Red Mosquito

I think the biggest swings, at least in the context of an entire album, have happened with the S/T record. I loved that album in its initial listens, but after some time it swung pretty significantly in the opposite direction. I've since come back around, though maybe not to the same degree; I now think it's a solid album with some weak spots. With albums like Backspacer and LB, I'm not really a fan, but I feel like I wasn't thrilled with those records from the outset. With all their other records, they may change in terms of which is my favorite, but I think I liked all of them from the start.

stip wrote:I think most of my pearl jam first impressions have held up -positive ones at least. There are negative first impressions I came around on.

"My Father's Son" is the one PJ song that I was really enthusiastic about initially but that now I don't really enjoy hearing. In most cases, my experience is similar to yours; there haven't been a lot of songs that I immediately loved but now don't care for. For as lukewarm as I've been on PJ at various points over the last decade or so, they still have a pretty strong batting average IMO, and comparatively few songs that I just flat-out don't like at all.

Likewise, the only PJ song that I really, really didn't like at first but now like quite a bit is "Sirens." There have been a lot of songs along the way that I was slow to warm to, but very few where I had a gag reflex type reaction like I did with "Sirens." It's very possibly my favorite song on LB now (not that that's a high bar to clear).

wease wrote:

Matters wrote:

stip wrote:I was in my bedroom, lying on the bed, doing math homework. I bought Ten without knowing any songs because I heard Pearl Jam was like Nirvna. Once washed over me a bit, but when Even Flow started I was like 'holy shit, could this be the best band ever?' Sometimes you just know.

This is the kind of story I wanted to hear from the person inducting Pearl Jam into the R&R HoF. Instead we got David Letterman listing songs that exist.

I don’t remember Dave mentioning any song titles

Go watch again.

digster wrote:I think the biggest swings, at least in the context of an entire album, have happened with the S/T record. I loved that album in its initial listens, but after some time it swung pretty significantly in the opposite direction. I've since come back around, though maybe not to the same degree; I now think it's a solid album with some weak spots. With albums like Backspacer and LB, I'm not really a fan, but I feel like I wasn't thrilled with those records from the outset. With all their other records, they may change in terms of which is my favorite, but I think I liked all of them from the start.

Yield and S/T are the two albums that have dropped the most in my esteem I think. I like them still, but I was much higher on both of them (beyond the recency period) for an extended period of time.

Kevin Davis wrote:

stip wrote:I think most of my pearl jam first impressions have held up -positive ones at least. There are negative first impressions I came around on.

"My Father's Son" is the one PJ song that I was really enthusiastic about initially but that now I don't really enjoy hearing. In most cases, my experience is similar to yours; there haven't been a lot of songs that I immediately loved but now don't care for. For as lukewarm as I've been on PJ at various points over the last decade or so, they still have a pretty strong batting average IMO, and comparatively few songs that I just flat-out don't like at all.

Likewise, the only PJ song that I really, really didn't like at first but now like quite a bit is "Sirens." There have been a lot of songs along the way that I was slow to warm to, but very few where I had a gag reflex type reaction like I did with "Sirens." It's very possibly my favorite song on LB now (not that that's a high bar to clear).

Interestingly enough, I liked everything on Lightning Bolt from jump BUT My Father's Son. i still like the music (though Lightning Bolt's production does it no favors), but it is one of Eddie's worst lyrics where he clearly was trying for something, and not a particularly compelling vocal.

You should give MYM a listen. See if you come around. It could be your Around the Bend of that record.

I'll take it back to the beginning for me and the two that really took my love/appreciation for the band to a whole new level, Mike in particular, where the first times I'd ever heard Yellow Ledbetter off the Jeremy single and Breath off the Singles soundtrack. Those two blew me away upon first listen.

Oh yeah, the Singles songs both floored me on first listen. Good call.

I don't remember my reaction to the Singles songs. I assume loved them. At least State of Love and Trust.

Vs. took a few listens since it wasn't Ten, which was what I was expecting.

I honestly think i loved every song immediately up through Yield. I am strat.

Picturing Strat nodding along to Pry, To in a ‘92 Honda Prelude driving down a Minnesota road on the way to hockey practice