RANK THE ALBUMS

[@SkitchP]

Binaural
Yield
Vitalogy
Riot Act (1st half)
No Code
Ten
Vs.
Riot Act (2nd half)
S/T
who cares

[tommymtcom]

Vitalogy
Binaural
Riot Act
No Code
Yield
Vs
Ten
Lightning bolt
Backspacer
Avocado

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[digster]

Yield
Binaural
Vs.
Vitalogy
No Code
Ten
Riot Act
S/T
Lightning Bolt
Backspacer

Usually with bands I have a consistent favorite, but I think all the albums from Vs. to Binaural have occupied the top seat at one point or another. I find it very hard to pick favorites in that time period. The last time I did this in 2014, apparently No Code sat on top.

[stip]

My top 3 remain constant---probably forever at this point.

Vitalogy (favorite album of all time)
Ten (third favorite album of all time)
Vs (while there are a number of songs I'm tired of it's one of 5 pearl jam albums where I at least like every song, and the top tracks (go, animal, daughter, RVM, Small Town, Indifference) are as good as it gets.

drop off

Backspacer. I love everything about this record but supersonic. It remains a breezy compelling listen, and probably my go to pearl jam album on any given day. A whole catalog of backspacers would wear thin quickly, but it's such a refreshing record in the context of the other albums. The problem is that while it's full of good songs, it doesn't have enough truly great ones. Force of Nature and The Fixer are probably the only two in my top 25-30.

Lightning Bolt. Another record where I like every song. It's probably got more highs than Backspacer (Mind Your Manners is a legit top 20 song, and I love Yellow Moon, Lightning Bolt, and Sleeping by Myself). Even the weaker moments on the record are enjoyable, if unspectacular, and there are moments here that hint at promising new directions. But the overall record does feel too safe and familiar to advance any higher. It's a satisfying and consistent listen, but a bit too complacent to pull ahead of the albums in front of it.

S/T and Yield are basically tied for me. The each have a crop of 4 fantastic songs (DTE, GTF, BOJ, Wishlit and Life Wasted, WWS, Comatose and Parachutes). All Those Yesterdays and Comeback are both close to that top tier, but I like Comeback a bit more. The rest of each album is middling. I'd probably give Severed Hand and Marker the nod over any of the other songs on Yield, though Unemployable is my least favorite song on either record. Overall S/T is just a bit better in my estimation, but Yield is hurt from the extra years of overexposure and S/T will always have a special place in my heart for restoring my faith in the band's ability to write songs with an immediacy that defines my favorite material and that I found lacking from so much of the No Code - Riot Act run (other than a few moments on Yield). In both cases there are more songs I love on each of these albums than Backspacer or L-Bolt. They're just too inconsistent



drop off


No Code, Binaural, and Riot Act are my bottom three, but they tend to fluctuate a bit. No Code is probably the most consistent of the records, but it also has the fewest songs I really care about of any of these records (and I do really really dislike Off He Goes). The highs of Binaural eclipse anything on No Code and Riot Act, but about half of that record I just don't feel like listening to. If Riot Act moved just a little bit faster it'd be higher on this list. There's a few songs that manage to feel like discoveries every time I listen (Cropduster, Ghost, Get Right) and I Am Mine, Save You, and Can't Keep remain favorites. But the rest of this album I could take or leave.

Today I would say

Riot Act
No Code
Binaural


I think that's a switch from last time. And all three of those records have two-three b-sides that I like more than at least half of the songs on the actual album

[ABNorman]

No Code
Yield
Vitalogy

VS
Ten

Binaural
Lightning Bolt
Avocado

Backspacer
Riot Act

[WaitingForBluey]

No Code
Yield

Binaural
Riot Act

Vs
Vitalogy
Ten

S/T
Backspacer

Lightning Bolt

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Jorge]

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

[...]and S/T will always have a special place in my heart for restoring my faith in the band's ability to write songs with an immediacy that defines my favorite material and that I found lacking from so much of the No Code - Riot Act run

I think I finally understand just where Stip has been coming from all this time.

...although while I would characterize No Code, Yield, and Binaural as somewhat difficult albums, I think Riot Act is the most immediate album they've ever made.

There's something so deflated about the whole record though. What I like best about Pearl Jam is this bubbling undercurrent of righteous energy that you think might explode at any moment--even in the quieter moments.

[ABNorman]

There's only 5 layers in that burger - which 5 albums do they represent?

I guess one of them could be the cheese.

[Kevin Davis]

1. "Yield" -- this will probably forever be my all-time favorite album, it's just one of those albums that came along at exactly the right time and said exactly the right things to me, and in a musical language that I find perpetually compelling. If I had to sum the album up in a word, the word I'd pick would probably be "unburdened" -- it's an album that takes a realistic look at the world and chooses positivity in spite of what it sees, and the feeling it creates -- in the recording and performances, not just the songwriting -- is still tremendously uplifting to me.

2. "Riot Act" -- this is another album that just hit me at exactly the right time, giving voice to a lot of the worries and feelings of uncertainty that were so prevalent during that time between 9/11 and Iraq. It adheres to a sort of patchwork quilt style of record-making that has always appealed to me, where theme and philosophy unify a shrapnel-like collection of songs that otherwise have no reason to go together. I go back and forth between this and "No Code" for my number two, but in the end this album just speaks to me in a way that "No Code" doesn't -- and plays through beautifully.

3. "No Code" -- probably Pearl Jam's most beautifully recorded album, containing some guitar tones that I still count among the best I've ever heard (between this and "Tiny Music," Brendan O'Brien was really tuned in to quality guitar tones in 1996). I was 13 when it came out and it took me a while to come around to everything on it, so all the songs kind of remind me of different, disjointed moments in my life -- which sometimes creates a slide show of sorts that I really enjoy, and other times makes for a jerkier through-listen than I'm up for. But I love pretty much everything on it (even "I'm Open"). It's maybe the first album in their catalog chronologically where I don't feel like I've outgrown parts of it -- even when the lyrics feel juvenile, the record still claims a sonic space that is comforting and slightly mysterious to me.

4. "Binaural" -- this album probably features their most interesting, cerebral songwriting, especially when you factor in the outtakes, which everyone seems to. I've come around on the production over the years but I still like most of the songs better live, and though musically I hold the album in pretty much equal regard to my #1-3, it doesn't feature quite as many songs that I feel really speak to me (though "Sleight of Hand" has hit closer to home more times throughout my life than I'd prefer).

These four albums and their accompanying B-sides and outtakes comprise pretty much my favorite mini-body of work in all of recorded music. So much of what I love about music as an art form is present in these albums. There is a considerable drop between these and...

5. "Vitalogy" -- this was the album that started my love affair with the band, and to an extent, with rock music in general. The band still sounds ferocious to me on this record, stripping away a lot of the drama of "Ten" and "Vs." while retaining all of the grit and soul, and adding matured senses of melody and form to the songwriting. I think "Stupid Mop" is a terrible album closer, and I think the album affords it too much prime real estate, but I also don't really think "Immortality" provides finality, so for me the flow of the album kind of gradually falls apart on Side B. But the heart of this album is immortal, in a lot of ways the essence of what people will remember about Pearl Jam.

From here I move into a sort of grey area where my preferences move around a lot based on my mood. At my most objective, I would probably give a two-way tie to "Ten" and "Vs," and then another two-way tie to "S/T" and "Backspacer," with the order of the two pairs varying based on how I feel about any number of factors on any given day. I will say that for as much as I don't care for Eddie's vocal tics from 2008-present, I find his grunting and yowling and throaty slurring from the early years most grating of all. I think "S/T" has a handful of songs that are really musically exciting (though again I prefer almost every one of its songs live), a lot of "Backspacer" genuinely warms my heart (it came out right between the birth of my first two children, so its sentimental side really rang true to me -- and I don't care what anyone says, I love "The Fixer"), and the first two albums are full of time-tested classics that mean a great deal to me but also don't really speak to who I am today, musically or lyrically. I dunno. At this point it all kind of becomes a jumble, except for...

10. "Lightning Bolt" -- this has grown on me, but it just never resonated with me in a way that even begins to compete with even my least favorite of their other nine albums (which as I said, could be one of four records depending on the day). I've ultimately taken the position that it's a collection of thoughtfully composed, well presented songs, but it just doesn't tap into anything for me. There is nothing intangibly special about it, which is something I experienced at one time or another with all of their other records. Maybe time will change that, we'll see.

[Norah]

[evenslow]

Interesting write-up KD

[Kevin Davis]

Interesting write-up KD

Thanks, e-slow.

[chewm]

Yield (possibly my favorite album of all time)
Binaural
Vitalogy
No Code
Vs
S/T
Riot Act
Ten
Lightning Bolt/Backspacer. (I'm not sure which I like more)

[evenslow]

Interesting write-up KD

Thanks, e-slow.

What you wrote about Yield along with the "Rank the Yield tracks" thing going on in March Madness is making me push it past Vitalogy for #1 PJ. "Unburdened" combined with incredible musicianship - firing on all cylinders.

[Kevin Davis]

Yeah, I tried to rank the Yield tracks but hit a brick wall fast. I wanted to put about six different tracks at number one. Firing on all cylinders indeed.

[Strat]

I think I'm in love with Kevin Davis