248. Go vs. Rearviewmirror

[Anders]

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.

Good post

[Thurman Murman]

RVM

[LetMeSleep]

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.

Good post

Great post.

[Jorge]

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.

Good post

Great post.

Grand post

[LetMeSleep]

I last ranked Go #6.

RVM was #16.

I think I need to rank again but I did vote Go.

[digster]

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.

This is a really good encapsulation of why Dance, as great as it is, has trouble reaching the heights of PJ's best work, and why for me it remains a song with an enjoyable first half and an awesome conclusion. I think it's primarily the vocal; the music is clearly cut from the Talking Heads' cloth, but Ed's so blatantly copying the affectations of their singer that it sometimes takes me out of the moment. It's not that I'm thinking about it every time I listen to it or anything, but in trying to gauge why I really like, but don't love it, I think it's that Ed's David Byrne cosplay, as fun as it is to hear, probably takes me out of it a bit.

As for this round, I'm sticking with Go. It's a tightly-wound encapsulation of the band's anxiety and intensity, and it manages to be the kind of song that can fill an arena without reaching for it in the way some of their other earlier songs seem to (it's also, bizarrely, not aged quite as poorly in the live show as some of their other high tempo early songs). But RVM is a phenomenal song; Go's certainly in my top 10, but RVM isn't far behind.

[Anders]

Really hope RVM can pull this off.

[warehouse]

maybe i'm alone in this, but the talking heads thing isnt as big a deal as i hear. the influence is obviously there, but its not the only thing i hear. the "positive, positive" is almost blatantly david byrne, but the chorus reminds me of like teddy pendergrass or something with that deep soulful vibe. mccready also owns this song, his riffs remind me of prince.

[liebzz]

maybe i'm alone in this, but the talking heads thing isnt as big a deal as i hear. the influence is obviously there, but its not the only thing i hear. the "positive, positive" is almost blatantly david byrne, but the chorus reminds me of like teddy pendergrass or something with that deep soulful vibe. mccready also owns this song, his riffs remind me of prince.

For me, it’s Stone on bass, and the bass line is almost like a Stone riff translated over. It starts the song, run through it and owns the song. And to me makes DotC an all timer.