The Journey/Rank Thread to Rank Them All - the Worst Thread

[liebzz]

Brad - Best Friends?

On their fourth album, Brad really starts this off, and really the first half, with a lot of space and breathing room for the songs. They track a bit longer and burn with it, creating a great atmosphere for these songs. Listening to Without Regret, I felt like that could have been the whole 48 minutes and I would have been satisfied. Of course that’s not the only highlight, as Price of Love, Every Whisper, Low, and Oh My Goodness could rate among my favorites from Brad this far, and Runnin’ for Cover, Holiday, Rush Hour and Believe in Yourself are also quite solid. I think Interiors still gets the nod, but this is right in line with Shame in terms of preferences.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam
Stone Gossard - Bayleaf
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Brad - Best Friends?
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Brad Vs. Satchel
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Wellwater Conspiracy
Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Jeff Ament - Tone
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Hater - The 2nd
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules
Eddie Vedder and the Walmer High School Choir - The Molo Sessions
The Rockfords - The Waiting EP

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[liebzz]

I agree with almost all the reviews you’ve written, but strongly disagree with the rankings. I don’t know what that means.

Rankings are always fluid and could change from one week to the next, whereas I think impressions and the descriptions are a bit more enduring. That might be the difference.

[liebzz]

Tres Mts. - Three Mountains

Take Three Fish, subtract Robbi Robb, add DuG Pinnick, and you have Tres Mts. This is actually the first side project I saw live at the Gramercy Theater when the album came out and I always thought of the album through that lense - they really did sound great live with Mike McCready on nearly every song. The album, however, has always been more of a mixed bag. All time bangers in My Baby, Makes Me Feel, Holes in the Road, In the Middle, She’s My New Song (and reprise), and Mystery, but pedestrian to sometimes bad with the rest. I mean, I guess Utah is pretty decent, and Break, and Afrosheena is alright, but the guttural wail in Oh Lord is reminiscent on how I sound in anticipation of vomiting (ruining an otherwise good song), and God Told Me is The Haves bad to me.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam
Stone Gossard - Bayleaf
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Brad - Best Friends?
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Brad Vs. Satchel
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Wellwater Conspiracy
Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Jeff Ament - Tone
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Tres Mts. - Three Mountains
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Hater - The 2nd
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules
Eddie Vedder and the Walmer High School Choir - The Molo Sessions
The Rockfords - The Waiting EP

[liebzz]

Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs

After the really phenomenal Into the Wild soundtrack, Eddie comes back with another solo release, this time consisting primarily of songs played with, you guessed it, his ukulele. Those of us who had been going to Pearl Jam shows or really collecting those 2000 tour bootlegs that had seen official release a decade prior were aware that Eddie had a bit of an obsession with his ukulele, even providing a uke song for Binaural, Soon Forget. But a whole album of these!? Despite the torturous nature of what that description sounds like, Eddie does a great job here building songs around the instrument, largely because the nature of the instrument seems tailor-made for Eddie’s toss off and move on phase of writing. You’re True is the perfect example here, a playing that seems celebratory of the ukulele, but never really getting too heavy on the lyrical material. Same with Sleeping By Myself. In as much as the new material is surprisingly good, the re-worked covers might ultimately be the highlight, including a great Can’t Keep, a beautiful Sleepless Nights, a really fun Tonight You Belong to Me, and the lullaby like Dream a Little Dream. This one may not fall into the pantheon of great all time releases, but when the itch hits, this is a fun and easy way to enjoy Eddie and his uke.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam
Stone Gossard - Bayleaf
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Brad - Best Friends?
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Brad Vs. Satchel
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Wellwater Conspiracy
Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Three Fish
Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
Green River - Rehab Doll
Jeff Ament - Tone
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Tres Mts. - Three Mountains
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Hater - The 2nd
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules
Eddie Vedder and the Walmer High School Choir - The Molo Sessions
The Rockfords - The Waiting EP

[Anders]

Fairly ranked. It has its moments, but ultimately is at most mid-tiered in this thread.

[liebzz]

Fairly ranked. It has its moments, but ultimately is at most mid-tiered in this thread.

Thanks. I am trying my best to think about the albums fairly and get neither into Eddie worship or Eddie bashing here. Really just trying to hear it all in full context - a new way to experience a band I have probably given many years of listening of my life to.

[VinylGuy]

I prefer Uke Songs ( those demos that got leaked around 2002 i think) than the recordings of Ukelele Songs. I rarely listen to this one.

But, im a huge huge fan of Best Friends? it might be their best with Shame. Amazing album, and i cant believe they fucking shelved it for so long.

Also Tres Mountains is the worst Jeff project.

[Anders]

Looking forward to Moonlander and Lightning Bolt.

[stip]

uke songs is disposable by design, but sleeping by myself and without you really lingered. Dream a little dream was the lullaby I sang to my older daughter

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Kevin Davis]

Longtime lover/defender of Ukulele Songs here -- the songs that date back to '01-'02 no doubt sounded better in '01-'02, but I really love the jazzy, curious feel of the writing. I feel like I can hear Ed's natural songwriting instincts kind of leading him blindly through his discovery of the instrument, and I think he goes to a lot of places musically he otherwise wouldn't have (and really hasn't before or since) as a result. My favorite thing Eddie has done outside of PJ.

[Farmer John]

I found Broken Heart to be the best of the uke era (excluding Can't Keep)

Same here.

Ironically, I think the best version of that song is when he played it on electric guitar.

[liebzz]

Pearl Jam - PJ20 Soundtrack

As part of the epic, huge celebration of 20 years since Ten really, they released a book, a documentary, played a self-curated rock festival, and released this soundtrack to the documentary bearing the PJ20 stamp. The first side is largely composed of full performances of the live song snippets in the documentary, and side B a mix of live songs and demos spanning the band’s career. Based on the nature of this, it plays sort of like the CD bootlegs you can still find from time to time in small record stores that were independently created from audience recordings and leaked demos. The audio quality jumps around but it gives the picture of a band playing - live and in the studio. Of particular note and fascination to me is the run in the second disc that contains the acoustic demo of Given to Fly, Need to Know demo that shows a totally different direction for Matt than what came out on The Fixer, the double shot of Nothing As It Seems, a phenomenal demo followed by the even better finished product live, Indifference that kind of extends that smoky room vibe, and the instrumental Of the Girl, similarly great to hear. Other random highlights include Walk With Me with Neil Young, maybe the definitive late period version of Better Man, and a killer Rearviewmirror. The early stuff is neat but on a song level mostly toss away. Sorry folks. This is one of those compilations that is great to have if only to occasionally revisit. Really impossible to rank per se but it won’t be high on the list because it’s best digested in parts rather than the whole.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam
Stone Gossard - Bayleaf
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Brad - Best Friends?
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Brad Vs. Satchel
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Wellwater Conspiracy
Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Three Fish
Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
Pearl Jam - PJ20 Soundtrack
Green River - Rehab Doll
Jeff Ament - Tone
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Tres Mts. - Three Mountains
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Hater - The 2nd
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules
Eddie Vedder and the Walmer High School Choir - The Molo Sessions
The Rockfords - The Waiting EP

[liebzz]

Brad - United We Stand

On this album, it seems to get better as we progress through the album. It starts off a bit on the bland side, though Bound in Time seemed to build really nicely, and Last Bastion was a good rock song. It’s in the last third of this album though where this gets really good, with Needle and Thread, Through the Day, and Tea Bag. This is ultimately a solid release but I am not sure up to Brad standards.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam
Stone Gossard - Bayleaf
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Brad - Best Friends?
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Brad Vs. Satchel
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Wellwater Conspiracy
Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Three Fish
Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
Pearl Jam - PJ20 Soundtrack
Green River - Rehab Doll
Jeff Ament - Tone
Brad - United We Stand
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Tres Mts. - Three Mountains
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Hater - The 2nd
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules
Eddie Vedder and the Walmer High School Choir - The Molo Sessions
The Rockfords - The Waiting EP

[liebzz]

Jeff Ament - While My Heart Beats

This is another side project I listened to a time or two and sort of cast it aside and didn’t really think much of or about it, and that too was a huge mistake. My prior impression was that this album was somehow tamer, but it rips from the outset. Ulcers & the Apocalypse comes out roaring, and When the Fire Comes and War in Your Eyes quickly follow suit. While My Heart Beats starts off a slow burner and builds into this huge song by the end. Give It a Name, The Answers, Time to Pay, and Down to Sleep are also highlights. This seems like a vibe in between Three Fish and the forthcoming RNDM. It’s actually an excellent album.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam
Stone Gossard - Bayleaf
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Brad - Best Friends?
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Brad Vs. Satchel
Jeff Ament - While My Heart Beats
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Wellwater Conspiracy
Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Three Fish
Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
Pearl Jam - PJ20 Soundtrack
Green River - Rehab Doll
Jeff Ament - Tone
Brad - United We Stand
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Tres Mts. - Three Mountains
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Hater - The 2nd
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules
Eddie Vedder and the Walmer High School Choir - The Molo Sessions
The Rockfords - The Waiting EP

[VinylGuy]

Blasted Ten today while running. Damn, what a fucking beast of an album. I put the Redux version, which i dont quite like or care but only to focus on some stuff like a little guitar there or Dave Krusen´s drums. He absolutely kills it. His drumming in Jeremy is top notch, is right there with the best drumming in PJ´s whole catalog.

What a fucking amazing debut this is.

[VinylGuy]

Also, both United...and While...are two i cant quite get into. I need to relisten to United...and maybe give more time to While...but they havent clicked with me.

[liebzz]

The former is fine but didn’t grab me in the same way the other four Brad albums did.

The Jeff Ament album is really good. I never gave it much time either but I feel like when you approach it not wanting any Pearl Jam flavor, and you give it that independent listen, it just clicked then for me. That title track, which I thought was going to be the album trajecting down for me, ended up really grabbing me at the end of the song.

[VinylGuy]

Im a huge Jeff solo fan...but that was felt like a letdown for me when it came out. I still need to give it more spins, but its the one i care the least.

As for United...when it came out i felt it was too rock and not groovy enough, and Brad does groove better.