The Journey/Rank Thread to Rank Them All - the Worst Thread

[stip]

Pearl Jam - No Code

From the ashes of Neil Jam, the band deliver their fourth album, one clearly influenced by what they saw in Neil Young’s creative freedom though with Eddie Vedder still taking on the lion’s share of writing and control. Songs like Smile and Red Mosquito most directly feel Neil Young influenced sonically, but with this great album, even when Pearl Jam lurches from one style to the next, it still feels distinctly Pearl Jam, and it’s all held together by Jack and Jeff, who give this album a particular warmth amidst the chaos that separates it from its peers.

I often can’t decide from day to day whether I would prefer this or Vitalogy, and I experience them as opposites on the Pearl Jam spectrum. Vitalogy is sonically abrasive and largely lashes outward, the instruments crashing and leaping out of the speakers. No Code has more often felt like a warm embrace despite songs like Habit and Lukin being amongst the loudest in their catalogue. Sometimes sucks you into the experience, slowly bringing you in before you are jolted by Hail Hail - but it’s all still warm and familiar and comfortable. At the same time, the themes of Vitalogy, an outward battle with discomfort, agitation, abuse juxtapose against No Code’s look inward at a loss of innocence (still got my inner sense). Today, I’m feeling this one just a little bit more. Tomorrow the feeling could change. But this Pearl Jam is always there for me - the reason I am a fan in the way I am.

I've been listening to this a lot the last few weeks, and this is a nice description. The pervasiveness of the innocence theme, especially as innocence as a font of wisdom, something t be honored in those who still have it by those who don't, has really jumped out at me in recent listens

[stip]

Mad Season - Above

This Seattle based supergroup recorded together therapeutically after each individually recovering. With little hype or fanfare, this album quickly became a must for the die hard fan, in part on Mike McCready’s end as proof positive he is a killer guitarist and that he is often underutilized in Pearl Jam’s universe (though he seems to be heavily favored then forgotten from one album to the next). That aside, Layne Staley is exceptional here, and delivers songs here very different from his day job in Alice In Chains. The secret weapon here in the original album but highlighted in the expanded edition is Mark Lanegan, who adds a lot to Long Gone Day, but then is a star in Locomotive, Black Book of Fear, and Slip Away (where McCready just tears it up). Wake Up, I’m Above, and particularly the 7 minute jam of November Hotel are all timers for me. Love this album!

Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

I can't say I love Mad Season, even the outtakes, but River of Deceit, I'm Above, and Long Gone Day are really outstanding. Long Gone Day is what caused me to give Mark Lanegan a second look. Prior I really just knew Nearly Lost You (which should have been enough)

[VinylGuy]

I really need to grab Mad Season on vinyl

[liebzz]

Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity

I actually ended up listening to parts of this multiple times over the weekend. Part of it wasn’t having the block to get through all of it, another part really trying to place it. This sort of has an elusive classic rock sound to it, one minute I can hear the Kinks, the next the Stones, the next The Beach Boys, and the next hard rock. This is a big part of what makes this album and band so compelling, especially because these jumps are subtle and the band all at once impossibly catchy while still pushing this retro sound around. Glad I included them in this journey.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[VinylGuy]

im a huge WWC fan but the first one is the one i care the least. Its weird because im also a huge fan of Ben Shepherd.

[Jaeti]

This thread spurred me to listen to the full Mad Season album last week. And I think that was the first time I'd ever gone all the way through it. It was fine. Definitely a few other songs I liked beyond River of Deceit. Not special, though.

Similarly, I don't think I've ever listened all the way through Shame. I put that on yesterday on the bike and got halfway through it. This one, I'm beginning to suspect is actually pretty great.

[liebzz]

Brad - Interiors

If their first album had them in a limitless exercise in finding their sound, Interiors is Brad finding their groove. This album truly crackles from start to finish in a space that recalls something akin to the Black Crowes but without the southern vibe. The hit the hard rock/classic rock line on the tee and keep that perfect balance throughout the album, be it the heavier Lift, Sweet Al George, or slower Some Never Come Home. There’s also a meaty groove happening here with Funeral Song and the closer Those Three Words, and the straight ahead rocker Secret Girl. Even not mentioning it directly, everything is solid or great here with absolutely no complaints. Really stellar album!

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[VinylGuy]

I loveeeed Interiors when it came out, but these days i put it behind Best Friends? as third

[liebzz]

Pearl Jam - Yield

Pearl Jam always seem like a band that needs to be pushing against something - personal demons, the outside world, or even media or fan expectations. As if finding a third dimension between lashing out (Vitalogy), looking in (No Code), Yield feels immediately like a clear breath of fresh air - an album Pearl Jam was almost supposed to make. This is a nearly flawlessly executed album that delivers rock, mid-tempo brilliance, slightly off kilter ballads, and even contains a theme that makes perfect sense of the context of the group’s existing catalogue (that recognition of society as a purely human construct and not necessarily the natural order of things for humans to dominate nature - but then declines to truly do anything about it). For me, this makes Yield the central focus of the larger catalogue and makes it the most Pearl Jam record. It even bridges the sonic gap of what has come with what’s to come.

The question then is whether this makes it Pearl Jam’s best album, or it is perhaps too perfect? That divide is most clearly associated for me with In Hiding - a song that undoubtedly soars on its chorus building from the verses in the way a lot of Pearl Jam songs do. But is it too much? In its dedication to the catch and release on its chorus in typical Pearl Jam fashion deliver it another classic or has Pearl Jam for the first time in its career become derivative of its own self, becoming in a sense a parody of its central sound?

This question alone probably keeps it from the top spot, but this album easily falls for me among their best albums, if only as that moment where they caught their breath, looked up, and delivered the absolute finest record they could in that moment without any hedging or conflict or self-consciousness.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[Jorge]

ISO syntactic breakdown of this thread title

[liebzz]

ISO syntactic breakdown of this thread title

It’s awful, and I created it - but to understand it but by bit:

The Journey - indicates we are working through the catalogue one album at a time, akin to prior artist journeys I have done with Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc.

Rank Thread to Rank Them All - denotes not only are we ranking Pearl Jam albums along the way but including the side projects.

The Worst Thread - indicates two things - 1) this thread is absolutely guaranteed to contain multiple breakdowns; 2) the commitment to do this was nothing short of momentary inspiration guaranteed to lead to regrets.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[liebzz]

I agree that Yield is the quintessential Pearl Jam album, for better or worse:

Ridiculously strong start; really loses focus in the back half. Some close adherence to proven formulas, and some fun exercises in subverting those formulas. Writing contributions from all band members, and performances that run the gamut from wild n loose to overly rigid and overly intellectual.

Awesome. Rather than a straight album review, I thought it might be fun to engage in an existential Yield debate like this - is it too Pearl Jam? Is there such a thing? What does that do to how you feel about this album? I think it’s worthy to discuss here because this is a near universally loved album amongst fans - hell I love this album and could easily tell why it’s the best one even when it sits on this journey so far at #3.

[Kevin Davis]

I can't imagine Yield ever being dethroned from my #1 spot. I just love the overarching feel and headspace of the record, and it has more subtle musical touches that just satisfy my senses than any other PJ album.

[Anders]

Brad - Interiors

If their first album had them in a limitless exercise in finding their sound, Interiors is Brad finding their groove. This album truly crackles from start to finish in a space that recalls something akin to the Black Crowes but without the southern vibe. The hit the hard rock/classic rock line on the tee and keep that perfect balance throughout the album, be it the heavier Lift, Sweet Al George, or slower Some Never Come Home. There’s also a meaty groove happening here with Funeral Song and the closer Those Three Words, and the straight ahead rocker Secret Girl. Even not mentioning it directly, everything is solid or great here with absolutely no complaints. Really stellar album!

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

Really an amazing album. Should probably be above Mirrorball.

[digster]

I can't imagine Yield ever being dethroned from my #1 spot. I just love the overarching feel and headspace of the record, and it has more subtle musical touches that just satisfy my senses than any other PJ album.

It's always hanging around near the top spot for me. Additionally, I was a fan who came onboard a few years after Yield and worked my way back up to the present chronologically, and it's always striking how powerfully the album works for me simultaneously as a conclusion to everything that came before it, as well as the first chapter in the next stage of the band's life (whether they capitalized on that chapter is I guess another discussion). But for a band that has never seemed to operate with a large amount of pre-determined intention in what they want their albums to be, it's pretty striking in how naturally it feels like a finale to the, for lack of a better term, story unfolding over the first four albums.

[liebzz]

Brad - Interiors

If their first album had them in a limitless exercise in finding their sound, Interiors is Brad finding their groove. This album truly crackles from start to finish in a space that recalls something akin to the Black Crowes but without the southern vibe. The hit the hard rock/classic rock line on the tee and keep that perfect balance throughout the album, be it the heavier Lift, Sweet Al George, or slower Some Never Come Home. There’s also a meaty groove happening here with Funeral Song and the closer Those Three Words, and the straight ahead rocker Secret Girl. Even not mentioning it directly, everything is solid or great here with absolutely no complaints. Really stellar album!

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

Really an amazing album. Should probably be above Mirrorball.

Debated that. I had a hard time pulling the trigger but damn close. Interiors is about as close to a perfect 90s rock record as they get.

[Anders]

Brad - Interiors

If their first album had them in a limitless exercise in finding their sound, Interiors is Brad finding their groove. This album truly crackles from start to finish in a space that recalls something akin to the Black Crowes but without the southern vibe. The hit the hard rock/classic rock line on the tee and keep that perfect balance throughout the album, be it the heavier Lift, Sweet Al George, or slower Some Never Come Home. There’s also a meaty groove happening here with Funeral Song and the closer Those Three Words, and the straight ahead rocker Secret Girl. Even not mentioning it directly, everything is solid or great here with absolutely no complaints. Really stellar album!

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Declaration of Conformity
Three Fish
Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Hater
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

Really an amazing album. Should probably be above Mirrorball.

Debated that. I had a hard time pulling the trigger but damn close. Interiors is about as close to a perfect 90s rock record as they get.

Fully agree.

[VinylGuy]

Yeah, Yield is a perfect mix between the first era and the middle era i would say...it captures the overall muscular feeling of early PJ and the more calm and reflexive sound from the -now middle - era.