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Reviewed: PJ Harvey's Spellbinding 'Let England Shake,' Lady Gaga's Instant-Classic Club Anthem 'Born This Way' and More

Plus: Stream new music from Drive-By Truckers, Twilight Singers, Yuck, Mogwai, Bright Eyes and Fleet Foxes

February 15, 2011 10:45 AM ET
Lady Gaga performs 'Born This Way' at the 2011 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, February 13, 2011.
Lady Gaga performs 'Born This Way' at the 2011 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, February 13, 2011.
Kevin Winter/Getty

In this week's slate of Rolling Stone reviews, Rob Sheffield praises PJ Harvey's Let England Shake, noting that listeners need not be up on British history to enjoy her grim, spellbinding songs about England's history of war and imperialism. According to Will Hermes, Greg Dulli's new Twilight Singers album Dynamite Steps eclipses his work in soul-grunge band the Afghan Whigs, describing his persona on the record as "part barroom romantic, part serial killer." Jody Rosen says that Drive-By Truckers' Go-Go Boots is a "R&B murder" record full of great storytelling and catchy choruses.

On the singles front, Sheffield declares Lady Gaga's new single "Born This Way" to be an "instant-classic club anthem," and Hermes compares Fleet Foxes' song "Helplessness Blues" to Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash.

ALBUMS

PJ Harvey  - Let England Shake (stream full album)

Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots (stream full album)


Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps (stream one song)

Yuck - Yuck (stream full album)

Bright Eyes - The People's Key (stream full album)

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (stream full album)

The Dears - Degeneration Street (stream full album)

SINGLES

Lady Gaga "Born This Way" (stream)

Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues" (stream)

MNDR "Cut Me Out" (stream)

LAST WEEK: R.E.M. Like 'Awesome Tribute Band'; Mogwai Keep Nineties Alive

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »