What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Riot Act

[stip]

This is the last Pearl Jam album that was everything I needed it to be. The last one that landed exactly where I was and forced me to listen and react. It was also the first Pearl Jam record since No Code to have that affect at the time of its release. Riot Act is a powerful album. It is flawed, but there are no major flaws. It's biggest flaw is probably the title and the unjustified expectations it raised before release.

It's certainly true that I was expecting Riot Act to be more like S/T, and was hugely disappointed that it wasn't

[dimejinky99]

pearl jam lbums shouldnt fail because they dont meet personal expectations...why is it like that??

[McParadigm]

yeah only other peoples albums should fail because they dont meet personal expectations

[dimejinky99]

youre better than that response.

[bodysnatcher]

Love Boat Captain.

It introduced us to Boom, and the beginning of the end of PJ.

[Heathen]

look at him, he really isn't

[dimejinky99]

* i expect a better response from you

[McParadigm]

i fail because i dont meet personal expectations

[dimejinky99]

ah well...i never lived up to my initial promise(here at least) but youll get used to it..




cant keep is the best song on here

[Strat]

ah well...i never lived up to my initial promise(here at least) but youll get used to it..




cant keep is the best song on here

*Cropduster

[digster]

Riot Act's only significant flaws are some of the lyrics, which aren't so much terrible as very first draft-ish (you can absolutely hear what the band was talking about when they said that Ed worked up a bunch of lyrics quickly and sang them immediately), and Green Disease is a pile of crap. Besides that, the issues are minor. This album is still part of PJ's great period to me, though I think I'd put it a notch below everything that came before. It's still really good and better than a fair margin by what followed.

Its length, rather than being a flaw, is its saving grace; it gives the band enough time and latititude to travel down some alleys that may not entirely pan out but are worth exploring. You Are, if placed on a 10-song Riot Act, would have a lot riding on it, but here the record is not dependent upon each song being a 5-star smash. They sound more relaxed in approach, if not sentiment, here than maybe at any other point in their career.

Riot Act was definitely a disappointment when I first heard it (I too wanted something loud and abrasive), but that was the fault of my prejudices, not the record's. I needed to grow into it, and Riot Act is absolutely PJ's most improved record to me over time.

[digster]

4. The best songs were kept off the record (again). No one complains about the all start list of songs left off Ten because what remained was so good. This was a record that REALLY could have used Undone (the best song from the sessions, probably) and Down (certainly better than much of what is on there)

If there had been a) internet message boards, and b) ease of Internet use (i.e. an easy way to get b-sides, as well as information about them), I think there would absolutely have been thread after thread about the decisions the band made keeping those great songs off of Ten.

[stip]

Lament, please go back and time and settle this for us.

[hlniv]

Riot Act was definitely a disappointment when I first heard it (I too wanted something loud and abrasive), but that was the fault of my prejudices, not the record's. I needed to grow into it, and Riot Act is absolutely PJ's most improved record to me over time.

This is exactly the way I feel about the album.

It's major flaw is also one its strengths- the length of the album allowed for some unique and lesser quality songs to be included, i.e. Get Right, Thumbing my Way, Arc, You Are. There are certainly moments here that don't live up to the standards set from Vitalogy through Binaural, but the fact that they are all here is a huge strength to me. It shows the depth of their output at the time, and throw in the b-sides (Down, Undone, Otherside), and this album represents the last prolific period this band has had.

So, more unique songs was both a weakness and a strength, in my opinion.

[Lament]

Lament, please go back and time and settle this for us.

Brb...

[Lament]

Back.

I didn't go back in time, but rather used that multiverse machine from the Dream Band tournament and went to a universe where the only difference was that the internet was fully developed by the time Ten came out. I visited some message boards and came away with the following...

-Ten sucks.
-The Post Mother Love Bone Money Grab ruined everything.
-Dirty Frank should have replaced Oceans.
-The Ten Club is a bunch of jerks.
-They were better before Dave Krusen left.

[stip]

you win this round, digster

[digster]

Pretty much every record, Ed will write a Red Hot Chili Peppers knockoff about a cannibalistic bus driver. And a lot of times, those songs end up not fitting the record as much, because they haven't really written very many Chili Peppers records.

[samiad]

Major flaw in Riot Act? That they didn't trim the fat! 15 songs?!? Really?!?

There are 5 songs on this album I am yet to "get".

Ghost, Help Help, 1/2 Full, Get Right, Green Disease.

They all just kind of meander on without really doing anything interesting...Nothing offensive (they're saving that for Avocado) but all just very MEH!!

LOVE all the other songs though - and I really don't get people who don't think Thumbing My Way is one of the most beautiful songs in their entire catalogue.

I let go the rope, thinking that's what held me back
and in time i've realised, it's now wrapped around my neck
i can't see what's next, from this lonely overpass
hang my head and count my steps, as another car goes past
all the rusted signs we ignore throughout our lives
choosing the shiny ones instead
i turned my back, now there's no turning back...
no matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead
i smile, but who am i kidding?
i'm just walking the miles, every once in a while i'll get a ride
thumbing my way back to heaven.

What the fuck is wrong with that? Eddie hasn't written anything near that good since Riot Act.

Ratings: /10

Can't Keep - 8
Save You - 8
LBC - 8
Cropduster - 7
Ghost - 5 (hiding...oooooooway oooooooooway)
I Am Mine - 9
Thumbing My Way - 10 (fuck you guys!!)
You Are - 9 (bloody genius song...)
Get Right - 4 (they go for punky, and it comes out completely limp...)
Green Disease - 4 (does anything happen in this song?!?)
Help Help - 5 (as above)
Bushleager - 6
1/2 Full - 5 (there is potential here, but it goes nowhere interesting...)
Arc - 8
All or None - 9

MIXED BAG AND THEN SOME!!

[Tj]

I really liked Riot Act alot when it came out ,and now after all these years it is my least favorite. So the question is why. I am not sure this record can get out of it's own way. I really like Can't Keep into Save You. Then along comes LBC I really would have like Ghost in the three slot. Just flipping those two song makes me like the feel of the album alot better. LBC really doesn't need to be on this record, but I think the band needed it to be. Down and Undone are two of the better songs from the sessions. I am listening to it now and really like what Ed was doing on this album. It always comes down to can I retrack this thing to be a top tier album? maybe
Can't Keep
Save You
Ghost
I am Mine
Thumbing My Way
Undone
Down
Help Help
You Are
1/2 Full
Cropduster
All Or None