First Experiences

[PHATJ]

BTW, I'm not using your age as a pejorative, it's just my relationship/experience with each album is so different with merely a 5-6 year age gap.

I believe it. I’d love to hear your story.

[Brett]

Spoiler: show

Ten (1991) - I probably haven’t listened to this album in full in at least a decade. But when it came out, and for the decade-plus that followed, this album meant as much or more to me than any other. So many classic songs, even if I don’t crave hearing them anymore. Release is possibly my favorite song of all time, and about 4-5 others on this album are rock icons. And deservedly so.

Vs. (1993) - I have the same relationship with Vs. as I do with Ten. This is one of my most loved albums of all time. I go back to this more often than Ten, and it has aged better probably. This probably is my favorite era for Ed’s vocals, and Dave A.’s drumming on Vs. is my favorite of any PJ album.

Vitalogy (1994) - This was one of the first albums I truly recognized as a comprehensive piece of art. I was 14 years old, and everything about Vitalogy amazed me. The album sounded incredible on my discman. The album artwork was beautiful, and dark, and weird, and cool as fucking hell. I’ve never had a more thorough experience than when I was obsessing with Vitalogy in the year or so that followed its release. It’s still a great experience now.

Merkinball (1995) - Two amazing songs. I Got Id and Long Road are both PJ classics, and the sound of this release is perfect. I still love these songs.

No Code (1996) - Wonderfully different than what came before. The change to Jack Irons made No Code sound like a radically different Pearl Jam, but they still sounded awesome. An interesting variety of songwriting was complimented by a wildly creative and interesting album art presentation. No Code changed the trajectory of the band, any direction forward seemed possible. This album still sounds great, and I’ve listened to it more frequently than the earlier records over the last few years.

Yield (1998)- This was the first album I was old enough to skip school and drive. I was a junior in high school, skipped my second through fourth period classes to drive to Best Buy, buy the album (which came with a vinyl version of the GTF single), and then drove around listening to the entire thing at max volume. It was a glorious experience. Yield sounds fucking great, it‘s full of fantastic songs, and the band along with Jack is at pique performance. Having this album accompanied by a VHS copy of Single Video Theory was possibly the absolute height of my Pearl Jam devotion and love. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Binaural - Sleight of Hand. Best song PJ has ever recorded. This album came out when I was in college and smoking tons of weed, partying all the time, and spending lots of time with girls. Even though I was having a blast being 20, I still loved darker, moody music. Binaural was and is a challenging album. The addition of Matt Cameron changed PJ’s sound again. The recording process produced some really interesting sounding songs with great depth. I’ve always loved many of the songs, but I disliked other tracks for years too. I also wanted the original track list for a really long time. Like more than a decade. At times I still feel that could’ve been the clear best album PJ ever made. That said, I’ve grown to love Binaural for what it is, and over the last few years, this has been my favorite PJ album.

Riot Act - It was a new time in my life. I was 22, working and traveling full time, and a year away from marriage. I remember driving what seemed like hundreds of dark and rainy nights, listening to Riot Act and wondering about a completely unknown future. Riot Act was long and varied, and uncertain. That related to me. But I also remember it being the most uneven PJ album. I really disliked some of the songs for the first time, but there were also seven or eight songs that I thought were great. This is still basically how I feel about it. I place it in the “Love” category because this was the last album I have had a truly intimate relationship with over the years. These first seven albums defined my youth and early adulthood. No group of albums by any band has meant more to me in my life.

Avocado - when this album came out, I was married, had two young daughters, and was a puffy-chested 26 year old, thinking I had everything figured out. I was crazy excited for the first new album in four years - which seemed like a forever wait back then. I was so disappointed when I heard “World Wide Suicide”. It was the first single that I hated out of the blocks. I thought it sounded like the generic shitty rock that was mostly on the radio at that time, and I still do. The B-side was “Unemployable“, which reminded me of ”Cropduster”, and made me optimistic about the new album because I really liked that song. On release, I had a mostly positive reaction, but I could tell that this was a decided step down from previous albums. I thought the tour that followed was great. Ed sounded good. These new songs sounded a lot better live than they did on the album. The band seemed energized and ready to make great music. There were rumors that they had a significant amount of material already recorded or in the works, and another record didn’t seem like a distant idea. It seemed like a pretty good time to be a PJ fan. I got a tattoo.

Backspacer - Avocado had been good. I was ready to rock. Then we got Backspacer. There are maybe two songs I like on this album. It’s boring, bland, uninteresting music, accompanied by dumb lyics, and crappy melodies. I just don’t like it. This was the first time I genuinely thought PJ made something crappy. I was hoping they’d make a new album quickly and put this thing to bed, but that was a silly idea.

Lightning Bolt - Four more years passed, I was going through a divorce and hoping for something deeply meaningful that I could hold onto and give me something good in a difficult time. This album didn’t provide that. My favorite song, the title track, was just as disappointing as I thought it was great at the time. The fade out ruined what should’ve been the absolute best part of the song. There were only 3-4 songs I was able to get into, and the rest was either really annoying, super boring, or just plain dumb. It seemed like PJ had crossed into a territory it would be really hard to recover from. My obsession had grown into a malaise, as I still deeply loved the older material, but thought that band, the creative one, had all but disappeared.

Gigaton - After the last decade and a half of disappointments and boredom, I didn’t have high hopes for this record. Then we heard “Dance of the Clairvoyants” and my mind was blown. This was absolutely unexpected and incredibly interesting in all the right ways. It was shocking and awesome to get such a pleasant surprise. And this song is the first one in at least a decade that should stand the test of time as a great PJ track. Superblood Wolfmoon has continued to raise my excitement and my expectations. The production on this record sounds great so far, and no band needed that more than Pearl Jam. I now can’t wait to get the full Gigaton release and digest what promises to be the first really strong PJ album in a really long time.

I'm probably 4, maybe 5 years younger than you, J, and my feelings towards most of the albums overlap a lot with yours. The main difference is I didn't experience them in order or at the time that they came out until Avocado and forward.

I feel lucky to have experienced them in order. I turn 40 in July, you born in ‘85?

Tail end of 1984, so just about, yeah.

[PHATJ]

Ten (1991) - I probably haven’t listened to this album in full in at least a decade. But when it came out, and for the decade-plus that followed, this album meant as much or more to me than any other. So many classic songs, even if I don’t crave hearing them anymore. “Release” is possibly my favorite song of all time, and about 4-5 others on this album are rock icons. And deservedly so.

Vs. (1993) - I have the same relationship with Vs. as I do with Ten. This is one of my most loved albums of all time. I go back to this more often than Ten, and it has aged better probably. This probably is my favorite era for Ed’s vocals, and Dave A.’s drumming on Vs. is my favorite of any PJ album.

Vitalogy (1994) - This was one of the first albums I truly recognized as a comprehensive piece of art. I was 14 years old, and everything about Vitalogy amazed me. The album sounded incredible on my discman. The album artwork was beautiful, and dark, and weird, and cool as fucking hell. I’ve never had a more thorough experience than when I was obsessing with Vitalogy in the year or so that followed its release. It’s still a great experience now.

Merkinball (1995) - Two amazing songs. “I Got Id” and “Long Road” are both PJ classics, and the sound of this release is perfect. I still love these songs.

No Code (1996) - Wonderfully different than what came before. The change to Jack Irons made No Code sound like a radically different Pearl Jam, but they still sounded awesome. An interesting variety of songwriting was complimented by a wildly creative and interesting album art presentation. No Code changed the trajectory of the band, any direction forward seemed possible. This album still sounds great, and I’ve listened to it more frequently than the earlier records over the last few years.

Yield (1998)- This was the first album I was old enough to skip school and drive. I was a junior in high school, skipped my second through fourth period classes to drive to Best Buy, buy the album (which came with a vinyl version of the “Given to Fly” single), and then drove around listening to the entire thing at max volume. It was a glorious experience. Yield sounds fucking great, it‘s full of fantastic songs, and the band with Jack drumming is at pique performance. Having this album accompanied by a VHS copy of Single Video Theory was possibly the absolute height of my Pearl Jam devotion and love. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Binaural (2000) - “Sleight of Hand”. Best song PJ has ever recorded. This album came out when I was in college and smoking tons of weed, partying all the time, and spending lots of time with girls. Even though I was having a blast being 20, I still loved darker, moody music. Radiohead’s “Kid A” was dominating my mind, and Binaural was and is a challenging album. The addition of Matt Cameron changed PJ’s sound again. The recording process produced some really interesting sounding songs with great depth. I’ve always loved many of the songs, but I also struggled with other tracks for years. I desired the original track list for a really long time. Like more than a decade. At times I still feel that could’ve been the clear best album PJ ever made. That said, I’ve grown to love Binaural for what it is, and over the last few years, this has been my favorite PJ album.

Riot Act (2002) - It was a new time in my life. I was 22, working and traveling full time, and a year away from marriage. I remember driving what hundreds of miles on dark and rainy nights, listening to Riot Act and wondering about a completely unknown future. Riot Act was long and varied, and uncertain. I related to that. But I also remember it being the most uneven PJ album. I really disliked some of the songs for the first time (some of which I’ve grown to appreciate) but there were also seven or eight songs that I thought were great. This is still basically how I feel about it. I place it in the “Love” category because this was the last album I have had a truly intimate relationship with over the years. These first seven Pearl Jam albums defined my youth and early adulthood. No group of albums by any band has meant more to me in my life.

Avocado (2006) - When this album came out, I was married, had two young daughters, and was a puffy-chested 26 year old, thinking I had everything figured out. I was crazy excited for the first new album in four years - which seemed like a forever wait back then. I was so disappointed when I heard “World Wide Suicide”. It was the first single that I hated out of the blocks. I thought it sounded like the generic shitty rock that was mostly on the radio at that time, and I still do. The B-side was “Unemployable“, which reminded me of ”Cropduster” (from Riot Act) and made me optimistic about the new album because I really liked that song. On release, I had a mostly positive reaction, but I could tell that this was a decided step down from previous albums. I thought the tour that followed was great. Ed sounded really strong. These new songs sounded a lot better live than they did on the album. The band seemed energized and ready to make great music. There were rumors that they had a significant amount of material already recorded or in the works, and another album didn’t seem like a distant idea. It seemed like a pretty good time to be a PJ fan. I got a tattoo.

Backspacer (2009) - Avocado had been good. Not great, but good. I was ready to rock. Then we got Backspacer. There are maybe two songs that I like on this album. It’s boring, bland, uninteresting music, accompanied by dumb lyics, and crappy melodies. I just don’t like it. This was the first time I genuinely thought PJ made something crappy. I was hoping they’d make a new album quickly and put this thing to bed, but that was a silly idea.

Lightning Bolt (2013) - Four more years passed, I was going through a divorce and hoping for something deeply meaningful that I could hold onto and give me something good in a difficult time. This album didn’t provide that. My favorite song, the title track, was just as disappointing as I thought it was cool at the time. The fade-out finish erased the killer guitar solo and ruined what should’ve been the absolute best part of the song. There were only 3-4 songs I was able to get into, and the rest of Lightning Bolt was either really annoying, super boring, or just plain dumb. It seemed like PJ had crossed into a territory it would be really hard to recover from. My obsession had grown into a malaise, as I still deeply loved the older material, but thought that band, the creative Pearl Jam, had all but disappeared.

Gigaton (2020) - After the last decade and a half of disappointments and boredom, I didn’t have high hopes for this record. Then we heard “Dance of the Clairvoyants” and my mind was blown. This was absolutely unexpected and incredibly interesting in all the right ways. It was shocking and awesome to get such a pleasant surprise. And this song is the first one in at least a decade that should stand the test of time as a great PJ track. “Superblood Wolfmoon” has continued to raise my excitement and my expectations. The production on this record sounds great so far, and no band needed that more than Pearl Jam. I now can’t wait to get the full Gigaton release and digest what promises to be the first really strong PJ album in a really long time.

I’ve edited this a number of times for grammar and clarity.

[PHATJ]

Spoiler: show

Ten (1991) - I probably haven’t listened to this album in full in at least a decade. But when it came out, and for the decade-plus that followed, this album meant as much or more to me than any other. So many classic songs, even if I don’t crave hearing them anymore. Release is possibly my favorite song of all time, and about 4-5 others on this album are rock icons. And deservedly so.

Vs. (1993) - I have the same relationship with Vs. as I do with Ten. This is one of my most loved albums of all time. I go back to this more often than Ten, and it has aged better probably. This probably is my favorite era for Ed’s vocals, and Dave A.’s drumming on Vs. is my favorite of any PJ album.

Vitalogy (1994) - This was one of the first albums I truly recognized as a comprehensive piece of art. I was 14 years old, and everything about Vitalogy amazed me. The album sounded incredible on my discman. The album artwork was beautiful, and dark, and weird, and cool as fucking hell. I’ve never had a more thorough experience than when I was obsessing with Vitalogy in the year or so that followed its release. It’s still a great experience now.

Merkinball (1995) - Two amazing songs. I Got Id and Long Road are both PJ classics, and the sound of this release is perfect. I still love these songs.

No Code (1996) - Wonderfully different than what came before. The change to Jack Irons made No Code sound like a radically different Pearl Jam, but they still sounded awesome. An interesting variety of songwriting was complimented by a wildly creative and interesting album art presentation. No Code changed the trajectory of the band, any direction forward seemed possible. This album still sounds great, and I’ve listened to it more frequently than the earlier records over the last few years.

Yield (1998)- This was the first album I was old enough to skip school and drive. I was a junior in high school, skipped my second through fourth period classes to drive to Best Buy, buy the album (which came with a vinyl version of the GTF single), and then drove around listening to the entire thing at max volume. It was a glorious experience. Yield sounds fucking great, it‘s full of fantastic songs, and the band along with Jack is at pique performance. Having this album accompanied by a VHS copy of Single Video Theory was possibly the absolute height of my Pearl Jam devotion and love. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Binaural - Sleight of Hand. Best song PJ has ever recorded. This album came out when I was in college and smoking tons of weed, partying all the time, and spending lots of time with girls. Even though I was having a blast being 20, I still loved darker, moody music. Binaural was and is a challenging album. The addition of Matt Cameron changed PJ’s sound again. The recording process produced some really interesting sounding songs with great depth. I’ve always loved many of the songs, but I disliked other tracks for years too. I also wanted the original track list for a really long time. Like more than a decade. At times I still feel that could’ve been the clear best album PJ ever made. That said, I’ve grown to love Binaural for what it is, and over the last few years, this has been my favorite PJ album.

Riot Act - It was a new time in my life. I was 22, working and traveling full time, and a year away from marriage. I remember driving what seemed like hundreds of dark and rainy nights, listening to Riot Act and wondering about a completely unknown future. Riot Act was long and varied, and uncertain. That related to me. But I also remember it being the most uneven PJ album. I really disliked some of the songs for the first time, but there were also seven or eight songs that I thought were great. This is still basically how I feel about it. I place it in the “Love” category because this was the last album I have had a truly intimate relationship with over the years. These first seven albums defined my youth and early adulthood. No group of albums by any band has meant more to me in my life.

Avocado - when this album came out, I was married, had two young daughters, and was a puffy-chested 26 year old, thinking I had everything figured out. I was crazy excited for the first new album in four years - which seemed like a forever wait back then. I was so disappointed when I heard “World Wide Suicide”. It was the first single that I hated out of the blocks. I thought it sounded like the generic shitty rock that was mostly on the radio at that time, and I still do. The B-side was “Unemployable“, which reminded me of ”Cropduster”, and made me optimistic about the new album because I really liked that song. On release, I had a mostly positive reaction, but I could tell that this was a decided step down from previous albums. I thought the tour that followed was great. Ed sounded good. These new songs sounded a lot better live than they did on the album. The band seemed energized and ready to make great music. There were rumors that they had a significant amount of material already recorded or in the works, and another record didn’t seem like a distant idea. It seemed like a pretty good time to be a PJ fan. I got a tattoo.

Backspacer - Avocado had been good. I was ready to rock. Then we got Backspacer. There are maybe two songs I like on this album. It’s boring, bland, uninteresting music, accompanied by dumb lyics, and crappy melodies. I just don’t like it. This was the first time I genuinely thought PJ made something crappy. I was hoping they’d make a new album quickly and put this thing to bed, but that was a silly idea.

Lightning Bolt - Four more years passed, I was going through a divorce and hoping for something deeply meaningful that I could hold onto and give me something good in a difficult time. This album didn’t provide that. My favorite song, the title track, was just as disappointing as I thought it was great at the time. The fade out ruined what should’ve been the absolute best part of the song. There were only 3-4 songs I was able to get into, and the rest was either really annoying, super boring, or just plain dumb. It seemed like PJ had crossed into a territory it would be really hard to recover from. My obsession had grown into a malaise, as I still deeply loved the older material, but thought that band, the creative one, had all but disappeared.

Gigaton - After the last decade and a half of disappointments and boredom, I didn’t have high hopes for this record. Then we heard “Dance of the Clairvoyants” and my mind was blown. This was absolutely unexpected and incredibly interesting in all the right ways. It was shocking and awesome to get such a pleasant surprise. And this song is the first one in at least a decade that should stand the test of time as a great PJ track. Superblood Wolfmoon has continued to raise my excitement and my expectations. The production on this record sounds great so far, and no band needed that more than Pearl Jam. I now can’t wait to get the full Gigaton release and digest what promises to be the first really strong PJ album in a really long time.

I'm probably 4, maybe 5 years younger than you, J, and my feelings towards most of the albums overlap a lot with yours. The main difference is I didn't experience them in order or at the time that they came out until Avocado and forward.

I feel lucky to have experienced them in order. I turn 40 in July, you born in ‘85?

Tail end of 1984, so just about, yeah.

A little younger than my brother. I can relate well to the age.

[Thurman Murman]

Ok copying PHATJ here....probably wont go as long since its almost bed time for this old guy....

Ten (picked it up summer of 1992) - I was closing out my first year of high school. Everyone decided Guns N Roses sucked, my previous favorite band (INXS) was past their prime...a friends older sister had introduced me to Zeppelin which was amazing, but still felt so old. I needed to find something new, saw the Jeremy video and was intrigued. Picked up the cassette at the local record place and put it in to my walkman for the Friday night drive up to the family cottage...half way thru the cassette and my mind was BLOWN. By the end i was in love. I found my new music obsession. *****

Vs. (picked it up first day 1993) - Grade 10, and as luck would have it had a field trip to a downtown art museum on the day Vs. was released. Best friend and i decided to skip the museum and roam downtown for the day...i ended up buying Vs. on cassette while we were out. I remember being pretty convinced that there was no way i was going to love this album like i loved Ten...how could i possibly? Once again i was blown away...for the longest time i actually thought it was the superior album. *****

Vitalogy (picked it up a week early on vinyl 1994) - Peak Pearl Jam...the band was very mysterious around this time. No videos, you rarely saw them anywhere other than the odd magazine cover. I remember getting the Spin The Black Circle single on CD (from the upcoming album "Life"). My dad had an old record player so when i heard that the vinyl release was going to be a week early i rushed out and picked it up...the packaging was like nothing i'd ever seen. Again...love! The next week i bought the CD, i remember my good friend who's music tastes were always better than mine...he was a casual PJ fan, for whatever reason i always wanted him to love them as much as i did. I remember bringing the vinyl to school and telling him to give it a listen...to my surprise he brought it back the next day. I figured he just wasnt into it but he actually thought it was by far the best thing they'd ever done...the kid loved Satan's Bed! *****

[PHATJ]

Ok copying PHATJ here....probably wont go as long since its almost bed time for this old guy....

Ten (picked it up summer of 1992) - I was closing out my first year of high school. Everyone decided Guns N Roses sucked, my previous favorite band (INXS) was past their prime...a friends older sister had introduced me to Zeppelin which was amazing, but still felt so old. I needed to find something new, saw the Jeremy video and was intrigued. Picked up the cassette at the local record place and put it in to my walkman for the Friday night drive up to the family cottage...half way thru the cassette and my mind was BLOWN. By the end i was in love. I found my new music obsession. *****

Vs. (picked it up first day 1993) - Grade 10, and as luck would have it had a field trip to a downtown art museum on the day Vs. was released. Best friend and i decided to skip the museum and roam downtown for the day...i ended up buying Vs. on cassette while we were out. I remember being pretty convinced that there was no way i was going to love this album like i loved Ten...how could i possibly? Once again i was blown away...for the longest time i actually thought it was the superior album. *****

Vitalogy (picked it up a week early on vinyl 1994) - Peak Pearl Jam...the band was very mysterious around this time. No videos, you rarely saw them anywhere other than the odd magazine cover. I remember getting the Spin The Black Circle single on CD (from the upcoming album "Life"). My dad had an old record player so when i heard that the vinyl release was going to be a week early i rushed out and picked it up...the packaging was like nothing i'd ever seen. Again...love! The next week i bought the CD, i remember my good friend who's music tastes were always better than mine...he was a casual PJ fan, for whatever reason i always wanted him to love them as much as i did. I remember bringing the vinyl to school and telling him to give it a listen...to my surprise he brought it back the next day. I figured he just wasnt into it but he actually thought it was by far the best thing they'd ever done...the kid loved Satan's Bed! *****

This is awesome. Keep these stories coming!

[Jaeti]

PHATJ made me want to write one, too:

Ten – I was 12 when I first heard Pearl Jam. I was initially annoyed by the grunge videos taking over MTV, but my dad was taking interest in the style, and I think I first ended up popping his copy of Ten into my CD player. This may not have happened until well into 1992 though, maybe closer to 1993, truth be told. Because...

Vs. – ...the release of Vs. isn't something I clearly recall. I didn't own it right away because...

Vitalogy – This is the album I was eagerly awaiting ahead of time. Alongside Madden '95, this was tops on my Christmas list in 1994. Of course I knew I would get it, but I still had to wait until Dec. 25th. But my god, what an event. Having heard about the book that wouldn't fit properly into my CD rack, having heard about its strangeness. What a struggle it was to decide how to listen to this thing. Do I press play and just follow the lyrics and skip the other stuff until the music's over? Or pause between songs so I can go through the book page-by-page and word-by-word the very first time I make my way through the record? I don't recall which course I chose. I just remember this was a motherfucking experience. I also received Vs. as a gift that Christmas; presumably I'd already gotten my own copy of Ten once Pearl Jam entrenched themselves as "my band."

No Code – I was on vacation with my family, with my best friend along with us, when this was released. Had to make a trip out specifically to buy it, and then I tuned my friend out for a while back in our Hilton Head condo while I put on headphones, shuffled through my Polaroids, and gave it a spin. I remember being so pleasantly jarred by "Sometimes," catapulted by "In My Tree," and simply adoring "Smile." This is my favorite Pearl Jam record. Once I get down to ranking the songs, the numbers may not bear that out, but for me there's just something extra, extra special about this one.

Merkinball – This gets a mention because "I Got Id" is my favorite song of all time.

Yield – "Given To Fly" came out while I was working the Christmas season at Toys 'R Us. I'm sure I heard it on the radio before owning the single, but on a break one night I drove the five minutes from work over to the mall on a break and bought the single, then sat in my car with the heat on getting my first dose of Pilate and Leatherman. Once the album was out, "Brain of J" swept me up immediately. "Faithfull" for its sweetness, "No Way" for its strangeness, and "Do the Evolution" for its tremendousness were other standouts on that first listen. Yield also solidified Jack Irons as my drummer of choice. The summer of '98, in Pittsburgh, I finally got to see them live, and I was genuinely disappointed when I heard he'd bowed out of the band.

Binaural – Maybe my favorite new-album memory. Freshman year of college and the local record store opened up at midnight because PJ and Phish were both releasing albums. Walked out with my copy, drove back to my faraway parking spot on campus, and sat in my car listening to it in the dark. In that moment, I think the first verse of "Light Years" was the greatest thing I'd ever heard. The 2000 tour was the first time I was able to see multiple shows, including, shockingly, ending up in the front row in Cincinnati with my best friend. When I listen to that boot, I can pick out our voices screaming "Present Tense" during some Ed-talk break, because that's what we desperately wanted to hear them play that night. Maybe you won't quite find it intelligible, but I know it's us.

Riot Act – College, George Bush, 9/11, wars. This was the first album where I knew I "wanted" something, and it just didn't fully deliver. "Can't Keep" amazed me on first listen, as did the outro to "Cropduster." But "Love Boat Captain" was, well, titled "Love Boat Captain." And "I Am Mine" was titled "I Am Mine." Those didn't feel quite right. "Get Right" kind of immediately became my least favorite album song ever. "Green Disease," "Bu$hleaguer", "Half Full"...I didn't disagree with the politics, but taken together it was all a bit too nakedly political.

S/T – This was the first time I was let down by a first single. Much as some song titles on Riot Act just bothered me, the knowledge that Pearl Jam could somehow disappoint me meant the title & lyric "World Wide Suicide" really made me roll my eyes. It was the first time I felt like maybe I shouldn't always be so quick to profess my undying love for this band. Musically, I think this album is fantastic. But, for me, too many song titles/lyrics take the edge off the seriousness I wanted from them. I'm curious how this will stack up against Riot Act once I actually get to ranking the songs.

Backspacer – This album makes it clear than I just love this band, and I'll find a way to like most of what they release. It's not a great album. I always like reading opinions of posters around here who can defend it as good or great, but for me it just isn't. Still, I can put it on and listen to the whole thing, even if it's only the bridges in "The Fixer" and "Supersonic" that get me through those two songs.

Lightning Bolt – Basically the same summation as for Backspacer. I can put this on and listen to the whole thing; again, because I love this band, I can't say I hate any of these songs. But I know many of them aren't good songs. I love blasting "Lightning Bolt" on the highway. I love the solo in "Swallowed Whole." I loved "Sirens" at first, and still like it, though it's fallen a bit for me. Still, it impresses me by being as long as it is and not feeling that way at all when you're in the middle of it. I feel like "Infallible" and "Pendulum" belong on a different album. Here, they stand out in a way that ultimately doesn't flatter themselves or the songs that surround them.

I'm gonna go ahead and just post this, then separately do the thing where I assign numbers and calculate averages. What a strange, pleasant thing to do.

[PHATJ]

PHATJ made me want to write one, too:

Ten – I was 12 when I first heard Pearl Jam. I was initially annoyed by the grunge videos taking over MTV, but my dad was taking interest in the style, and I think I first ended up popping his copy of Ten into my CD player. This may not have happened until well into 1992 though, maybe closer to 1993, truth be told. Because...

Vs. – ...the release of Vs. isn't something I clearly recall. I didn't own it right away because...

Vitalogy – This is the album I was eagerly awaiting ahead of time. Alongside Madden '95, this was tops on my Christmas list in 1994. Of course I knew I would get it, but I still had to wait until Dec. 25th. But my god, what an event. Having heard about the book that wouldn't fit properly into my CD rack, having heard about its strangeness. What a struggle it was to decide how to listen to this thing. Do I press play and just follow the lyrics and skip the other stuff until the music's over? Or pause between songs so I can go through the book page-by-page and word-by-word the very first time I make my way through the record? I don't recall which course I chose. I just remember this was a motherfucking experience. I also received Vs. as a gift that Christmas; presumably I'd already gotten my own copy of Ten once Pearl Jam entrenched themselves as "my band."

No Code – I was on vacation with my family, with my best friend along with us, when this was released. Had to make a trip out specifically to buy it, and then I tuned my friend out for a while back in our Hilton Head condo while I put on headphones, shuffled through my Polaroids, and gave it a spin. I remember being so pleasantly jarred by "Sometimes," catapulted by "In My Tree," and simply adoring "Smile." This is my favorite Pearl Jam record. Once I get down to ranking the songs, the numbers may not bear that out, but for me there's just something extra, extra special about this one.

Merkinball – This gets a mention because "I Got Id" is my favorite song of all time.

Yield – "Given To Fly" came out while I was working the Christmas season at Toys 'R Us. I'm sure I heard it on the radio before owning the single, but on a break one night I drove the five minutes from work over to the mall on a break and bought the single, then sat in my car with the heat on getting my first dose of Pilate and Leatherman. Once the album was out, "Brain of J" swept me up immediately. "Faithfull" for its sweetness, "No Way" for its strangeness, and "Do the Evolution" for its tremendousness were other standouts on that first listen. Yield also solidified Jack Irons as my drummer of choice. The summer of '98, in Pittsburgh, I finally got to see them live, and I was genuinely disappointed when I heard he'd bowed out of the band.

Binaural – Maybe my favorite new-album memory. Freshman year of college and the local record store opened up at midnight because PJ and Phish were both releasing albums. Walked out with my copy, drove back to my faraway parking spot on campus, and sat in my car listening to it in the dark. In that moment, I think the first verse of "Light Years" was the greatest thing I'd ever heard. The 2000 tour was the first time I was able to see multiple shows, including, shockingly, ending up in the front row in Cincinnati with my best friend. When I listen to that boot, I can pick out our voices screaming "Present Tense" during some Ed-talk break, because that's what we desperately wanted to hear them play that night. Maybe you won't quite find it intelligible, but I know it's us.

Riot Act – College, George Bush, 9/11, wars. This was the first album where I knew I "wanted" something, and it just didn't fully deliver. "Can't Keep" amazed me on first listen, as did the outro to "Cropduster." But "Love Boat Captain" was, well, titled "Love Boat Captain." And "I Am Mine" was titled "I Am Mine." Those didn't feel quite right. "Get Right" kind of immediately became my least favorite album song ever. "Green Disease," "Bu$hleaguer", "Half Full"...I didn't disagree with the politics, but taken together it was all a bit too nakedly political.

S/T – This was the first time I was let down by a first single. Much as some song titles on Riot Act just bothered me, the knowledge that Pearl Jam could somehow disappoint me meant the title & lyric "World Wide Suicide" really made me roll my eyes. It was the first time I felt like maybe I shouldn't always be so quick to profess my undying love for this band. Musically, I think this album is fantastic. But, for me, too many song titles/lyrics take the edge off the seriousness I wanted from them. I'm curious how this will stack up against Riot Act once I actually get to ranking the songs.

Backspacer – This album makes it clear than I just love this band, and I'll find a way to like most of what they release. It's not a great album. I always like reading opinions of posters around here who can defend it as good or great, but for me it just isn't. Still, I can put it on and listen to the whole thing, even if it's only the bridges in "The Fixer" and "Supersonic" that get me through those two songs.

Lightning Bolt – Basically the same summation as for Backspacer. I can put this on and listen to the whole thing; again, because I love this band, I can't say I hate any of these songs. But I know many of them aren't good songs. I love blasting "Lightning Bolt" on the highway. I love the solo in "Swallowed Whole." I loved "Sirens" at first, and still like it, though it's fallen a bit for me. Still, it impresses me by being as long as it is and not feeling that way at all when you're in the middle of it. I feel like "Infallible" and "Pendulum" belong on a different album. Here, they stand out in a way that ultimately doesn't flatter themselves or the songs that surround them.

I'm gonna go ahead and just post this, then separately do the thing where I assign numbers and calculate averages. What a strange, pleasant thing to do.

This is a great post. I love it. Thank you for the stories.

[PHATJ]

I’m in love with this thread right now.

[liebzz]

I am also so motivated, delivery might be a bit different:

Ten: somewhere around mid-1993, Pearl Jam has started to register for me as I was turning 15. I didn’t get all into it though jokingly sang the Even Flow verses with friends, mostly because we couldn’t make out the words and mushed it all together with guttural sounds. It wasn’t until after I heard Vs. that I really got into this album. More to come...

Vs.: so I am at a party for a friend and one of her gifts is Vs. on cassette, which is immediately popped in and played through. I was floored, not as much from the songs themselves, but that it felt both so new and fresh but somehow also completely familiar as if I had been spending time with these songs for years. Immediately on the heels of this, I convince my older brother to lend me the CDs for both Ten and Vs.. I immediately copied them on to a 90 min. Maxell blank tape, and proceed to listen to both albums back to back to back to back on repeat for nearly a year (Vs. fit perfectly into this since the tape really allowed 47 mins a side). Separate note must be made that Ten is longer than 45 minutes, so in my mind, Ten ended halfway through Release, and I hadn’t heard the full version of the song until 1994 or 1995 when I finally went out and bought the CDs. I still think to this day I must have that tape somewhere.

Vitalogy: I got my brother again to tape this for me but from the record two weeks before it was released on CD. I parades around school, 11th grade now, bragging about the album and pushing everyone who would hear me out that this was essential. I too had bought the Spin the Black Circle/Tremor Christ CD single and also had that running on repeat in advance of the album. On release day, December 6, 1994, I bought my first Pearl Jam CD on the release date.

Merkinball: the next release I jumped after right away (I actually knew about this before I knew they had an album with Neil Young - the Internet was in its infancy - but when I heard this I was blown away by how good it was. I still feel this is the strongest single they ever released.

No Code: a first midnight release deal for me. I can recall, maybe 1:00 am getting home from the store with my friend and we were trying to keep the volume down so as to not wake my parents. Sometimes was playing and we just kept thinking it sounded low so the volume crept and crept and then BAM those opening chords from Hail Hail blew the roof off me and I quite literally hit my head on the ceiling when I jumped. From that day, I have always absolutely loved everything about this album.

Yield - another midnight release. FYE was playing the album through that night in advance and I walked up and down the aisles of that store while the thing played with a tremendous amount of pride that the band releases something special. I’ve never lost that feeling with this one.

Binaural - I am now all geared up for the midnight sale. I did my research and found the Best Buy open late. We drove a half hour out there so we were ready...except no f*$&ing shipment arrived. What?! I hung around the store to make sure they weren’t lying to me but it was true...I waited until the next morning, high tailed it to the mall, and bought a copy. My friend, who was not a huge fan of theirs asked me about the album and I said I liked that Eddie didn’t seem so pronounced on the album and they they really seemed to be trying new things - a pretty good and spot on first impression. Now 20 years later and I still regularly discover things I love about this album.

Riot Act - the days of midnight sales in the Albany area seemed over so I got this day of at the local record store. I remember listening to this maybe 2 or 3 times straight through, loving it, but my friends I think had had enough for a day. I lived with this album by my side for quite a while, and the 03 tour probably being my most memorable as a fan.

Lost Dogs - in law school and I remember this came out in very close vicinity to the Essential Bruce Springsteen - mostly because I had many a late night debate with friends concerning which was better listening. I was right.

Self-titled - it felt like forever between releases but this came out just as I had finished law school and began studying for the bar exam. I would take a bus every day from my parents house in Orange County, NY to midtown Manhattan and this CD accompanied me every day, one listen on the way home, one on the way in. There was this majestic moment I would get everyday as Gone would play and the NYC skyline could be seen from the jersey side as we gradually left NYC in the distance. I still get that visual when I hear that song.

Backspacer - I remember that all I wanted after so long a wait for this album was a basic rocking Pearl Jam album and I got it. However, I had a lot of feelings of “that’s it?” on the songs’ brevity and the album. It always felt to me like these were all songs they hadn’t quite yet finished. I also asked myself on Amongst the Waves if they were trying to out-anthem U2.

Lightning Bolt - the sheer excitement over getting a new album after 4 years clouded my experience of this album. I was immediately hooked and had looped in two listens to it as I ran in my second half marathon. Years would slowly erode my feelings for the album as a whole, and while I still enjoy a listen every now and then, only Pendulum has stuck out to me as essential listening.

Gigaton - I spent countless time recounting my experiences leading into the release after 7 years waiting, capped by this very post...

[Jaeti]

I still think to this day I must have that tape somewhere.

What a treasure. Hope you find it someday.

[PHATJ]

I am also so motivated, delivery might be a bit different:

Ten: somewhere around mid-1993, Pearl Jam has started to register for me as I was turning 15. I didn’t get all into it though jokingly sang the Even Flow verses with friends, mostly because we couldn’t make out the words and mushed it all together with guttural sounds. It wasn’t until after I heard Vs. that I really got into this album. More to come...

Vs.: so I am at a party for a friend and one of her gifts is Vs. on cassette, which is immediately popped in and played through. I was floored, not as much from the songs themselves, but that it felt both so new and fresh but somehow also completely familiar as if I had been spending time with these songs for years. Immediately on the heels of this, I convince my older brother to lend me the CDs for both Ten and Vs.. I immediately copied them on to a 90 min. Maxell blank tape, and proceed to listen to both albums back to back to back to back on repeat for nearly a year (Vs. fit perfectly into this since the tape really allowed 47 mins a side). Separate note must be made that Ten is longer than 45 minutes, so in my mind, Ten ended halfway through Release, and I hadn’t heard the full version of the song until 1994 or 1995 when I finally went out and bought the CDs. I still think to this day I must have that tape somewhere.

Vitalogy: I got my brother again to tape this for me but from the record two weeks before it was released on CD. I parades around school, 11th grade now, bragging about the album and pushing everyone who would hear me out that this was essential. I too had bought the Spin the Black Circle/Tremor Christ CD single and also had that running on repeat in advance of the album. On release day, December 6, 1994, I bought my first Pearl Jam CD on the release date.

Merkinball: the next release I jumped after right away (I actually knew about this before I knew they had an album with Neil Young - the Internet was in its infancy - but when I heard this I was blown away by how good it was. I still feel this is the strongest single they ever released.

No Code: a first midnight release deal for me. I can recall, maybe 1:00 am getting home from the store with my friend and we were trying to keep the volume down so as to not wake my parents. Sometimes was playing and we just kept thinking it sounded low so the volume crept and crept and then BAM those opening chords from Hail Hail blew the roof off me and I quite literally hit my head on the ceiling when I jumped. From that day, I have always absolutely loved everything about this album.

Yield - another midnight release. FYE was playing the album through that night in advance and I walked up and down the aisles of that store while the thing played with a tremendous amount of pride that the band releases something special. I’ve never lost that feeling with this one.

Binaural - I am now all geared up for the midnight sale. I did my research and found the Best Buy open late. We drove a half hour out there so we were ready...except no f*$&ing shipment arrived. What?! I hung around the store to make sure they weren’t lying to me but it was true...I waited until the next morning, high tailed it to the mall, and bought a copy. My friend, who was not a huge fan of theirs asked me about the album and I said I liked that Eddie didn’t seem so pronounced on the album and they they really seemed to be trying new things - a pretty good and spot on first impression. Now 20 years later and I still regularly discover things I love about this album.

Riot Act - the days of midnight sales in the Albany area seemed over so I got this day of at the local record store. I remember listening to this maybe 2 or 3 times straight through, loving it, but my friends I think had had enough for a day. I lived with this album by my side for quite a while, and the 03 tour probably being my most memorable as a fan.

Lost Dogs - in law school and I remember this came out in very close vicinity to the Essential Bruce Springsteen - mostly because I had many a late night debate with friends concerning which was better listening. I was right.

Self-titled - it felt like forever between releases but this came out just as I had finished law school and began studying for the bar exam. I would take a bus every day from my parents house in Orange County, NY to midtown Manhattan and this CD accompanied me every day, one listen on the way home, one on the way in. There was this majestic moment I would get everyday as Gone would play and the NYC skyline could be seen from the jersey side as we gradually left NYC in the distance. I still get that visual when I hear that song.

Backspacer - I remember that all I wanted after so long a wait for this album was a basic rocking Pearl Jam album and I got it. However, I had a lot of feelings of “that’s it?” on the songs’ brevity and the album. It always felt to me like these were all songs they hadn’t quite yet finished. I also asked myself on Amongst the Waves if they were trying to out-anthem U2.

Lightning Bolt - the sheer excitement over getting a new album after 4 years clouded my experience of this album. I was immediately hooked and had looped in two listens to it as I ran in my second half marathon. Years would slowly erode my feelings for the album as a whole, and while I still enjoy a listen every now and then, only Pendulum has stuck out to me as essential listening.

Gigaton - I spent countless time recounting my experiences leading into the release after 7 years waiting, capped by this very post...

Love this. Great stories, especially No Code. Lolz!

[stip]

moves these stories to their own thread.

[WtOB?]

i’m not saying the rm mods are letting us down since 2020 or anything, but isn’t there already a first time thread for each album?

[liebzz]

I still think to this day I must have that tape somewhere.

What a treasure. Hope you find it someday.

Yeah, that tape. I didn’t know Master/Slave continued after Release until I bought the CD much later.

I used to get mad at my Nintendo games (Double Dribble in particular) because the players could not advance up the court enough to keep pace with Go and Animal. I was way behind in video games - I think was my Double Dribble/Blades of Steel era.

[Jaeti]

Wouldn't even give this thread a capital "F" and "E" for "First Experiences."

[joostone]

Great thread idea. And I feel challenged to write one down aswell...a personal journey.....

Ten: I was about 13-14 years old when I discovered rockmusic. Ive been listening to all the popmusic you can find since I was about 7 years old. I was dancing to Michael jackson, singing along to Roxette and jumping to eurohouse. I had many many cassettes recorded from the radio with all the top hits. Im pretty sure 'Alive' or 'teen spirit' was on those cassettes I listened when I was about 7 years old. Somewhere in 1997, when I was about 13 I lost interest in popmusic and thanks to an aunt I discovered many rockbands. She made many tapes for me. I had a Sony Walkman which I used to listen to all these cassettes. Every night I've binged on albums from the Peppers, REM, Live, RATM, Black Crowes, U2 and Nirvana. I still remember I put that cassette in that said 'TEN' by 'Pearl Jam'. Those opening chords from Once....and that voice...WOW. I was completely blown away, by the third track (Alive) I had feelings I never knew existed. I was pumping my fist and rocking my head back and forth. When the cassette was done with 'Release' and master/slave I went back to the start and did it again. I've must have done that atleast 3 times that night. The next day at school I was really tired and unfocused but also soo amazed about the whole experience. And I wanted more....

Vs: And I got more...We had a slow internet connection back in '97, but I did some info on the band and soon discovered there was more. I grabbed my bike and raced to our public library. At that time it was also renting out cd's. I grabbed Vs and raced back home. I grabbed the Sony Discman from my dad....And....YES....More guitars...that voice I recently heard for the first time....And whole new group of songs to rock out on. You could rent a CD for about 3 weeks, and Im pretty sure Ive listened to Vs twice a day for those three weeks. This was only a month after I discovered 'TEN'. Three weeks later I had to return the disc, and guess what I did?

Vitalogy: You guessed right! The disc AND booklet felt like a religious artifact to me....By now I was completely hooked on their music and pretty much listening to them exclusively. This record felt very different for me, but I was hooked none the less. I was overwhelmed by now. This was about two months after the discovery of TEN. Since I've loved the artwork and everything this disc represented Ive decided to save up all my pocketmoney. Did chores for the whole neighbourhood. And Ive bought Ten, vs and Vitalogy within weeks. By now we were weeks away from Christmas and I had only one thing on my list....

No Code: For Christmas '97 I was given 'No Code'. Another gift my parents gave me was a good set of headphones. By now they probably figured out I was listening to music every fucking night. In fact around this time I also decided to start playing an instrument, I think my parents were really happy with me being so serious about all this. I've been rocking the bass ever since. Like I said I was feeling overwhelmed by their output and for the last six months of 1997 I was listened only to PJ. Through my library I discovered a biography and cd's from MLB, TOTD, Brad and Mad Season. This was getting out of hand....When I got home from school every day i did my homework first then I started practising the bass for about 2 hours....And the evening was for PJ, and now it was for my favorite album of all time 'No Code'...This was getting out of hand, all I needed was one more push to be completely set for life on PJ's music (if I wasnt already)...

Yield: Two months...Just two months later the band gave me that push by releasing 'Yield'. The first album I could anticipate as a fan. I really felt connected now, I was no longer a rookie. I knew who Andy Wood was. I could mention my favorite 'Brad' record. I could say something like 'Utrecht, Tivoli 92' is the greatest Ten era show. I had a stickman T-shirt and at school I was becoming that PJ dude. The record was great, but offcourse it was. These guys were the pinnacle of good music for me. And I think 'Yield' is still the record I have listened too the most in my whole life. And since I was connected now, I could rejoice something new every couple of months. 'Single Video theory', 'live on 2 legs', 'last kiss', 'three fish',....I was on the bandwagon and it felt great....I was ready to ride to wave,..where it takes me....I rremeber calling Sony Music Netherlands to ask if PJ was touring overhere, they said nothing was planned. I was about 14 and was calling Sony..hilarious...

Binaural: The internet was more around by now and early recordings for the Bridge School 99 showed up. Nothing as it seems...WOW, just WOW...I was given that single by my first girlfriend. It was the prettiest girl at school and to this day I still have no clue why she picked me, I was tall, shy just a bit quiet and nice. But maybe she liked my 'Yield' or 'Stickman' T-shirt. I also remember setting the alarm to watch letterman in the middle of the night to watch their 'grievance' performance. NAIS. Grievance, Insignificance and Binaural blew my mind again....But now they also announced an EU tour. I went in line to get tickets for the Rotterdam show. I was doubting to also get Pinkpop tickets. My mom said that I should cause Ive been waiting 3 years for this too happen. And Im soo glad that I did cause since we all know the Rotterdam gig was cancelled after Roskilde. My aunt (the one who gave me that cassette 3 years before) joined me for Pinkpop. I was 16 years old and never experienced such a huge concert. At times I was scared, I was in the pit and felt years younger than everybody else...But I remember every second...

Riot Act: I just finished my highschool. And I broke up with my first girlfriend. I decided on a gap year to work for 6 months and than to backpack Australia. The plans were made somewhere in 2002. I would leave for Australia in the first days of 2003. PJ announced an Australian tour for february 2003 a couple of days after I booked my tickets and made my plans. My head exploded, I could not believe my luck. But I had no idea how to get tickets. So I posted on this forum. And two guys were able to get tickets for me. And I got to see four shows on that tour! I flew from Sydney to Adelaide for the show. Not realizing that the band would do the same (duh) I was completely starstruck when I got to see and talk to them all. Eddie had a bodyguard but the others were just walking around behind security. I thanked them for the music. talked with Stone about Bayleaf, with Matt a short talk about jazz and I thanked Jeff for inspiring me to play the bass. He asked me what my favorite PJ songs to play were. I answered immediately with: 'Tremor Christ' and 'Hail, hail'. He smiled and said 'mine too!'. I asked him to play 'Tremor Christ' in Adelaide. Which they didn't do, but they did the next day in Melbourne. I wasn't there but the 19-old in me felt like I was partly responsable for that. This was me at my peak fandom. Riot Act is still a toptier for me. This OZ tour was a life-changing experience for me. It felt like an amazing end for a personal journey that started just 5 years prior with me listening to that first cassette.

Wow...that was a long read. Sorry . But since it was nice to walk down memory lane I will write part 2 soon.

[Strat]

We were at a movie theater. I believe it was rules of engagement? Afternoon matinee of sorts and actually had the whole theater to ourselves.

[dad]

We were at a movie theater. I believe it was rules of engagement? Afternoon matinee of sorts and actually had the whole theater to ourselves.

Cinemax post.

[hlniv]

Vitalogy (1994) - This was one of the first albums I truly recognized as a comprehensive piece of art. I was 14 years old, and everything about Vitalogy amazed me.

Yep.

Same here - I was even 14 just like you. The release of that album is what made me a big PJ fan - still remember the first time I listened to it at my budd'y house down the street. His parents were gone, and we cranked up his dad's stereo system. I also wore it out in my discman as well.