Red Mosquito

digster wrote:One odd thing about my love for the band is that, by and large, Mike's solos don't really do much for me, and never have. Even on records, often I see them as a facet of biding time or maintaining momentum or supporting what the band is doing. I rarely have that 'wow' moment that I do with someone like Neil Young and his solos, for example. But there's a few exceptions, and the main one is All or None.

Norris wrote:Quick Escape sucks and All Night rules. Easy vote here.

tragabigzanda wrote:Quick Escape is hugely overrated and All Or None is hugely underrated.

podunk wrote:All or None is a great mood piece - I like all the individual elements, but it still seems a bit underdeveloped - like they wrote two thirds of a song and then just decided to put a (very good) solo on it instead of finishing it properly.

As Stip said, Quick Escape is as huge as Pearl Jam has sounded on record for years. Very successful melding of classic and modern Pearl Jam- musically, this song would work on Ten. Great showpiece for Jeff at the end. I’ve always wanted them to capture on record the vibe of some of the great live Porch jams that we’ve gotten over the last 10 or so years, and I think the outro to QE does this. Plus, this song was directly responsible for Trump being voted out of office.

Quick Escape.

digster wrote:This is maybe the toughest matchup this round. One odd thing about my love for the band is that, by and large, Mike's solos don't really do much for me, and never have. Even on records, often I see them as a facet of biding time or maintaining momentum or supporting what the band is doing. I rarely have that 'wow' moment that I do with someone like Neil Young and his solos, for example. But there's a few exceptions, and the main one is All or None; it's certainly the most emotional reaction I've had to a Mike solo. The song itself is great, and Ed's choice to go higher in the last verse is the best illustration of why his vocal choices in Riot Act were so good and have aged so well.

Quick Escape, though, is great. I often actually gravitate towards Stone's solos and parts, and his off-kilter solo halfway through this in the kind of guitar playing that tends to attract me more than the shredding that concludes it. The way the song tumbles out of its bridge into that solo is one of my favorite moments from the band in a long time. I'd give it to All or None, but both of these songs deserve to go further.

Norris wrote:Quick Escape sucks and All Night rules. Easy vote here.

tragabigzanda wrote:Do all you QE lovers enjoy the vocals, or are you just overlooking those because you think the music is worth it?

stip wrote:

digster wrote:This is maybe the toughest matchup this round. One odd thing about my love for the band is that, by and large, Mike's solos don't really do much for me, and never have. Even on records, often I see them as a facet of biding time or maintaining momentum or supporting what the band is doing. I rarely have that 'wow' moment that I do with someone like Neil Young and his solos, for example. But there's a few exceptions, and the main one is All or None; it's certainly the most emotional reaction I've had to a Mike solo. The song itself is great, and Ed's choice to go higher in the last verse is the best illustration of why his vocal choices in Riot Act were so good and have aged so well.

Quick Escape, though, is great. I often actually gravitate towards Stone's solos and parts, and his off-kilter solo halfway through this in the kind of guitar playing that tends to attract me more than the shredding that concludes it. The way the song tumbles out of its bridge into that solo is one of my favorite moments from the band in a long time. I'd give it to All or None, but both of these songs deserve to go further.

i forgot that stone is the first solo. might be my all time favorite of his. it is truly excellent. but i dont recall which other studio solos are his

VinylGuy wrote:

stip wrote:

digster wrote:This is maybe the toughest matchup this round. One odd thing about my love for the band is that, by and large, Mike's solos don't really do much for me, and never have. Even on records, often I see them as a facet of biding time or maintaining momentum or supporting what the band is doing. I rarely have that 'wow' moment that I do with someone like Neil Young and his solos, for example. But there's a few exceptions, and the main one is All or None; it's certainly the most emotional reaction I've had to a Mike solo. The song itself is great, and Ed's choice to go higher in the last verse is the best illustration of why his vocal choices in Riot Act were so good and have aged so well.

Quick Escape, though, is great. I often actually gravitate towards Stone's solos and parts, and his off-kilter solo halfway through this in the kind of guitar playing that tends to attract me more than the shredding that concludes it. The way the song tumbles out of its bridge into that solo is one of my favorite moments from the band in a long time. I'd give it to All or None, but both of these songs deserve to go further.

i forgot that stone is the first solo. might be my all time favorite of his. it is truly excellent. but i dont recall which other studio solos are his

He has the Do The Evolution solo and the Brain of J, those two are my favs from him

PHATJ wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:Do all you QE lovers enjoy the vocals, or are you just overlooking those because you think the music is worth it?

I love the vocals

PHATJ wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:Do all you QE lovers enjoy the vocals, or are you just overlooking those because you think the music is worth it?

I love the vocals

tragabigzanda wrote:Just to clarify, my problem isn’t with the lyrics at all. It’s with 1) the quantity of the syllables and 2) the distorted effect and 3) the performance. It’s devoid of any subtlety, space, or breathing room. Ed dropped a humongous distorted turd right on top of their classic rock riff.

tragabigzanda wrote:I do feel it and it feels aurally oppressive