RANK THE ALBUMS

[stip]

one of the reasons I hold lightning bolt (and backspacer) in the esteem I do. While there aren't many truly top shelf songs on either of those albums, they are also albums where for the most part there's nothing I really need to cut. Even the weaker songs (excepting supersonic) are, at worse, fine.

What a fascinating way to think about this. This is like saying you like a baseball team because all the hitters between .215 and .235

There are almost zero songs from LB or Backspacer that I like more than anything from the albums the preceded them.

Same. I'd maybe go 4-5 songs from both records that are in the top half of the catalogue for me.

No, I think all the songs are in the 3-4.5 star range. Nothing i feel like skipping. So it's kind of a Moneyball question. The other albums are all for me, really inconsistent. You've got albums like S/T or Yield with incredible highs but a lot of songs that don't really excite me, which rank around L-Bolt and Backspacer (again, each full of songs I like, even if light on classics). Worse (which is why they are below) are albums like No Code, Binaural, and Riot Act, which are a mix of songs I like (but few songs that top my lists - Binaural and Riot Act, like Backspacer and L-Bolts, have some songs that hang out near the top but can't quite there) as well as swaths of songs I just don't give a shit about. Those are albums I only listen to for start to finish as background music or because I'm posting.

No Code remains definitely at the bottom. It's probably gone down over the years, actually. While there are a few songs I have greater appreciation for (Who You Are, Habit, Around the Bend) the songs that topped the album (In My Tree, Red Mosquito, Present Tense) have definitely dipped for me

[epilogue]

Infallible is my favorite song from BS/LB. Currently it shows up on my rankings at #40. The next song from either of those two shows up at 48 (Yellow Moon).

The first Backspacer song is at 58.

Every other PJ record is represented at least once before Infallible and the first seven records (and Gigaton) have at least three before #40.

[Farmer John]

I enjoyed this more than I normally would a video like this. These guys are a pretty good representation of RM (with one of them having a few bonkers opinions)

[Thurman Murman]

one of the reasons I hold lightning bolt (and backspacer) in the esteem I do. While there aren't many truly top shelf songs on either of those albums, they are also albums where for the most part there's nothing I really need to cut. Even the weaker songs (excepting supersonic) are, at worse, fine.

This is how i feel about the self titled album. I think its an incredibly consistent, solid album but there are no great songs.

Backspacer is a step down but still a fun listen. Pretty much the entire second half of LB are stinkers by the bands standards.

[digster]

I'd wonder what people's biggest jumps in terms of how your estimation of an album changed over time. I get the feeling many of these lists (including my own) have overall been pretty static, but I'd say my only big shift would probably be with No Code. I always liked it, but I think for a long time it would have been my least favorite of the pre-S/T stuff, and now I'd say it hovers around my top 3.

But I think that'd be the only huge shift; even S/T, which I definitely enjoy now more than I used to, didn't really change in how I rank it in the catalog.

[Thurman Murman]

I don't think any of their albums have really changed significantly in my estimation...at least after i've given them at least 6 months to marinate.

Certainly when LB was first released i prefered it to Backspacer. Now i have Backspacer as fairly significantly better (even if they are the two worst albums)

Binaural might be one that has moved up the most in my estimation over time, but honestly that has as much to do with the subsequent songs that came out from those sessions as anything else.

[Tsuga]

Going by the number of songs that are in my Top 15 (Immortality, Corduroy, Satan's Bed, Last Exit, Tremor Christ), Vitalogy would be my number one album. But there are others that sink it, even though I love that they're important parts of that album's experience. Going by overall song average No Code is still my favorite, followed by Gigagon. But it's tough. I've been living with Ten and Vs. for almost 30 years. There are some songs that I just can't hear the way I used to, and I'm wary of the idea that a song should be ranked higher just because of how intensely I felt about it when I was 13. What would I rather listen to now? I understand that "Black" means a lot to a lot of people, but would I rather listen to "Alright" at the moment? Yes. So....

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

[PHATJ]

Infallible is my favorite song from BS/LB. Currently it shows up on my rankings at #40. The next song from either of those two shows up at 48 (Yellow Moon).

The first Backspacer song is at 58.

Every other PJ record is represented at least once before Infallible and the first seven records (and Gigaton) have at least three before #40.

Amongst the Waves is my favorite of the two albums and it comes in at number 80 on my list. Lightning Bolt is my first song from that album on my list and it comes in at 121. Pendulum is next at 133 and Speed of Sound at 136.

[stip]

I tend to rank the newest album in the 3-5 spot. With the exception of No Code there was a period where I ranked Yield, Binaural, and Riot Act 3rd before they dropped. Post Riot Act Vs. was elevated to three and the new album tended to sit in the 4 spot before dropping. Gigaton has hung out there the longest, I think

[Mickey]

Yield
Vitalogy
No Code
Vs
Riot Act
Binaural
Ten

The other stuff (unlistenable)

[digster]

I don't think any of their albums have really changed significantly in my estimation...at least after i've given them at least 6 months to marinate.

Certainly when LB was first released i prefered it to Backspacer. Now i have Backspacer as fairly significantly better (even if they are the two worst albums)

Binaural might be one that has moved up the most in my estimation over time, but honestly that has as much to do with the subsequent songs that came out from those sessions as anything else.

Yeah, I'm thinking after that first blush period; personally, I think I've kind of overinflated almost every PJ record when it comes out compared to where it eventually ends up in my thinking of the catalog. No Code has really been the main one that's shifted for me at any point after that initial impression.

[liebzz]

I don't think any of their albums have really changed significantly in my estimation...at least after i've given them at least 6 months to marinate.

Certainly when LB was first released i prefered it to Backspacer. Now i have Backspacer as fairly significantly better (even if they are the two worst albums)

Binaural might be one that has moved up the most in my estimation over time, but honestly that has as much to do with the subsequent songs that came out from those sessions as anything else.

Yeah, I'm thinking after that first blush period; personally, I think I've kind of overinflated almost every PJ record when it comes out compared to where it eventually ends up in my thinking of the catalog. No Code has really been the main one that's shifted for me at any point after that initial impression.

Binaural has climbed the most and I think aged really well for me. Ten probably has aged the worst for me. I love the album and would easily give it 5 stars but as albums like Binaural and Gigaton jump over it for me, it naturally falls a bit.

Agreed though that I typically overrate albums when they first come out and it takes 6 months to a year for it to settle in.

[VinylGuy]

No Code
Vs
Gigaton
Ten
Binaural
Yield
ST
Riot Act
Vitalogy
Backspacer
Lightning Bolt

Both Ten and ST are going up these days, while Vitalogy dropped a lot.

[Farmer John]

Yield
No Code
Vitalogy
Binaural
Vs
Ten
Riot Act
Gigaton
S/T
Backspacer
Lightning Bolt

[Johnny Turner]

Riot Act
Yield
Versus
Ten
Vitalogy
Gigaton
Binaural
S/T
No Code
Lightning Bolt
Backspacer

[TremorJam]

Vitalogy
Binaural
Riot Act
No Code
Yield
Ten
Vs.
*Lost Dogs*
Gigaton
S/T
Lightning Bolt
Backspacer

It's tough to rank the first 7 (*8 including Lost Dogs - I tend to count this one because of the "new" material that was on it). PJ's discography is frickin' excellent overall but - '91-'03 is G.O.A.T. level good - as in up there with Stones & Zeppelin albums.

[gardenparty]

Vitalogy
Vs
Ten (though very dated)
Yield
No Code
Riot Act
Binaural
Gigaton
Lightning Bolt
Backspacer
ST

[dad]

I enjoyed this more than I normally would a video like this. These guys are a pretty good representation of RM (with one of them having a few bonkers opinions)

I'm about 20 min into this and that one dude (Joe?) has to be trolling. Binaural is his #8? c'mon, man...

No Code was pretty low too. Yikes.

[epilogue]

I've got Binaural at #8.

[dad]

I've got Binaural at #8.

jk, I think i've got it at #7, so i've no room to talk, but I'm thinking about moving it up after listening to some of these shows from 2000.