Let's Actually Listen to the Album: Pearl Jam

[chewm]

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.

I agree with this.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

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.

I agree with this.

I would say that the 2006 tour is the end of their tenure as a vital live band, while Lost Dogs is the end of their tenure as a vital recording act. After that, it's "autopilot nostalgia" time.

[C4lukin]

I really do not like Avocado,. Worst Pearl Jam album,. Just like all of the weaker albums, it still has its moments. But yeah I would say that it is the closest to a bad album as the band has ever made.

[hlniv]

I would say that the 2006 tour is the end of their tenure as a vital live band, while Lost Dogs is the end of their tenure as a vital recording act. After that, it's "autopilot nostalgia" time.

Perfectly described.

2006 was still great PJ. Avocado can be a good set of tunes in a live show. Severed Hand, Marker, Parachutes, Come Back, Comatose, Unemployable, Big Wave, Inside Job, Army Reserve. These are all good to see pop up in the setlist. The rest, eh.

[hlniv]

I really do not like Avocado,. Worst Pearl Jam album,. Just like all of the weaker albums, it still has its moments. But yeah I would say that it is the closest to a bad album as the band has ever made.

Or it could something else

[Kevin Davis]

Pearl Jam in 2006 was a good time.

Agreed.

The S/T album kind of passed me by when it came out -- I bought it and enjoyed it well enough, but I was deep into jazz and rap at the time and really wasn't in the frame of mind to process it. But the following summer I went back and caught up on the '06 bootlegs, and it was arguably the most I've ever enjoyed being a Pearl Jam fan. Those were wonderful shows, and while even at the time I found the the reversal in artistic direction disappointing, the guys' sense of reinvestment in the band was palpable. It's something I miss.

As time goes on the S/T album feels kind of like an era-less piece of work -- it doesn't fit with "Backspacer" and "LB," I agree, but it also doesn't really feel like part of the larger creative arc that culminated with "Riot Act." It's basically this big inert boulder situated in the middle of their career, dividing two different versions of the band.

[Norah]

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.

I wouldn't say much more, I'd say a little bit more.

[Norah]

What Kevin Davis said.

[E.H. Ruddock]

What Kevin Davis said.

This pretty much sums up how we all should post in OB and PJ forums.

[zeb]

This album is the least Pearl Jam album.

[knee tunes]

This album is the least Pearl Jam album.

marker in the sand
parachutes
severed hand

I am glad for the existence of these songs

[Birds in Hell]

This album is the least Pearl Jam album.

That questionable honour goes to Backspacer, surely.

[VinylGuy]

i disagree with PJ being in autopilot nostalgia mode with an album like BS. I get that most of you dont like it, but it was them trying a new approach to their songwriting.

[Rangi Guy]

[zeb]

This album is the least Pearl Jam album.

That questionable honour goes to Backspacer, surely.

My ears disagree.

[William Bloke]

The word avocado derives from the Aztec word for testicle.

[stip]

So I think I somehow missed the BoB mix of S/T (or totally forgot about it), and looked them up on Spotify after they were referenced in some thread here a day or two ago. Pretty good stuff! Nothing too dramatic, but enough to make the songs feel new - and some of the second tier songs like Severed Hand may get some new life out of this, based on my first random shuffle through

[Lounge Lizard]

The word avocado derives from the Aztec word for testicle.

This post just changed the thing's taste

[Sgt. Crackpot]

The word avocado derives from the Aztec word for testicle.

This post just changed the thing's taste

Well, this album is balls.

[wease]

So I think I somehow missed the BoB mix of S/T (or totally forgot about it), and looked them up on Spotify after they were referenced in some thread here a day or two ago. Pretty good stuff! Nothing too dramatic, but enough to make the songs feel new - and some of the second tier songs like Severed Hand may get some new life out of this, based on my first random shuffle through

I had no idea he did a remix of it.