...well, it will be in two days.
I was a senior in high school, skipped out with some friends at lunch, bought it at Best Buy, went to an apartment to smoke a few bowls, listen to it, and go back to school. I had just seen them for the first time exactly a year before, and had already heard N4Y, Betterman, Satan's Bed, Whipping and Corduroy from various live tv or radio appearances. Although I felt like I already knew most of the songs, I was blown away by the first half of the album... Such a smoking run of songs to begin an album (Last Exit, Spin the Black Circle, Not for You, Tremor Christ, Nothingman, Whipping, Corduroy), which is why it's my favorite PJ album to-date... but I remember initially being pretty pissed that they 'wasted' so much valuable time and space with Bugs, Aye Davanita, and Stupid Mop. Still, Bugs is the low point of the album, but I now think of Aye Davanita and Stupid Mop as the most clever, unique, and risky artistic moves the band has made.
More than anything, though, the tracks on Vitalogy have a raw, underproduced sound, filled with passion and intensity that is now long gone. On this album, they sound like the greatest rock band in the world, playing together in a small room...
...and there's THIS guy!
