depth, range and conceptual completeness make you wonder why Harvey even bothered with such conventions as a band or a producer in the first place". Robert Christgau, however, still preferred Rid of Me over 4-Track Demos.
In 1994, Island Records gave away the original Yamaha MT 2X 4-track recorder Harvey used to record 4-Track Demos as a promotion in issue 67 of Alternative Press magazine. The winner was announced the weekend of March 19, 1994 on JBTV as seen on FOX NET and CHANNEL AMERICA. The winner, Thomas Wells of Vinton, Virginia, was picked out of over 500 entries. In conjunction with being announced on TV, Thomas' name and photo were published in the April 1994 extra edition (number 71) issue of AP Wiretapping Newsletter.
"Hardly Wait" is one of two PJ Harvey songs used in Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 film Strange Days (the other song used is "Rid of Me"). In the film it is sung by Juliette Lewis.
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