What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Vitalogy

[stip]

Bugs is annoying sometimes.

Sometimes, but sometimes it is wonderful, and I always think it is pretty clever

[McParadigm]

The Monkeywrench Radio performance of Nothingman is one of my favorite things.

That seems like the perfect home for it

[96583UP]

what if stupid mop were on lightning bolt

[Norah]

Brendan O'Brien would never allow it. And this time the band would yield to him.

[stip]

(Wonders who will make the first 'it'll still be better than future days' joke)

[stip]

Brendan O'Brien would never allow it. And this time the band would yield to him.

Then we would owe him thanks for that and betterman

[Norah]

(Wonders who will make the first 'it'll still be better than future days' joke)

that's not a joke it's a fact

[epilogue]

Stupid Mop is a fascinating song for Vitalogy. A successful experiment that ties together a wonderful album in an unexpecting and satisfying way. Necessary and extraordinary all at the same time.

Future Days, while a lovely sentiment, and a song that I like a whole lot more than almost every other Pearl Jam fan that I know, is neither necessary nor extraordinary. But it is a really beautiful song that closes out an album that wears its heart on its sleeve. Certainly satisfying, if not fascinating.

[Strat]

Thats bullshit mr platypus.

[digster]

Stupid Mop is the big issue for me with Vitalogy. I have no problem with it conceptually; Vitalogy ends in such a dark place, and Stupid Mop feels like it's a literal descent into hell. The album just collapses in on itself. I think it's perfect in theory; I just feel that in reality, it might be a bit too far out of their wheelhouse.

Overall, it's a very strong album; it's rarely, if ever, out of my top 3.

[Kaius]

Bugs is annoying sometimes.

Sometimes, but sometimes it is wonderful, and I always think it is pretty clever

Pretty much.

I sometimes skip it after a few seconds if I'm not feeling it, and that's the biggest flaw I can find with Vitalogy.

[bodysnatcher]

The worst thing about Vitalogy is the dimensions of the cd booklet and how it sticks out on your shelf

[PryTo]

This is a pretty flawless album, but yeah the non songs are non-essential, while I think everything else belongs there. I like Pry, To and Aye Davanita. Both are nice, brief interludes and add something to the underlying concept. Bugs always struck me as slightly try-hard. Yeah, it really sucks to be a millionaire rock star by age 30, Ed, cry me a river. It's a bit overdone. I liked the song better until it was brought out as a somewhat infrequent live song. It was cool to play it once, but after that, not so much. (I caught the second airing of it in Amsterdam 2012. Meh.) Once again, PJ has taken something special and run it into the ground. As for Stupid Mop, the biggest problem is that it's way too long. A minute of this might be interesting, nearly 8 minutes of it is overkill. I can't think of the last time I listened to the whole thing all the way through. Probably, in all seriousness, the day I bought the album.

Speaking of which, I still remember the first time I heard Vitalogy. I was a broke undergrad student and wasn't lined up at the record store, cash in hand, the day it was released. Brand new CD were out of the question. But l lived around the corner from a used CD store (back when they still had those) and I would stop there pretty regularly on weekends. So I was there on what I'm pretty sure was the Saturday after Vitalogy was released on CD and low and behold, they already had a used copy. I generally had to wait a couple of months for new releases. Ah the pre-Internet era! I snatched it up, went straight home, and popped it in. There are few albums that I clearly remember hearing for the first time, but this is one of them. I was sold from the first note. Last Exit is a hell of an opening, and then followed immediately by STBC? Come on! And it just got better as it progressed. Vs. really impressed me and I was definitely into the band at this point. Vitalogy floored me, upping the game once again. It's PJ's finest hour and an album that should make any artist proud to have in their catalog.

[McParadigm]

Bugs always struck me as slightly try-hard. Yeah, it really sucks to be a millionaire rock star by age 30, Ed, cry me a river. It's a bit overdone

So you got that river crying feeling from an accordian stomp ham and cheese track about getting naked and eating bugs? The only song besides Satan's Bed that is both self-aware and a bit playful?

And not, say, Immortality?

[McParadigm]

Stupid Mop is a fascinating song for Vitalogy. A successful experiment that ties together a wonderful album in an unexpecting and satisfying way. Necessary and extraordinary all at the same time.

Future Days, while a lovely sentiment, and a song that I like a whole lot more than almost every other Pearl Jam fan that I know, is neither necessary nor extraordinary. But it is a really beautiful song that closes out an album that wears its heart on its sleeve. Certainly satisfying, if not fascinating.

[Thejambi]

The worst thing about Vitalogy is the dimensions of the cd booklet and how it sticks out on your shelf

[McParadigm]

Yeah, that's the winner post, easy.

My cd shelf didn't have high enough shelves for this record to go in with the others, unless I leaned it about 45 degrees. It was a nightmare.

A fucking nightmare.

[BurtReynolds]

Flaw: All the landfill space taken up by Vitalogy CDs discarded by people hoping for more Ten.

[PryTo]

Bugs always struck me as slightly try-hard. Yeah, it really sucks to be a millionaire rock star by age 30, Ed, cry me a river. It's a bit overdone

So you got that river crying feeling from an accordian stomp ham and cheese track about getting naked and eating bugs? The only song besides Satan's Bed that is both self-aware and a bit playful?

And not, say, Immortality?

With Bugs they were trying hard to be something they are not -- wildly experimental. I don't find it tongue in cheek; I think it was a straight-faced attempt to capture just how crazy/nutty/wacky fame can make you. One thing PJ has never done well is humor. Most of their attempts at it have bricked. This was especially true back in the day when they were oh-so-serious. That's why a song like Immortality works so well -- it plays to almost all of the band's strengths.

It would be interesting to consider in more detail PJ's attempts at humor. Dirty Frank, Bugs, Hitchhiker, Gremmie Out of Control, Johnny Guitar, Sweet Lew, maybe Mankind. There are probably more. I suppose some of it depends on how humor is defined.

[bada]

The Monkeywrench Radio performance of Nothingman is one of my favorite things.