Binaural: Official Album Thread

[Birds in Hell]

[Strat]

Most great artists do. I have not written them off for this reason. When the time is right....

[epilogue]

No rush, friend. There's a lot of better music in the world.

[bodysnatcher]

i just skipped to the last page of this thread so i can mark it read

[epilogue]

I do that all the time.

[epilogue]

I sometimes do that with tracks on Binaural in iTunes as well - jump to the end so I can marked it heard.

[Jorge]

I sometimes do that with tracks on Binaural in iTunes as well - jump to the end so I can marked it heard.

Silly.

[epilogue]

I sometimes do that with tracks on Binaural in iTunes as well - jump to the end so I can marked it heard.

Silly.

You know me, grrrrrrl.

[epilogue]

BangBus
Regular bus
Short bus

This is the best post of the new board, so far.

[Norah]

BangBus
Regular bus
Short bus

This is the best post of the new board, so far.

No it's not.

[epilogue]

BangBus
Regular bus
Short bus

This is the best post of the new board, so far.

No it's not.

Okay, but it's my favorite.

[Strat]

Is it weird when you arei na large group of people, and someone makes a reference to a porn and you are one of the only ones that gets it?

Does one speak up? or do you hold silent?

I was around a campfire and this dude I just met dropped the "$1,000 to $5,000 a day" and i just...i couldnt help but laugh.

[McParadigm]

Is it weird when you arei na large group of people, and someone makes a reference to a porn and you are one of the only ones that gets it?

I was around a campfire and this dude I just met dropped the "$1,000 to $5,000 a day" and i just...i couldnt help but laugh.

It's possible that this is happening to you right now.

[Kevin Davis]

To be honest, i'm not sure what echoey sound effects you're talking about. Examples?

Hmmm, allow me to LAL today and get back to you. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me.

Expect more words on this topic than you ever cared to read sometime in the not-too-distant future.

i look forward to it!

This thread has digressed so far from the topic at hand by now that it almost feels inappropriate to return to it, but in general I try to make a practice of acting on any impulse to exercise the virtue of humility--as they can indeed be few and far between--so with that in mind I graciously ask pnjguy if he has any silverware handy, because I have some words to eat.

I listened to "Binaural" on headphones today and it sounded fantastic. I haven't listened intently to any Pearl Jam for probably the past six months, so it had the advantage of freshness, and I had the advantage of not bringing along any of the burdening "Pearl Jam fatigue" that typically accompanies (a) extended bouts of listening to the band's music, or (b) the life in general of someone who spends too much time on RM. The issues I was griping about on page 3 were definitely more prevalent in my mind than they were on the record; I'll even retract what I said about these being below average vocal takes for Ed, but with the caveat that I still understand where I was coming from. Matt's snare sound is monstrous on this record. And Jeff's bass sounds crisp and up front, especially on the rockers, especially the end of "Breakerfall."

I will offer a few examples of what I was referring to, though, as my memory wasn't completely deceiving me. On many of the songs, Ed's voice sounds like it's run through some kind of processor that lets some of the air out of it--I don't think it's straight reverb, either, but some kind of flange that actually changes the color of the sound. It's probably most noticeable on "Of the Girl," but I hear it a lot of other places too. It's not really to my tastes--I don't think it adds anything to the songs other than artificiality. (As an aside, I thought "Of the Girl" sounded like a tripped out Phil Spector experiment from the early '70's--the album recording wouldn't have been at all out of place on "All Things Must Pass" or some such.)

Some of Mike's accents on "Breakerfall" have this zoom-zoom space effect to them that always struck me as really cheesy--whenever people mention "lasers" in "Speed of Sound," this is actually what my mind runs to. They're there to a lesser (or, I guess, to a greater) effect on "Nothing As it Seems," swirling around in the background during the choruses and the bridge (it might just be a flange pedal--or phaser, I can never remember), where Eddie's voice again takes a dive into echo territory (I always thought they were trying to cleverly highlight the "whisper through a megaphone" line, but who knows). There's some effect on "Parting Ways" that makes the guitar sound like a sitar--hell, maybe it's an actual sitar, I don't know. But I don't care for the sound.

Mostly though, I was blowing smoke out my hole. I don't think this is the first time I've had the, "Whoa, this sounds way better than I remember it!" reaction to "Binaural," so who knows why that lasting impression was so powerful. That said, I would probably maintain that I like the live versions better (I always have, really), for largely the same reasons--I do think there's a clarity and directness to the live versions that isn't there in the studio versions, and I think the songs themselves come across better that way (with a few exceptions--"Rival," for example, is way better on the record). But the record isn't nearly as obscured sonically as I was blaming it for.

[pnjguy]

To be honest, i'm not sure what echoey sound effects you're talking about. Examples?

Hmmm, allow me to LAL today and get back to you. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me.

Expect more words on this topic than you ever cared to read sometime in the not-too-distant future.

i look forward to it!

This thread has digressed so far from the topic at hand by now that it almost feels inappropriate to return to it, but in general I try to make a practice of acting on any impulse to exercise the virtue of humility--as they can indeed be few and far between--so with that in mind I graciously ask pnjguy if he has any silverware handy, because I have some words to eat.

I listened to "Binaural" on headphones today and it sounded fantastic. I haven't listened intently to any Pearl Jam for probably the past six months, so it had the advantage of freshness, and I had the advantage of not bringing along any of the burdening "Pearl Jam fatigue" that typically accompanies (a) extended bouts of listening to the band's music, or (b) the life in general of someone who spends too much time on RM. The issues I was griping about on page 3 were definitely more prevalent in my mind than they were on the record; I'll even retract what I said about these being below average vocal takes for Ed, but with the caveat that I still understand where I was coming from. Matt's snare sound is monstrous on this record. And Jeff's bass sounds crisp and up front, especially on the rockers, especially the end of "Breakerfall."

I will offer a few examples of what I was referring to, though, as my memory wasn't completely deceiving me. On many of the songs, Ed's voice sounds like it's run through some kind of processor that lets some of the air out of it--I don't think it's straight reverb, either, but some kind of flange that actually changes the color of the sound. It's probably most noticeable on "Of the Girl," but I hear it a lot of other places too. It's not really to my tastes--I don't think it adds anything to the songs other than artificiality. (As an aside, I thought "Of the Girl" sounded like a tripped out Phil Spector experiment from the early '70's--the album recording wouldn't have been at all out of place on "All Things Must Pass" or some such.)

Some of Mike's accents on "Breakerfall" have this zoom-zoom space effect to them that always struck me as really cheesy--whenever people mention "lasers" in "Speed of Sound," this is actually what my mind runs to. They're there to a lesser (or, I guess, to a greater) effect on "Nothing As it Seems," swirling around in the background during the choruses and the bridge (it might just be a flange pedal--or phaser, I can never remember), where Eddie's voice again takes a dive into echo territory (I always thought they were trying to cleverly highlight the "whisper through a megaphone" line, but who knows). There's some effect on "Parting Ways" that makes the guitar sound like a sitar--hell, maybe it's an actual sitar, I don't know. But I don't care for the sound.

Mostly though, I was blowing smoke out my hole. I don't think this is the first time I've had the, "Whoa, this sounds way better than I remember it!" reaction to "Binaural," so who knows why that lasting impression was so powerful. That said, I would probably maintain that I like the live versions better (I always have, really), for largely the same reasons--I do think there's a clarity and directness to the live versions that isn't there in the studio versions, and I think the songs themselves come across better that way (with a few exceptions--"Rival," for example, is way better on the record). But the record isn't nearly as obscured sonically as I was blaming it for.

Thanks for getting this thread back on track. And don't worry, I think we've all had our times around here where we're blowing smoke, and sometimes we just remember things differently, or our tastes just change over time. I hated Riot Act for years until a couple of years ago, now it’s a type of album I wish PJ would make today.

Regarding Binaural, Mike was obsessed with his new toy at the time, the "Fender Blender." It's very prevalent in the album especially in NAIS, that’s probably the sound you’re referring to. And I would agree with you that Mike has a tendency to be cheesy with his effects, I don’t like it very much, but it hasn’t overwhelmed any of the songs he does that on, yet. But his tone on “Of A Girl” is just incredible. I feel like I’m literally in the room when I play that song.

You’re right regarding Ed’s voice. It does seem processed at times, and filtered, but I like the sound. I like Ed’s voice used as an instrument, and that includes maybe putting some effects on his vocals. It may be “unnatural” and “manufactured” but it’s an intriguing sound that I like. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it and I hope they do more of it in the future because Ed’s voice has been really struggling lately. Take the songs that I think define this album. Insignificance, Of A Girl, and Grievance, (IMO the best 1-2-3 punch in their catalogue). Those are 5-6 sounds coming at you equally, not a band and a vocal I keep hearing from the band nowadays.

So, I like the understated, strategically processed vocals on Binaural. Ed’s natural voice is so different and dynamic that I don’t think his vocals on Binaural are any less powerful, as I mentioned, I feel they’re more powerful than anything I’ve heard on the last 3 albums. It’s a different perspective, its intriguing, but that’s just me.

[stip]

i voted 3 stars, but that's internal to pearl jam.

[epilogue]

I voted 3 as well. And I even listened to this thing last night on the best speakers I've ever owned. Man really are some great songs on this thing. Nothing As It Seems, Insignificance, Rival, Sleight of Hand... wow.

If you took those four songs and put them with the first six from No Code, you'd have my favorite Peal Jam album.

[stip]

there are really only 3 PJ albums I feel are of the same consistent quality from start to finish: Ten, Vitalogy, and Backspacer. Whether you like those records or not, I feel like those albums don't have the spikes the other records do. Every other album has a pretty broad distribution of songs, from really excellent to fairly meh. I think the highs on Vs., Yield, and S/T are higher than the highs on No Code, Binaural, and Riot Act, but all 6 albums I find to be fairly inconsistent

[epilogue]

See, and I'd probably say that there are only three albums that don't have the same level of consistent quality from start to finish.

[stip]

See, and I'd probably say that there are only three albums that don't have the same level of consistent quality from start to finish.

which 3?

(I know I am in a minority on Yield, but for me after Brain of J, Wishlist, GTF, Evolution, and maybe all those yesterdays there is a not inconsiderable drop off)