What is your opinion on Binaural with this track listing?

[mikejasond]

I know there's a Binaural topic, but this is a topic that I think warrants enough discussion on its own. Maybe not...I still haven't got the hang of this board admittedly

1. "Light Years"
2. "Nothing as It Seems"
3. "Thin Air"
4. "Insignificance"
5. "Of the Girl"
6. "Grievance"
7. "Rival"
8. "Sleight of Hand"
9. "Soon Forget"
10. "Parting Ways"

Yeah all I did is remove the first three songs. This is the debate I wanna discuss....is it me or does this album work 10x better without the first three songs?

For a while I said that Binaural was my least favorite album after Riot Act...however then I realized that with this minor change I actually quite like it. Logically it shouldn't matter too much but I think it does, mostly because the first three songs put you in a certain state of mind, and I happen to believe that these are three of the most generic songs in Pearl Jam's catalog (And by that I don't mean musically generic but in how they make me feel nothing really...as in I don't like or dislike them at all, unlike Grievance or Insignifigance). Then the rest of the album completely changes pace...

I think opening with Light Years frames this as similar to No Code opening with Sometimes...a softer side of Pearl Jam, and lets you focus more on those songs. I actually think the album works much better that way, and is one of their better albums...probably even more so than Yield. It's weird how those first three songs kill it for me. It makes it feel like Pearl Jam has totally run out of steam (I also happen to hate how God's Dice starts right into it...unlike Go into Animal this time it makes me feel like the album is just droning on without stopping...and Evacuation is just grating.)

Anyways this is a lot of rambling but I wanna see if somebody else agrees. Especially because I really like Thin Air and Of the Girl and Soon Forget even. Framing this so you concentrate on those songs makes it better, much like No Code in my opinion.

[tk]

You just can't remove Breakerfall.

[bodysnatcher]

oh good, this again

[evenslow]

I really don't mean to be a dick but you can't kick-start any album ever with those three songs. You need the average non-PJ folk to be awake for the rest of the album.

[bodysnatcher]

The only thing Light Years should open is the Light Years cd single... and even then, I'd think about putting the b-side first

[E.H. Ruddock]

Isn't there already a retracking Binaural thread?

[bodysnatcher]

about 9 of them... plus about 80% of the official Binaural thread

[mikejasond]

I really don't mean to be a dick but you can't kick-start any album ever with those three songs. You need the average non-PJ folk to be awake for the rest of the album.

I disagree. I think it frames Binaural as a much different kind of album. Personally I found those songs to be the strongest on the album, as well as the other songs like it. The first three songs don't at all represent the rest of it. How is Sometimes any different? That was a radical start to the album, and while Hail Hail is a rocker, Who We Are is absolutely not. And No Code works much better as a result than if Hail Hail had opened or something because it frames itself as a different type of album.

Binaural is a great album if you look at it as that kind of album, but if you look at it like Yield it just doesn't work because those songs are not the best ones in my opinion.

[nyquillyn]

The only thing Light Years should open is the Light Years cd single... and even then, I'd think about putting the b-side first

[Leatherhead]

Fuck this noise. Breakerfall, God's Dice, and Evacuation are all top shelf PJ. Without these three songs Binaural drops significantly.

[bodysnatcher]

agreed.. i really like those three songs.

[stip]

Isn't there already a retracking Binaural thread?

All on the old board, apparently

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Bullshit.

[Birds in Hell]

Evacuation is one of the finest songs this bunch of bozos have managed to churn out.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Every song on Binaural is excellent and Evacuation-haters are retards.

[stip]

To answer the op, it is an interesting start to the record, but a pretty demanding one for the listener

[harmless]

I'm pretty sure Binaural already has a track order and there's nothing very wrong with it.

[Juvenal]

No Fatal?

And, in general:

I'm pretty sure Binaural already has a track order and there's nothing very wrong with it.

[@SkitchP]

I'm pretty sure Binaural already has a track order and there's nothing very wrong with it.

There's nothing wrong with it at all.

[harmless]

I'm pretty sure Binaural already has a track order and there's nothing very wrong with it.

There's nothing wrong with it at all.

Yup. It could do with the omitted tracks but it's fine as it is.