How well has each album aged?

[Sgt. Crackpot]

Over the years I've found some of PJ's albums have aged poorly, whilst other albums still sound 'fresh' to me.

For example, No Code and Yield don't seem to have aged at all to me. Whereas, Binaural and Vs have aged pretty badly over time, Binaural especially because of the experimentation/direction they went for at the time.

How have the albums aged for you?

[BurtReynolds]

ten held on a long time for me but pj20 oversaturation killed it off for good to me. I really regret pj20.

vs. and vitalogy still hold up but are also somewhat of their era. they are grungy.

no code and yield sound as vital as ever. modern even.

binaural and riot act have aged well, but there is a ceiling I think.

ST has a couple of songs that have grown on me. big wave isn't so bad.

[dimejinky99]

ten held on a long time for me but pj20 oversaturation killed it off for good to me. I really regret pj20.

vs. and vitalogy still hold up but are also somewhat of their era. they are grungy.

no code and yield sound as vital as ever. modern even.

binaural and riot act have aged well, but there is a ceiling I think.

ST has a couple of songs that have grown on me. big wave isn't so bad.

I'd agree with all of this. Same for me. Except its Parachutes and Come back in my case.
Pj have never attempted songs like these two before really. Find myself humming them sometimes.

[eddvddr]

ten held on a long time for me but pj20 oversaturation killed it off for good to me. I really regret pj20.

vs. and vitalogy still hold up but are also somewhat of their era. they are grungy.

no code and yield sound as vital as ever. modern even.

binaural and riot act have aged well, but there is a ceiling I think.

ST has a couple of songs that have grown on me. big wave isn't so bad.

word!

[ABNorman]

Ten: Started off really bored with this, but it's grown on me in the last few years.
Vs: Still great, but it was definitely made in the early 90s.
Vitalogy: Still one of my favourites.
No Code: Pure gold and just gets better, despite the weaker 2nd half.
Yield: Aged really well for me.
Binaural: Also aged very well, though I generally fiddle with the tracklist & things like Sad/Fatal.
Riot Act: Still a bit of a slog for me, though I've come to enjoy the weary production tone.
S/T: Really loved when it first came out, now indifferent. A couple of songs I'll listen to if they pop up on the rotation, but difficult to sit through the entire album.
Backspacer: The pop vibe ages this one badly I think. It was great when I first listened, not so much anymore.

I tend to find myself being more lenient toward an album once the next one or two have come out. I guess maybe that's because I no longer have to say "This is the current document of where Pearl Jam are at, musically" - I can pass that judgement to the latest album, allowing the others space to breathe.

Or something.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

ten held on a long time for me but pj20 oversaturation killed it off for good to me. I really regret pj20.

vs. and vitalogy still hold up but are also somewhat of their era. they are grungy.

no code and yield sound as vital as ever. modern even.

binaural and riot act have aged well, but there is a ceiling I think.

ST has a couple of songs that have grown on me. big wave isn't so bad.

I agree with a lot of this. Ten did age badly for me not only during the PJ20 stuff, but also during the reissue of Ten as well.

I listened to Vitalogy yesterday for the first time in quite a long time, and it has actually dated quite well. I forgot about the contrast between the tight bass and drums, and the loose distorted guitars. Very nice.

[injuddstree]

The No Code - Yield - Binaural stretch has aged beautifully.

[harmless]

I don't think I have any concept of what's aged well or not. I mean, some albums have definitely aged very well (Riot Act is the most immediate example -- I listen to it a lot) but most of the albums I like when they're on, but I don't have a massive urge to listen to when they're not. While I'm listening, I'll think to myself "This has aged well", because I enjoy it. I guess I don't know what "aged well" sounds like.

Albums which haven't aged: S/T (I very quickly realised it wasn't very good overall) and Ten. Ten, I think, is an objectively excellent album that I will always acknowledge as Pearl Jam's most consistently well-executed album. But it's at that juvenile teen angsty stage that I don't really feel now. I still feel plenty of angst about life, but it's maturer, wiser (if no less cynical). Versus is still a thoroughly enjoyable album, but with spots of that old teen rage I don't feel now (a song like Leash is totally enjoyable but that's it; "Troubled souls unite!" just makes me laugh when I sing it, which is a good thing but probably not what was intended). Vitalogy captures where I am now even better than Verses, and so on. They've just all followed me as I grew, and so far, S/T is really the only one that didn't 'capture' me, or did but only very briefly. I'll look forward to seeing whether Lightning Bolt can strike and make enough of an effect to make it a significant album to me, even if I don't go back to it often. Because I don't think going back to an album often is necessarily a mark of its quality. I can consider something a classic but have more recent albums I'd rather listen to on a day-to-day basis.

Does any of this make any sense???

[Thejambi]

Ten/Vs./Riot Act are the only ones that have not aged particularly well for me.

Ten - just flat out sounds dated (Got a little breath from the reissue)
Vs. - Their is a lot of angst and juvenile moments that i'm growing further and further away from
Riot Act - It is growing more and more tired. I was really high on it for years but it is feeling more and more vanilla.

[digster]

Binaural is probably the one that has aged best for me, and it seems like for the fanbase here in general. A lot of people would make an argument, I'd think, that it's a career highlight, and I doubt many would have been doing that at its' release.

[McParadigm]

I really regret pj20.

I laughed.

[stip]

Albums I like more now than I did then: no code

Albums I like as much now as I did then: ten, vitality, backspacer


Albums that I like less now than I did then: vs, yield, binaural, riot act, s/t

[Brett]

I think Ten and Vs. have aged the worst for me; some of that's due to the production as the remixed Ten seems fresher than the original, but I also think it's the youthful themes and viewpoints of the songs. I've aged and the band has aged, but the songs are still the same.

I listened to Vitalogy on a long drive recently, and it seems to have aged better than all the rest. That album's approaching nineteen years of age but it still has a sense of mystery and adventure.

Obviously, everything else falls somewhere in the middle, with the exception of Backspacer; I haven't given that one enough listens to properly rank it. In fact, I think I've listened to each song on the other eight albums more times than I have the entirety of Backsapcer...

[ilpazzo]

Vitalogy-No Code-Yield-Binaural have aged particularly well for me. They still sound fresh to me, and Binaural, especially when you mix in the "Lost Dogs" from that era is just amazing.

Ten has not aged well. But I will also agree this is due to the over saturated nature of the album with the re-issue, PJ20, etc. Though the remix of it, did save it a bit for me, because it was starting to sound aged to me as well.

Vs. is just pure nostalgia for me. It hasn't necessarily "aged" well, but provides fond memories. But I do find myself skipping over a few songs at this point.

Riot Act- Has not aged well. I never really cared for.. It was such a mixed bag to me. Songs I like, mixed with songs I loathe...nothing I really 'loved'.

S/T- Another Mixed bag...There are songs I loved when the album came out that I still love (Severed Hand, Gone, Come Back, Inside Job) There are songs I loved when the album came out but don't get the same reaction out of me anymore (Comatose, Army Reserve, World Wide Suicide), and some I skip on a fairly regular basis (Unemployable, Big Wave)

Backspacer- I still enjoy it, it's drinkable, but needs more time in the cellar before I decide weather or not it's aged well.

[melonhead4]

Binaural is probably the one that has aged best for me, and it seems like for the fanbase here in general. A lot of people would make an argument, I'd think, that it's a career highlight, and I doubt many would have been doing that at its' release.

Agreed, Binaural IMO was ahead of its time....Breakerfall is highly underrated, if sad and fatal were included on the final tracklist it would prob be my favorite album....and I may be in the minority but i think Riot Act has aged well, the production is top notch and its prob mikes best work...

[digster]

At this point, even though I like the songs, the fact that Sad and Fatal aren't on there really don't mean anything to me, personally. It'd be different if the songs were lost to time or something, but we got them two years later, and Binaural sounds great as is. All they should have done differently, IMO, is put out those two songs as a single at some point post-Binaural and pre-Riot Act. That seems to be making a comeback, but I love the off-album single to whet fans' appetites between the main events.

[Hatfield]

Binaural has aged the best for me in that I like it much more now than I did then. It felt "restrained" in 2000 and after Yield I was hoping for anything but. After 13 years and me getting older, the sound fits what the band was trying to do and the songs don't suffer (with the exception of Greivance).

[BurtReynolds]

I like the binaural era more than the album.

[nyquillyn]

To me whether an album ages well or not is more about theme than production. For that reason, I think Vitalogy and No Code have aged extremely well. The topics are more universal and the lyrics paint broad pictures that new generations will be able to relate.

[Hatfield]

To me whether an album ages well or not is more about theme than production. For that reason, I think Vitalogy and No Code have aged extremely well. The topics are more universal and the lyrics paint broad pictures that new generations will be able to relate.

I can see that, but I find the more organic, live feel ages better for me so production plays a big part aging well. Vitalogy, No Code and Yield being the best examples. (Yield a little more "put together" but still that 5 guys in the same room feel.)