Match BM: Mind Your Manners vs Happy When I'm Crying

[WtOB?]

[stip]

That was a good blog post, even though mym is probably my favorite song on this album

[brisjam]

No way HWIC should get close to MYM here surely...

[Norah]

Happy When I'm Crying is one of the best things Pearl Jam has ever done.

[Kevin Davis]

That is a good blog post, and I was happy to read it again. This little paragraph here pretty much summarizes my experience with the band as well:

Between 1994 and 2005, Pearl Jam released five full-length albums showcasing an off-kilter sense of musical adventurousness and experimentation across a remarkable variety of song styles and approaches, while still operating reasonably within the limits of rock music. They were mercurial in their approach– sometimes raw and unhinged, sometimes quiet, delicate and mournful. During those 10+ years, they were a band that focused mainly on whatever worked best for whichever song they were tackling, setting aside the general public’s notions of what they were supposed to sound like. This resulted in a band that was free to explore, to stretch and adjust the limits of its own songwriting. 1998′s Yield was built on this very premise, an exercise in egoless songwriting– an entire album predicated on the idea of letting the songs take you where they want to take you, giving way to all kinds of structural oddities and left turns and discoveries. And there was a palpable joy in that process. More than a bunch of guys trying to sound their angriest, Yield sounded like a band indulging in the joy of creating music, and being caught off guard by these creations.

[Norah]

RIP Pearl Jam

[stip]

Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic

[Norah]

Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic

I remember reading an old rumor pit post from the Yield build up that addressed the sound of the new record. I remember it being described as more rocking than No Code but not a step backward. I remember them saying it was more "Hail Hail" rocking than something older.

[McParadigm]

Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic

That might be a perception stemming from the promotion rather than the development of the record. I do think Stone said something akin to "how can we get people to like us again." But a record that sounds more like a healthier, cleaner, more extroverted version of No Code than a record by The Ten Band is hardly the way you'd go if that was the aim.

Also, every time someone votes against Happy When I'm Crying I kill a puppy. Not out of vengeance, mind you. It's just my way of putting things right.

[Norah]

Also, every time someone votes against Happy When I'm Crying I kill a puppy. Not out of vengeance, mind you. It's just my way of putting things right.

It's only fair.

[Thejambi]

[EJ]

HWIC is the type of gem we'll never get to hear from this band again.

[digster]

Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic

That might be a perception stemming from the promotion rather than the development of the record. I do think Stone said something akin to "how can we get people to like us again." But a record that sounds more like a healthier, cleaner, more extroverted version of No Code than a record by The Ten Band is hardly the way you'd go if that was the aim.

This is true; even Riot Act, I remember, had that kind of press associated with it; the album where they rock again! It's more likely record company hyperbole than an accurate description of the records.

[stip]

oh sure, but I kind of recall the band talking about it in these terms too.

[digster]

The band has never struck me as being particularly good at talking about what their records were like. I remember reading an interview with Ed around the time of Binaural; the interviewer said to him, "the first few songs on the album feel like they could have been on your first record," and Ed agreed and talked about it. Like or hate Binaural, the beginning of that record sounds nothing like Ten.

So I basically take what they say with a grain of salt.

[stip]

no argument here.

[epilogue]

HWIC is a great song. I really love it. But I like MYM more. At least, I like it more today. And I'm voting today.

[Blaine Ryan]

(I wrote about it on this post, pardon the blog-plug).

Really enjoyed this. Well done, man.