Red Mosquito

Someone asked in another thread if the band were capable of making a "great" album again. PJ came on shuffle while mowing the lawn last night, which got me thinking about that. My half-assed theory...

Historically, Pearl Jam have made two kinds of albums: albums that are simply the sum of their parts, and albums that are "more" than that.

Ten, Vs, S/T, BS, and LB are the former. Some are great and some are less than great, but the albums are what they are. Ten and Vs. are nearly flawless because you can tell that thought and care went into every single note. Lightning Bolt and S/T are kinda shitty because almost every song sounds like they got 75% of the way there and said, "Good enough." BS is probably underrated and would be viewed in a better light if they would have followed it up quickly. For these albums, my opinion is that if you were to take the same songs and give them to any decent band and you would get roughly the same result.

Vitalogy, No Code, and Riot Act are the latter. No other band on the planet could have made these albums. Even though songs like Off He Goes, Lukin, Ghost, LBC, and Last Exit aren't particularly strong examples of the songwriting traditions they exist in (country-folk, punk, indie rock), somehow the band was able to transcend their limitations and make something singular and great. Give these same songs to another band and the result would be unrecognizable and probably very bad.

(Not sure which category Binaural and Yield fall into yet. I'm kinda thinking Binaural #1, Yield #2.)

Do they have another great album in them? I say yes, but only in the first category. It's not like they forgot how to write songs. Stone and Jeff are doing interesting solo and side project work, Matt's writing good stuff with SG, Mike is fine when limited to 1-2 spotlights per album. There's no reason these 5 guys still can't put together the right combination of melodies, rhythms and words to make something compelling and even great. But I think the days of them putting in the blood, sweat and tears that it takes to create something that transcends the material itself are long over.

(Thanks for reading...I promise this made sense when breathing in gas fumes last night.)

i like this guy. Well stated.

guestT wrote:Even though songs like Off He Goes, Lukin, Ghost, LBC, and Last Exit aren't particularly strong examples of the songwriting traditions they exist in (country-folk, punk, indie rock), somehow the band was able to transcend their limitations and make something singular and great.

I think this is a great point. With the middle records, they created who they are through expanding their craft into something bigger than the songs that resulted. Taken as a whole, they became who they are, not through any one particular thing or one particular style. They filled the edges and didn't leave any holes.

Backspacer was another attempt at a different style, but the full album wasn't any bigger than the songs themselves, which weren't all that noteworthy. LB is just a conglomeration of re-hashed parts, a smorgasbord of smog.

hlniv wrote:

guestT wrote:Even though songs like Off He Goes, Lukin, Ghost, LBC, and Last Exit aren't particularly strong examples of the songwriting traditions they exist in (country-folk, punk, indie rock), somehow the band was able to transcend their limitations and make something singular and great.

I think this is a great point. With the middle records, they created who they are through expanding their craft into something bigger than the songs that resulted. Taken as a whole, they became who they are, not through any one particular thing or one particular style. They filled the edges and didn't leave any holes.

Yep, that's it in a nutshell! Well said.

Strat wrote:i like this guy. Well stated.

Heh, thanks. Been lurking here off and on for an embarrassingly long time and figured it was time to contribute something.

Last night my daughter wrote a brief song called Rock and Roll All Day Tonight. It made me think that a little of that brand of absurdity would have made Backspacer pretty great.

how many year til Mike is on QVC selling guitars?

bodysnatcher wrote:how many year til Mike is on QVC selling guitars?

He does have a family to provide for.

For some reason I picture a farewell Mike McCready tour in the future after its announced he is dying. Then he miraculously pulls through and the band is forced to give him two songs on the new album.

guestT wrote:

hlniv wrote:

guestT wrote:Even though songs like Off He Goes, Lukin, Ghost, LBC, and Last Exit aren't particularly strong examples of the songwriting traditions they exist in (country-folk, punk, indie rock), somehow the band was able to transcend their limitations and make something singular and great.

I think this is a great point. With the middle records, they created who they are through expanding their craft into something bigger than the songs that resulted. Taken as a whole, they became who they are, not through any one particular thing or one particular style. They filled the edges and didn't leave any holes.

Yep, that's it in a nutshell! Well said.

Strat wrote:i like this guy. Well stated.

Heh, thanks. Been lurking here off and on for an embarrassingly long time and figured it was time to contribute something.

i think what youre describing is what happens when songs manage to elevate each other by coming from a similar thematic place that puts them in conversation with each other (i would actually put Ten and Vs in that category as well - even though the songs stand well on their own they remain even more powerful in the context of their respective albums). they are products of a band not working, but working through. there is no particular artistic reason that cant happen again provided everyone is in a space where mentally feel it is necessary and physically allow it to happen.


I generally think the songs on an album like no code or binaural or riot act are often a step below their best work - especially the genre exercises and experiments. But I also tend to listen to music on shuffle, which does not showcase these songs to the best possible effect. when i actually listen to them as a collective whole the impact is usually more powerful. its why i tend to have a greater appreciation for those albums after doing the kind of careful listening that the guided tour threads required, and why it fades when I return to normal listening habits.

the final alive solo that made the album is about a thousand times better than the original version

I think the problem is more the fact that they are not willing to write what a lot of fans would consider a great song, let alone a great album. They are in the part of their career where they could really take some big risks and they don't. They have nothing to lose at this point, so why not pull another No Code and just explore something that isn't so simple? The truth is they are barely a studio band at this point. I would not be surprised if it is a few more years until anything new materializes. Ed is focused on solo stuff and everybody else just seems to be along for the paychecks the live shows bring. Other wise they would be demoing songs at shows and releasing b sides. All of their eggs are in the live show basket now.

a great song does not need to be a risky song

Listening to 1998-2006 bootlegs is a great reminder of how great this band was. It is confirmation of my personal fandom.

Ledbetterdays wrote:I think the problem is more the fact that they are not willing to write what a lot of fans would consider a great song, let alone a great album. They are in the part of their career where they could really take some big risks and they don't. They have nothing to lose at this point, so why not pull another No Code and just explore something that isn't so simple? The truth is they are barely a studio band at this point. I would not be surprised if it is a few more years until anything new materializes. Ed is focused on solo stuff and everybody else just seems to be along for the paychecks the live shows bring. Other wise they would be demoing songs at shows and releasing b sides. All of their eggs are in the live show basket now.

At this point each new release just further waters down their catalog.

Fuck Cold Confession is cool.

This morning I woke up humming an awesome pearl jam song I hadn't heard in a while and couldn't place


It was Future Days

Lobotomy time

My god No Way is amazing

gardenparty wrote:This morning I woke up humming an awesome pearl jam song I hadn't heard in a while and couldn't place


It was Future Days

Time to die.

Fml

gardenparty wrote:This morning I woke up humming an awesome pearl jam song I hadn't heard in a while and couldn't place


It was Future Days

own it!