Let's Actually Listen to the Album: Pearl Jam

[XWayne]

Slightly off-topic: BrickwallHater has recently released a remaster of the Ten Remix. It can now be listened on the same level as the original issue of Ten.

Any discernible difference, good or bad?

After a first listen, I haven't noticed anything special. I had no specific issue with the original Remix release so it did not strike me as a big improvement (unlike the Avocado remaster, but I used to hate that album for its original mastering).

[Birds in Hell]

I admire this guy's mission statement but his work does not interest me. Just seems like the sort of thing you couldn't begin to do correctly without access to the masters.

Pretty much how I feel about all this.

Indeed.

I listened to the guy's S/T and, while it was interesting to hear the song without the obvious distortion and clipping present in the original CD master, it's nowhere near being a genuine replacement in and of itself. It still sounds weird, you can't unscramble the egg.

[Leatherhead]

Chances that Pearl Jam ever actually gets an official remaster?

[Birds in Hell]

Chances that Pearl Jam ever actually gets an official remaster?

I think there's an OK chance it will, though probably not any time soon.

It's probably wishful thinking to some extent but I'd like to imagine that higher quality digital audio will be a more commonplace thing in a few years and we'll see labels trying to cash in on that niche by remastering their back catalogue in greater fidelity.

[Strat]

I admire this guy's mission statement but his work does not interest me. Just seems like the sort of thing you couldn't begin to do correctly without access to the masters.

Pretty much how I feel about all this.

Indeed.

I listened to the guy's S/T and, while it was interesting to hear the song without the obvious distortion and clipping present in the original CD master, it's nowhere near being a genuine replacement in and of itself. It still sounds weird, you can't unscramble the egg.

but you can feed it back to the hen and have them poop out a new egg. You know?

[hlniv]

Well, the re-pooped new egg for S/T sounded much improved to my untrained ears as compared to the dim-witted handi-capable original egg.

[ridleybradout]

but you can feed it back to the hen and have them poop out a new egg. You know?

[darth_vedder]

Picking up from the Infallible thread re: Guitar / Band interplay on this album.

I finally listened to the Brickwall Hater version recently, and heard so much more interplay. In the Infallible thread spenno wrote:

...the S/T album has some of the band's most thoughtful and enjoyable guitar arrangements, Unemployable is another that just scratches me right where I itch.

Internet user "chewm" agreed, and I replied:

I agree. Life Wasted gets shat on, but I like the riff and play between the band around the 21 second mark, then played later throughout the song. It is kinda like a call back to the big riffs of AC/DC.

The guitar play between Stone and Mike is the biggest reason why I like Big Wave. The album is loaded with nice interplay between Stone / Mike, and when Matt loosens up, the band is really on fire this album.

All of this is even more evident with this Brickwall Hater version. It gives the album more of a live in the studio feel, which I think is what they were going for, but it just didn't really come off that way because it's so incredibly loud. The Brickwall Hater version feels more live, crunchier, denser, and slower. Each song seems to have little bits I've never picked up on before.

This "remaster" is a reason I assigned more points to S/T in 4/5's album ranking thread.

[Leatherhead]

This album is pretty good. Damn you "Inside Job!"

[stip]

The life wasted rich is huge with jagged rusty edges and is awesome and DV is right to praise it

[LoathedVermin72]

The life wasted rich is huge with jagged rusty edges and is awesome and DV is right to praise it

I recognize all these words but they don't make sense in this order

[LetMeSleep]

I think Stip meant "riff".

[Birds in Hell]

I really like Life Wasted too.

[stip]

Stupid iPhone auto correct

[hlniv]

I really don't like the Life Wasted. It is a collosal dud that just sounds simple without being intricate or elegant. It is just there. And even if the brickwall raster uncovers a layer of subtlety, it doesn't change the muddled big picture. And the fucking fade, cmon

[stip]

the fade does suck, because the outro is fantastic and we should have been treated to more of it

[evenslow]

Just kinda randomly watched Pearl Jam Live on Letterman on May 4, 2006 at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Remember it vividly - sitting at home in front of my Dell computer watching the webcast, when shit like that was still quite novel. Then posting to RM about how rad it all was. We were truly digital, guys.


We've all buried this under 12 yards of dirt by now, but it reminded me how fun it was to be a Pearl Jam fan in 2006. It felt like they were reclaiming something they deserved, yet always shunned. For about 5 years (or longer) they started to feel like an in-joke, and I remember really liking that they self titled their fucking album, guitars up front, performed on Letterman, SNL, Storytellers, cover of Rolling Stone, article in EW about touring/the fans, headlined Lolla, etc. Sure, the record was brickwalled to shit, but it's important to put yourself in the context of that release again. They were playing with real urgency and best of all, they deserved the attention. I was happy that the world-at-large was halfway remembering that these guys were still really good.

I realize this doesn't jibe with "middle period" aficionados that hate Post Riot Act blah blah blah, but, I'm happy to be the RM contrarian that remembers how much fun this period was. You can be as punk rock as you want, but at the end of the day it's so much more fun to have your favorite band be part of a larger conversation. Pearl Jam in 2006 was a good time.

[Birds in Hell]

Pearl Jam in 2006 was a good time.

Agreed.

[Leatherhead]

I think there's a lot of people that might lump 2006 Pearl Jam in with the "middle period," or at least perhaps as the tail end of the aforementioned period.

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, with the benefit of hindsight, I think the S/T album and 2006 tour feel much more part of the Binaural/Riot Act part of the band's history than they do the Backspacer/PJ20/Lightning Bolt period.