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Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sat June 01, 2013 5:31 pm
by stip
Bracketing Ten, since they were an unknown, we have
Animal
Spin the black Circle
Who You Are
Given To Fly
Nothing As it Seems
I am Mine
World Wide Suicide
The Fixer
In most cases these are not the best songs on their respective albums, but are they indicative of those albums?
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sat June 01, 2013 5:48 pm
by warehouse
i agree none of them are the best songs from any of their albums. 'no code' is probably when they started matching the first single w/ the feeling of the album pretty well.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sat June 01, 2013 5:54 pm
by nightmareblack0206
How dare you "bracket" 10......
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sat June 01, 2013 5:57 pm
by BurtReynolds
Given to Fly is probably the only one that isnt indicative of its album. Maybe I Am Mine, but that album is all over the place.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sat June 01, 2013 9:50 pm
by stip
BurtReynolds wrote:Given to Fly is probably the only one that isnt indicative of its album. Maybe I Am Mine, but that album is all over the place.
Not given to fly?
I was going to guess at the start that most of the singles were outliers, but looking at that list I don't know that I'd say that anymore. They all seem to point to the style and approach of each record, even if the song itself is somewhat unique.
It is pretty safe to assume that the album will be a fairly even split of fast songs, mid temp anthems, and slower pieces, regardless of the single
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 12:43 am
by Coach
I loved Who You Are as a first single. Still do.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 12:47 am
by digster
Actually, I would say they do a pretty fair job of representing the records, for better or worse. Probably the only one that sticks out is I Am Mine; that feels like an easier pill to swallow in terms of its accessibility compared to Riot Act on the whole.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 1:35 am
by WtOB?
Nothing As It Seems and I Am Mine kind of are.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 1:47 am
by McParadigm
So no one's gonna point out that Go was the first single off Vs, eh?
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 1:48 am
by WtOB?
Guys, Go was the first single off Vs.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 1:49 am
by mastaflatch
thanks for pointing that out.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 1:51 am
by McParadigm
If only I'd waited a moment longer

Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 1:54 am
by BurtReynolds
Given to fly doesn't sound like Yield to me . it screams "we interrupt this album to bring you our new hit single".
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 2:01 am
by stip
McParadigm wrote:So no one's gonna point out that Go was the first single off Vs, eh?
i did not know that.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 2:09 am
by BurtReynolds
Go, Animal, same difference
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 3:00 am
by nightmareblack0206
ARE YOU PEOPLE FKN NUTS FOR BASING YOUR OPINION WITHOUT 10?!
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 3:00 am
by nightmareblack0206
Stip....help me out here with these PJ babies. ...
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 3:03 am
by WtOB?
nightmareblack0206 wrote:Stip....help me out here with these PJ babies. ...
stip wrote:Bracketing Ten, since they were an unknown
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 3:17 am
by McParadigm
BurtReynolds wrote:Given to fly doesn't sound like Yield to me . it screams "we interrupt this album to bring you our new hit single".
I sort of disagree.
Given, like I Am Mine, is a distinctly open-armed moment relative to the surrounding creations. That much is true. However, I think all of the first singles have done a good job of foreshadowing how this album will be different from what you already know.
Go is just about as thrashy and removed from Ten's theatrical calculation as Vs gets. If you're hearing it for the first time, in 1993, you're being intentionally prepped for the tighter and less flashy sound to come. Black Circle captures many of the most jagged and howling sounds of Vitalogy, as well as the relative absence of "once there was this girl who wouldn't go and change with all the girls in the change room" type storytelling. And, if all you know of Pearl Jam is 1991-1995, Who You Are is a pretty definitive warning about how No Code is going to change all of that for you.
And Given to Fly, in early 1998, delivered two messages relative to what Pearl Jam had been during the last four years or so:
1. We're not afraid to sound like we love you, anymore.
2. We're a calmer, more introspective version of those guys who were all like "I'd rather be with etc" and stuff.
Given to Fly doesn't predict the record in terms of sound...but it is the best song on there for letting 1997 Pearl Jam hardcore Barkley K. Moneywallet what his fan club renewal is getting him into.
Re: Pearl Jam's first singles
Posted: Sun June 02, 2013 3:22 am
by Norah
nightmareblack0206 wrote:ARE YOU PEOPLE FKN NUTS FOR BASING YOUR OPINION WITHOUT 10?!
You're kind of missing the point of the thread.