Lets Actually Listen to the Album: Binaural

[mikejasond]

God's Dice: This song also follows along with the tone Breakerfall sets, but that tone is not a good one. If the whole album was like this it would be...I dunno, not a good album. This song is also in my opinion annoying and grating, especially the chorus. I really don't like how there's a lot going on but it just stays on the same chords over and over and sort of drones on like Breakerfall did. As far as the instrumentation it's pretty good I guess. The drums are nice. But the total package just doesn't work at all for me. These songs just sound like bad uninspired rockers. I dunno if generic is the right word, but it just is inconsequential sounding and substance-less if that means anything. Like there's nothing to it but noise.

[Norah]

oh for fucks sake

[mikejasond]

Evacuation: And the final song following the initial tone. When I first listened to this album I decided I hated it by this point. It took me many listens to be able to even distinguish the first three songs from each other. This is one of Eddie's worst vocal performances ever. It just sounds annoying, and again sort of sounds like a constant grating droning caused by the constant chords that don't change and the cacophony of instruments.

I think these three songs are my least favorite Pearl Jam songs and I hope I never hear them live.

[Norah]

One of my favorite things about the 2000 tour setlists was the prevalent use of Breakerfall a the second song.

[stip]

One of my favorite things about the 2000 tour setlists was the prevalent use of Breakerfall a the second song.

they were pretty lazy and predictable with those setlists back then, huh

[stip]

I agree with you regarding the first 3 songs mikejones, although I think I like breakerfall more than you

[Norah]

One of my favorite things about the 2000 tour setlists was the prevalent use of Breakerfall a the second song.

they were pretty lazy and predictable with those setlists back then, huh

But they sounded fantastic...

[mikejasond]

Light Years: What's this?

You can set the tone of an album very strongly from the opening couple songs. Sometimes is such a great opener for No Code because it establishes it as not a rocker album. Life Wasted and World Wide Suicide were so great because they established Avocado as a return to rockers...Can't Keep established an introspective tone, and Gonna See my Friend and The Fixer did a lot for the commercial tone of Backspacer.

The opening songs of this album do not set the tone for what it actually will be, and Binaural works better for me if you frame it differently.

Light Years in my opinion absolutely should have been the opener of this album.

From the opening drum beats to the light guitar, my attention is instantly grabbed. It sounds different, but interesting. I don't love this song, but I like it a lot. Viewed after the first three songs it seems like a departure, when really this encapsulates the album much better than they do. In my opinion? Trash the first three songs altogether, maybe put God's Dice on a later album somewhere since it's the best of the three and only fails to connect because it's sandwiched between them, and open with Light Years and this album gets in my opinion MUCH better, and wouldn't be looped in with Riot Act so much as the weak Pearl Jam albums.

Eddie's voice on this sounds pretty interesting to me, and I kind of like it. It's a bit of a frailer delivery than his previous albums, but on a song like this it works. I like the guitar a lot...overall it's just a solid song. Not a five star song, but a very nice and interesting track that sounds different from their other albums. There's something about the chorus, though simple, that just works. I think it's the interplay between the steady drum beats with the vocal and guitar stresses. It just gets this relaxed flow to it yet still moves. It's sort of bouncy. And I really like the melody of the verses though not so much the lyrics. A good song though.

[Norah]

Light Years would be a terrible opener. Your opinion is wrong and you should feel bad!

[Birds in Hell]

One of my favorite things about the 2000 tour setlists was the prevalent use of Breakerfall a the second song.

they were pretty lazy and predictable with those setlists back then, huh

Diversity is overrated.

[EJ]

That's the first time I've heard someone suggest LY as the opener. I don't like it.

[mikejasond]

Yeah Stip, I dunno, I think God's Dice is the one I like the most out of the three but I still find it hard to not view them as one long ten minute song. I think if God's Dice was somewhere else in the catalog and far away from the others I wouldn't hate it so much, though I don't think it would be a song I would like.

Nothing As it Seems: I don't think I like this song as much as most people do, but what I love about it is how it starts and instantly sounds different and unique. It's a new sound for Pearl Jam, but it suits Eddie's deep voice well, and in my opinion his voice is beautiful on the verses. I love the clangy guitar in the background as well and the overall darkness.

I think the only thing I don't like about this song is I just don't like the chorus very much. I don't really know why...the lyrics or the melody, or the loud guitar chords, something just sort of falls flat on me, and I want to be back in that moody verse or the solos for a longer time.

Overall the awesome verses overpower the chorus for me and make it a great song, but not an all time favorite of mine. I don't really know what I would like different besides maybe a different chorus? I dunno, personal opinion for me. It's just there's a lot of time spent in the chorus and I don't like it as much.

This song suits Eddie's voice a lot and I think he should do more similar songs. While a very different song, Pendulum is another dark song and once again Eddie sounds great on it. I like when he just sings down low and soft.

[Norah]

I bet you fucking love Unthought Known.

[mikejasond]

It's not so much that Light Years is an awesome opener, it's just that Breakerfall, while sounding more like an opener, is an opener for the wrong album. It's also not very good. Maybe Light Years should be shorter to be an opener, or maybe they could use Nothing As it Seems. I dunno, all I know is that it shouldn't be a rocker for this album, and especially not one of those rockers.

Thin Air: I dunno if this is controversial, but I love this song. A lot. I think it's honestly my favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite dark horse songs in their catalog. I just think the way the chords change before the "in thin air" line and the way Eddie slides it is awesome. The chords there just don't sound exactly as I'd expect them to and I mean that in a good way since the chords they do hit sound better than the ones I'd expect them to. I love how chill the song is, and just how laid back it is though not slow. The harmonies are very cool and I like how they come in only on the second verse. This is a song that just makes me feel calm, and I think Eddie doesn't spend as much time as he should singing songs like this.

By this point the last three songs are so very different from the first three songs, and these three songs sound great, and as I said, I wish the album had been framed around songs like this similar to No Code.

I know this song is inconsequential in a way and just a light catchy song, but that lightness just gives a breezy relaxed song that somehow just connects with me. I really really like it and almost always want to hear it again once I hear it once. It just sounds nice. Honestly, No Code's interesting because it balances the folky with the rock, but it also comes off as a bit directionless at times. Why not a folky album with songs like this and the last couple? It suits Vedder's voice and is something new for the band.

Also the key change and bass verse is pretty unexpected and nice. Pearl Jam doesn't get enough credit for taking songs and keeping them interesting all the way through without repeating themselves too much. See Better Man and Daughter for other examples of songs that always add something new at every turn.

Anyways, yeah, I dunno. I just really like this song.

[mikejasond]

I bet you fucking love Unthought Known.

Its ok. Something just doesn't work for me and I don't know what it is. Maybe it sounds too produced or something. Or maybe Eddie's vocals don't soar the way they did on Given to Fly which made that song work.

Insignificance: Now....as far as rockers go, this is one I can get behind.

Again just the framing of the album (I dunno if there's a better way to describe the feel) I think that this should be the "exception" song, rather than the last three. As in it's a rocker on a laid-back album. It kind of is, but when you hear the first three songs first you just don't realize it until you listen to it enough times to get a better sense of it.

This song kind of sounds like Queens of the Stone Age to me, in a cool way. I don't think there's another Pearl Jam song that really sounds like this. It's not one of my favorites but I like it. The chorus is the best part for me by far, and the "Insiiigniiiifigance" part with the drums. Matt Cameron is on this album right? He does a good job

[mikejasond]

Of the Girl: I dunno what it says about my tastes, but this is another song I love on this album. This one and Thin Air. I guess it's that laid-back but bouncy background music with Eddie's light relaxed vocals. It's such a cool song to me. I love the melody on "With the looove...of a giiiirl"

I don't think I've ever heard a live version of this so I dunno how much they've played it or how it worked live, but the studio version is just great. This is another song that leaves me wanting more.

Somebody more musically-knowledgeable than me would have to explain what exact chords they're playing to make that sound, but whatever they are I like them. It's funny how it took me so many listens to realize that the run from Light Years-Of the Girl is honestly one of the strongest in their catalog. All the songs have been quality, and unique. Not at all bland, and not really like the previous albums. At this point I'm really liking the album.

[Norah]

Of the Girl would have made a fantastic opener. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with Breakerfall.

[mikejasond]

Hm...I didn't think of that. Yes, Of the Girl would be a cool opener and fit the album much better.

Grievance: I like the rawness of this song. It used to be one of my least favorite Pearl Jam songs because I think in general this kind of song, similar to Breakerfall and those opening songs, is one of my least favorite types of songs they do. It just seems like a very "modern Pearl Jam" thing that they only would do in this era, and not before, with the constant eighth note strumming on the same chords over and over again. Makes me long for Once or Animal. Is it just that those were written by Stone or something? I don't know if that's even the case, but I just feel that the rockers got simpler as time went on, until they found themselves again with Life Wasted. I've always found that sound pretty grating, which I said on the opening tracks.

This song did grow on me though, and I'm not really sure why. The chorus is pretty interesting, and the part where the structure is stripped down a bit at the end of the chorus is pretty cool. It sounds a BIT similar to Insignificance to me in parts though.

Taking the five rockers up to this point, all of them sound too similar to each other to me, but if you scrap the first three, Insignificance and Grievance work well on their own. Hearing the other four by this one makes me wish I could go back to Of the Girl. I would have liked a rocker on this album that sounded different.

I do think that Grievance does things in its structure that does make it more interesting than the ones before it though, and maybe I just wish it was put somewhere else or something?

[Kaius]

I am fond of the Thin Air love

[mikejasond]

Rival: This song is kind of interesting. The ends of Pearl Jam albums are often where they start to sound pretty random after a strong first half (I think almost all of their albums do this, ESPECIALLY No Code.) This to me is where it starts to happen and the album starts to lose a bit of its focus. I think it's just that something about this song is pretty forgettable. It's not bad, but I think there's a reason it's barely played live. It feels to ME a bit like a filler track.

That doesn't make it bad. I really like the piano here, and the 3/4 time. It's GOOD filler, but it doesn't stand out very much. If it was removed I don't think it would be very missed. It actually reminds me of Deep in that respect, another 3/4 time song. It's a cool experiment. Overall though, I think that the album has begun to lose momentum at this point.