BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
How is he a hack?
Pearl Jam Discussion Thread
- Thread starter GirlsAloudFan
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
How is he a hack?
intedomine
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Just not into him, don't like his voice, kinda bland....never found his stuff at all interesting, mind you I'm only going on singles I've heard....staggering that he has achieved the success that he's had. That said, good man with good values though.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Yeah the only single I ever heard on the radio was "Steal Your Kisses", so I can see where one might say that about him... his singles aren't very indicative of him, at least in my opinion. He's great live, so maybe he'll change your mind.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
No, I feel like it was someone who I wasn't even interacting with? It was a bit out of left field.
IWasBored
Blue Crack Supplier
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
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- 36,783
wasn't me, was it? sometimes i get bored. very bored. in fact, the only time i post here anymore is when i'm incredibly bored (ie. RIGHT NOW). although i can't remember being that bored lately. that's a stretch, even for me. i'd have to be un-lazy enough to go find an old thread...
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
No, after some research I've located the actual posts:
Now, to be clear, this is after seeing Cave in concert, and I was enthusiastically diving whole hog into his discography. That was met with this shrewd observation, from someone who I don't think had even posted in the thread before:
So I wasn't called arrogant, just a poser. And let the record show that I turned the other cheek instead of saying "shut up, jackass", which would probably have been a legitimate response.
It should also be noted that this person's avatar is a Star of David surrounded by the words "Fight Terror/Support Israel" which is too ironic for me to even comment on. That's right, NSW. One of yours.
Now, to be clear, this is after seeing Cave in concert, and I was enthusiastically diving whole hog into his discography. That was met with this shrewd observation, from someone who I don't think had even posted in the thread before:
So I wasn't called arrogant, just a poser. And let the record show that I turned the other cheek instead of saying "shut up, jackass", which would probably have been a legitimate response.
It should also be noted that this person's avatar is a Star of David surrounded by the words "Fight Terror/Support Israel" which is too ironic for me to even comment on. That's right, NSW. One of yours.
IWasBored
Blue Crack Supplier
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
- Messages
- 36,783
yeah, i wouldn't have sought out troll-worthy material in a nick cave thread. very cool motherfucker for sure.
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
You're an arrogant poser. And an arrogant poster.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Are you trying to say something about the duality of man?
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
How shrewd of you. Why, yes I a.......yeah, no, was just piling on, sorry.
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
So, I've owned Ten since it was new and the Rearviewmirror compilation for about two and a half years, but I'd never given any of their full records outside of Ten a listen. I decided to take the plunge, and I've been listening almost exclusively to Pearl Jam for the past week, and I thought I'd post my thoughts about each one. I've put them in countdown order, my least favorite to favorite, though they're all good. Before I start, can I just say that I always thought Eddie Vedder was good, and these records have only improved my opinion of him. Chris Daughtry, Chad Kroeger, and Scott Stapp can imitate him all they want, but they're not even in the vicinity of being close. Ok, here goes.
8. Pearl Jam
I just think this record is a considerable step down musically from what PJ were doing on all of their previous records. It's probably their most straight-up rock record since Vs., and for me, that's not a good thing. There are some enjoyable tracks here, namely "Marker In The Sand", "Gone", and the final two tracks, "Come Back" and "Inside Job". The first single, "World Wide Suicide" does little for me. I'm probably in the minority, but I think "Wasted Reprise" is better than "Life Wasted". If all of "Life Wasted" had been like "Wasted Reprise", it would be far and away the best song on the record for me. The record has its moments, but for me, the whole just isn't very exciting. I hope Backspacer is better.
7. Vs.
I know this record is held in high regard, but outside a few key tracks, it strikes me as one of PJ's less interesting records. There are a handful of good tunes - "Dissident" has a huge, stadium-sized riff, "Elderly Woman Behind A Counter In A Small Town" is great, if repetitive, sing-along pop song. "Daughter" is overrated, imo, but it's still an alright tune. "Rearviewmirror" is the best song on the record by a fair distance. "Leash" is growing on me, it's really enjoyable musically, but its vocals/lyrics are lacking. "Animal" and "Indifference" are alright too - "Animal" is growing on me especially. It's not that the record is bad, it's just that, outside of "Rearviewmirror", it lacks the emotional depth of its predecessor and its successors. It's an aggressive record - arguably their most aggressive record ever - and it's a record to rock to, that's for sure, but it just doesn't quite move me in the way some of the later releases do. It also strikes me as sounding like a band that's still figuring out where to go after Ten.
6. Riot Act
The thing that Riot Act suffers the most from is its length. It's just too long. It starts out quite strong, with the hypnotic "Can't Keep", the fast-paced rocker "Save You", a good-but-not-great song musically that is bolstered by a rather profound lyric about friendship, and "Love Boat Captain" is my favorite song on the record, driven by an infectious verse melody and a chorus that pays homage to the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". Next up is "Crop Duster", arguably the best rocker on the record; it's driven by a great groove, but what really sets it apart is its intensely, relentlessly catchy chorus - "everyone is practicing/but this world's an accident/i was the fool because i thought i thought the world/turns out the world thought me/its all the other way 'round/we're upside down" - gets me bobbing my head every time. "Ghost" is solid; what stands out the most is the eye-of-the-storm mellow, pretty choruses and bridge - "so I'm flying(away, away)/driving(away, away)" - those are really well done. I already knew "I Am Mine" from the Rearviewmirror compilation - I loved it the first time I heard it and I love it now. Easily PJ's most anthemic song of the decade, it's spirit can best be defined by the lyric, "I know I was born/and I know that I'll die/the in between is mine/I am mine". "Thumbing My Way" is a simple, beautiful ballad, lyrically and musically. It's been pointed out that it's heavily influenced by Neil Young, but I think the chorus melody is very similar to that of Billy Joel's "Temptation". "You Are" is a dark, sparse rock song, in the vein of No Code's "Present Tense" and Vitalogy's "Tremor Christ"; it's really intense, and the minimalist nature of the guitar riff, bassline, and druming works really well, and I think that it matches the simple lyrical sentiment - "you are a tower/of strength to me" - very well. Solid tune, one that's growing on me. "Get Right" is alright, but it's repetitive. "Greendisease" is a pleasant tune, really catchy, but I sometimes feel like it could have built up to something more. It's rough sailing for the next few tracks. "Bushleager" has little going for it musically, "Help, Help" and "1/2 Full" are better but still not great. The last two tracks save the end of the record. "Arc" is gem; at just over a minute long, it's just Eddie wailing over an instrumental background, but it's gorgeous. It also sounds really familiar to me, like I've heard somewhere before, but not knowing that it was PJ. Can anyone can think of a movie/tv show/something else I may have heard it in? Anyway, the album closes with "All Or None", a great, satisfying slow-burn number featuring a great combination of keyboard and guitar. For some reason, this song reminds me vaguely of "Nothing As It Seems". Riot Act is a solid record, I like it a lot more than I thought I would - I expected to love Yield and Binaural and even No Code, but for some reason, I thought Riot Act had a bad reputation here, so I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. That said, I think it would be a stronger whole if the tracklist were the first eight tracks, Greendisease, Arc, and All or None.
5. Vitalogy
I'll keep this concise. Half of Vitalogy is arguably the strongest work of Pearl Jam's career. The other half is arguably the most forgettable work of Pearl Jam's career. The first half is so good that it drags the second half to #4. I don't need to tell anyone why "Last Exit", "Nothingman", "Better Man", "Courdroy", and "Immortality" rule. I'm also partial to "Tremor Christ", I think it's got an infectious grove and lyric despite its coldness, "I put my faith in love and/tremor christ". Sweet stuff. You might think "Spin The Black Circle" belongs in that list, but I'm having a hard time getting into that song; maybe it'll grow on me, but for now, it doesn't do much for me. But "Pry, To", "Bugs", "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"....they're interludes more than actual songs, and they're somewhat pleasant, but you'd never listen to them if you weren't listening to the whole album. There are more than a handful of great songs here, but the record as a whole suffers, I think, from a lack of musical breadth/diversity, as it's arguably the darkest record of PJ's career. Nontheless, there are great, great songs here, and if I were in the right mood, it might occasionally ascend into the top 2 or 3.
4. Binaural
I find the first three tracks of Binaural - "Breakerfall", "God's Dice", and "Evacuation" - to be rather blah, but starting with "Light Years", the record veers in a different direction, and that different direction puts this record in the top 5 for me. "Light Years" is one of the most gorgeous ballads of PJ's career, and was an obvious choice for a single. "Nothing As It Seems" is dark and heavy, and it contains one of my favorite guitar parts ever. It's just so hazy and ominous, it's fucking great. "Thin Air" is a gem of an acoustic/electric hybrid ballad that manages to be lightweight and dark at the same time; the electric parts come in exactly at the right points, and the build-up is perfect. "Insignificance" is just a great rock song. A huge, jolt-y, stop-start riff builds up into a frantic, melodic chorus that feels anything but insignificant. "Of The Girl" is an experimental ballad built on an eastern-sounding guitar riff, a thumping bassline and a great restrained, hushed vocal; this is one of those songs where constant repetition gives it strength. It really seeps into your consciousness. Here the record falls off a little. "Grievance" is alright, it's got a clever lyric, but it's one of the weaker tracks on the record, imo. "Rival" and "Sleight Of Hand" are solid, though not special, rockers, with the latter sounding just a little too generic to be a real favorite; not great, but enjoyable nontheless. "Soon Forget", a short, acoustic ballad, is pleasant enough but PJ have done better in the acoustic ballad department. The closer, "Parting Ways", is one of the stronger tracks on the record, a slow ballad about, well, parting ways in a relationship. The end of the song, the outro, with Eddie singing "Drifting awa-a-ay/drifting awa-a-y/drifting awa-a-y" over a cello, is gorgeous. A great track. Ultimately, it's the middle five tracks - "Light Years"/"Nothing As It Seems"/"Thin Air"/"Insignificance"/"Of The Girl" - and "Parting Ways" that contain the bulk of the record's strength, and I think that's good enough for #4.
3. No Code
From what I read, it appears as though No Code is Pearl Jam's Pop, in that half the fanbase thinks it's their low point and half the fanbase thinks it's one of their greatest and most moving records. Count me in the latter group. It was obviously a departure from PJ's opening trio of Ten/Vs/Vitalogy, but that departure is arguably the reason they're still around today. Taking a left turn when you don't necessarily have to is the mark of a great band. This is their most mellow record, and it also strikes me as their most introspective. There are a few big rockers - while I find myself not a big fan of PJ's more punkish work, "Hail Hail" is one of their best songs of that type, the sparse "Present Tense" has a great groove, I am of the opinion that "Mankind" would have been a huge hit had it been released as a single, it's catchy as hell, and "Red Mosquito" is a solid rocker that is made great, taken to another level, in the last minute by the extended guitar/bass outro that brings the beautiful, contemplative melody that was in the background for the rest of the song, to the foreground; but it's on the more mellow tracks that No Code hits it out of the park: the Eastern-flavored "Who You Are" with its powerful simplicity, the epic, hazy "In My Tree", which no words I say can do justice to, and the equally powerful "Off He Goes". The album's penultimate track, "I'm Open" contains one of the more powerful pieces of poetry I've seen put to music in a while, spoken word:
A man lies in his bed in a room with no door.
He waits hoping for a presence, something, anything, to enter.
After spending half his life searching he still felt as blank as the ceiling at which he's staring.
He's alive but feels absolutely nothing. So is he?
When he was six he believed that the moon overhead followed him, by nine he had deciphered the illusion trading magic for fact.
No tradebacks.
So this is what it's like to be an adult.
If he only knew now what he knew then...
To me, those four songs - "Who You Are", "In My Tree", "Off He Goes", and "I'm Open" are among the most introspective Eddie's ever written. The music is reflective and meditative, and the lyrics are the words of a man who is trying to deal with fame, how it has changed him, how it hasn't changed him, how it's effected his relationships, etc. The meaning of "Who You Are" is obvious, "In My Tree" deals with the isolation he feels as a result of fame, "Off He Goes" deals with how his old friends don't really know him anymore(one of my favorite PJ lyrics), and "I'm Open" deals with loss of innocence.
In between the rockers and the mellow tracks is "Smile", a mid-tempo Neil Young-ish guitar number that is catchy and upbeat and makes me, pardon the pun, smile.
As for the rest - "Lukin" is hilarious, and one of the hardest, loudest things PJ has ever put on record, but it's not a serious piece of music. "Habit" is the only truly "skip" track on the record for me, it just doesn't do much for me. I know a lot of people would probably put something like Vs. above No Code, but I think this is just a much more interesting record. In fact, it's competing mightily with Yield for the #2 spot. No Code is, imo, PJ's most moving record.
2. Yield
First thing's first: Yield's" front cover is one of the great album covers ever. So simple, could mean anything to anybody, and it matches the vibe of the record perfectly. This is easily the most uplifting record of PJ's career. No other PJ record screams to be blasted out of the car stereo the way this one does. The first thee numbers, "Brain Of J", "Faithful", and "No Way" are fast-paced rockers and offer an energetic, upbeat, and enjoyable start to the record, but the really great stuff comes after. "Given To Fly" is a stone cold classic. I would rank it as one of the top 5 songs PJ has ever put to record. It is the perfect blend of classic rock and 90s alternative rock, and the lyric is just one of the greatest Ed has ever written; "Arms wide open with the sea as his floor", "and sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky/a human being that was given to fly". "Wishlist" is a great little ballad driven by a relentless bassline and a poppy melody; I love it. "Pilate" is a strange song, with really beautiful, mellow verses giving way to a rachous beat-you-over-the-head chorus. I wasn't a huge fan of "Do The Evolution" at first, due to its lack of melody, but its grown on me, and the angel chorus right in the middle of this huge rock song, like the eye of the storm, is really fucking cool. "MFC" is bright pop-rock song with a sunny, shiny guitar riff/solo" and a sing-along chorus; I could see this being a hit. "Lowlight", a country-ish ballad; a steady melody over a musical backing the builds as the song goes on, the highlight being the guitar solo(perhaps the strongest one on the record) and the little keyboard outro - just a joy to listen to. In Hiding" is made for the live stage; the verses have just the right tension, you know they're building to something big, and the chorus is as simple as it gets but HUGE. Also, some of the guitar parts in this song remind me of Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien". Am I alone in that? "Push Me Pull Me" is funky. I love it more than I would've thought I would love a song like that. It starts of totally sparse and cold and desolate, and somehow it builds into a vibe that is an odd mix between warmth and numbness. The "Push me pull me" repetition is hypnotizing. The closer, "All Those Yesterdays" sounds like a White Album era Beatles song. A great, sunny, mellow ending to the record. Even better is the hidden track after it ends, a latin-influenced jam session apparently called "Hummus", which is one of the most awesome things I've heard PJ do; seriously, I don't know if they've ever played "Hummus" live, but if they haven't, they should. It's really fucking good. As is the whole record. I love this one the most.
1. Ten
I've been listening to this record a lot longer than the others, but I'm including it too. There's a reason why so many people say Pearl Jam can never top their debut. I don't even need to say anything about "Even Flow", "Jeremy", and "Alive"(although I think the latter is a little overrated and musically the weakest of the three). I don't need to say anything about "Black" either but I'm going to anyway. "Black" is a singular song in PJ's catalog. You could make a very legitimate argument for "Black" being the very best song PJ has ever recorded. Its climax is orgasmically good. There are few moments in few rock songs as powerful as "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life/I know you'll be a sun in somebody else's sky/but why, why, why can't it be/why can't it be mine/doo-doo-doo--doo--doo-doo-doo(repeat a bunch of times)". And then when Eddie comes back in a little bit after that with that wail "heey-ey-ey-eeey" that just fades in as if out of nowhere amongst the "doo-doo-doo--doo--doo-doo-doo"s. Just tremendous. "Oceans" is absolutely gorgeous, one of PJ's most underrated ballads ever, imo. "Porch" is classic. "Release" is an epic closer. There isn't much to say about this record that hasn't already been said. It's just a seminal record. That said, Yield, No Code]/i], and Binaural are all close to overtaking this #1 spot.
Overall: Pearl Jam
As a side note, I first went about obtaining these records(except for Ten, which I already had) via torrents, but that proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. In searching for alternative sources, I stumbled upon a site called RapidLibrary.com, basically a search engine for anything uploaded to R a p i d s h a r e. You can find pretty much any album you can think of there. It's amazing. You guys probably already knew about that, but I felt like sharing. Ok, I'm done.
8. Pearl Jam
I just think this record is a considerable step down musically from what PJ were doing on all of their previous records. It's probably their most straight-up rock record since Vs., and for me, that's not a good thing. There are some enjoyable tracks here, namely "Marker In The Sand", "Gone", and the final two tracks, "Come Back" and "Inside Job". The first single, "World Wide Suicide" does little for me. I'm probably in the minority, but I think "Wasted Reprise" is better than "Life Wasted". If all of "Life Wasted" had been like "Wasted Reprise", it would be far and away the best song on the record for me. The record has its moments, but for me, the whole just isn't very exciting. I hope Backspacer is better.
7. Vs.
I know this record is held in high regard, but outside a few key tracks, it strikes me as one of PJ's less interesting records. There are a handful of good tunes - "Dissident" has a huge, stadium-sized riff, "Elderly Woman Behind A Counter In A Small Town" is great, if repetitive, sing-along pop song. "Daughter" is overrated, imo, but it's still an alright tune. "Rearviewmirror" is the best song on the record by a fair distance. "Leash" is growing on me, it's really enjoyable musically, but its vocals/lyrics are lacking. "Animal" and "Indifference" are alright too - "Animal" is growing on me especially. It's not that the record is bad, it's just that, outside of "Rearviewmirror", it lacks the emotional depth of its predecessor and its successors. It's an aggressive record - arguably their most aggressive record ever - and it's a record to rock to, that's for sure, but it just doesn't quite move me in the way some of the later releases do. It also strikes me as sounding like a band that's still figuring out where to go after Ten.
6. Riot Act
The thing that Riot Act suffers the most from is its length. It's just too long. It starts out quite strong, with the hypnotic "Can't Keep", the fast-paced rocker "Save You", a good-but-not-great song musically that is bolstered by a rather profound lyric about friendship, and "Love Boat Captain" is my favorite song on the record, driven by an infectious verse melody and a chorus that pays homage to the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". Next up is "Crop Duster", arguably the best rocker on the record; it's driven by a great groove, but what really sets it apart is its intensely, relentlessly catchy chorus - "everyone is practicing/but this world's an accident/i was the fool because i thought i thought the world/turns out the world thought me/its all the other way 'round/we're upside down" - gets me bobbing my head every time. "Ghost" is solid; what stands out the most is the eye-of-the-storm mellow, pretty choruses and bridge - "so I'm flying(away, away)/driving(away, away)" - those are really well done. I already knew "I Am Mine" from the Rearviewmirror compilation - I loved it the first time I heard it and I love it now. Easily PJ's most anthemic song of the decade, it's spirit can best be defined by the lyric, "I know I was born/and I know that I'll die/the in between is mine/I am mine". "Thumbing My Way" is a simple, beautiful ballad, lyrically and musically. It's been pointed out that it's heavily influenced by Neil Young, but I think the chorus melody is very similar to that of Billy Joel's "Temptation". "You Are" is a dark, sparse rock song, in the vein of No Code's "Present Tense" and Vitalogy's "Tremor Christ"; it's really intense, and the minimalist nature of the guitar riff, bassline, and druming works really well, and I think that it matches the simple lyrical sentiment - "you are a tower/of strength to me" - very well. Solid tune, one that's growing on me. "Get Right" is alright, but it's repetitive. "Greendisease" is a pleasant tune, really catchy, but I sometimes feel like it could have built up to something more. It's rough sailing for the next few tracks. "Bushleager" has little going for it musically, "Help, Help" and "1/2 Full" are better but still not great. The last two tracks save the end of the record. "Arc" is gem; at just over a minute long, it's just Eddie wailing over an instrumental background, but it's gorgeous. It also sounds really familiar to me, like I've heard somewhere before, but not knowing that it was PJ. Can anyone can think of a movie/tv show/something else I may have heard it in? Anyway, the album closes with "All Or None", a great, satisfying slow-burn number featuring a great combination of keyboard and guitar. For some reason, this song reminds me vaguely of "Nothing As It Seems". Riot Act is a solid record, I like it a lot more than I thought I would - I expected to love Yield and Binaural and even No Code, but for some reason, I thought Riot Act had a bad reputation here, so I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. That said, I think it would be a stronger whole if the tracklist were the first eight tracks, Greendisease, Arc, and All or None.
5. Vitalogy
I'll keep this concise. Half of Vitalogy is arguably the strongest work of Pearl Jam's career. The other half is arguably the most forgettable work of Pearl Jam's career. The first half is so good that it drags the second half to #4. I don't need to tell anyone why "Last Exit", "Nothingman", "Better Man", "Courdroy", and "Immortality" rule. I'm also partial to "Tremor Christ", I think it's got an infectious grove and lyric despite its coldness, "I put my faith in love and/tremor christ". Sweet stuff. You might think "Spin The Black Circle" belongs in that list, but I'm having a hard time getting into that song; maybe it'll grow on me, but for now, it doesn't do much for me. But "Pry, To", "Bugs", "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"....they're interludes more than actual songs, and they're somewhat pleasant, but you'd never listen to them if you weren't listening to the whole album. There are more than a handful of great songs here, but the record as a whole suffers, I think, from a lack of musical breadth/diversity, as it's arguably the darkest record of PJ's career. Nontheless, there are great, great songs here, and if I were in the right mood, it might occasionally ascend into the top 2 or 3.
4. Binaural
I find the first three tracks of Binaural - "Breakerfall", "God's Dice", and "Evacuation" - to be rather blah, but starting with "Light Years", the record veers in a different direction, and that different direction puts this record in the top 5 for me. "Light Years" is one of the most gorgeous ballads of PJ's career, and was an obvious choice for a single. "Nothing As It Seems" is dark and heavy, and it contains one of my favorite guitar parts ever. It's just so hazy and ominous, it's fucking great. "Thin Air" is a gem of an acoustic/electric hybrid ballad that manages to be lightweight and dark at the same time; the electric parts come in exactly at the right points, and the build-up is perfect. "Insignificance" is just a great rock song. A huge, jolt-y, stop-start riff builds up into a frantic, melodic chorus that feels anything but insignificant. "Of The Girl" is an experimental ballad built on an eastern-sounding guitar riff, a thumping bassline and a great restrained, hushed vocal; this is one of those songs where constant repetition gives it strength. It really seeps into your consciousness. Here the record falls off a little. "Grievance" is alright, it's got a clever lyric, but it's one of the weaker tracks on the record, imo. "Rival" and "Sleight Of Hand" are solid, though not special, rockers, with the latter sounding just a little too generic to be a real favorite; not great, but enjoyable nontheless. "Soon Forget", a short, acoustic ballad, is pleasant enough but PJ have done better in the acoustic ballad department. The closer, "Parting Ways", is one of the stronger tracks on the record, a slow ballad about, well, parting ways in a relationship. The end of the song, the outro, with Eddie singing "Drifting awa-a-ay/drifting awa-a-y/drifting awa-a-y" over a cello, is gorgeous. A great track. Ultimately, it's the middle five tracks - "Light Years"/"Nothing As It Seems"/"Thin Air"/"Insignificance"/"Of The Girl" - and "Parting Ways" that contain the bulk of the record's strength, and I think that's good enough for #4.
3. No Code
From what I read, it appears as though No Code is Pearl Jam's Pop, in that half the fanbase thinks it's their low point and half the fanbase thinks it's one of their greatest and most moving records. Count me in the latter group. It was obviously a departure from PJ's opening trio of Ten/Vs/Vitalogy, but that departure is arguably the reason they're still around today. Taking a left turn when you don't necessarily have to is the mark of a great band. This is their most mellow record, and it also strikes me as their most introspective. There are a few big rockers - while I find myself not a big fan of PJ's more punkish work, "Hail Hail" is one of their best songs of that type, the sparse "Present Tense" has a great groove, I am of the opinion that "Mankind" would have been a huge hit had it been released as a single, it's catchy as hell, and "Red Mosquito" is a solid rocker that is made great, taken to another level, in the last minute by the extended guitar/bass outro that brings the beautiful, contemplative melody that was in the background for the rest of the song, to the foreground; but it's on the more mellow tracks that No Code hits it out of the park: the Eastern-flavored "Who You Are" with its powerful simplicity, the epic, hazy "In My Tree", which no words I say can do justice to, and the equally powerful "Off He Goes". The album's penultimate track, "I'm Open" contains one of the more powerful pieces of poetry I've seen put to music in a while, spoken word:
A man lies in his bed in a room with no door.
He waits hoping for a presence, something, anything, to enter.
After spending half his life searching he still felt as blank as the ceiling at which he's staring.
He's alive but feels absolutely nothing. So is he?
When he was six he believed that the moon overhead followed him, by nine he had deciphered the illusion trading magic for fact.
No tradebacks.
So this is what it's like to be an adult.
If he only knew now what he knew then...
To me, those four songs - "Who You Are", "In My Tree", "Off He Goes", and "I'm Open" are among the most introspective Eddie's ever written. The music is reflective and meditative, and the lyrics are the words of a man who is trying to deal with fame, how it has changed him, how it hasn't changed him, how it's effected his relationships, etc. The meaning of "Who You Are" is obvious, "In My Tree" deals with the isolation he feels as a result of fame, "Off He Goes" deals with how his old friends don't really know him anymore(one of my favorite PJ lyrics), and "I'm Open" deals with loss of innocence.
In between the rockers and the mellow tracks is "Smile", a mid-tempo Neil Young-ish guitar number that is catchy and upbeat and makes me, pardon the pun, smile.
As for the rest - "Lukin" is hilarious, and one of the hardest, loudest things PJ has ever put on record, but it's not a serious piece of music. "Habit" is the only truly "skip" track on the record for me, it just doesn't do much for me. I know a lot of people would probably put something like Vs. above No Code, but I think this is just a much more interesting record. In fact, it's competing mightily with Yield for the #2 spot. No Code is, imo, PJ's most moving record.
2. Yield
First thing's first: Yield's" front cover is one of the great album covers ever. So simple, could mean anything to anybody, and it matches the vibe of the record perfectly. This is easily the most uplifting record of PJ's career. No other PJ record screams to be blasted out of the car stereo the way this one does. The first thee numbers, "Brain Of J", "Faithful", and "No Way" are fast-paced rockers and offer an energetic, upbeat, and enjoyable start to the record, but the really great stuff comes after. "Given To Fly" is a stone cold classic. I would rank it as one of the top 5 songs PJ has ever put to record. It is the perfect blend of classic rock and 90s alternative rock, and the lyric is just one of the greatest Ed has ever written; "Arms wide open with the sea as his floor", "and sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky/a human being that was given to fly". "Wishlist" is a great little ballad driven by a relentless bassline and a poppy melody; I love it. "Pilate" is a strange song, with really beautiful, mellow verses giving way to a rachous beat-you-over-the-head chorus. I wasn't a huge fan of "Do The Evolution" at first, due to its lack of melody, but its grown on me, and the angel chorus right in the middle of this huge rock song, like the eye of the storm, is really fucking cool. "MFC" is bright pop-rock song with a sunny, shiny guitar riff/solo" and a sing-along chorus; I could see this being a hit. "Lowlight", a country-ish ballad; a steady melody over a musical backing the builds as the song goes on, the highlight being the guitar solo(perhaps the strongest one on the record) and the little keyboard outro - just a joy to listen to. In Hiding" is made for the live stage; the verses have just the right tension, you know they're building to something big, and the chorus is as simple as it gets but HUGE. Also, some of the guitar parts in this song remind me of Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien". Am I alone in that? "Push Me Pull Me" is funky. I love it more than I would've thought I would love a song like that. It starts of totally sparse and cold and desolate, and somehow it builds into a vibe that is an odd mix between warmth and numbness. The "Push me pull me" repetition is hypnotizing. The closer, "All Those Yesterdays" sounds like a White Album era Beatles song. A great, sunny, mellow ending to the record. Even better is the hidden track after it ends, a latin-influenced jam session apparently called "Hummus", which is one of the most awesome things I've heard PJ do; seriously, I don't know if they've ever played "Hummus" live, but if they haven't, they should. It's really fucking good. As is the whole record. I love this one the most.
1. Ten
I've been listening to this record a lot longer than the others, but I'm including it too. There's a reason why so many people say Pearl Jam can never top their debut. I don't even need to say anything about "Even Flow", "Jeremy", and "Alive"(although I think the latter is a little overrated and musically the weakest of the three). I don't need to say anything about "Black" either but I'm going to anyway. "Black" is a singular song in PJ's catalog. You could make a very legitimate argument for "Black" being the very best song PJ has ever recorded. Its climax is orgasmically good. There are few moments in few rock songs as powerful as "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life/I know you'll be a sun in somebody else's sky/but why, why, why can't it be/why can't it be mine/doo-doo-doo--doo--doo-doo-doo(repeat a bunch of times)". And then when Eddie comes back in a little bit after that with that wail "heey-ey-ey-eeey" that just fades in as if out of nowhere amongst the "doo-doo-doo--doo--doo-doo-doo"s. Just tremendous. "Oceans" is absolutely gorgeous, one of PJ's most underrated ballads ever, imo. "Porch" is classic. "Release" is an epic closer. There isn't much to say about this record that hasn't already been said. It's just a seminal record. That said, Yield, No Code]/i], and Binaural are all close to overtaking this #1 spot.
Overall: Pearl Jam
As a side note, I first went about obtaining these records(except for Ten, which I already had) via torrents, but that proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. In searching for alternative sources, I stumbled upon a site called RapidLibrary.com, basically a search engine for anything uploaded to R a p i d s h a r e. You can find pretty much any album you can think of there. It's amazing. You guys probably already knew about that, but I felt like sharing. Ok, I'm done.
the tourist
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2003
- Messages
- 27,919
Without the in-depth review:
1. Vs.
2. Ten
3. Binaural
4. Yield
5. Vitalogy
6. No Code
7. Pearl Jam
8. Riot Act
1. Vs.
2. Ten
3. Binaural
4. Yield
5. Vitalogy
6. No Code
7. Pearl Jam
8. Riot Act
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Nice write-up on No Code, namkcuR, though I'm amazed that someone who really gets the album would still put Ten at the top of their list. Hopefully it will overtake it, as you suggest as a possibility.
P.S. Jeremy is one of the most overrated songs of all time.
P.S. Jeremy is one of the most overrated songs of all time.
Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
Who'd have thunk?
intedomine
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Nice rundown, I should start getting them albums in readiness for the gig....
wait a second... indifference lacks emotional depth? did i read that right or am i just crazy?
MrPryck2U
ONE love, blood, life
Bless your heart.
My top studios from PJ:
1- No Code
2- Vs.
3- Ten
4- Yield
5- Vitalogy
6- Riot Act
7- Pearl Jam
8- Binaural
I like all of PJ's albums. This is simply the order in which I like them.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Binaural > Vitalogy? Good God, it's probably their worst.
I just never really could get into Pearl Jam's later work. Ten is all kinds of fucking amazing, overexposed or not.
I just never really could get into Pearl Jam's later work. Ten is all kinds of fucking amazing, overexposed or not.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Yeah, I've probably had the toughest time getting into Binaural. But there was a clear point about it picking up after you get past the first few tracks, and i need to give it another chance.
AndrewCowley
Refugee
I kind of feel the other way. I like Binaural. It is dark and moody. Whereas (this might be heracy) but in the year 2009, I find Ten hard to listen to. It sounds cheesy to me.
It is similar to my 'relationship' with U2 thesedays. So much has changed and it is hard to go back to the basic sounds of Boy and remember how good it really was in context. For me, the context that was there when Ten first came out is long since gone and somehow despite those songs being great I find it hard to listen to.
It might just be that FM radio are guilty of way overplaying those Ten songs. Over exposure.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
^^^ I agree with this, too. Ten is overproduced, and seriously dated, despite having some great songs, some of which have been way overplayed.
have you given a listen to the remastered and remixed Ten that brendan o'brien did for the reissue?
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Yeah. It's an improvement, but not as much as I was expecting.
the tourist
Blue Crack Addict
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You see, for the longest time I disliked Vitalogy but for a couple songs. Some of the low points to that album are really low whereas the highs were at that of the earlier material, but not as consistently. Binaural I fell in love with upon first listen.
This.
I still love it, but it is dated from a production standpoint for sure. And the remix/remaster is great and all, but it could have been better.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Yeah, Ten has dated badly, but a good song is a good song. 
the tourist
Blue Crack Addict
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Yeah, Ten has dated badly, but a good song is a good song.
That's why it's still second in my ranking.
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
You know what...I may have been a little off with that comment. RVM, Indifference, and maybe even Dissident and Elderly Woman to an extent have emotional depth. But as a whole, I still feel that Vs. doesn't pack close to the emotional punch of, say, No Code. Now, if I just wanted an album to rock the fuck out to, Vs. would be a good choice.
The first three tracks on Binaural don't do much for me yet. But the five that follow it make up what I think is as strong of a five song run PJ has ever put on record, and the end of the record is pretty good as well, especially the closer, Parting Ways.
That said, I'm listening to Vitalogy right now, and when it's good, it's really, really good, and I could almost put it above Binaural, if only Last Exit, Tremor Christ, Nothingman, Courdroy, Better Man, and Immortality had more surrounding them. BTW, am I missing something with Spin The Black Circle? Its on the RVM compilation, which implies that it's one of PJ's best, but I can't get into it.
Anyway, no way is Binaural their worst...LM, you really think it's worse than even Avocado?
I haven't listened to the whole Ten remaster, but are the mixes of Once, Alive, Even Flow, Jeremy, and Black the same as those on the RVM compilation? Because for those songs, especially Black and Even Flow, I listen to the RVM versions much more than the Ten versions. I think they're better versions.
Also, regarding Ten, does any agree that Oceans is one of the most gorgeous ballads PJ has ever written?
phanan
Blue Crack Addict
It was the first single released from the album, along with Tremor Christ, so that's the main reason.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Spin The Black Circle is probably the album's worst song. It came off as a WE R PUNK 2!! desperation move to be honest. Okay, you're not corporate rock whores, you're into vinyl, we get it. Can we have some songs now please?
Satan's Bed is kind of lame too.
Satan's Bed is kind of lame too.
OP
OP
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
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