Riot Act: Official Album Thread

[Ms Harmless]

I don't find TMW hopeless and depressing, I find it desperate and searching

[epilogue]

I've never understood the Riot Act is a depressing or defeated album take. We've been over and over it for decades and I still don't get it.

[Jorge]

Ed sounds a bit tired, I think that's part of it

[dad]

He definitely sounds nasally in a couple songs too.

He’s sick and tired.

[VinylGuy]

also, lyrics like All Or None.

[Leatherhead]

How many people in the world do you think really love this album? 100? 1,000? 10,000?

[knee tunes]

How many people in the world do you think really love this album? 100? 1,000? 10,000?

Fuckin million times 9 at least

[Thurman Murman]

How many people in the world do you think really love this album? 100? 1,000? 10,000?

No idea...but i have a few friends who are more casual Pearl Jam fans and they consider the Binaural/Riot Act era to be the bands lowpoint (well at least up to LB) and that Avocade was the album that drew them back in to the point of wanting to see them live again.

[Tj]

Not a fan of this album as it was presented but a fan of the era. This album and Gigaton are bottom of the barrel for me. If it was something like this it could have been a favorite.
Cropduster
Down
I am mine
You Are
Help Help
Thumbing My Way
Get Right
Undone
Ghost
Half Full
Can't Keep

[VinylGuy]

so you dont like the album because of how it was sequenced?

[Monkey_Driven]

Not a fan of this album as it was presented but a fan of the era. This album and Gigaton are bottom of the barrel for me. If it was something like this it could have been a favorite.
Cropduster
Down
I am mine
You Are
Help Help
Thumbing My Way
Get Right
Undone
Ghost
Half Full
Can't Keep

I cannot compute having this and Gigaton below Backspacer or Lightning Bolt.

[Tj]

so you dont like the album because of how it was sequenced?

Save You
LBC
Derail the album before it starts

[Tj]

Not a fan of this album as it was presented but a fan of the era. This album and Gigaton are bottom of the barrel for me. If it was something like this it could have been a favorite.
Cropduster
Down
I am mine
You Are
Help Help
Thumbing My Way
Get Right
Undone
Ghost
Half Full
Can't Keep

I cannot compute having this and Gigaton below Backspacer or Lightning Bolt.

In fairness Dotc is the best Pearl Jam song of the last 20 years

[Monkey_Driven]

Not a fan of this album as it was presented but a fan of the era. This album and Gigaton are bottom of the barrel for me. If it was something like this it could have been a favorite.
Cropduster
Down
I am mine
You Are
Help Help
Thumbing My Way
Get Right
Undone
Ghost
Half Full
Can't Keep

I cannot compute having this and Gigaton below Backspacer or Lightning Bolt.

In fairness Dotc is the best Pearl Jam song of the last 20 years

on that, we agree

[epilogue]

I think a strong argument could be made that there's a few songs on Gigaton that are the best in the last 20 years.

[Ms Harmless]

I think a strong argument could be made that there's a few songs on Gigaton that are the best in the last 20 years.

almost all of them tbh

[epilogue]

I think a strong argument could be made that there's a few songs on Gigaton that are the best in the last 20 years.

almost all of them tbh

I still put Infallible pretty high on the best of the last 20 years list. But yeah.

[Monkey_Driven]

I think a strong argument could be made that there's a few songs on Gigaton that are the best in the last 20 years.

Excluding Binaural? Best as in top 25 percent. Yeah, probably several.

[jam80]

Gave this a full listen today. Sounds so good. I'm not even an amateur audiophile, but for me I think this album, No Code, and Gigaton are my Tier 1 "production" records.

This, maybe more than any other album, leaves me conflicted about songs that I adore musically but leave me underwhelmed lyrically. I like almost every song, but many of them either don't hit emotionally the way I wish they did, and/or don't hit intellectually and politically the way they aimed to.

By today's accounting, there are no definite 5-star songs for me on Riot Act. At times I've given Can't Keep and Cropduster the full five, but they're not no-brainers.

Can't Keep – Great song. 4 stars on its worst day, usually 4.5/5
Save You – Very good song. 4 stars.
Love Boat Captain – Exhibit A for "underwhelms lyrically." I always want it to be great, but it's only very good. 4 stars.
Cropduster – Great song. 4.5 stars. Satisfyingly cryptic/abstract lyrically. Tremendous musically.
Ghost – Took a long time to come around on this one, but it's great musically and fine lyrically. 3.5 stars.
I Am Mine – Exhibit B for "underwhelms lyrically." Another one that hints at greatness but doesn't get there. 3.5/4 stars.
Thumbing My Way – I tend to think this is a solid, lovely song. Today, it struck me as a notch better than that. 4 stars.
You Are – Very worthwhile, unique musical moment. Hit or miss lyrics, but a fantastic closing couplet. 3.5/4 stars.
Get Right – I continue to listen with an open mind, but it always falls flat. 2 stars.
Green Disease – Exhibit C for "underwhelms lyrically." I enjoy it musically, though not quite as much as I once did. 3 stars.
Help, Help – Love it musically, but its cryptic lyrics are also a bit thin. Still, it all sounds great in the end. 4 stars.
Bushleaguer – Tremendous musically, and we'll leave it at that. 3 stars.
1/2 Full – Love the musical journey here, but lyrically I tend to have one foot out the door. Tremendous outro. 3.5 stars
Arc – It is what it is. 2.5 stars.
All or None – Another that has the musical makings of a classic, but lyrically falls short. 3.5 stars

I agree, sonically this is one of their best. It sounds like they are cranking these songs out live in real time. Not alot of studio magic moments to be found here. Everything seems mic'd perfectly and the album just has an overall warm feeling.

I think this is why I tend to rank this album up higher when I remember back... but when I actually sit down and try to listen to it in full its a bit of a dull experience.

[epilogue]

I think a strong argument could be made that there's a few songs on Gigaton that are the best in the last 20 years.

Excluding Binaural? Best as in top 25 percent. Yeah, probably several.

Yeah, I was going from S/T on, really. Riot Act falls within the "last 20 years" but Binaural is outside that range, right? I have no idea anymore. What is time?????

Most of Binaural and Riot Act (if we're counting those) make up the best of that time. There are a handful from S/T that rank. Maybe one or two from BS & LB (again, Infallible is way up there for me).

The rest are Gigaton.