Hail Hail! This is the Pearl Jam Albums Poll

'go' alone makes vs. my choice here.

Vs. has a lot of really great songs, but seems forgotten by time somehow. I'm glad "Rearview Mirror" is still something of a live staple, though.

Yeah RVM is like the sole reason I don't totally dismiss that album as totally just singles'n'fluff.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Going for Yield.

to my ears yield is irredeemably bland and blithe, suffering from uninspiring songwriting, indifferent performances and lacklustre energy levels. i'll never knowingly listen to it again.

After 15 years, I'm giving up trying to like Eddie Vedder's voice. its a shame bacause I think i'd like Pearl Jam otherwise.

Vitalogy is my personal fave even though No Code is probably the best but I think vitalogy needs a vote , but really the 1st 5 are unfuckwithable.

When Yield came out, I knew it would be the last Pearl Jam record I would take any time over. It was a very AOR-styled album on the surface, and yet I voted for it in this poll because despite the superficial blandness it's still crammed with really good tracks, is concentrated as an album statement and yet still manages to get certain experimental bits like "I'm Open" and the bizarre Greek wedding secret track just right. Vitalogy, I've always had a lot of time for - particularly for things like "Pry, To", "Hey Foxymophandlemamatthat's me", ballads like "Better Man" (an amazing track). Still Vitalogy is inconsistent because it juxtaposes rock experimentalism (something they'd work on further with No Code) with hoary old rock tracks that take up 50% of the album and just do their job. The whole thing is uneasy and doesn't sit well. Something that does sit better is "Vs", but as mentioned upthread is the fact that the songs have aged badly. "Ten" is classic rock through'n'through, but I didn't even know there was a remaster, so I'm eager to hear it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i thought no code or ten would win

Anyone read this?

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9825387/pearl-jam-career-overrated-underrated-properly-rated

hmmm

i think i really dislike steven hyden

After 15 years, I'm giving up trying to like Eddie Vedder's voice. its a shame bacause I think i'd like Pearl Jam otherwise.

― tomofthenest, Thursday, 1 October 2009 12:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

After 15 years, I'm giving up trying to like Pearl Jam. its a shame bacause I think i'd like Eddie Vedder otherwise.

(The Eddie Vedder/Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song "The Long Road" from the Dead Man Walking soundtrack is my favorite thing he's ever done. Melancholy perfection.)

that article got really tiresome to read really quickly

grantland's simmonsian obsession with classifying everything is so zzzz to me

That article spends a lot of words to say very little of actual value.

I don't disagree with most of its assertions, except the Ten love.

He's right about Jack Irons, but relistening to Yield this morning, it's a lot patchier than I remember it, and 'flow' is most certainly not its thing.

Also, poor old Jeff and all of his hats.

I love Jeff's hats

I mean if you're going to go 'poor Jeff and his hats' then you may as well go 'poor Stone and his wtf hair'

it's more that, for years, I used to read ppl joking abt how jeff has to always be wearing hats bcz lol male pattern baldness, and then he stopped wearing hats for a bit and it was like woah you have hair

the whole band is pretty follicly blessed for a bunch of guys hovering around 50

jeff wore hats bcz lol seattle

They were terrific last night!

jealous! waiting for west coast tour dates to announce, dying to see them again

they're closer to my whereabouts tomorrow, and I'm very tempted. I'm just sad that the person I saw them with 15 years ago (when I wasn't even old enough to drink) is unavailable.

I registered to vote at that Pearl Jam show too.

I'm thinking of going, but being a weeknight and knowing they'll play 3 hours is almost making it a dealbreaker :/.

woohoo. it's a garbage seat but managed to get a ticket for almost $30 below face value on StubHub for tomorrow night's show.

You're in Tampa? Sweet.

well, Orlando, but it's only like 60-75 minute drive for me. I feel like I go to Tampa for more shows than I do for O-Town.

any surprises pulled out yesterday?

"Down'

ooh

"State of Love and Trust."

I haven't heard "Jeremy" since the late '90s.

weirdly enough I got "Jeremy" when I saw them in '00, which I thought they'd be avoiding. and I got "State of Love and Trust" and "Soldier of Love" that night too.

don't suppose I'll get "Not for You" or "Spin the Black Circle".

it was the Binaural tour so we got those singles too

Did they ever say anything about Jeremy with regard to Columbine? I could imagine them finding it newly relevant after being exhausted by overplay or whatever, but could also 100% them wanting to shy away from it.

not that I remember - I think they just launched into it.

that was the tour though when Eddie was changing the lyrics to "Do the Evolution" to "I'm George Bush and my son is an ass"

My review of the show.

well done! I looked at the setlist you all got and compared with the opening night setlist and there's barely any similarity. nice.

I'm hoping for stuff like idk "Go", "Tremor Christ", "not for You", "Last Exit", "Release", "Why Go", "Sometimes", "Hail Hail", "Brain of J", "Spin the Black Circle", "Once", "Light Years", "Crazy Mary", "I Got Id"......i can't imagine being disappointed unless they play nothing but "Stupid Mop"

an hour of aye davanita

I wanna hear "No Way"

there's a new sitcom on NBC called Crowded, and i noticed that every episode of the show is named after a Pearl Jam song. that led me down the rabbit hole of learning that the show's star, Patrick Warburton, is a huge Pearl Jam fan, and Eddie actually let him pick the setlist one night in 2009. and it's got some great picks, David Puddy has great taste!

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pearl-jam/2009/gibson-amphitheatre-universal-city-ca-bd7f5ce.html

We got "Lowlight" :)

omgggggg love

ooh and xposts nice review alfred!

i take yr criticism re Mikey's showboating but it's one of my favorite things about the shows - he's such a cornball and he knows it. also dude has deep glam metal roots, you dont grow out of that :)

"Lukin" into "Porch" was a nice touch. opened w/ "Why Go". I'm kinda embarrassed at how poorly I know Ten material now but I haven't listened to it in a reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long time compared to the others.

got "Off He Goes" and "Red Mosquito" too

very heavy on the hard rockers tonight, kinda surprising. felt like him doing Lennon's "Imagine" was a bit rote - I love the song but it's been covered live soooooo many times by soooooo many people.

I dropped off Pearl Jam after Yield (even though I really like that album), but I thought I'd give Binaural a go the other day and you know what, it's not bad!

"Off He Goes" = favorite PJ ballad

I like 'Sometimes' I think. Although that is a great song.

plenty of songs i dig on that album tbh, even if some of them are just from excessive high-school listening that's burned them into my brain. it's just somehow less than the sum of its parts? or maybe just missing one more big centerpiece song that makes it all feel, idk, important or something. what "Corduroy" and "Better Man" do for Vitalogy in my ears.

yield has always felt to me like a less successful version of no code, but even that is pretty badass

you would ditch "corduroy"??????

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, December 7, 2020 5:37 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't lump Corduroy in with things like 'Spin The Black Circle' or 'Satan's Bed'. That's a good melodic rocker

i love "satan's bed" and "whipping" and it was v surprising for me to learn that ppl do not like them

"spin" is a little too obviously great imo lol

Yield is great! Feels slightly more mature and focused than No Code to me.

I just don't love Vedder's hoarse shouty voice that much (I like Lukin and Brain of J though). Or maybe it's the stiff, ploddy straighahead drums on those Vitalogy rockers... I dunno

re: Yield: i hear the No Codeyness in the guitar tone and the maybe looser, less radio-focused production, but i feel like that's an overall journey they were on from at least Vitalogy to Binaural. Yield feels distinct to me as kinda brighter and cleaner than No Code, but i'm not sure how much of that is me initially hearing it through the "they're back! they're rocking again! please don't give up on alt-rock radio!" marketing at the time.

off Riot Act I'd keep "Can't Keep", "Save You", "Ghost" and "Green Disease". "I Am Mine" is dopey but nice. That's about it.

Whereas the s/t is almost front to back winners

as is Backspacer tbh

ppl still underrating "cropduster" and "you are" i see

"green disease" is so totally amazing it may cause me to overrate the whole project lol

"bu$hleaguer" is pretty embarrassing though i'll cop to that. need to revisit the s/t and backspacer which i remember as very tight records

i've always loved "The Fixer," i should probably dig into whichever album that's from.

backspacer! "the fixer" is like my favorite pj single ever lol

my favorite pearl jam song is "sad," which, wow, i'm still extremely mad that it's a b-side

― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Wednesday, April 13, 2016 10:28 AM (four years ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol this thought just popped into my head, glad i searched the thread before repeating it. the insult of "sad" being a b-side is worse when i remember it was recorded during the binaural sessions (iirc?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjXU8BmVVm0

fuck, this is still the best. those fucking drums!!!!

I've become partial to the new "Comes Then Goes."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke3Vpv7fFKs

"Green Disease" is great, imo one of the highlights of their later work is that they seem to want to nab some of the sprightliness and economy of some of their opening acts (eg sleater-kinney, dismemberment plan, supergrass, idlewild)

Ha, the one time I saw Pearl Jam was because Idlewild was opening. Stadium show at U of MT, seats behind the stage... not ideal.

'Corduroy'is the only song I can think of that sounds like Miracle Legion AND the Foo Fighters.
It's not at all a stretch to imagine Mark Mulcahy singing it/not at all a stretch to imagine Dave Grohl writing that riff.

Haha, when I caught Pearl Jam the first time they were my favourite band, Idlewild were supporting and they were my second favourite band. My Dad will forever be my hero for not only letting me skip two days of school but driving me 8 hours each way to see them as he realised how important it was for me.

And 'Cropduster' and 'You Are' get plenty of my love, Brad. Matt Cameron needs to write more damn songs.

Been making my way through the Pearl Jam discography recently. I haven't paid them much attention post-Vitalogy and for whatever reason have decided that now I'm going to explore the rest of it.

Anyway, I just remembered a joke that I made when Yield came out. Upon flipping the CD over and seeing Brain of J as the first track, I asked, What - like Primus Drummer of White Zombie Guitarist?

Thank you and sorry.

Side two of Vitalogy is so much fun. I forgot how great Aye Davanita is.

If a compilation existed of all their attempts to be an art rock band I would buy it.

Compile it here!

I'll need someone else to as I'm only just reacquainting myself with this stuff. But I recently relistened to No Code after many years and it's got me in the mood. I recall Binaural and Riot Act exhibiting this side of the band now and then too.

You two have been busy this morning.

FWIW, I kind of prefer the remixes and remakes of the Ten songs. The 'Redux' mixes are generally better, but the single version of "Even Flow" (a re-recording with Dave Abbruzzese on drums) is definitive IMHO and the single mix for "Jeremy" is the best one they did (even though they do censor out the word "fuck").