No Code / Merkinball -- Rewriting History

[epilogue]

What do they themselves know?

[dkfan9]

Merkinball feels much more like a dusting off of Vitalogy's workbench than it feels like the preliminary foundations for No Code.

I kinda think Merkinball feels like the seeds of the album #4 they decided not to make. I Got Shit, Long Road, Falling Down, Open Road, Red Mosquito, Lukin, Habit, Brain of J...the stuff that appeared in 1995 suggests that there may have initially been a very different direction they had in mind for the next record. There's probably a great alternate album to be put together there.

Very cool. And I think Stone wrote "Bayleaf around that time as well--it seems to fit in that sound.

[VinylGuy]

Merkinball feels much more like a dusting off of Vitalogy's workbench than it feels like the preliminary foundations for No Code.

I kinda think Merkinball feels like the seeds of the album #4 they decided not to make. I Got Shit, Long Road, Falling Down, Open Road, Red Mosquito, Lukin, Habit, Brain of J...the stuff that appeared in 1995 suggests that there may have initially been a very different direction they had in mind for the next record. There's probably a great alternate album to be put together there.

Very cool. And I think Stone wrote "Bayleaf around that time as well--it seems to fit in that sound.

i think Bayleaf was written from 1998 to 2000.

[epilogue]

I think Bayleaf is better than the last two Pearl Jam albums. There, I said it.

[verb_to_trust]

I think Bayleaf is better than the last two Pearl Jam albums. There, I said it.

Co Sign

[Norah]

I think Bayleaf is better than the last two Pearl Jam albums. There, I said it.

Co Sign

for sure

[Birds in Hell]

Oh, no, I can't get onboard with that.

[WtOB?]

It's certainly better than Backspacer.

[its_not_1974]

Merkinball feels much more like a dusting off of Vitalogy's workbench than it feels like the preliminary foundations for No Code.

I kinda think Merkinball feels like the seeds of the album #4 they decided not to make. I Got Shit, Long Road, Falling Down, Open Road, Red Mosquito, Lukin, Habit, Brain of J...the stuff that appeared in 1995 suggests that there may have initially been a very different direction they had in mind for the next record. There's probably a great alternate album to be put together there.

This makes a lot of fucking sense. Now I am sad.

[TheDapperGent]

Merkinball feels much more like a dusting off of Vitalogy's workbench than it feels like the preliminary foundations for No Code.

I kinda think Merkinball feels like the seeds of the album #4 they decided not to make. I Got Shit, Long Road, Falling Down, Open Road, Red Mosquito, Lukin, Habit, Brain of J...the stuff that appeared in 1995 suggests that there may have initially been a very different direction they had in mind for the next record. There's probably a great alternate album to be put together there.

This makes a lot of fucking sense. Now I am sad.

[epilogue]

Oh, no, I can't get onboard with that.

Damnit, Speeno, don't fuck this up.

[PHATJ]

I'm not on board with that nonsense either. S/T is a really good album with terrible production. Backspacer is crappy (by Pearl Jam standards at least) but it is still better than Bayleaf. And I like Bayleaf.

[WtOB?]

1. S/T
2. Bayleaf







3. Backspacer

[nyquillyn]

You guys are (S)tone-deaf. No way Bayleaf is better than the last 2 albums.

[stip]

once again spenno and I find some common ground

[epilogue]

I might choose to put on those PJ albums more often, but Bayleaf is a more compelling, competent and satisfying listen. It's also a little bit harder to take, so it doesn't get the reps. But that's a good thing.

[WtOB?]

Stone's voice sounds better to me on Bayleaf than Eddie's does on Backspacer.

[epilogue]

Stone's voice sounds better to me on Bayleaf than Eddie's does on Backspacer.

Agreed.

His guitar also sounds better than Ed's ever has.

[nyquillyn]

I can understand saying that the guitars on a new Stone album would be more interesting than a new PJ album, but saying Stone's voice sounds better than Eddie's is all sorts of crazy.

[epilogue]

I can understand saying that the guitars on a new Stone album would be more interesting than a new PJ album, but saying Stone's voice sounds better than Eddie's is all sorts of crazy.

I think Stone's voice is more interesting and cleaner on Bayleaf than Ed's on Backspacer. Pound for pound. There are exceptions, of course. But Stone sounds great on that record. And I love all the little flourishes -- the cool vocal layering and hidden sounds.