Vitalogy: Official Album Thread

Post by **stip** » Fri December 28, 2012 11:54 am

the original thread is archived here

The box set thread can be found here

bodysnatcher · Post by **bodysnatcher** » Thu January 31, 2013 2:08 am

Just listened to the studio version of Immortality. SHIT that song is good.

bodysnatcher · Post by **bodysnatcher** » Thu January 31, 2013 2:09 am

and Merkinball is definitely Vitalogy-era songs rather than No Code.

Noaheb · Post by **Noaheb** » Thu January 31, 2013 2:34 am

wheres the like button?

Oh shit wrong website sorry...

its_not_1974 · Post by **its_not_1974** » Thu January 31, 2013 5:08 am

bodysnatcher wrote:and Merkinball is definitely Vitalogy-era songs rather than No Code.

the A-side, sure. But Long Road doesn't fit either all that well. If it does, it's No Code.

Thu January 31, 2013 1:50 pm

bodysnatcher wrote:Just listened to the studio version of Immortality. SHIT that song is good.

it came on the ipod right after i finished my run a couple of nights ago and just blew me away, i love how much a song ive listened to for close to 20 years can still get to me that much

Blenheim Augustine · Thu January 31, 2013 5:14 pm

The production on that album is so good, everything sounds so real. The instruments on Immortality all sound incredible. I'd like to have a list of all the songs that where the band was recorded live (like in most of Vitalogy and Riot Act) and where there was more of a layering / overdubs approach (Avocado). I suspect that has a bearing on the feel of Vitalogy but I'd need some evidence.

Birds in Hell · Post by **Birds in Hell** » Thu January 31, 2013 10:45 pm

What makes you think Avocado was layered/overdubbed?

For the most part, it sounds pretty live to me. It's just that the live sounds captured sound terrible.

Blenheim Augustine · Thu January 31, 2013 10:59 pm

Birds in Hell wrote:What makes you think Avocado was layered/overdubbed?

For the most part, it sounds pretty live to me. It's just that the live sounds captured sound terrible.

Partly stuff I read about the recording process. Things like Comatose and a few others sound live but stuff like WWS, Unemployable and Inside Job for example just sound layered. They may have taken some basic parts from live tracks but those songs and others sound pretty lifeless to me and the arrangements and parts sound like they kept over dubbing till they had it down whereas on other albums you hear mistakes and flubs which make it feel better. Basically I'm talking out my ass.

bodysnatcher · Post by **bodysnatcher** » Thu January 31, 2013 11:11 pm

Blenheim Augustine wrote:
Birds in Hell wrote:What makes you think Avocado was layered/overdubbed?

For the most part, it sounds pretty live to me. It's just that the live sounds captured sound terrible.
Partly stuff I read about the recording process. Things like Comatose and a few others sound live but stuff like WWS, Unemployable and Inside Job for example just sound layered. They may have taken some basic parts from live tracks but those songs and others sound pretty lifeless to me and the arrangements and parts sound like they kept over dubbing till they had it down whereas on other albums you hear mistakes and flubs which make it feel better. Basically I'm talking out my ass.

There's a big difference between layers and TEXTURES.

Birds in Hell · Post by **Birds in Hell** » Thu January 31, 2013 11:14 pm

Blenheim Augustine wrote:
Birds in Hell wrote:What makes you think Avocado was layered/overdubbed?

For the most part, it sounds pretty live to me. It's just that the live sounds captured sound terrible.
Partly stuff I read about the recording process. Things like Comatose and a few others sound live but stuff like WWS, Unemployable and Inside Job for example just sound layered. They may have taken some basic parts from live tracks but those songs and others sound pretty lifeless to me and the arrangements and parts sound like they kept over dubbing till they had it down whereas on other albums you hear mistakes and flubs which make it feel better. Basically I'm talking out my ass.

No, that's cool, I was just curious.

The S/T album is an odd record for me. There's a few songs on there that I think are really great (Parachutes, Unemployable and Comatose particularly) but the sound of the album drags it down to a huge degree. It's not only the really dry production, which is lacking in the kind of subtleties that are being discussed in the Yield thread, but the sounds themselves are in some cases quite unpleasant (I'm thinking the guitars in World Wide Suicide that sound like they've been recorded via mangled cassette, which I doubt was intentional) which is accentuated by the brickwalled mastering.

Compared to Backspacer, it sounds to me like there had been a lot more thought put into both the arrangements of the songs and the individual guitar parts between Ed, Mike and Stone. There's good (not necessarily great) stuff there, but absolutely everything else about the record works to present it in the worst possible light.

VinylGuy · Post by **VinylGuy** » Fri February 01, 2013 12:07 am

Birds in Hell wrote:
Blenheim Augustine wrote:
Birds in Hell wrote:What makes you think Avocado was layered/overdubbed?

For the most part, it sounds pretty live to me. It's just that the live sounds captured sound terrible.
Partly stuff I read about the recording process. Things like Comatose and a few others sound live but stuff like WWS, Unemployable and Inside Job for example just sound layered. They may have taken some basic parts from live tracks but those songs and others sound pretty lifeless to me and the arrangements and parts sound like they kept over dubbing till they had it down whereas on other albums you hear mistakes and flubs which make it feel better. Basically I'm talking out my ass.
No, that's cool, I was just curious.

The S/T album is an odd record for me. There's a few songs on there that I think are really great (Parachutes, Unemployable and Comatose particularly) but the sound of the album drags it down to a huge degree. It's not only the really dry production, which is lacking in the kind of subtleties that are being discussed in the Yield thread, but the sounds themselves are in some cases quite unpleasant (I'm thinking the guitars in World Wide Suicide that sound like they've been recorded via mangled cassette, which I doubt was intentional) which is accentuated by the brickwalled mastering.

Compared to Backspacer, it sounds to me like there had been a lot more thought put into both the arrangements of the songs and the individual guitar parts between Ed, Mike and Stone. There's good (not necessarily great) stuff there, but absolutely everything else about the record works to present it in the worst possible light.

yeah the mastering is fucked up..i remember Jeff saying the same, he was really letdown by the way he and matt sounded in the final mix, because they were listening to it differently.
its surprising to see how someone like Adam Kasper can make SG sound great and PJ so bad.

bodysnatcher · Post by **bodysnatcher** » Wed March 27, 2013 7:37 pm

Just listened to "Foxymophandlemama".... gah, I love that song. I wish the band would just go out there again. Doesn't have to be on an album, just do a b-side if they want. I can honestly say that – as a 15 year old – this song was a turning point for me and my interest in music, and my perception of what music is/can be.

liebzz · Post by **liebzz** » Wed March 27, 2013 8:34 pm

This album is currently sitting pretty at #2 on my favorite Pearl Jam albums list and would likely make my top 10 all time. I think Immortality might be my second or third favorite Pearl Jam song as well.

I just love the feel of this record from top to bottom. They were very willing to let songs breathe on this album despite all of the urgency in the music and vocals (i.e., Immortality, Corduroy and Not For You...even Better Man for that matter). There were a ton of experiments that I would argue most of them work (i.e., Satan's Bed, Bugs, Tremor Christ), and then there were those songs that just viscerally blow your mind (Last Exit, Spin the Black Circle, Whipping)...it's just got it all and was the exact punch in the face the world needed in that moment in my eyes.

Post by **stip** » Thu March 28, 2013 12:18 am

this album sounds like a suicide alternative.

broken iris · Post by **broken iris** » Thu March 28, 2013 12:47 am

This is my all time favorite album. To this day when a Vitalogy song comes on the radio, I still listen to it all the way through. Even Betterman.

Brainof23 · Post by **Brainof23** » Thu March 28, 2013 3:27 am

Vitalog is incredible. It usually ranks just behind Yield in my album rankings at #2. It could easily be #1 on any given day. I was a freshman in high school when this album came out and I used to listen to it on my portable CD player every day on the bus.

Song Rankings:

1. Nothingman (the lyrics, the singing, the sound in the beginning, close to perfection)
2. Last Exit (let the ocean swell, dissolve away my past- one of my favorite PJ lines)
3. Corduroy (I had a dream I was at a PJ show and when Ed sang "take my hand" the whole crowd was hand in hand with arms in the air. It looked incredible)
4. Betterman (bold, and strong, and waiting for the world to come along)
5. Immortality (anytime anyone asks me what the word is I say vacate)
6. Not For You (this is for us right? K.)

Best top 6 of any album?

7. Tremor Christ (the smallest ocean still gets big, big waves)
8. Satan's Bed (I shit and I stink I'm real join the club. Solo or something)
9. STBC (pumps me up- cousin of BrainofJ?)
10. Whipping (most probably like this more than me)

11. Bugs, Pry, To, Aye Davanita, Hey Foxy (4 way tie)

Norah · Post by **Norah** » Thu March 28, 2013 3:43 am

Tremor Christ should be way near the top and Aye Davanita is so much better than those other songs you have it with.

its_not_1974 · Post by **its_not_1974** » Thu March 28, 2013 9:17 am

bodysnatcher wrote:Just listened to "Foxymophandlemama".... gah, I love that song. I wish the band would just go out there again. Doesn't have to be on an album, just do a b-side if they want. I can honestly say that – as a 15 year old – this song was a turning point for me and my interest in music, and my perception of what music is/can be.

It is so fucking good.

This album is probably better than my favorites, but it just feels like a completely different band. It's an experience.

Farmer John · Post by **Farmer John** » Thu March 28, 2013 1:52 pm

cutuphalfdead wrote:Tremor Christ should be way near the top and Aye Davanita is so much better than those other songs you have it with.

It would probably be easier if you just gave everyone the correct rankings at the beginning of the thread and then we wouldn't have to waist your time correcting our personal lists.

Red Mosquito