Red Mosquito

Stip wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:See, and I'd probably say that there are only three albums that don't have the same level of consistent quality from start to finish.

which 3?

(I know I am in a minority on Yield, but for me after Brain of J, Wishlist, GTF, Evolution, and maybe all those yesterdays there is a not inconsiderable drop off)

Yeah, Yield is pretty consistent to these ears. There's never a jarring drop, for me.

I'd say No Code, S/T and Binaural are the three inconsistent records. There is a huge gap between the best and worst of those albums.

Binaural to me is inconsistent only in the sense that it's high points are so good (as in, absolute best of catalog good) that even the good and really good songs look slightly pale in comparison. I'd say Soon Forget is the only thing approaching a turkey, and that's even not that bad. Everything else is strong; I left that "first 3 tracks is garbage" stuff in the dust a while ago.

Also, I think I would disagree about Backspacer's consistency. The gap between it's best and worst track (The End and Amongst the Waves) may be greater than almost any other one of their records.

digster wrote:Also, I think I would disagree about Backspacer's consistency. The gap between it's best and worst track (The End and Amongst the Waves) may be greater than almost any other one of their records.

Those are two of my favorite three songs on the album. I left the "Amongst the Waves is garbage" stuff in the dust a while ago.

Force of Nature is one of my least favorite songs in the catalog. But the other 9 songs are good to great. FoN is the only outlier.

digster wrote:Binaural to me is inconsistent only in the sense that it's high points are so good (as in, absolute best of catalog good) that even the good and really good songs look slightly pale in comparison. I'd say Soon Forget is the only thing approaching a turkey, and that's even not that bad. Everything else is strong; I left that "first 3 tracks is garbage" stuff in the dust a while ago.

Breakerfall is fine. Certainly as good or better than most of Backspacer. Gods Dice is probably in my bottom 5 of all PJ songs. Evacuation is fun and interesting, but grates on me a bit. So, while I don't think all three are "garbage," I do think one of them is, and the other two are skip-able.

Light Years hasn't aged well for me. It's fine, but nowhere near as powerful/interesting/meaningful as it was when I first heard it. And I'll pound Stip's "Puzzles and Games is superior" drum.

Soon Forget is better forgotten, and the sooner the better. ( ) But seriously, I like it better than Gods' Dice, but only because it isn't trying as hard.

That means there are five songs on Binaural that I prefer not to listen to; that are either mediocre or terrible. Now, Nothing As It Seems, Insignificance, and Sleight Of Hand are three of PJ's best songs. Rival isn't far behind. That's only 4 songs that I think are great - one less than the songs I prefer not to listen to.

That leaves five songs in the middle. That makes for a very inconsistent album, for me.

I think it's time to revisit this album. It's been about a year since I last listened from start to finish. Maybe I'll listen to the original tracklist order this time. I think it's been like 2 or maybe 3 years since I've done that.

Rank the songs on Binaural?!! Okay, if you really want me to:

1. Sleight of Hand
2. Insignificance
3. Nothing As It Seems
4. Rival

5. Thin Air
6. Of The Girl
7. Grievance
8. Parting Ways

9. Breakerfall
10. Light Years
11. Evacuation

12. Soon Forget
13. Gods' Dice

darth_vedder wrote:I think it's time to revisit this album. It's been about a year since I last listened from start to finish. Maybe I'll listen to the original tracklist order this time. I think it's been like 2 or maybe 3 years since I've done that.

I've been avoiding the whole alternate tracklist/b-sides thing. But, yeah, if Sad, Fatal and In The Moonlight were on Binaural it would be a MUCH better album.

I don't have an issue with the final tracklist per se, though. It flows well enough. But I do think there were better options.

This could've been a 5 star album. As it is, it's weighed down by some low points, and the piece as a whole is uneven and a little messy. I don't dislike the opening trio, but it draws attention to itself for how unremarkable it is. 3 fairly bland rockers that are unrepresentative of everything that follows.

Replace Sad and Fatal with Gods' Dice and Evacuation, shake up the order, and it would be a beast.

iceagecoming wrote:This could've been a 5 star album. As it is, it's weighed down by some low points, and the piece as a whole is uneven and a little messy. I don't dislike the opening trio, but it draws attention to itself for how unremarkable it is. 3 fairly bland rockers that are unrepresentative of everything that follows.

Well put. That might be the best description I've read. Except Gods' Dice. Which I really do dislike.

Great:
Light Years
Insignificance
Of the Girl
Grievance
Sleight of Hand
Parting Ways

Good:
Breakerfall
Nothing As It Seems
Thin Air
Rival

Average or worse:
Gods' Dice
Evacuation
Soon Forget

I'd put Sad and Fatal in the great category, and In The Moonlight in the good.

I'd put Sad and In The Moonlight in the great category. Fatal and Education in the good, and near the top of the good.

My bottom four songs: Gods' Dice, Soon Forget, Evacuation, Light Years.

If we took those away and put in Sad, Fatal, Education and In The Moonlight, then Binaural would probably be #3 or #4 on my PJ list instead of dead last.

I love God's Dice.

MattfuckinCameron owns that song.

Yeah, a lot of people love it. I've just never been able to. And I've tried. Believe me, I've tried.

Binaural is a frustrating album.

I really do like it as is, but really, this album could have been my #1.

Fatal, Sad, and In The Moonlight are fantastic songs, and had they made the cut, I think most would have Binaural in their top 3 or 4.

The overall sessions for this album may be the best the band ever did. All those cool instrumentals on TB2K, the "lost dogs", "Puzzles & Games", "Anything In Between"...all such great ideas and songs. I even love Hitchhiker. I don't think it would fit the album at all, but it's a great b-side / outtake.

I don't get In the Moonlight fitting on Binaural at all.

When it comes to the first three songs, I think for a long time, it wasn't that I was letting other people influence my opinion on them as much as it was that whenever I would discuss those songs with people (which is pretty much exclusively here), I was defending their placement on the record. I guess after a while I felt that they don't need any defending. They're three great rock songs to open up the record. And the fact that Sad and Fatal aren't on there doesn't really matter to me considering they were available to listen to only three years after the initial record's release.

darth_vedder wrote:The overall sessions for this album may be the best the band ever did. All those cool instrumentals on TB2K, the "lost dogs", "Puzzles & Games", "Anything In Between"...all such great ideas and songs.

Agreed. Add Ed's uke songs and you have a very prolific, creative period. Just a shame they had no natural leader to harness everything brought to the table.

I'd love it if Anything In Between ever amounted to anything. The music is great, it's just crying out for a stronger vocal melody and lyric.

digster wrote:And the fact that Sad and Fatal aren't on there doesn't really matter to me considering they were available to listen to only three years after the initial record's release.

Ultimately, you're right. Pearl Jam made their desired artistic statement and they shouldn't apologize for that. Binaural is what it is. And we've been lucky enough to hear a lot of what was going on behind closed studio doors during that time. That's pretty cool.

My preferences just lean toward something else. Had Pearl Jam made a different statement, it's likely something I would have enjoyed more. But, we have the songs and the technology to fuss around with all of it, to cater to our own tastes. And that's a lot of fun.

iceagecoming wrote:I'd love it if Anything In Between ever amounted to anything. The music is great, it's just crying out for a stronger vocal melody and lyric.

Amen.