Top 10.

[Farmer John]

Yeah, we heard you guys the first thousand times.

I was being genuine! These dudes were really something.

...and they're still kind of alright.

[bodysnatcher]

every list should include "Barack Around the Clock"

[bada]

01. Release
02. Alive
03. Corduroy
04. Last Exit
05. Black
06. Given To Fly
07. Rearviermirror
08. Present Tense
09. Even Flow
10. Immortality

[dprival78]

do the evolution
I got shit
corduroy
in my tree
state of love and trust
black
wish list
light years
hail hail
given to fly

[knee tunes]

Crazy Mary
All those Yesterdays
Crown of Thorns
Breath * a scream
Alive
Severed Hand
Marker in the Sand
Long Road
Yellow Ledbetter
Rearview

[Sigerson]

In My Tree
Sleight Of Hand
Hail Hail
Faithfull
Parting Ways
Rival
You Are
Cropduster
All Those Yesterdays
Can't Keep

[@SkitchP]

Immortality
State of Love and Trust
Nothing As It Seems
Given to Fly
Smile
Corduroy
Faithfull
Man of the Hour
Tremor Christ
Brain of J

[numbers]

Release
Corduroy
State Of Love And Trust
Alive
Parting Ways
Footsteps
Satan's Bed
Immortality
RVM
All Or None

[Kevin Davis]

Right now, at this particular moment in time?

Around the Bend
No Way
Evacuation
Cropduster
Rival
Sleight of Hand
In the Moonlight
Strangest Tribe
Man of the Hour
Parachutes

there's only 3 of these songs i'd even give 4 stars to. I do not mean this dismissively in the slightest if it sounds like that, but were you attracted to the more marginal songs (in terms of the kinds of songs PJ writes/plays/etc) from the beginning or has that shifted over time?

Good question. I got into Pearl Jam when I was 11 (early 1995), so a lot of these kinds of songs weren't really out there then. Growing up listening to the band, I don't think I was ever aware of whether or not a song was "on the fringe" or anything like that--I would be thrown by one every once in a while, but for the most part they were all just songs that I either liked or I didn't. But yeah, my "of all time" list would definitely look a lot different, probably tending towards the more familiar material. Along the way a lot of those songs have been tied into social and cultural moments that have given them long-term relevance for me. But at the moment, these are the songs that I find myself getting most genuinely excited about, musically. A lot of my listening over the past few years has tended jazzy, so I think I'm most captivated by the songs that seem just slightly off-kilter ("Evacuation," "Cropduster," "Moonlight"), or that manipulate melody in a way that feels quizzical and bold without sacrificing beauty ("Strangest Tribe," "Parachutes"). A great (very "Stone") moment is the end of the chorus to "Strangest Tribe," when Eddie draws that long i sound out and ends on that slightly wayward major chord--I love that, it surprises me every time, and leaves the tone of the song in an entirely different place than where it began. I'd liken it to when someone you know is driving you somewhere, but won't tell you where. You're familiar with the layout of the town, so as you ride along, you begin making educated guesses, to the point where you're certain you've figured out where you're going, and then the person drives you into the parking lot of some awesome place you had completely forgotten existed. A lot of the songs on this list have moments like that.

[iceagecoming]

I never know where to start with these things...

Chronologically, at the moment:

Oceans
Release
In My Tree
Sad
Given To Fly
Do The Evolution
Grievance
I Am Mine
Parachutes
The End

[Birds in Hell]

Tremor Christ
Evacuation
Hail, Hail
Rearviewmirror
Last Exit
Faithfull
Animal
Brain of J.
Sleight of Hand
In the Moonlight
Daughter

Daughter is definitely in my top 10, probably top 5.

I shouldn't hold the fact that it's completely perfunctory live now against it.

[Blenheim Augustine]

Long Road
Hail, Hail
Last Exit
Corduroy
Footsteps
Immortality
Insignificance
Nothingman
In My Tree
RVM

[darth_vedder]

Haven't thought about this for quite some time.

Not sure if I want to list what I think are PJs best, or what by the band I happen to be into at the moment...

I think I'll go with a mix of the two:

In My Tree
Insignificance
Tremor Christ
Animal
Last Exit
Who You Are
Porch
Happy When I'm Crying
Faithfull
All Those Yesterdays

[@SkitchP]

Man, that Kevin Davis loves words.

[Kevin Davis]

You have no idea, @SkitchP.

[Kevin Davis]

Sometimes when people ask me questions on the internet, I like to pretend I'm being interviewed for some kind of high profile publication, wherein my devoted readers will be hanging on my every word, clipping quotable portions of my replies to post on Facebook, etc., so I think to myself, "If this was one of my heroes being asked this question, what kind of answer would I want to read?" I kind of doctor my response accordingly. So far I've stopped short of adding stage directions (i.e. *laughs* or *pauses for a moment, reflectively*--something like that), but don't think I haven't put them in there only to edit them out at the last minute.

[Angus]

You should really leave them in here. I’d enjoy your posts even more.

[Thurman Murman]

Black
Corduroy
Immortality
In My Tree
Nothing As It Seems
Tremor Christ
Rearviewmirror
Release
I Got ID
Long Road

[mray10]

Black
Long Road
Breath
Go
Indifference
Corduroy
Immortality
Red Mosquito
Low Light
Insignificance

[epilogue]

I realize I'm a big fan of all Pearl Jam songs that start with the letter 'i.'

In My Tree, Immortality, Insignificance, I Am Mine, In The Moonlight, Indifference, etc. I love all of those songs.