Red Mosquito

Present Tense like several others on the album is not right for a big crowd. Its one of their best songs though, so many great moments in this song.

Yes Mankind is a Foo Fighters song(or generic 90's song) but it is great anyway. Sunburn is fine but wouldn't fit on No Code.

"Mankind" does not sound like the Foo Fighters.

theplatypus wrote:"Mankind" does not sound like the Foo Fighters.

I think it sounds more like REM

rick malone wrote:Present Tense like several others on the album is not right for a big crowd. Its one of their best songs though, so many great moments in this song.

Not right for a big crowd?? What are you talking about? It's one of the best singalong songs in the whole catalog

theplatypus wrote:"Mankind" does not sound like the Foo Fighters.

There's one part that definitely does. Where it strips down to just a repeated guitar chord. Imagine that part sung by Dave Grohl

mikejasond wrote:

rick malone wrote:Present Tense like several others on the album is not right for a big crowd. Its one of their best songs though, so many great moments in this song.

Not right for a big crowd?? What are you talking about? It's one of the best singalong songs in the whole catalog

It loses that magical feel it has on the album.

This album feels directionless. It also feels like a bunch of false wisdom. A song like "Present Tense" is the worst offender, possibly one of the most trite pieces of music they've ever recorded. That I once found it uplifting and inspirational speaks to its simplicity, I think--when you're relatively young and innocent you might suppose that you can learn something from a tree. Now, this feels utterly absurd to me. I acknowledge this is possibly reflective of my own tastes more than some inherent flaw, etc. etc.

"Hail, Hail" is a more effective rumination. "Present Tense" has not aged well for me.

griffinxi wrote:This album feels directionless. It also feels like a bunch of false wisdom. A song like "Present Tense" is the worst offender, possibly one of the most trite pieces of music they've ever recorded. That I once found it uplifting and inspirational speaks to its simplicity, I think--when you're relatively young and innocent you might suppose that you can learn something from a tree. Now, this feels utterly absurd to me. I acknowledge this is possibly reflective of my own tastes more than some inherent flaw, etc. etc.

"Hail, Hail" is a more effective rumination. "Present Tense" has not aged well for me.

But...But...let's say knowledge is a tree....

mikejasond wrote:

griffinxi wrote:This album feels directionless. It also feels like a bunch of false wisdom. A song like "Present Tense" is the worst offender, possibly one of the most trite pieces of music they've ever recorded. That I once found it uplifting and inspirational speaks to its simplicity, I think--when you're relatively young and innocent you might suppose that you can learn something from a tree. Now, this feels utterly absurd to me. I acknowledge this is possibly reflective of my own tastes more than some inherent flaw, etc. etc.

"Hail, Hail" is a more effective rumination. "Present Tense" has not aged well for me.

But...But...let's say knowledge is a tree....

Ohhh---NOW I GET IT

can't delete posts arg

No Code might have a few flaws but it so stylishly doesn't care that neither do I

Ms Harmless wrote:No Code might have a few flaws but it so stylishly doesn't care that neither do I

Thanks for saying what I couldn't think of.

rick malone wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:No Code might have a few flaws but it so stylishly doesn't care that neither do I

Thanks for saying what I couldn't think of.

no worries!

mikejasond wrote:

theplatypus wrote:"Mankind" does not sound like the Foo Fighters.

There's one part that definitely does. Where it strips down to just a repeated guitar chord. Imagine that part sung by Dave Grohl

I have had a long standing belief since the album came out that Ed is actually singing that part, trying to sound like Stone. You can hear it in his voice on the last line before it goes back into “what’s got the whole world faking”

Ms Harmless wrote:

rick malone wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:No Code might have a few flaws but it so stylishly doesn't care that neither do I

Thanks for saying what I couldn't think of.

no worries!

This really is a great description. Kind of like a Neil Young album in a sense that it’s not perfect but it’s not trying to be. It stretches the definition of what could be a Pearl Jam song, from Stone singing to Jeff Ament on lead guitar to meditative lead singles to brash punk rock to blues to spoken word and lullabies. And to me, even then, it sounded like Pearl Jam despite all this. It was my favorite for many years for much that reason.

liebzz wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:

rick malone wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:No Code might have a few flaws but it so stylishly doesn't care that neither do I

Thanks for saying what I couldn't think of.

no worries!

This really is a great description. Kind of like a Neil Young album in a sense that it’s not perfect but it’s not trying to be. It stretches the definition of what could be a Pearl Jam song, from Stone singing to Jeff Ament on lead guitar to meditative lead singles to brash punk rock to blues to spoken word and lullabies. And to me, even then, it sounded like Pearl Jam despite all this. It was my favorite for many years for much that reason.

Good post.