Binaural: Official Album Thread

[Norah]

Reckoning relies heavily on binaural recording.

[Leatherhead]

I love the feel and atmosphere of Binaural. Can anybody recommend any other albums that have a similar feel to them?

Like, non PJ?

Yea.

REM's Reckoning

I've never gotten into much REM but have always thought that I should. I'll check this out.

[Leatherhead]

I love the feel and atmosphere of Binaural. Can anybody recommend any other albums that have a similar feel to them?

Like, non PJ?

I think Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind has a similar feel. A warm, evening feel of humidity. I know TooM was all recorded at night to specifically get that feeling and songs like NAIS and Of The Girl certainly match it.

I'll check this out, but Bob Dylan has never really rocked enough for me. While Binaural has the moody slow songs, it definitely still rocks.

[Jorge]

Warmth and humidity are words I would not use to describe Binaural at all.

[Leatherhead]

Warmth and humidity are words I would not use to describe Binaural at all.

Yea, not really.

[VinylGuy]

Parting Ways is a total snooze, one of my least favourite songs the band had released at that point. Education makes for a much better closer.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[PHATJ]

Hell yes I can. Mike Doughty is great, although admittedly his voice isn't for everyone.

[Leatherhead]

I love the feel and atmosphere of Binaural. Can anybody recommend any other albums that have a similar feel to them?

Have you explored Tchad Blake's discography at all? His fingerprints are all over Binaural. The leap your ear holes will have to take from Binaural to Los Lobos's Colossal Head is not too big (and sidenote: Kiko is also Blake, and is more popular, but I feel but Colossal Head is closer in musicality); and Soul Coughing's El Oso is also very similar (if you can get into the singer, which I can't, but PhatJ can).

One song in to Colossal Head. Really liked it. Here goes #2, sounds great already. I've never listened to this band.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Leatherhead]

I love the feel and atmosphere of Binaural. Can anybody recommend any other albums that have a similar feel to them?

Have you explored Tchad Blake's discography at all? His fingerprints are all over Binaural. The leap your ear holes will have to take from Binaural to Los Lobos's Colossal Head is not too big (and sidenote: Kiko is also Blake, and is more popular, but I feel but Colossal Head is closer in musicality); and Soul Coughing's El Oso is also very similar (if you can get into the singer, which I can't, but PhatJ can).

One song in to Colossal Head. Really liked it. Here goes #2, sounds great already. I've never listened to this band.

Yeah, that first song on Colossal Head is great.

Stopped after song #3 though, nothing but Spanish is kinda hard for me to get into.

[Anders]

I wish they had done more of it. Binaural always sounded amazing to me.

[Tuolumne]

I just wanted to say this album is really connecting with me at this very moment. There are themes on here I don't think I've gotten until recently. The whole idea of the world spinning out of your control and how man connects to the cosmos is hitting on something. I actually rate this album on the lower end of the PJ catalogue, and probably always will, but the fact that even an album that I think is sort of a missed opportunity is this strong says something about the band.

This album can best be described as "difficult". Both in the good sense of the word and the bad sense. The themes themselves of the songs - events around you being out of control, connecting to the ether out there or just feeling completely disconnected, are just really difficult subjects. They set a really high bar for themselves on this record. It is serious in every sense of word. Lyrics alluding to all of this - "Out of my hands", "we were miles apart", "lost her invitation to the party on Earth", "set up the 10 pins, a human tide rolls in like a ball that's spinning", etc.

Nothing As It Seems is spooky and mysterious and just feels unsettled, and Rival and Sleight of Hand both cover unsettling topics from difficult points of views. And Parting Ways ending it all. 2016-2017 is certainly a time where alot of people feel left to their devices in an environment that is out of control, and this record connects me to this time more than the others.

Even the problems I have with this record - the mix being difficult to penetrate, lack of hooks, the subject matter sometimes being hard to grasp and connect to - all contribute to the feeling of just feeling out of sorts and out of place. I think the band was really hitting on something here. They didn't capture it with complete success, but man they were really going for a very specific and unique feeling, and doing it from songwriting perspectives they've never really tried before or since. It's no OK Computer, but there's a feeling in there and artistic intent that is really worth some analysis.

So, I'm really glad this record exists, if only as a piece of art that is like a picture you find in the bottom of a crate that you thought never existed, but captured a moment that you really should pay attention to in the year 2017 with all of the shit going on.

[McParadigm]

[Monkey_Driven]

Well said.

[epilogue]

This record has changed & improved so much for me over the years. It used to be my least favorite Pearl Jam record. Anymore, I'd rank it around or above No Code (like top 5).

The people who connected with this thing and defended it from day one are geniuses with impeccable taste that the rest of us should humbly bow to and shine the shoes of.

[Norah]

The people who connected with this thing and defended it from day one are geniuses with impeccable taste that the rest of us should humbly bow to and shine the shoes of.

Yet you still won't budge on Habit.

[epilogue]

The people who connected with this thing and defended it from day one are geniuses with impeccable taste that the rest of us should humbly bow to and shine the shoes of.

Yet you still won't budge on Habit.

God, that song is the worst. It's probably the single song that keeps Binaural ahead of No Code. I'm serious.

[Norah]

The people who connected with this thing and defended it from day one are geniuses with impeccable taste that the rest of us should humbly bow to and shine the shoes of.

Yet you still won't budge on Habit.

God, that song is the worst. It's probably the single song that keeps Binaural ahead of No Code. I'm serious.

No that's I'm Open.

[epilogue]

The people who connected with this thing and defended it from day one are geniuses with impeccable taste that the rest of us should humbly bow to and shine the shoes of.

Yet you still won't budge on Habit.

God, that song is the worst. It's probably the single song that keeps Binaural ahead of No Code. I'm serious.

No that's I'm Open.

I'm Open is also up there, yeah. It definitely hurts the record. But I figure I'm Open and Soon Forget are about equal. There's nothing on Binaural as bad a Habit.