Let's Actually Listen to the Album: Pearl Jam

[mikejasond]

Come Back: Is this a song that people really hate or something? I feel like it is. Sorry guys, I like this song a lot. And I think it really is another highlight of the album. For the record, I also just demo'd Wasted Reprise going into Come Back and I think it sounds awesome. So yeah, I think Army Reserve should go.

This song is obviously different from their usual style, (When I think 'hey my Mom might enjoy this song' I know that it's pretty different from their usual sound) but the thing is Eddie Vedder is very easily able to pull this style off, he's versatile enough to do it and sings with so much emotion, and maybe in his later years is getting to the point where he sounds much BETTER on songs like this since he has a harder time with the rock stuff. If they were going to do more broad appeal songs I think songs like this is better than the stuff on Backspacer.

I think the lyrics feel very honest and heartfelt, even if they're not anything too groundbreaking. I like that it keeps things laid back and gives Eddie a chance to sing his feelings without being rushed. I also don't know why but I really like the guitar solo, and the way it comes in. Especially the part immediately before the outro.

For me the outro is what puts this song from being really nice and puts it in a really high tier. Just blast this loud in headphones or in your car and its really so moving, an outpouring of emotion.

A great song, and I think it's in the right place on the album, as the "finale" before the "epilogue" like Present Tense, Sleight of Hand, and In Hiding.

[mikejasond]

Inside Job: This song starts, and it sounds like it's going to be reaaaaaally great. That moody slow build. It's really not something Pearl Jam does very often at all, it sounds like it's going to be an epic. The keyboards come in and I'm like "Yeah this is pretty awesome." Here we go...this is great, I'm thinking.

In my opinion, this song doesn't live up at all to what it sounds like it's going to be.

For some reason when I hear the intro i think of epic 10 minute songs that are amazing like Estranged by Guns n Roses (I'm not sure why since that song doesn't actually have an intro, but it does have mellow instrumental sections in the middle). But that's not what this song is. I even like the opening verses and chorus. When the electric guitars kick in, I'm still down with this song, then they get to the second chorus, and it's the same as the first one with electric guitars. I for some reason expect the song to still be in the beginning stages of its growth, but its basically done already.

The end of the second chorus with that little bridge into a bright sounding instrumental section is a great moment, but the thing is, they rose expectations way too high with the beginning. Once the guitar solo kicks in, I think you realize this isn't going to be the song you expected it to be. This song really needed to build and build and build to a truly amazing and epic part to make the beginning worth it.

It falls flat on its face, not because its a bad song, as its really not, but because they tried to set the mood too much when really the song wasn't as substantial as they made it sound. The outro is nice, and IMO further makes Army Reserve a little excessive because it hits the same notes that the Army Reserve chorus did to me.

In general though, this song was a misstep I think as the end of the album, because it really gives a sort of feeling of being let down by the end of it. I think this song could have been good but it needed more work and if this was really all it had they needed to change the intro because it didn't feel earned.

[mikejasond]

Overall: DESPITE all the problems, this is still one of my favorite Pearl Jam albums.

I think this is probably the only album (Besides Ten I guess) where I don't have any songs on the album that I dislike. Inside Job and Army Reserve I guess are the two I dislike most, but even then they're not so much BAD, as disappointing and inconsequential respectively.

Life Wasted-Comatose is one of the best 3 song runs in the catalog. Going through to Parachute this album is still great. Gone is a good song, and come Back is great. The problem is that the second half of the album is missing more songs that really connect besides those two. I mean Unemployable and Big Wave are OK, they aren't bad, they don't make me want to turn them off or anything, but they also seem sort of "filler" to me, as in there's not much to them. Army Reserve and Inside Job are sort of disappointing at the end only because the beginning of the album was so good.

I still don't hold it too much against it though, I just think its a shame that the second half doesn't have the same momentum as the first. I wonder if they could have improved the album just by cutting Army Reserve and moving one of the other songs like Parachutes to later in. Just shuffling the tracks a bit more evenly could have made this album even better.

But all in all it still works. And what I come out of this album the most with is that this is a great direction for Pearl Jam to take, and as I said before, seems cleaner, crisper, more energetic, more dynamic, and more alive. They feel reborn, and have gotten out of the murky depths of Riot Act and Binaural. I think this is really the best thing Pearl Jam could have done at the time, since they didn't have their original sound anymore, and this one worked. I'm actually a bit disappointed that Backspacer seems to have gone more to the pop side, and less to the side that reminds me of the Who, but at this point, I like this album because the style of the band is good, and for me that makes the album pretty great even when the individual songs towards the end aren't as good as they were at the beginning.

I think this is much better than Binaural and Riot Act too, as even at its worst, I don't think it ever makes me feel as negatively towards it as those did. The worst opinion I have towards any of the songs is "That was ok" a couple of times, which isn't so bad.

Highlights are definitely Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Parachutes, and Come Back, and then Comatose after those.

[stip]

Overall: DESPITE all the problems, this is still one of my favorite Pearl Jam albums.


Life Wasted-Comatose is one of the best 3 song runs in the catalog. Going through to Parachute this album is still great. Gone is a good song, and come Back is great.



I think this is much better than Binaural and Riot Act too, as even at its worst, I don't think it ever makes me feel as negatively towards it as those did. The worst opinion I have towards any of the songs besides is "That was ok" a couple of times, which isn't so bad.

Highlights are definitely Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Parachutes, and Come Back, and then Comatose after those.

these are excellent opinions. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[EJ]

So Stip just outed his second account, eh?

[Sgt. Crackpot]

So Stip just outed his second account, eh?

[bodysnatcher]

Marker in the Sand: ... I think this song is better than it has any right being.

This describes "Marker" really well for me

[gardenparty]

Marker in the Sand: ... I think this song is better than it has any right being.

This describes "Marker" really well for me

I do often wonder why i hate "Marker" so much.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I know it's rude to force my opinions on people, but how could you possibly think S/T is better than Binaural? I don't think they are anywhere in the same ballpark in terms of the quality of the songwriting. That would be like a Stones fan preferring Black And Blue over Sticky Fingers. Or a Zeppelin fan preferring In Thru The Out Door over Houses Of The Holy. Or a Who fan preferring Face Dances to Who's Next. Or a Pink Floyd fan preferring Momentary Lapse Of Reason to Wish You Were Here. It's sheer lunacy, I tell you. Lunacy.

[stip]

The lyrics on Binaural are clearly stronger (at least on the songs that Ed wrote). But beyond that they are very different albums reaching for very different sounds. S/T plays much more to Pearl Jam's traditional strengths, and if that is what drew you to (and continues to draw you to) the band S/T might be a much more compelling album. Binaural can be a very frustrating listen that seems to deliberately push away from what many people want to hear pearl jam sounding like . it is more challenging, but challenging in a way that feels like it is trying to be obtuse for its own sake, without fully embracing it enough to justify the choice. There are some songs that feel like work

It's also easier to get into an album that is frontloaded with its best songs than an album that has a slow start with the three weakest track arguably in the front.

In either case, they are arguably the two most uneven records in the catalog. It' just that for me the high spots on S/T really stand with some of the strongest moments in the catalog, and the high spots on Binaural don't.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Uh...no. There is nothing uneven about either of them. Binaural is all good songs. S/T is mostly crappy songs. That's the main difference.

[stip]

As always, it is a pleasure talking to you. I've learned a great deal.

[Kaius]

Haha

[Kaius]

Can a guy like them both for what they are?
I certainly do.
I'm more likely to put on Binaural if given the choice, but that doesn't mean ST is crap.
If it's qualification to be argumentative here in PJ chat then I can pick a fight with (you) stip. If I remember back to my respective first listens of both albums, I found it to be more challenging to get through ST than Binaural. Parachutes and Come Back being the most difficult. For what it's worth, I now love Parachutes and CB is ok

[harmless]

Uh...no. There is nothing uneven about either of them. Binaural is all good songs. S/T is mostly crappy songs. That's the main difference.

I know it's rude to force my opinions on people

I have to admit, I did chuckle.

[stip]

Can a guy like them both for what they are?
I certainly do.
I'm more likely to put on Binaural if given the choice, but that doesn't mean ST is crap.
If it's qualification to be argumentative here in PJ chat then I can pick a fight with (you) stip. If I remember back to my respective first listens of both albums, I found it to be more challenging to get through ST than Binaural. Parachutes and Come Back being the most difficult. For what it's worth, I now love Parachutes and CB is ok

Of course you can like them both. I do. I was just explaining why the people who prefer S/T do (if they are anything like me)

[Kaius]

And that wasn't meant to come off bitchy either. Sorry if it did.

[stip]

it didn't

[Anders]

I just listened to the Black Market Avocado for the first time. Some clear improvements from the album there, very interesting.

[BladeRunner]

I know it's all opinion but anyone who thinks this piece of shit is better than the rest of the catalogue are in the minority and for a good reason.