Song of the Moment: Mind Your Manners

[harmless]

I have an old friend called Jo, used to be in a band with him, and he (more or less) gave up on the band at Yield. If he's heard anything since, he doesn't remember it. He heard this song and said 'Hmmm..... yeah, it's okay. Maybe there will be some stuff on this album that I'll like.'

[harmless]

It's a generic rocker

Oh come on Birds in Hell, let's not pretend we're listening to an innovative new sound. It might not be generic in terms of PJ's catalogue, but derivative is definitely what it is... and not what it isn't.

[harmless]

That said, it's also very enjoyable, and that's what's been missing from Pearl Jam since Riot Act.

[Jorge]

spenno. His name is spenno.

[harmless]

spenno. His name is spenno.

My use of his new name was meant to carry a slightly mocking intent.

[darthvedder81]

I have an old friend called Jo, used to be in a band with him, and he (more or less) gave up on the band at Yield. If he's heard anything since, he doesn't remember it. He heard this song and said 'Hmmm..... yeah, it's okay. Maybe there will be some stuff on this album that I'll like.'

If you gave up on the band at Yield I frankly don't know how it would be possible for you to come back...

[harmless]

The funniest thing about that clapping gif, by the way, is how much Matt Cameron is enjoying himself. That swing of the head as he claps. Such a dork.

[harmless]

I have an old friend called Jo, used to be in a band with him, and he (more or less) gave up on the band at Yield. If he's heard anything since, he doesn't remember it. He heard this song and said 'Hmmm..... yeah, it's okay. Maybe there will be some stuff on this album that I'll like.'

If you gave up on the band at Yield I frankly don't know how it would be possible for you to come back...

I would've agreed up to this point, but this guy's a good egg. If he hears something he likes enough, he'll acknowledge it. PJ were a massive influence on us growing up.

[Blenheim Augustine]

sounds better loud.

Than too late.

[Kevin Davis]

I'll admit that having my head up my ass has its minuses, but it has managed to keep this song from reaching my ears these past couple days.

This is definitely the least interested I've ever been in a new Pearl Jam song.

[harmless]

I'll admit that having my head up my ass has its minuses, but it has managed to keep this song from reaching my ears these past couple days.

This is definitely the least interested I've ever been in a new Pearl Jam song.

[Kevin Davis]

What does that signify, when people respond to your post by posting a picture of your avatar?

[Blenheim Augustine]

ummm, how about the particular brand of over intellectualized analysis that goes on around here about music in general and about Pearl Jam particularly?

I like to over-intellectualize music. I try not to do it to Pearl Jam too often, but it's hard not to get caught in the conversations. I'm sorry you have to read through it.

don't worry about it, chap. you guys don't need to apologize for your perceptions, and certainly not to me. I only made the comment because it's difficult for me being about the only representative of gen-x here ...I know doug (and a couple others) is about my age, but he's much more mellow than me anyway - I told someone here awhile back that there's times I'd like to tell you guys to shut the fuck up because you didn't grow up when I did and don't know what you're talking about regarding the music of my generation, but I really can't ignore the level of intelligence all of you exhibit, and therefore can't really exclude your opinions, nor dismiss them as immature because I don't think I had that level of intellectual prowess in my 20s at all.

I wouldn't give you a hard time at all about what any of you have to say if I didn't appreciate your ability to articulate it well. really, I wish I was able to articulate what music of my 20s really did mean to me (or maybe to 'us' as a generation, but I don't have much of a consensus to draw from on that front) - back then, in the 90s especially, it was just different for me. it felt important and intense, and was about finally having an outlet musically that was representative of my 'generational' experience of the time - it just didn't exist before Pearl Jam and the rest of them of that era - I keep reminding myself, gen-x was gen-x because we were inconsequential in a lot of different ways - you guys aren't. I just want you (all) to be aware of your fortune at being this age... right now... with this amount of musical background to draw from, and the hindsight of why.

ugh, I simply can't make short, concise statements and convey what I think. - anyway - I'm cool with RMer's opinions, but imma still rag on you when I can.

I have no idea how old you are, but I'm 33 and absolutely understand what you're saying about the 90s and what it meant. That was my music. That was the decade that decided everything else for me as far as my musical tastes -- or really my voice, my connection, my feeling a part of things. I grew up listening to Classic Rock (Zep, the Beatles, Eagles, Boston, CCR, CSN, etc). But it was that movement, that shift in the 90s that really changed everything for me.

I'm pretty sure I'm Gen X. I was a teenager for the release of the first four albums. However, I'm not one of these people that think music has been terrible since the 90s and that grunge or whatever was this once in a millennium movement. I even have numerous friends who for them the 90s was about big changes in hip hop or electronic music. I also know from my nephews that music will always be an important part of teenage years and "mean" something, but they have different bands they like just like the generations that came before me.

[harmless]

What does that signify, when people respond to your post by posting a picture of your avatar?

It's like LOOK AT YOURSELF. WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

I'm not sure really, but I've not done it before so it'll be a while before I discover the technique's best uses.

[LetMeSleep]

What does that signify, when people respond to your post by posting a picture of your avatar?

It's like LOOK AT YOURSELF. WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

I'm not sure really, but I've not done it before so it'll be a while before I discover the technique's best uses.

Mind Your Manners (or something else)

[WtOB?]

What does that signify, when people respond to your post by posting a picture of your avatar?

It's like LOOK AT YOURSELF. WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

I'm not sure really, but I've not done it before so it'll be a while before I discover the technique's best uses.

It only really works with daft twat.

[Jorge]

What does that signify, when people respond to your post by posting a picture of your avatar?

It's like LOOK AT YOURSELF. WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

I'm not sure really, but I've not done it before so it'll be a while before I discover the technique's best uses.

It only really works with daft twat.

Also i got bugs.

[mkay0]

The bridge of MYM is very, very good. Without that, its pretty much Ole 2.0.

[dimejinky99]

It wouldn't work but I wish MYM was just a little bit longer.

[Kevin Davis]

What does that signify, when people respond to your post by posting a picture of your avatar?

It's like LOOK AT YOURSELF. WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

I'm not sure really, but I've not done it before so it'll be a while before I discover the technique's best uses.

I think the reality for me is that the band is just moving in a direction I don't want them to move in, and "Mind Your Manners" is the first time I've really found myself without the reserve of enthusiasm to follow them down the path. I've been very patient as they've moved further away from what I consider to be their best records, narrowed their scope of influence, and bereft their music of the kind of texture, nuance, and stylistic variation that I thought made their great albums great. During their greatest years I felt like you could peel back the outermost layer of their songs and find all kinds of flavors and juices bubbling underneath, and I'm not just talking about the production and sound of the records--I'm talking about the quirks and complexities of the compositions, and the care and precision of the arrangements. Since "S/T," what you see when you pull back that outermost layer is just a rusty frame. I'm not saying the music is meaningless but I do think that multi-dimensional element of their sound is pretty much gone--even on songs I really love like "Johnny Guitar" and "Parachutes," what you see is what you get. There was a mystery to their middle-period records, a sense that the band was as surprised by the stuff they were coming up with as the audience was, that just isn't there anymore.

To that end, "MYM" just sounds like more of the same to me. To me it sounds like it could have fit on "S/T" or "Backspacer" almost verbatim.