I do not like the wanky PJ songs. Rate them outta 10 and tell me why you like them or dislike them. Am I missing something?

Pry, to
Aye Davanita
Stupid Mop
I'm Open
Push Me Pull Me
Soon Forget
Arc

Edit: Vedderforprez (below) did a much better job than I. Let's use his list instead, which is this:

Master/Slave
red dot
Push me, Pull me
Aye Davanita
Foxy Mop
Bugs
Pry, to
Hummus
Arc
Wasted Reprise

Wasted Reprise would fit into this category aswell.

Push Me Pull Me and Soon Forget do not belong on this rather ill-defined list.

I like them when they're interesting and audibly pleasing.

I wouldn't include Soon Forget on this list.

Pry, to - 7/10 nothing special, but fits perfectly in the context of the album
Aye Davanita - same as above
Stupid Mop - 9/10 love it, I don't know why, it's haunting
I'm Open - 5/10 my least favorite of these tracks. When I was in high school I thought it was brilliant but now I think the lyrics are a bit trite. I still like it though, and No Code wouldn't seem right without it.
Push Me Pull Me - 10/10 Love this one. Love the lyrics, love the samples at the beginning from Happy When I'm Crying, the weird effects in the background just complete the deal. It's like a really intense trip, on the verge of becoming bad, but instead being incrediblyt enlightening.
Soon Forget - 6/10 this doesn't belong on this list, it's a song, not a wanky art track. It's jsut not a typical song. If this is here why isn't Bu$hleaguer?
Arc - 9/10 absolutely beautiful. Fits perfectly before All Or None.

Good thread. I suppose the first thing to do would be to define what is a 'wanky' song?

I think it would have to be a song that can't be done live in the proper sense. A song that's just fun with studio effects.

So the list should be something more like:
Master/Slave
red dot
Push me, Pull me
Aye Davanita
Foxy Mop
Bugs (perhaps?)
Pry, to
Hummus
Arc
Wasted Reprise (perhaps?)
Whale song (perhaps?)

Definitely not whale song.

Well give me a list then (i do agree on whale song, just it has cool effects and all)

I define these songs as the ones that rely heavily on studio effects and can't be done justice live (though there can be exceptions to this ala arc or push me pull me) and, though I won't call them filler, have a primary role of serving an album and are best taken in context of an album.

I'm Open and Push Me Pull Me are fuckin awesome tracks

Then its futile to rate them I feel. I'm biased by my favourite albums, Yeild and Vitalogy which happen to conatin most of these songs. I like the albums therefore I like the Art-Wank tracks. Push me, Pull me is hte best of the lot though

</thread>

Pry, To - 7/10
Aye Davanita - 8/10
Stupid Mop - 4/10
I'm Open - 1/10
Push Me Pull Me - 7/10
Soon Forget - 8/10
Arc - 2/10

The Vitalogy ones are the only ones that I think quantify as "art wank" tracks. The rest do not feel like throw away tracks.

Please see change of original post.

I love me some "Bugs". Always have... always will.

As are Pry,to Hummus, Aye Davanita, and .

Soon Forget shouldn't even be mentioned in this thread. It's brilliant.

the "art-wank" songs are what i feel differientiate Pearl Jam from other rock acts out there... then and now. i felt like it was their way of saying, "hey, we might sound like big arena rock, with big cock-rock songs that could be anthems, on tv during sports games, or whatever. but here's a slew of songs that keeps us grounded... to prove that we might not be what the masses think we are." I like most of these songs better than a fair amount of the rest of their catalogue.

Master/Slave - 10/10. great track, almost an ambient feel. honestly one of my favorite parts of Ten. i really wish they'd do more stuff like this. haunting.

red dot - 5/10. meh, whatever. it's funny, quirky, fun to listen to. but somewhat meaningless on any other level for me.

Push me, Pull me - 10/10. i'd consider this an honest-to-goodness song, not some art-wank. fucking fantastic structure and creativity. i love it from beginning to end, especially when they sample "Happy When I'm Crying".

Aye Davanita - 9/10. Awesome.

Foxy Mop - 10/10. Definitely a Top 10 pj song for me, and on most days a Top 5. Absolutely love this song. Haunting, beautiful, and scares the shit out of me. First time I ever heard it I was driving around some back country Mississippi roads during a lightning storm.

Bugs - 10/10. Hilarious song. Eddie showing his sense of humor in a time when he was considered not to have one. Quirky lyrics that really work and have some great symbolism. A great look into Ed's psyche at the time, and a first look into PJ using out-of-the-box instruments in their songs

Pry, to - 9/10. see Bugs. I find it a little unsettling, but I enjoy feeling unsettled by songs. It's almost a sad song; a sad look into Ed's mind and where he was at that time. It makes me really feel bad for him and how he was trying to come to terms with who he and Pearl Jam were. Not to mention the "Pete Townshend" reversal... if that was on purpose, that was genius.

Hummus - 6/10. Funny. Great hidden track.

Arc - 4/10. Don't necessarily like this song. I mentioned it in a thread the other day. I appreciate Ed's intention behind it, but to me just comes off very self-indulgent. It came so close to trying to capture what Master/Slave achieved, but fell short.

Wasted Reprise - 7/10. one of the highlights of Avocado. Great to see the band thinking about songs in this manner (extending them, restructured, across an entire album. Very rock opera-ish, for better or for worse.) Also probably the only song I can think of where Boom has been used as an asset to this band.

Stupid Mop gets a 10, and red dot gets a 5?