Avocado Demos II leak!

[Birds in Hell]

Man, I still love that song.

[stip]

Best version of Of the Earth I've heard heard right there.

I love how Eddie sounds on this. Especially the 'on the edge' part

If there's a studio version of this I hope it doesn't skimp too much on the middle

[dprival78]

eddie sounded pretty good there, but it was pretty flubby on some of the transitions. they've played it tighter before.

[Norah]

To be fair, this is probably only the third version I've listened to.

[Kevin Davis]

I've only heard the London 2010 version. Love it.

[Strat]

I was pretty shocked to hear it and it was pretty intense/awesome. One thing that needs to happen on this track is not having Eds guitar as the main guitar. His tone just doesnt fit the jagged/intense nature of the song. He needs to put on some distortion. It is the same tone he plays Betterman on . Jangly, bright.

[bodysnatcher]

So is Of The Earth the PRAMG Hard To Imagine?

[Got Some]

Man, I still love that song.

X2

[wilkins]

Imagine an album with Pendulum, Of The Earth, Cold Confession, Let It Ride, and other demos from the Avocado leak...?

[hlniv]

Pendulum was from the Backspacer sessions.

But, the others, yes... with a little attention to the production and a couple better track selections (assuming Ed could write something to go with some of the instrumentals), that could have been a monster good album.

Spoiler: show

A war-themed concept double-album with a connected storyline, even!

[epilogue]

So is Of The Earth the PRAMG Hard To Imagine?

[logan5ive]

Anybody have a working link? I missed out on this while I was traveling the last week and a half.

[Gern Blansten]

Same here...I missed this so if someone can help it would be appreciated.

[upperdecker]

I have a feeling I'm asking a painfully stupid question, but can someone clue me in to what PRAMG means? I've looked but can't seem to find it. Post Riot Act something? I get the overall connotation, but I assume this is an acronym and I'm curious to get the actual words.

[Jorge]

I have a feeling I'm asking a painfully stupid question, but can someone clue me in to what PRAMG means? I've looked but can't seem to find it. Post Riot Act something? I get the overall connotation, but I assume this is an acronym and I'm curious to get the actual words.

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/viewtop ... =15&t=2476

[bodysnatcher]

I have a feeling I'm asking a painfully stupid question, but can someone clue me in to what PRAMG means? I've looked but can't seem to find it. Post Riot Act something? I get the overall connotation, but I assume this is an acronym and I'm curious to get the actual words.

It's basically the same thing as KRANG, except with Eddie's head in the stomach

[upperdecker]

I have a feeling I'm asking a painfully stupid question, but can someone clue me in to what PRAMG means? I've looked but can't seem to find it. Post Riot Act something? I get the overall connotation, but I assume this is an acronym and I'm curious to get the actual words.

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/viewtop ... =15&t=2476

My instincts were right! Thanks.

[B]

I have a feeling I'm asking a painfully stupid question, but can someone clue me in to what PRAMG means? I've looked but can't seem to find it. Post Riot Act something? I get the overall connotation, but I assume this is an acronym and I'm curious to get the actual words.

It's basically the same thing as KRANG, except with Eddie's head in the stomach

That post has been hanging out there for 5 hours with no photoshopping?

[Leatherhead]

I have a feeling I'm asking a painfully stupid question, but can someone clue me in to what PRAMG means? I've looked but can't seem to find it. Post Riot Act something? I get the overall connotation, but I assume this is an acronym and I'm curious to get the actual words.

It's basically the same thing as KRANG, except with Eddie's head in the stomach

[Brett]

Figured I'd do a little track-by-track review of this, since there are some interesting bits.

1. "2x4": I like the energy of this one. I'm not sure if the intro needs to be as long as it is, but it transitions nicely into the main riff. The shift into the "choruses" is pretty neat, too. Kind of a high-flying adventure in space sort of vibe there. This is really upbeat, so it makes sense that it didn't fit with the angry mood that the band aimed for in the rockers that actually made the album.

2: "The Only Cloud in the Sky": This one's a moodier instrumental than "2 x 4," that has little bits of light peeking through in the chorus sections. There's a lonely feeling that is evoked by glissando notes. I can't tell if those are produced by a short volume swell, an e-bow, or some other effect. I'm also noticing how spare this is for a Pearl Jam tune. There's really only one "main" guitar, while the other just plays little single notes here and there. At least up until the bridge forward, where it fills out a bit more. Another cool instrumental that sounds like nothing on the album.

3. "Life Wasted": It's sort of amusing hearing Eddie's mumbled placeholders in this tune. The chorus seems to be a bit more intact, though. The newly unveiled percussion bits are nice, and there's certain elements of this that reveal, when all of the shit's scraped away, that this is an okay Pearl Jam rocker. Not really good, by any means, but it does alright. I do think the ending is better served by being allowed to finish up properly. What they've got here serves the song perfectly, so the album fade makes no sense.

4. "Severed Hand": I've always liked this one more than "Life Wasted," so I don't mind an early version of it. Contrary to the former song, here the verses are more developed, while the choruses are still in the rough stages. Eddie's vocals are a little more Riot Act-esque, which is interesting, though it does sound odd in the context of this song. There are also little bits of echo scattered throughout that may be accidental, but they do add to the band's attempt at making a song about psychotropics. On a side note, is this the least psychedelic song to try to glorify psychedelics or what?

5. "The Bigger the Wave": A "Big Wave" demo. Not a song I like from "Avocado," and this demo isn't going to change that. This is a more bare-bones version of the song, with less guitar noise, allowing Jeff's bass more prominence, which leads to Stip's comment about it being groovier. The instrumental break is pulled off a little better, here, as well. I think it's interesting that, for the most part, the songs we know are mostly intact, with all the parts figured out minus some vocals.

6. "Open Door": This one is definitely in the vein of those live improvs that the band used to do. The tone is almost exactly the same as something like "Falling Down," where the rhythm carries the song as Mike and Stone play little arpeggios off of each other and Eddie ad-libs throughout. I think it shows that jamming out songs together may not be their best approach to composition here, as while it's all rather pretty, there's little in the way of compelling ideas that come about for further exploration. Instead it just seems to fit better as a loosening up exercise or something.

7. "Rearranged Furniture": Here's another more "rock" instrumental that feels a little bit undercooked in this case. There's certainly a bit of potential present, but I wouldn't be surpirsed if this is the most complete version of this little idea that exists. The riff is pretty basic and generic, and it's easy to see how it got brushed aside in favor of some of the more abrasive tunes.

8. "Rearranged Priorities": I guess this one is supposed to be the sister song to "Furniture," eh? I can see how they may have come about from a similar creative idea or from the same practice session. This one's a little more interesting as it takes things into a more upbeat territory and the main riff is a little less boring. Additionally it has a pretty nice bridge section that is somehow even brighter than the rest of the tune. There's also a fairly standard Mike solo tossed into the mix, so it seems like this one was more interesting to the band as well.

9. "10 Billion Years": With all the early praise this one was getting, I was expecting it to be pretty great, but it really isn't. It's a country gospel thing that is sort of interesting territory for Pearl Jam to tackle, but is totally within Stone's own wheelhouse. What keeps this from being as good as I was expecting is that it's underdeveloped, so there's a lot of repetitiveness to the composition, and the lyrics are also idiotically trite, to me. Given more work, this might have been something that could have hung around with "Mankind" or "Don't Gimme No Lip."

10. "Lucky 13": This one definitely warrants some of the Wellwater Conspiracy comparisons that it's been getting. The percussion elements are the star here, with the drums playing the lead role alongside some hand percussion and shakers. There's also a guitar present that just plays a simple riff for the verse sections, but then plays something with a little more life for the choruses. In fact, the chorus riff is rather similar to the one in "Lightning Bolt," which is interesting to note.

11. "Breeze in D": The tone of this one is really interesting. It has a very unique sound for a Pearl Jam song. I think this one fits well with the first couple of instrumentals in that it really feels like it could have been developed into a full-fledged life with only a few additions. The only that's really lacking here is a vocal melody and then it would probably be a complete tune, although there are a few bits to tighten up yet, such as the weak ending.

Overall, this is a compelling document of the band's creative process. Nothing here is as strong as the "Cold Confession" and "Let it Ride" leak that we got last year, but the four instrumentals that bracket this demo set are only a few notches below that in terms of quality. I think the most important thing about these demos is that they reveal the band in the midst of another very fertile songwriting period that probably ranges over a couple of years leading up to the final realization of the self-titled album.