248. Go vs. Rearviewmirror

[stip]

Go vs. Rearviewmirror

[stip]

Again, Go is legit great, but this is an easyish vote for RVM. Much stronger lyrics, incredible vocal performance from Eddie. The outro matches the intensity of Go with the added emotional depth that comes from having come along on an actual journey, and the hollow, almost rusty, downbeat tone to Eddie's guitar in RVM sounds incredible - something they've never fully captured live. Tuning that perfectly matches the downbeat place the song begins and punches out of in one of the best moments of complete catharsis in a catalog full of them. It's like those phenomenal closing outro moments on Ten but with a bit more control and craft steering the ship

[Anders]

I like RVM better, and Go has won two years in a row.

RVM

[epilogue]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain) in this tournament matches Stip's for In My Tree.

Also, it's won the last two times. Easy vote for RVM.

[stip]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain) in this tournament matches Stip's for In My Tree.

Also, it's won the last two times. Easy vote for RVM.

I like In My Tree. But animal and dance should have beaten it. In my PJ rankings in my tree makes it to round 3 or 4 depending on the draw

[Higgs]

I love Go but I'm riding RVM all the way to the title this year.

[epilogue]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain) in this tournament matches Stip's for In My Tree.

Also, it's won the last two times. Easy vote for RVM.

I like In My Tree. But animal and dance should have beaten it. In my PJ rankings in my tree makes it to round 3 or 4 depending on the draw

That's basically where I am with Go. I don't think I've voted for it since it's first round?

Animal is definitely in the same tier as IMT. Had Animal won it would be hard to be too upset by it. I'm not sure Dance is in the same tier, as much as I adore it. Maybe time will tell but right now I have Dance near the back of the top 30.

[Chris_H_2]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain)

I respect this

[mkay0]

Go is very, very good. It's not the elite tier to me like it is for seemingly so many others. I think RVM is in that elite category.

[E.H. Ruddock]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain)

I respect this

You guys just don’t like hard rock. You like soft rock

[VinylGuy]

RVM

tough Go is fuckin great

[knee tunes]

Rear View Mirror

[wease]

Go

[Bammer]

Go is PJ’s best song, but I can accept it losing here in that it clears an easier path for Hail, Hail to take the championship.

[Kevin Davis]

Animal is definitely in the same tier as IMT. Had Animal won it would be hard to be too upset by it. I'm not sure Dance is in the same tier, as much as I adore it. Maybe time will tell but right now I have Dance near the back of the top 30.

For all that is great about "DOTC," I think it will always be hindered in comparative exercises like this -- for me, anyway -- by the fact that it's so highly derivative of one specific band that has such a singular and quirky musical identity. There is no other major Pearl Jam song (that I can think of) that is so heavily indebted not only to the general musical language of another artist or style, but to one individual band and singer's specific tics, vocal mannerisms, punctuations, etc. For it to come around so late in the game, with so little precedent, only serves to amplify the degree to which it sticks out in a comparative experiment.

In terms of my own personal enjoyment of the song, this is a feature, not a bug. I love that they have incorporated this new influence into their palate, which was long overdue for new influences. In the early MM rounds, this quality made "DOTC" stand head and shoulders above other songs, with a sense that could barrel along effortlessly to certain victory. But in the later rounds, as the voting starts to point towards one song, the difference between even the best-executed pastiche/derivation and a great song that feels like it only could have been written by this band becomes increasingly clear. "DOTC" is excellent, unquestionably a career milestone -- it is the kind of high-level style experiment, executed with the same degree of commitment and thoughtfulness that they have historically given to their most serious work, that lines the second tiers of many great artists, providing their catalog with fresh colors and unique flavors. But when you're ultimately narrowing down to one, there are many other songs that are equally well- (or better) executed, but better stand for the totality of their achievement.

That's what ultimately pointed me to "In My Tree" in the previous round -- "IMT," and many others still left, feel like great songs that only PJ could have come up with. "DOTC," for all its virtues, isn't that.

[epilogue]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain)

I respect this

You guys just don’t like hard rock. You like soft rock

I like Animal!

[Brett]

For all that is great about "DOTC," I think it will always be hindered in comparative exercises like this -- for me, anyway -- by the fact that it's so highly derivative of one specific band that has such a singular and quirky musical identity. There is no other major Pearl Jam song (that I can think of) that is so heavily indebted not only to the general musical language of another artist or style, but to one individual band and singer's specific tics, vocal mannerisms, punctuations, etc. For it to come around so late in the game, with so little precedent, only serves to amplify the degree to which it sticks out in a comparative experiment.

In terms of my own personal enjoyment of the song, this is a feature, not a bug. I love that they have incorporated this new influence into their palate, which was long overdue for new influences. In the early MM rounds, this quality made "DOTC" stand head and shoulders above other songs, with a sense that could barrel along effortlessly to certain victory. But in the later rounds, as the voting starts to point towards one song, the difference between even the best-executed pastiche/derivation and a great song that feels like it only could have been written by this band becomes increasingly clear. "DOTC" is excellent, unquestionably a career milestone -- it is the kind of high-level style experiment, executed with the same degree of commitment and thoughtfulness that they have historically given to their most serious work, that lines the second tiers of many great artists, providing their catalog with fresh colors and unique flavors. But when you're ultimately narrowing down to one, there are many other songs that are equally well- (or better) executed, but better stand for the totality of their achievement.

That's what ultimately pointed me to "In My Tree" in the previous round -- "IMT," and many others still left, feel like great songs that only PJ could have come up with. "DOTC," for all its virtues, isn't that.

Wow. That's a fantastic write-up that gets to the very core of how a song like "Dance of the Clairvoyants" really stacks up in the long view of Pearl Jam's work. I think those same kind of observations are what motivated my vote in that same match.

To the match at hand, I'm going with "Rearviewmirror," but again these are both powerful and well-made songs. "Go" is all the tightly coiled energy of a young band kicking off their second album with a statement: "We're still the band that made Ten but we can do much more than that and be even better, so hold onto your hat as we melt your face." "RVM" is like the sun clearing a cloud bank after a strong storm. It's uplifting while still having shades of darkness streaked inside. While "Go" is lithe and ferocious, "RVM" is like a relentless, muscular force.

[Jaeti]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain) in this tournament matches Stip's for In My Tree.

Also, it's won the last two times. Easy vote for RVM.

[PHATJ]

Go

[Chris_H_2]

My distaste for Go (for reasons I don't understand and can't explain)

I respect this

You guys just don’t like hard rock. You like soft rock

i voted for go. i just respect what joe said about how he can't put his finger on not liking go.