Red Mosquito

It’s currently better than everything post Binaural on my list and it’s not very close. The only other album I could see ranking it above is Vs.. I’m too emotionally connected to all the other albums for one reason or another to put this above them.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

Strat wrote:Self Titled was so great because after Binaural and Riot Act....it felt like a shot of adrenaline that the fan base and the band needed. Subsequent tour was incredible.

It hasn't aged that well though.

It felt like such a "big" record at the time with the new record deal, massive marketing push, and worldwide tour. Tour was very good, especially after Leg One.

But yeah, it hasn't aged well, due to the lyrical content, downtuning when being played live, and horrible production. A shame too, because the songwriting is very strong for the first 2/3 of the album.

I agree about the aging, but I don’t think that’s the lyrics

S/T's stumbling block to me was always its second half. I think the reason I've warmed to the record over the past few years is because I've gained more appreciation for Army Reserve and Come Back; it makes the record not feel like it's given me all I'm going to get out of it after track 7 or so.

I think its been long enough....embrace it!

I think its their best since Yield...at no point did i feel that way about any of the last 3 albums (though i love Self Titled and still like Backspacer).

digster wrote:Army Reserve and Come Back

I F'n love Parachutes, but these are the other two I love from Avocado.

Still not at all confident that there will be five Pearl Jam records I like more than this when the dust has settled.

McParadigm wrote:Still not at all confident that there will be five Pearl Jam records I like more than this when the dust has settled.

Still don't think it'll touch the first five. But this one is clearly special Could be the best since Yield .

digster wrote:S/T's stumbling block to me was always its second half. I think the reason I've warmed to the record over the past few years is because I've gained more appreciation for Army Reserve and Come Back; it makes the record not feel like it's given me all I'm going to get out of it after track 7 or so.

S/T and Backspacer are maybe the two most top heavy albums, for sure

S/T may have a weaker second half but my god Army Reserve is an easy 5 star. I remember seeing it live and Stone and Jeff nailed the haunting background vocals during the chorus - ethereal. "Darling you'll save me, if you save yourself."

Army Reserve and Come Back might be the best songs on the album.

Anders wrote:Army Reserve and Come Back might be the best songs on the album.

Marker In The Sand
Parachutes
Army Reserve

Come Back has made a come back for me though. I really didn't like it for years. After hearing the cleaned up 2017 mix of it though and some good live versions, it's a much better song. Can actually hear some of the details now.

Both of those are songs that I like (come back, especially) that would be really improved if they were on another album. The general harshness of the production, which works really well on songs like Comatose and Life Wasted, maybe doesn't show case these in the best light.

This is not in reference to gigaton but I'm just wondering, for those of you who are clinging desperately to the first three albums, what kind of Pearl Jam release would it take in order for you to loosen your death grip?

But Vitalogy is good for an album which has almost no instrumental value

I've never found Ten to be a great record. It's more of a "lightning in a bottle" kind of thing....sometimes they catch it, and holy shit wow. But the rest of the time I'm just watching them not really get there.

A couple of the songs are not on the level of their later writing. The performances of the rest tend to lack the primal ferocity the band pulled from the same tunes on tour (with exceptions). Even Flow isn't even the best studio performance of the song.

The best moments on that record are absolutely incredible, but there just aren't enough of them. Vs, Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield are just miles beyond it.

ten is probably my least favorite bar backspacer & lightning bolt

reconstruction_ seeds wrote:But Vitalogy is good for an album which has almost no instrumental value

Dude, what the hell are you on lately? This has got to be the wildest of your crazy thoughts that you've posted so far. Vitalogy is one of their most instrumentally impressive releases and it doesn't even veer far from the standard guitar/bass/drums setup. The little jam that opens "Last Exit," Jeff's bass work in "Not For You," especially the ending, pretty much every second of "Tremor Christ," the little touches of organ in "Nothingman," the guitar tones in "Satan's Bed," and elsewhere, too, just about all of "Immortality." I just can't wrap my head around your thought processes.

Brett wrote:

reconstruction_ seeds wrote:But Vitalogy is good for an album which has almost no instrumental value

Dude, what the hell are you on lately? This has got to be the wildest of your crazy thoughts that you've posted so far. Vitalogy is one of their most instrumentally impressive releases and it doesn't even veer far from the standard guitar/bass/drums setup. The little jam that opens "Last Exit," Jeff's bass work in "Not For You," especially the ending, pretty much every second of "Tremor Christ," the little touches of organ in "Nothingman," the guitar tones in "Satan's Bed," and elsewhere, too, just about all of "Immortality." I just can't wrap my head around your thought processes.

I think he wants guitar solos.

Brett wrote:

reconstruction_ seeds wrote:But Vitalogy is good for an album which has almost no instrumental value

Dude, what the hell are you on lately? This has got to be the wildest of your crazy thoughts that you've posted so far. Vitalogy is one of their most instrumentally impressive releases and it doesn't even veer far from the standard guitar/bass/drums setup. The little jam that opens "Last Exit," Jeff's bass work in "Not For You," especially the ending, pretty much every second of "Tremor Christ," the little touches of organ in "Nothingman," the guitar tones in "Satan's Bed," and elsewhere, too, just about all of "Immortality." I just can't wrap my head around your thought processes.

He doesn’t have a thought process. He has a forever boner for Jimmy Page and freaking Greta Van Fleet. And he can’t for the life of him understand why every musician isn’t Jimmy Page.

reconstruction_ seeds wrote:But Vitalogy is good for an album which has almost no instrumental value

holy hell