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

[liebzz]

What’s interesting is that Yield feels like connective tissue between the Ten-No Code era and the Self-titled through Gigaton era, but by feel for me it has much less in common with Binaural and Riot Act, though obviously there’s some similarity - it just seems brighter where Binaural and Riot Act seem darker.

[VinylGuy]

Its so interesting they went from No Code - Yield to Binaural....i mean they released Yield in 98, went to tour it and in 2000 they released such a different an dark album as Binaural.

[digster]

Part of the reason Yield feels like a endpoint to the first part of their career was that Binaural seems like really the only time they wanted to do something significantly new with how they made the record and what they created. Granted, it feels like a mild shift in comparison to something like Kid A, but it did see the band breaking with the producer they'd spent the past decade with, trying a new recording technique, etc. I don't think the band, when it comes down to it, wants to (or should) get that drastic a reinvention album-to-album, but Yield to Binaural seems like the closest they attempted.

[liebzz]

For them, there have been quite a few drastic shifts but like you said, nothing mind bending, more mood theme, and slight changes in the way the recordings were captured for better or worse. In my mind, the least drastic change from one album to the next for them was Backspacer-Lightning Bolt.

[stip]

Yield is probably the pearl jam album I have the least developed take on (although that's probably more because I never did a guided tour thread to force me to develop one). It is a real mixed bag of an album for me. Some stunning highs, a few songs I'm indifferent about. Trying some new things, but also in some ways the first Pearl Jam album that started to feel derivative in places. At the time it also felt very similar to the build around S/T. Pearl Jam's 'return to form', ready to be popular again/more commercial (big ticketmaster tour, album commercials, making videos, much more mainstream lead single, etc).

[stip]

Ranking the things I am capable of ranking

Ten
Vitalogy
Vs.
Yield
No Code
Mad Season
Temple of the Dog
Bad Radio
Mirrorball

[liebzz]

Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric

I spent a good chunk of Declaration of Conformity trying to figure these guys out. Not here, where they fall solidly into a blend of hard rock with psychedelic flourishes, and with the occasional aide of Josh Homme. Of course I didn’t realize this until halfway through Teen Lambchop I thought “hey, is that Josh Homme!?”, looked it up and confirmed that. Each of the tracks he appears on are pretty wild, but all of them excellent. Ladder to the Moon might even be my favorite though Van Vanishing is damn close (Matt can sing!). Elsewhere, Compellor, the instrumental Hal McBlane, Red Light Green Light, BOU, and Right Of Left Field are all great and this one I would agree easily surpasses the debut.

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 - Brotherhood of Electric
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]

Brotherhood Of The Electric is way better than the debut, also a different type of album and band. Ben is gone and it shows...
I would say its second best, with The Scroll...being number one.

[liebzz]

Three Fish - The Quiet Table

I am all for a good experiment, especially in a long journey as this one that features a whole lot of straight ahead rock music. With The Quiet Table though, it’s best moments are when they sort of get over themselves and just rock out a bit. Once in a Day, All These Things, My Only Foe, and Transporting are great and the most accessible stuff here. Found A Widow has a nice burn to it, but the rest of this is okay but gets grating after a while. A deft hand and a subtle touch sometimes get you further.

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 - Brotherhood of Electric
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
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[evenslow]

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.

this is a great point.

i was a HUGE Doors fan in high school. was the first classic rock band i did a deep dive into and read the books and got obsessed. great gateway drug, even if i rarely listen to them now.

anyway, the doors did 5 albums total and each record had an interesting tone that was different from the next. naturally, as i was getting into the doors, i was taking the pearl jam journey in real time. so, i always compared the journey of their discography to the doors and yield (at the time) felt like the perfect capper to the career, as LA Woman did for the doors. at once going back to their roots but also expanding the palette of what they were capable of in fresh ways.

this analogy completely falls apart b/c pearl jam kept going (and going) but i do think the first 5 records stand alone as a perfect document - this was Pearl Jam in the 90's.

[liebzz]

The Rockfords

New decade! Fresh side project! Okay, so this one featuring Mike McCready I think really splits from we have been seeing from the side projects thus far. Jeff, Stone, and Matt have been delivering killer albums so far that I think expand on the sonic universe here, sometimes to different degrees of success, but arguably each had something to add to the story. The Rockfords are perfectly fine, and the album both starts and ends with a ton of promise. Adelaide is good for what it is: a poppy rock song with some Mike shredding. Island is a very good album closer, departing greatly from the rest of the album. 3 songs in particular - Flashes, Sureshot, and Windows - are great examples of hard rock songs. The rest unfortunately is not as strong, following a relatively simple pattern: killer opening riff, mediocre song, Mike shreds, mediocre chorus, next song repeat. The song I kept thinking of while hearing this is Hey Jealousy, but on repeat for 7 songs in a row. If you are into that, go find this album immediately. Otherwise, this wasn’t essential for me.

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 - Brotherhood of Electric
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
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[Anders]

Really like Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric. Seldom have I been as disappointed as when I bought The Rockfords on cd.

[VinylGuy]

I like The Rockfords for what it is, and there are a few gems, Silver Lining, This Life, Distress.

And it features a very fun Mike.

[liebzz]

Pearl Jam - Binaural

On their sixth album, Pearl Jam kicks things off with three mostly straight away rockers (there’s little elements mixing things up here, particularly Matt), which gives no realistic preview of what we’re going to get. Barely 6 minutes in, 3 songs down in what feels like a relatively standard start to a Pearl Jam album…but this one really begins with Light Years, a heartbreaking ballad of loss that sets the mood for the darker places and sonic textures this album explores. Nothing As It Seems is is absolutely brilliant and the best utilization of Mike McCready to set a mood thus far. Insignificance rumbles around, with the interlacing of guitars weaving together and just drawing you all the way in. An all-time Pearl Jam song for sure. Of the Girl to me nails what The Quiet Table couldn’t quite grasp for Jeff - a moment where outside Eastern influences can inform a song without appropriating. It’s a top notch Pearl Jam song but nails the vibe outside what you would expect from them. Even Grievance, delivered live as a straight away almost punk song, is inflected with little details to throw you off kilter. Rival seems somehow like a Pearl Jam rock song in reverse, like the music is almost playing backwards if that makes sense. Sleight of Hand is one of their top atmospheric pieces with Parting Ways a fitting epic closer. If for one album, Pearl Jam truly played at the edges and seams of their sound, and delivered I think the most intriguing album of their catalogue - and one where it could have easily been a double album, and no question if the songs that missed it were added this would be their crowning achievement from my perspective.

Pearl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
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 - Brotherhood of Electric
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
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[liebzz]

Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations

I had time for another listen this morning - the third Wellwater Conspiracy album and a clear high water mark for them so far. Mostly known to me prior to this for Felicity’s Surprise - and what is surprising now is that might be the lowest point on a record full of high points. Matt is really in high gear here as his playing pushes the album more than any say Pearl Jam album and possibly as much or more than some Soundgarden albums. He’s just on fire here. Tidepool Telegraph sets this off as a clear hard rocking album, with I Got Nightmares immediately evoking The Who’s Boris the Spider vibes. What Becomes of the Clock, Now Invisible, Of Dreams, and Brotherhood of Electric are all awesome, but the winner for me was The Scroll which started well enough but just keeps building and getting better and better as the song goes on. This is one hell of an album.

earl Jam - No Code
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Yield
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Brad - Interiors
Temple of the Dog
Mad Season - Above
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations
Brad - Shame
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric
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
Three Fish - The Quiet Table
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
The Rockfords
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[VinylGuy]

yeah, The Scroll is fucking awesome. I was so happy to see Ben and Kim contributing to it...It was also my first WWC album.

[Kevin Davis]

I love The Scroll and its Combinations -- apart from Stone's two solo albums it's probably my favorite thing any PJ member has done outside of PJ. I really like the self-titled WWC album too, though it's more "of a piece" where Scroll is a beautiful, psychedelic mess.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, i love how weird and messy it can get, and also the melodies and songs are great when they appear.

[stip]

The song I kept thinking of while hearing this is Hey Jealousy, but on repeat for 7 songs in a row. If you are into that, go find this album immediately.

Hey Jealousy remains a guilty pleasure of mine. Perhaps I should be listening to the Rockfords. If you were going to recommend one song to start with, which would you pick

[VinylGuy]

This Life or maybe Distress.

The lead single is also a good representation of the album.