Waiting For Stevie

[dimejinky99]

Please stop comparing mediocre Gigaton and poop Dark Matter to No Code and Yield

more of an analogy than a compariosn

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[dimejinky99]

But there's just no direct correlation between Yield and Dark Matter.

Nobody said there was.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

It's still a weak analogy. No Code and Yield are founded on a spirit of experimentation and subversion of expectation. As we've been discussing in the Flaws of Yield thread, you remove two songs and it's a very wonky album.

I can buy that Gigaton is a modern-day No Code, in the way it varies its song styles, maintaining a fairly similar sense of searching, and occasionally plodding, rather than swinging for the fences.

But there's just no direct correlation between Yield and Dark Matter. The former is an open-minded collaborative effort informed by each members' respective influences at that time. The latter is a successful exercise in mid-life crises put to Pro Tools.

or alternatively, that one came out while we were in high school or college while the other came out while we are jaded middle aged men desperately holding onto the illusion of the purity of youth. I suppose in that case you’re right. the analogy breaks down.


What I was going for is that both Yield and Dark Matter have a ‘written by a band in the room’ feel (though it seems like there was a lot more pre-writing for Yield. we may romanticize those sessions because of SVT). And unlike their introspective predecessors both are open hearted and inclusive records with bigger, more expansive sounds. Its not that Yield and DM dont look inward (they do - almost all pj records do)aa but they try to activley welcome in their listeners without the sense that you might be intruding

[stip]

Dark Matter is also louder than yield. which some have hinted they dont care much for.

[Strat]

Trag still can't get past the production! What an animal!

[stip]

my post was 10% more aggressive than it needed to be

[dimejinky99]

mine wasnt aggressive enough

[digster]

I'm not sure there's any direct 1-1 comparisons between the band's records, but when thinking of Gigaton/Dark Matter, I think that the most apt comparison is to Riot Act/ST, which I think lines up relatively succinctly.

[Strat]

I like Pearl jam. Things don't need to be compared or put into boxes !

[dimejinky99]

if only there was a (very average) song about not comparing.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[epilogue]

its an incredible record, but Gigaton (by design) doesnt feel major. its a little too long, rambling, introspective in a stream of consciousness kind of way - probably reflecting how it was developed. Its the No Code to Dark Matter’s Yield in that way

Hard disagree with the first part. But I have a feeling "major" is more of a taste thing than quantifiable in any real way. The last sentence feels right.

Though, I'd argue No Code is a "major" record (or feels so) while Yield is/does not.

[epilogue]

my post was 10% more less aggressive than it needed to be

[epilogue]

I'm not sure there's any direct 1-1 comparisons between the band's records, but when thinking of Gigaton/Dark Matter, I think that the most apt comparison is to Riot Act/ST, which I think lines up relatively succinctly.

Well now that's interesting

[stip]

I'm not sure there's any direct 1-1 comparisons between the band's records, but when thinking of Gigaton/Dark Matter, I think that the most apt comparison is to Riot Act/ST, which I think lines up relatively succinctly.

Well now that's interesting

It's a good comparison. I was thinking the same as well, but

A: I think tonally and thematically No Code and Yield is closer to Gigaton and Dark Matter. In both cases as well the second album is something of an expansion of the former, an extending outwards, whereas S/T is more of an intentional refutation/response to the headspace of Riot Act

B: It's more provocative to go with No Code and Yield

[stip]

its an incredible record, but Gigaton (by design) doesnt feel major. its a little too long, rambling, introspective in a stream of consciousness kind of way - probably reflecting how it was developed. Its the No Code to Dark Matter’s Yield in that way

Hard disagree with the first part. But I have a feeling "major" is more of a taste thing than quantifiable in any real way. The last sentence feels right.

Though, I'd argue No Code is a "major" record (or feels so) while Yield is/does not.

It probably is taste. I was thinking major in that the records feel more statement making in their intent, even as they puzzle things through, whereas No Code (or Riot Act or Gigaton) feel more like you are witnessing something quiet, something smaller and more intimate, even if it is powerful and significant. Maybe major is not the right word to use. But Yield (and DM and S/T) are records that want to say something, and are letting you know it, and taking bigger, more deliberate swings. Aspirationally they feel bigger. Whether they hit the mark, how much they move you, etc is a different story altogether

[stip]

I posited once, but didn't follow up on because I can't draw it in RM and I'm too lazy to do it outside and post it in, that you could place most pearl jam songs on a grid.

Asking Questions




Inward facing/introverted ---------------------------------------------- Outward facing/extroverted





Offering Answers


In my mind the 'major' records are inherently outward facing, whether they are asking questions (Ten/VS), or offering Solutions (Yield, S/T, Dark Matter). The major ones aren't necessarily better (though it is often the space I prefer). But I think they're trying to capture something different. And of course its a continuum.