RANK THE ALBUMS

Tuolumne · Post by **Tuolumne** » Mon April 13, 2020 12:46 am

stip wrote:
Anders wrote:It’s not trolling to believe No Code through Binaural was Pearl Jam at their very best.
No. It is still crazy, but I believe it is an authentic insanity

Yep, totally agree. I mean, I get it, those albums are good. Yield is a band classic. And No Code and Binaural really eked out new territory. They're middle period is really strong, and while most bands have massive clunkers in their catalogue, I feel like they've never delivered one. BUT, No Code and Binaural have major blemishes. It's insane not to hear them. They are albums that veer from some cream of the crop peaks (In My Tree, Hail Hail, Insignificance, etc) but they also have ones that represent the weakest parts of their catalogue as well. They're schizophrenic albums, strong as they are. On later albums they achieve a consistency (some don't like that) that they didn't achieve in No Code and Binaural. That said, Yield represents peak middle era PJ.

reconstruction_ seeds · Mon April 13, 2020 1:20 am

What are these weakest parts of their catalog from binaural which u speak of???

Anders · Post by **Anders** » Mon April 13, 2020 9:19 am

Ten might be the most consistent, but that doesn’t always equal best. Vs has more poor songs than any of the middle records, and while Vitalogy has a lot going for it, it is far from perfect. Nearly half the record is filler.

warehouse · Post by **warehouse** » Mon April 13, 2020 12:51 pm

garden and deep are the weakest songs from the first 3 records. maybe first 5 records. no code and yield are both better than ten.

darth_vedder · Post by **darth_vedder** » Mon April 13, 2020 1:34 pm

warehouse wrote:garden and deep are the weakest songs from the first 3 records. maybe first 5 records. no code and yield are both better than ten.

No and yes.

darth_vedder · Post by **darth_vedder** » Mon April 13, 2020 1:35 pm

reconstruction_ seeds wrote:What are these weakest parts of their catalog from binaural which u speak of???

Soon Forget. It's a Who ripoff and should have been a b-side / outtake replaced with Fatal on the album.

Anders · Post by **Anders** » Mon April 13, 2020 1:49 pm

Sad should have been on Binaural as well.

Anders · Post by **Anders** » Mon April 13, 2020 1:52 pm

warehouse wrote:garden and deep are the weakest songs from the first 3 records. maybe first 5 records. no code and yield are both better than ten.

I’ll take Garden and Deep as the weakest Ten songs, but still better than Glorified G, W.M.A., Rats and Leash from Vs., and STBC, Whipping, Bugs, Satan’s Bed, Pry, To, Aye Davanita and Stupid Mop from Vitalogy.

ghost · Post by **ghost** » Mon April 13, 2020 1:58 pm

Untouchable
-No Code
-Yield
-Binaural
-Vitalogy

Almost Untouchable
-Riot Act

Great, But Difficult to Rank for Whatever Reason
-Vs.
-Ten
-Gigaton (could climb but probably won't fall)

Fine, I Guess
-Avocado

Whatever
-Backspacer
-Lightning Bolt

Monkey_Driven · Post by **Monkey_Driven** » Mon April 13, 2020 2:11 pm

Anders wrote:
warehouse wrote:garden and deep are the weakest songs from the first 3 records. maybe first 5 records. no code and yield are both better than ten.
I’ll take Garden and Deep as the weakest Ten songs, but still better than Glorified G, W.M.A., Rats and Leash from Vs., and STBC, Whipping, Bugs, Satan’s Bed, Pry, To, Aye Davanita and Stupid Mop from Vitalogy.

Minor quibbles aside, this is a good take.

Thurman Murman · Post by **Thurman Murman** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:04 pm

Monkey_Driven wrote:
Anders wrote:
warehouse wrote:garden and deep are the weakest songs from the first 3 records. maybe first 5 records. no code and yield are both better than ten.
I’ll take Garden and Deep as the weakest Ten songs, but still better than Glorified G, W.M.A., Rats and Leash from Vs., and STBC, Whipping, Bugs, Satan’s Bed, Pry, To, Aye Davanita and Stupid Mop from Vitalogy.
Minor quibbles aside, this is a good take.

I LOVE Garden! Deep is probably the weakest song on Ten...but i think its by far the best "weakest" song on any Pearl Jam album for whatever that's worth.

Thurman Murman · Post by **Thurman Murman** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:05 pm

Anders wrote:Ten might be the most consistent, but that doesn’t always equal best. Vs has more poor songs than any of the middle records, and while Vitalogy has a lot going for it, it is far from perfect. Nearly half the record is filler.

Vitalogy is perfectly imperfect. Its never going to win a song ranked challenge, but its most definitely my favorite Pearl Jam album and favorite album period .

Strat · Post by **Strat** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:30 pm

The problem with ranking is that the early albums are entrenched in my youth and very important moments of my life and development.

Also, on the flipside, an album like Ten i dont really respond to anymore. Its of its time in society and my life. I dont relate to it anymore on a personal level, other than what is attached to my memories.

Same with Vs.

Right now? Gigaton makes a gigaton of sense to me and my world. Im relating to it just as much as I probably did the first few records.

I can't honestly say its better or worse than any of the major records of their careers. its easily better than the last 2-3 and possibly 4 records...

So, thats my ranking. Its fantastic and a legit addition to their career.

Thurman Murman · Post by **Thurman Murman** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:41 pm

Strat wrote:The problem with ranking is that the early albums are entrenched in my youth and very important moments of my life and development.

Also, on the flipside, an album like Ten i dont really respond to anymore. Its of its time in society and my life. I dont relate to it anymore on a personal level, other than what is attached to my memories.

Same with Vs.

Right now? Gigaton makes a gigaton of sense to me and my world. Im relating to it just as much as I probably did the first few records.

I can't honestly say its better or worse than any of the major records of their careers. its easily better than the last 2-3 and possibly 4 records...

So, thats my ranking. Its fantastic and a legit addition to their career.

I couldnt agree more...with all of this.

When i rank these things its not about which album is better...its just personal preference. Nothing will touch those first 3 albums...they were EVERYTHING to me between 1991-1994. Do i relate to them as much as i used to? No. Do i listen to them daily like i used to? No. But i will flat out stop in my tracks, listen and FEEL so much when i hear them.

I think i can more objectively rank the post Riot Act catalogue....and i agree with you that Gigaton is quite easily the best record they've released in decades, personally i have it now as high as 6...ahead of every other post-Yield album.

darth_vedder · Post by **darth_vedder** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:43 pm

Strat wrote:The problem with ranking is that the early albums are entrenched in my youth and very important moments of my life and development.

Also, on the flipside, an album like Ten i dont really respond to anymore. Its of its time in society and my life. I dont relate to it anymore on a personal level, other than what is attached to my memories.

Same with Vs.

Right now? Gigaton makes a gigaton of sense to me and my world. Im relating to it just as much as I probably did the first few records.

I can't honestly say its better or worse than any of the major records of their careers. its easily better than the last 2-3 and possibly 4 records...

So, thats my ranking. Its fantastic and a legit addition to their career.

Kevin Davis · Post by **Kevin Davis** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:45 pm

Tuolumne wrote:
stip wrote:
Anders wrote:It’s not trolling to believe No Code through Binaural was Pearl Jam at their very best.
No. It is still crazy, but I believe it is an authentic insanity
Yep, totally agree. I mean, I get it, those albums are good. Yield is a band classic. And No Code and Binaural really eked out new territory. They're middle period is really strong, and while most bands have massive clunkers in their catalogue, I feel like they've never delivered one. BUT, No Code and Binaural have major blemishes. It's insane not to hear them. They are albums that veer from some cream of the crop peaks (In My Tree, Hail Hail, Insignificance, etc) but they also have ones that represent the weakest parts of their catalogue as well. They're schizophrenic albums, strong as they are. On later albums they achieve a consistency (some don't like that) that they didn't achieve in No Code and Binaural. That said, Yield represents peak middle era PJ.

Any one person's personal preferences aside, I don't think it's unreasonable, with as much objectivity as one can observe when discussing music, to say that Pearl Jam's middle-period records contain aesthetic variations and songwriting philosophies/approaches not found on earlier albums. You call it "schizophrenia"; I call it variety, eclecticism, adventurousness, openness (likewise what you call "consistency" on later records many would call stagnation). Either way, I feel like accepting that some tastes gravitate towards those aesthetic and musical characteristics over those found on the earlier or later records is really as complicated as this needs to be. The simple "peaks to clunkers" ratio that people tend to default to doesn't tell the whole story, or really any of it.

darth_vedder · Post by **darth_vedder** » Mon April 13, 2020 3:52 pm

Ranking Ten and Vs is really hard. Basically because of what strat said and because for me the highs on Vs. are higher than Ten but Ten is probably a more consistent album. I've never really cared for Dissident, Leash, Elderly Woman, or Indifference. In addition to those songs, I think Vs may be the most dated sounding album in some ways. Oddly enough, I like the sound of the BOB Ten Redux (the drums seem to pop more) and pretty much every song is good to great.

Ms Harmless · Post by **Ms Harmless** » Mon April 13, 2020 4:37 pm

I like every single song on Vs. even if a few have lost their smack bang *wallop*

blueviper · Post by **blueviper** » Mon April 13, 2020 5:36 pm

after my 2nd road trip this weekend, I almost got through all of Lightning bolt.

before this weekend:

Ten
Vs.
Vitalogy
No Code
Yield
Riot Act
Gigaton
Lightning Bolt
Binaural
Backspacer
Pearl Jam

After this weekend
Ten
Vs.
Vitalogy
No Code
Yield
Riot Act
Gigaton
Pearl Jam
Lightning Bolt
Binaural
Backspacer

Self-titled moved up. I would say Binaural feels like one of their most complete, thematic albums, with the songs feeding off one another, but it's kind of a slog to get through. Backspacer drops naturally, which after going through the album, makes sense. Self-titled jumped because it had more energy than Binaural, and some of the songs kinda sounded better than when I first remember this album. I still can't handle Come Back or Parachutes.

Hatfield · Post by **Hatfield** » Mon April 13, 2020 5:42 pm

darth_vedder wrote:
Strat wrote:The problem with ranking is that the early albums are entrenched in my youth and very important moments of my life and development.

Also, on the flipside, an album like Ten i dont really respond to anymore. Its of its time in society and my life. I dont relate to it anymore on a personal level, other than what is attached to my memories.

Same with Vs.

Right now? Gigaton makes a gigaton of sense to me and my world. Im relating to it just as much as I probably did the first few records.

I can't honestly say its better or worse than any of the major records of their careers. its easily better than the last 2-3 and possibly 4 records...

So, thats my ranking. Its fantastic and a legit addition to their career.

I just spit my cereal out. That caught me so funny!

Red Mosquito

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