11. Oceans vs. Buckle Up vs Unemployable

[stip]

Oceans vs. Buckle Up vs Unemployable

[stip]

If we exclude Lost Dogs there are only a handful of album tracks I like less than Unemployable. I really don't enjoy it in the slightest.

Oceans is gorgeous but I want to show Gigaton some love, and Buckle Up is lovely in the quirkiest way possible, and I still don't feel like I've uncovered everything it has to offer. It'll get my vote.

[wease]

Unemployable. Still my favorite from Avocado.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Jaeti]

Concur on Unemployable being a bottom-tier album track. It's a no-go. Buckle Up is great, but it's not a song I've come to enjoy more over time, and it's possible it's even dropped half a tick. Oceans is a classic that I still turn to often.

[Jaeti]

And it's still kind of amazing that Oceans showed up on Ten.

[liebzz]

I like the Springsteen like vibe in Unemployable. I like Buckle Up too though still think Stone should have sung it. Oceans is top tier Pearl Jam for me.

[epilogue]

Unemployable. Easy.

[LetMeSleep]

Oceans keeps rising year on year.

[Kevin Davis]

I like everything about "Unemployable" except a few of the lyrics -- the character sketch element of the song always felt kind of patronizing to me, though ultimately it points to a place of compassion that works and feels good. I love the chorus. But it's the least of these three songs in my view.

"Buckle Up" is wonderful, quirky, Stoney, but "Oceans" has been my favorite song on Ten for a long time, and is arguably the only song on it that is more special to me now than it has been in the past. It was one of my live white whales for a long time and I finally got it at Wrigley in 2016 -- a really great moment in my PJ concertgoing life. It gets my vote.

[Anders]

Bucke Up is my favorite from Gigaton, gets my vote here.

[liebzz]

Closest three way vote ever?

[stip]

i like the ranked choice voting possibilities in this format. there are absolutely votes of mine i may change close to the end if my favorite lost and I have a clear second

[Strat]

All great songs. I would love to give Gigaton some love but Buckle Up is not Oceans.

Still haven't gotten Oceans live. Maybe if I vote for it i will....

[Strat]

oooh! Tight race, depending on how this goes I could change my vote in the hours to come.

[dad]

tough one, but i went with Buckle Up.

[wease]

All great songs. I would love to give Gigaton some love but Buckle Up is not Oceans.

Still haven't gotten Oceans live. Maybe if I vote for it i will....

I’ve never gotten it either.

[E.H. Ruddock]

3 awesome songs. Oceans edges out Unemployable here, though.

[epilogue]

Surprised Buckle Up is doing as well as it is here.

[digster]

I like all of these songs a lot; all of these songs occupy a similar space on their respective records. They're all songs I enjoyed a lot at first, but have managed to grow in my estimation over time and keep offering rewards for repeated and closer listening. I'll lean towards Buckle Up, which could be recency bias, but this is a bit of a coin flip to me.