The Best Moment in....S/T

[hlniv]

The updated post on the Let it Ride / CC thread reminded me that the best moments on this record are the last 60 seconds or so of Let it Ride, then the transition into the little strum at the beginning of CC.

Oh wait.

[LetMeSleep]

I like most of this record. Sure it sounds crunched but there are a few really good tracks, a few more decent tunes and then a few meh/duds. Better than BS and LB.

Top moments include Matt's drumming on MITS, all of Parachutes, Matt again on Unemployable (nice ride bell), Army Reserve is a lovely tune, the morse code guitar line in Severed Hand, Big Wave is fun times and should have been on a Disney soundtrack.

I'm looking forward to this reissue the most. Hopefully we get a remix/remaster as the bed tracks sound really full. Also, this session appears to be the last time they rec'd a lot of material and culled during the mixing process as opposed to culled during pre-production.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Three good songs:

Parachutes
Big Wave
Unemployable

The rest is insufferable horse shit.

[darth_vedder]

When it is over

PUNCUATE DAMMIT!

[darth_vedder]

Three good songs:

Parachutes
Big Wave
Unemployable

The rest is insufferable horse shit.

I've never really hated the album, and I think I like it better than the last two. Honestly, I haven't felt like listening to any of those, so I don't really know my pecking order. Having said that though, I don't really hate Avocado, but I don't really love it either. It's just kinda there, in the middle.

For the most part, I can tolerate most of the songs, so they definitely don't fall into the "horse shit" category for me, there are a few I really like, one I love (Parachutes), and a few I don't like at all. Most seem to think "Inside Job" is the worst on the album, but I think it's "Gone". I really hate that number.

I know we love to rank things here, so here is my rankings for S/T:

Parachutes

Marker In the Sand

Severed Hand
Life Wasted
Big Wave
Army Reserve

Unemployable
Comatose
Wasted Reprise
Come Back

World Wide Suicide
Inside Job

Gone

[Thejambi]

I'm quite fond of Wasted Reprise. Probably more so than the rest of the album.

[McParadigm]

"We reprised the chorus of the first song, see, but with just the organ."

You mean that god awful line 'I have faced it / a life wasted / I'm never going back again?'

"Hell yes."

Well, ok. But did you do anything to justify this revisit? Like shade it differently?

"No."

Decorate or alter the delivery? Try a plaintive, gentle guitar part, an unexpected overdub that reveals a different side to the moment, or crack it open with a more emotional and less confident vocal delivery? Stretch out a previously-hurried bit of music and explore some hidden atmosphere before segueing into the next track?

"No. I mean, it's slower and quieter."

But otherwise the same.

"Yes."

Hey, remember that time you used an accordion to give a similarly slight moment it's own unique feel, and to add to that record's overall disorientationl?

"Not really. Hey have you heard Ten?"

Okay. So what did this reprise add, or what did it do to deserve inclusion?

"It says reprise, doesn't it? That's a smart music word."

Not really.

"It makes the album look smart, too."

Not really.

[tommymtcom]

It's still better than half the album.

[samiad]

Their worst record by a long way. If I have all of my PJ stuff on shuffle, the only Avocado songs I tend not to skip are Come Back and Parachutes - the two songs that sound the least like they are desperately trying to recreate "classic" PJ.

[Leatherhead]

You're all crazy. World Wide Suicide is great.

[tommymtcom]

You're all crazy. Worldwide suicide is great.

WWS is honestly my least favorite song in their entire catalogue. I would rather listen to Stupid Mop on repeat for an hour than listen to WWS once.

[chewm]

You're all crazy. Worldwide suicide is great.

[Leatherhead]

The hatred WWS gets reminds me of the hatred Evacuation gets.

[warehouse]

#4-5 are one of their best back to back tracks

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

World Wide Suicide - I hate the phony moodiness of the verses, and the opening/chorus riff is fucking stupid and generic...and the lyrics are horrifying.

Come Back - Probably my least favorite Pearl Jam song ever. The first time I heard it I almost threw the CD out the car window.

Gone - Mediocre and plain in every sense of the word. More fake drama in the chorus.

Marker In The Sand - Great verse, Horrible Chorus

Life Wasted - Another song so plain and generic, it could have been recorded by anybody.

Severed Hand - So boneheaded and dumb, you almost wonder if it's deliberate.

I could go on, but I won't.

[stip]

"We reprised the chorus of the first song, see, but with just the organ."

You mean that god awful line 'I have faced it / a life wasted / I'm never going back again?'

"Hell yes."

Well, ok. But did you do anything to justify this revisit? Like shade it differently?

"No."

Decorate or alter the delivery? Try a plaintive, gentle guitar part, an unexpected overdub that reveals a different side to the moment, or crack it open with a more emotional and less confident vocal delivery? Stretch out a previously-hurried bit of music and explore some hidden atmosphere before segueing into the next track?

"No. I mean, it's slower and quieter."

But otherwise the same.

"Yes."

Hey, remember that time you used an accordion to give a similarly slight moment it's own unique feel, and to add to that record's overall disorientationl?

"Not really. Hey have you heard Ten?"

Okay. So what did this reprise add, or what did it do to deserve inclusion?

"It says reprise, doesn't it? That's a smart music word."

Not really.

"It makes the album look smart, too."

Not really.

you mean did they take a loud, distorted, anthematic chorus and turn it into a contemplative, uncertain and delicate mood piece using just a pump organ instead of huge guitar riffs to give the whole thing a scratched and fragile feel that is pretty much in no way similar to the primary song?

Yes.

And is the sentiment essential to the overall message of the album and does the reprise mark the return of a central theme after a stretch of songs where it's either been absent or directly challenged?

Yes.

But they did decide to reuse lyrics in a segue piece with the word 'reprise' actually appearing in its tittle. So, you know, they're a bunch of lazy hacks.

And Vitalogy was really good so by extension everything else that isn't Vitalogy sucks.

Also Ten, for some reason.

[Jessica Fletcher]

"We reprised the chorus of the first song, see, but with just the organ."

You mean that god awful line 'I have faced it / a life wasted / I'm never going back again?'

"Hell yes."

Well, ok. But did you do anything to justify this revisit? Like shade it differently?

"No."

Decorate or alter the delivery? Try a plaintive, gentle guitar part, an unexpected overdub that reveals a different side to the moment, or crack it open with a more emotional and less confident vocal delivery? Stretch out a previously-hurried bit of music and explore some hidden atmosphere before segueing into the next track?

"No. I mean, it's slower and quieter."

But otherwise the same.

"Yes."

Hey, remember that time you used an accordion to give a similarly slight moment it's own unique feel, and to add to that record's overall disorientationl?

"Not really. Hey have you heard Ten?"

Okay. So what did this reprise add, or what did it do to deserve inclusion?

"It says reprise, doesn't it? That's a smart music word."

Not really.

"It makes the album look smart, too."

Not really.

Neil Young did this to incredible effect with What Happened Yesterday and Fallen Angel. Of course, he had a different set of lyrics to compliment their parent songs/album theme.

Neil Young fans complain about the production on Mirrorball. They should hear S/T.

[Alex]

this album was the nail in the coffin for me

[LoathedVermin72]

You know, I gave this album its first spin in years a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. I never liked it when it came out, but now I think it's pretty solid. Nothing even close to their prior output, of course, but solid.

It's a helluva lot better than Lightning Bolt, that's for damn sure.

[hlniv]

World Wide Suicide - I hate the phony moodiness of the verses, and the opening/chorus riff is fucking stupid and generic...and the lyrics are horrifying.

Come Back - Probably my least favorite Pearl Jam song ever. The first time I heard it I almost threw the CD out the car window.

Gone - Mediocre and plain in every sense of the word. More fake drama in the chorus.

Marker In The Sand - Great verse, Horrible Chorus

Life Wasted - Another song so plain and generic, it could have been recorded by anybody.

Severed Hand - So boneheaded and dumb, you almost wonder if it's deliberate.

I could go on, but I won't.

Marker in the Sand is a great all around tune, chorus included. And I think Severed Hand is exactly what it intends to be (yes, boneheaded), and it works. But other than these two deviations, I agree with every word. In fact, I think I did actually remove the CD from the player about halfway through Come Back, but stopped just before I threw it out the window.

Bottom line is this album was far too few positives (Marker, Parachutes, general theme of album) to weigh against the plethora of negatives (all of your points plus Inside Job (sludge), mixing/production, lack of intricacy, failed "return to form", etc... etc...)