Red Mosquito

Hard to Imagine vs. Gonna See My Friend

This is a little tough. Hard to Imagine is fantastic live, and if it catches me in the right mood it's a great studio track, but it is a song I need to be in the mood for. I'm always in the mood for Gonna See My Friend - such a bright, vibrant, playful start to an album

as much as i like Gonna See, Hard To Imagine is pure pearl jam magic

VinylGuy wrote:as much as i like Gonna See, Hard To Imagine is pure pearl jam magic

What dis guy said

Yeah, HtI is top 5 PJ.

GSMF and it’s not even close

Hard To Imagine, easy.

It's hard to imagine me ever choosing to hear Gonna See My Friend.

GSMF is awful. HTI is rock solid.

Hard to Imagine is up there with Immortality as a song lauded by many as one of their all-time classics that hasn't ever really struck me in that fashion, but I'd still put it above Gonna See My Friend. I think this is helping me to release that Backspacer has really not aged well for me, unlike S/T, which has grown in my estimation over time. Even the 'good' parts of Backspacer are something I don't ever really return to. I'd say the opening four or five of Backspacer is preferable to the back half, but even songs in that pack like this one aren't really something I like that much

Rather than as an insult, to me it’s just a thing. Backspacer is a mostly disposable album that is a quick jolt of Pearl Jammy energy, but on hard inspection is sort of a toss off. The run time, the polish on the sound, and just the overall feel of the songs - it seems they were looking for a fun record and not looking to make anything that would be an all time classic for them. It’s what makes it feel like a photocopy of Pearl Jam or a cover band rather than the real thing.