Let's Actually Listen to the Album: Pearl Jam

[Ms Harmless]

I'm such an unashamed apologist for "Gone", I think it's great

he's supposed to sound tired and contemplative at the beginning, it's a little touch of Riot Act

[stip]

i agree thats what he’s going for. I dont particularly like listening to it but I do love the chorus and probably wouldnt if not for the verse, at least not nearly as much

[digster]

This album really opened up for me after I realized Marker/Parachutes/Unemployable is a fantastic trio of songs at the center of the record, and that Come Back is really good. For a long time, I just felt like the record went off a cliff in its back half besides Army Reserve, but having Army/Come Back near the close did a lot to make it better for me. Still, this is by far the most likely album of theirs for me to listen to a live compilation of the songs, rather than the album itself.

[stip]

inside job is the song ive come around on the most in recent years

[stip]

i’ve been listening to the BoB remixes recently. this is a really good record. better than i sometimes credit. really the only song i just dont care for is unemployable

[VinylGuy]

which is one of the best songs from their catalogue, but ok.

[stip]

one of the best is a bold statement. what draws you to unemployable?

[oftheearth]

I'm such an unashamed apologist for "Gone", I think it's great

he's supposed to sound tired and contemplative at the beginning, it's a little touch of Riot Act

I get that and everything, It does sound like a deliberate choice. It’s not that I don’t like that version of Eddie (big Riot Act fan). Maybe it’s the clunky acoustic guitar sound? I don’t mind it as much on the demo/AOL sessions/live when he plays an electric. Could of been another deliberate choice for all I know.

[stip]

it may just not work in practice. i dont like the sound of the guitar on thumbing my way, but I understand (i think) why it sounds how it does.

[Ms Harmless]

I'm such an unashamed apologist for "Gone", I think it's great

he's supposed to sound tired and contemplative at the beginning, it's a little touch of Riot Act

I get that and everything, It does sound like a deliberate choice. It’s not that I don’t like that version of Eddie (big Riot Act fan). Maybe it’s the clunky acoustic guitar sound? I don’t mind it as much on the demo/AOL sessions/live when he plays an electric. Could of been another deliberate choice for all I know.

the guitar on the demo is more confidently strummed, less finger-picked; I can see how that might come off as clunky or unconfident, but I like the reservedness

[liebzz]

I’m heading into a Post- Riot Act world beginning with the commute home today. My S/T listen:

Pearl Jam: Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Comatose, Severed Hand, Marker in the Sand, Parachutes, Unemployable, Big Wave, Gone, Wasted Reprise, Army Reserve, Come Back, Inside Job

B-sides: Love, Reign O’er Me, Santa Cruz, Santa God, Jingle Bells, It Rains On Me, No More, All Along the Watchtower, Black Diamond

Live: the album, but live versions culled through their first appearance on the ‘08 tour (restricted to Spotify)

[Farmer John]

I’m heading into a Post- Riot Act world

Godspeed

[Jaeti]

My god, No More. That song. My god.

[stip]

I’m heading into a Post- Riot Act world beginning with the commute home today. My S/T listen:

Pearl Jam: Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Comatose, Severed Hand, Marker in the Sand, Parachutes, Unemployable, Big Wave, Gone, Wasted Reprise, Army Reserve, Come Back, Inside Job

B-sides: Love, Reign O’er Me, Santa Cruz, Santa God, Jingle Bells, It Rains On Me, No More, All Along the Watchtower, Black Diamond

Live: the album, but live versions culled through their first appearance on the ‘08 tour (restricted to Spotify)

you should give both mixes a listen and weigh in which is superior

[liebzz]

I’m heading into a Post- Riot Act world beginning with the commute home today. My S/T listen:

Pearl Jam: Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Comatose, Severed Hand, Marker in the Sand, Parachutes, Unemployable, Big Wave, Gone, Wasted Reprise, Army Reserve, Come Back, Inside Job

B-sides: Love, Reign O’er Me, Santa Cruz, Santa God, Jingle Bells, It Rains On Me, No More, All Along the Watchtower, Black Diamond

Live: the album, but live versions culled through their first appearance on the ‘08 tour (restricted to Spotify)

you should give both mixes a listen and weigh in which is superior

Don’t know that there is ample listening time for that but I haven’t listened to the non-BOB mix in ages.

[liebzz]

2/3 of the way through and I guess it has been a long time since I listened through this completely because my expectations (the original) are blown away by the BOB remix. It is far and away superior. Whereas before, there was a thinness to the entire recording, you can actually separate the instruments quite a bit more, providing much more in the way of depth. The challenge still, is Eddie Vedder’s voice, which lacks the depth and gravity of any of the other Pearl Jam albums. This I know was remedied in the live performances of these songs, but on the album, it feels papered on top of the recording instead of ingrained in the dynamics. All that crap aside, this album undeniably rocks. That 5 part punch to start the album really has no other comparison in terms of approach. A statement at that point that Pearl Jam would set aside the tinkering of the last few albums with a full volume, full blast approach. Parachutes provides a nice and much needed respite, but then we’re right back at it with Unemployable and Big Wave. Some of Pearl Jam’s rock dexterity comes through in Army Reserve and Inside Job. Gone has some obligatory Given to Fly vibes while Come Back is the token ballad, though I do love both as songs. This was never really a return to form but the establishment of a new form, for better or worse, of a band looking to push the pace more than the envelope. There’s value to that, but as I think we will see, the approach had its limits on future albums. For here, it’s f@cking fantastic!

[stip]

i like the idea of an establishment of a new form rather than a return to form. Nicely said

[VinylGuy]

I should listen to the Bob remix again I guess

I love ST and that era. Felt like the band was confident again to make tv appearances, videos , festivals

I enjoyed it very much and I was coming from 2005, my favorite tour and first two live shows after 15 years waiting at that point

[lowlight79]

This just might be my favorite record from them. I felt this way when it was released and it never changed. It just feels like a time period long gone.

[liebzz]

Yes great era. On the b-sides, I really wish all the leaked material from those sessions was on Spotify because I feel like the sketches of songs rival the Binaural era in terms of good ideas that ultimately didn’t make the album. Here, we are left with the Love, Reign O’er Me cover that is damn good, though nothing tops the VH1 rock honors live version, Santa Cruz, a very underrated song that is one of the few times if ever they have accomplished a top down cool breeze of a song. Santa God, which, stay with me here, has obvious nods to REM in its jangliness, but then its cadence and delivery evokes Nirvana (if the guitars were given layers of distortion). Jingle Bells is fun toss off. No More is standard Vedder over-folk with a call and response - no wonder this board despises that song.

Live avocado is up next…