Red Mosquito

Curiosity has gotten the best of me again, so I wanted to pose this question;

Where do your favorite Pearl Jam albums rank in the context of your favorite albums of all-time?

Stip's comments about preferring his fourth favorite Pearl Jam album to anything by a lot of other bands he likes and harmless' comments about his seven favorite albums being Pearl Jam albums (I'm sorry if I'm remembering this incorrectly) made me curious about where other people place their favorite Pearl Jam albums. Is your favorite album of all-time a Pearl Jam album? Do they have multiple albums in your top ten? Top fifty? Are they all ranked pretty closely together or are they strewn across your personal top 500?

Yes, let's rank things more!

cutuphalfdead wrote:Yes, let's rank things more!

Rank the complaints about ranking.

Well, Yield, which is my favorite Pearl Jam album is easily in my top 5, Vs is probably in my top 10 as well, and theres probably 3-4pearl jam albums in my top 20, maybe even more, but i would have to remember my favorite albums by my favorite bands.
Most of the pearl jam catalog is in my top 50 (except maybe Backspacer and Riot Act, and i really enjoy them)
I think even Backspacer (my least favorite) is in my top 100.

Birds in Hell wrote:

cutuphalfdead wrote:Yes, let's rank things more!

Rank the complaints about ranking.

I think the RM ranking should be edited to read: rank on this poster

cutuphalfdead wrote:Yes, let's rank things more!

And how does that make you feel?

I think if I was really honest with myself, a pretty large percentage of my top 20 favorite "all time" albums would be by Pearl Jam and Bob Dylan--the nature of that list essentially being the records that have been major touchstones throughout my life, that (a) impacted me in a big way when I first heard them, and (b) have withstood repeat listens across various eras of my life. I think those records probably scatter a bit as I begin to observe greater critical distance, but yeah, the touchy-feely, all-encompassing version of my list probably has more Pearl Jam on it than any sane person's would.

Basically, there are a handful of artists whose catalogs I don't really compartmentalize by album, despite the fact that I'm intimately familiar with how said catalogs break down. Especially after having listened to so many live bootlegs over the years, Pearl Jam's body of work at this point is, to me, a pretty fluid collection of songs that can be put together in any number of combinations and still make sense to me. I would say "Yield," "Riot Act," "No Code," "Vitalogy," and "Binaural" would probably all rate pretty highly on any list I would make of my favorite records. But mainly it's just the totality of that whole era that sticks in my mind.

With no disrespect, are you me? Have I got a 2nd account? What's going on here?

Pearl Jam has been without a doubt, my favorite band since about 1992 after fully absorbing them, and continue to be, and probably will always be.

HOWEVER, there is WAY, WAY too much great music out there for me to be able to begin to respond to this. Far too many incredible albums out there in the world.

vitalogy, vs., and ten will always be my top 3. even if i someday find a record i feel is probably better, it won't have twenty years and 30 concerts to support it.

no code and yield are on the next rung. they're probably top twenty, but there are albums like rage against the machine's debut, soundgarden's superunknown, and stp's purple that i just like better. however, i find no code and yield hold up for me remarkably well. there was a time when dirt and in utero were more important to me, but as i've aged, those are mainly just collections of songs that remind me of my youth whereas no code and yield still sound like they have something new to tell me, if that makes any sense at all.

binaural could have been number 4 with a different tracklist and a commitment from the band to continue acknowledging its existence in concert, but as it is, i don't care much for it as a whole.

riot act doesn't rank. i like maybe 6 songs on it and really dislike the rest. avocado has 3 songs i really enjoy, but no songs i really hate, but i wouldn't say it ranks either. like 2 other people on this board, i actually like backspacer. throw out speed of sound and put the demo on there and i think it's a pretty great album. probably my 6th favorite pj record, but maybe top 50 albums overall.

since having kids i just don't have time to give new bands a chance. or i do, but i choose to do other things. if i had to make a top fifty albums, i'll bet 45 of them are from the 90s. the only album i got into before pearl jam was license to ill. otherwise, it was all pop radio for me. my album phase lasted ten years, and now i only buy albums by bands i got into in those ten years. i'm back to pop radio again. fucking loving that robin thicke song they play every 60 minutes. it's better than most of riot act.

i am not totally sure that I have a top 20 albums, but I know I have a top 3 and vitalogy and ten are 1 and 3 respectively. Like KD, most of that list would be REM and Pearl Jam albums, with a few tom waits and mark lanegan selections for good measure.

Off the top of my head it might just be jar of flies and laid that would not be by one of those 4 bands. Oh wait, and Achtung Baby

Yield, Binaural and Vitalogy would make it to a current list of all-time favorites if I actually had one. No Code might make it depending on how many albums I put on the list. That list would have a good number of Neil Young albums and then a lot of bands with just one album.

Ten and VS would make the list of albums that once were my all-time favorites.

Vitalogy through Riot Act are albums that I connect with more than pretty much anything else.

Then it looks like, Wilco's A Ghost Is Born, Radiohead's OK Computer/In Rainbows, The Little Willies' Self titled/For The Good Times (for a completely different guitar approach), and I'd pepper in the balance of Pearl Jam's catalog. Probably Led Zeppelin II and The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers/Let It Bleed. I guess I just really like guitar-centric records. Though I'd throw Beethoven's 9th in this mix.

There's no ranking system, these are all just collections of sounds I love to listen to. I honestly feel like ranking things diminishes everything on the list, because then you're comparing one thing to another rather than just enjoying each for what it is. Comparison is the thief of joy.

The black album, super unknown, sweet oblivion, dust, Mellon collie, Siamese dream, master of puppets, and throwing copper are all albums that would have been top 10 once, but probably not now.

1. Blind Melon-Soup
2. Pearl Jam Yield
3. Pink Floyd-Animals
4. Blind Melon-Self Titled
5. Rolling Stones-Exile
6. Radiohead-Ok Computer
7. Megadeth-Rust in Peace
8. Nine Inch Nails-The Fragile
9. Pearl Jam-Binaural
10. Pearl Jam-VS

Good Thread

I don't get most of a list being comprised of 1 or 2 artists. Just means you're not listening to enough music....

No Code would probably be my favorite all time, Yield would probably crack the top 10.

verb_to_trust wrote:I don't get most of a list being comprised of 1 or 2 artists. Just means you're not listening to enough music....

Agreed...but alot of PJ fans only listen to PJ......thats how i used to be, then i went to college and discovered other bands make good music too....

Yield is my favorite album.

Kyst (by Under Byen) takes the 2nd place.

verb_to_trust wrote:I don't get most of a list being comprised of 1 or 2 artists. Just means you're not listening to enough music....

I guess if you like one album there is a good chance you like them all.