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 Post subject: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:29 pm 
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The purpose of these threads is to take the time and go back and listen to the Pearl Jam albums you remember but haven't sat down with in a long time. What did you think? Is it what you remembered? Give the album a spin and talk about it.


Part I: Ten
Part II: Vs.
Part III: Vitalogy
Part IV: No Code
Part V: Binaural

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:46 pm 
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I think the last time I listened to RA from start to finish was the guided tour thread.


Can't Keep is a great opener, and manages from the very second to maintain a sense of atmosphere and forward momentum. It has mystery and movement. usually PJ songs require you to choose between the two. Musically I really enjoy this one--how fast and slow this sounds at the same time. Ed sounds exhausted, as I know he will for the whole record, but it works here. he sounds someone who has been through a lot and is preparing himself for another round.

This also sounds really light and heavy, sparse and full, at the same time Such a song of contrasts.

I really like the outro, but I like the whole thing.

Cool transition into save you.


Save You has such a wonderful deep groove to it. it's nice to see Jeff have such a prominent place in one of their rockers. The lyrics would be heavy handed if Eddie was selling them more. His restraint works really well in this one, and plays against expectations. Boom is used really well here underneath the guitars and lets Mike get away with being restrained. If Boom wasn't here he'd probably be soloing underneath Stone to give the song some depth.

When Eddie sings here you can really start to pick up on the start of Eddie's butchering of vowel sounds that you get going forward. I love how Eddie screams help yourself going into the last verse. it gives the song the exclamation point it needs, but if he had been doing that the whole time it would have been too much. What a great understated rocker. A very strong 1-2 for the start of the record.

The keyboard intro to LBC is nice, and there's not really anything like it in the catalog. Nice build so far, but slow starts like this draw attention to the lyrics, and I still cringe when I hear the 'love boat captain' lyric. I also don't like pulling the all you need lyric from the beatles.

I think the transition into the loud part of the song may be too abrupt.

Eddie doesn't do justice to the song. His subdued vocals work well in a few places here, but the chorus needs to soar here, and he just sounds too grounded. This is the problem Amongst the Waves has too. I think it's a problem in the verses too. The second verse is well written (I like 'the wisdom that the old can't give away' lyric, which is a nice transitional moment between Eddie's old and new perspectives to writing) but it all sounds strangely muted--Eddie kind of ends up dragging down the music a little bit, which crescendos more than I remembered.

I like that guitar part around 3:35, and the transition out of it is really good.

If Eddie sounded like Hard Sun Eddie (his best anthem performance of the decade) this would be a much stronger song. It's kind of a let down otherwise, since you expect anthems to sound a certain way.


Cropduster: For some reason I could picture this song being on Vs. (musically). The music has a nice mixture of uniqueness and sing songy familiar. I always liked the lyrics here. Still, there's nothing grabbing me here. It might be that it has the same uninspired vocal performance for 4 songs in a row. It starts to give some of the songs a sameness to them. it felt really appropriate for Can't keep and Save you, but by now it's starting to wear thin. I wonder if I would like the first two as much if they came later in the record. I like how the guitars churn in the bridge, and the rolling transitions from the bridge to the outro (the same one that starts the song). I like the late period strangled scream that Eddie does during the outro, but I don't really feel it here.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:57 pm 
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Ghost has nothing all that interesting happening in the music but I've always felt drawn to it. I'm trying to figure out why but I can't explain it I love the solos that mike plays on this one. This is another one where Eddie's tired vocals makes sense as an artistic choice, but it does make the song a little less enjoyable as a result. It's a 3 or 3.5 star song that I REALLY want to be 4.

Mike does a lot of good stuff on this one I had forgotten. That's a good thing since it's usually him or Eddie that gives a song its emotional climax, and Eddie usually doesn't on this one.


I Am Mine is like Can't Keep--a song that manages to sound simple and incredibly rich at the same time. Boom is used really well on this one. I love how this one sounds like a sea shanty. Like Can't Keep and Save You Eddie sounds really appropriate here. This is a survivors song. I love the lyrics in the bridge with the subtle changes with each iteration. The music is really urgent without drawing attention to itself. This is a pretty understated song for all that is happening. Everything sounds so good. I love this song.

Except that Whoot that Eddie does during the bridge. This song needs either a soaring final verse or a soaring outro, and Mike plays one of the most cathartic pieces he's ever written. It's very short (20 seconds), but it captures that sense of hope, of rebirth, of new possibilities, that belong to the survivor.


I Am Mine may not be my favorite PJ song of this decade (I may like a few more on S/T a little more) but I think it's probably their best. And it's so good.


The transitions on this record all feel really natural so far.


Thumbing My Way has really nice lyrics, but this is maybe the most desolate song in their catalog. Eddie's vocal choices make sense on this one--the way he holds himself back even when he starts to go into his higher register (like on the I let go of a rope lyric). But as much as I want to like it I can't help but feel like this one is a little boring. The song makes sense and does what it is supposed to do, but I don't enjoy it that much.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:16 pm 
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I really like the mechanical sound of You Are and how it churns along. "This broken wheel is coming undone, and the road's exploded" is one of my favorite opening lyrics in the catalog. it's too bad most of the rest of them are so weak. Eddie is singing this one in his higher register, which he probably should, but it doesn't quite overcome the machine quality of the music. It sounds indomitable. He does not. I wonder how this one would have sounded if Eddie sang it from within the song, instead of from outside of it.

The bridge is pretty weak. And actually I tend to get bored with this one by the end. Riot Act has traditionally been an overlong listen (fairly unusual for PJ) and by now I'm starting to feel it. It's the lack of variety in Eddie's performance that does it I think. And artistically this may make sense. The album feels like its theme. But it's not what I'd want to listen to.

The outro isn't that great.


Musically Get Right is like Ghost--fairly simple, with some great solos, but I love it more than I should (musically). Jeff sounds really good here. But the lyrics here are terrible. If this had the frantic pace of Got Some I wouldn't care. But since this is a mid tempo rocker I can't help but pay attention. I like the headache sound of this one. the hand claps are great. This would be a 4 star song with better lyrics. it's grown on me enough over the years to upgrade to 3. Eddie's low key vocals work well here (as with save you) since these are such base heavy songs.

Ohhh, cowbell towards the end to go with the handclaps.


Green Disease is really catchy, and the vocal melody is pretty winning. Musically this one of their more interesting pop/punk songs. But this song is so god damned preachy without saying anything all that interesting, so the song ends up being more petulant than fun. I like the chorus with its guarded optimism. that's my favorite part of the song. I cringe during the g-r-e-e-d parts.

I like the music in help help--the way its off kilter and vaguely sinister in an almost playful or soothing way. it reminds me of the chorus of Rival in that regard. This is one of Jeff's better lyrics. Not great. But not bad. Boom is used really well here. I like how the chorus ratchets up the urgency of the song. I don't like the way Eddie's voice sounds all shimmery though. The outro sounds great on headphones.

I should like this one more than I do. The whole seems less than the sum of its parts.



Bushleaguer sounds so forbodeing. But Eddie isn't very good at spoken word even with good lyrics, and these are weak. The first verse is just petty name calling, and the second verse is too abstract to be a critique. This was your big chance to say something significant about Bush and it was a total swing and a miss.

The pre chorus sounds awesome. So does the chorus. I hope a sung version of this song surfaces someday. The outro goes on a little too long.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:26 pm 
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at this point we've gone 12 songs, and so Pearl Jam has pretty much conditioned me to want the record to be over. That there are no songs I think are really good since I Am Mine makes me doubly want it to be over. So these last 3 really have to pull me back in.

1/2 Full starts out promising. Even though there are some heavy songs on the record prior, it's nice to finally have something with some balls on the record. Sure it's Red Mosquito part II, but Red Mosquito is a great song so who cares. Yet at the same time there's still that same curiously muted quality to this. It's not rocking as hard as it sounds like it is. You just need to listen to this one live to hear the difference. I don't know what it is. Eddie, I guess.

The outro is a little overlong.


I love the idea of Arc, but it needs the Into the Wild treatment. The Wolf or the worldess transition into the chorus during that one part of hard sun try to do something similar much more successfully. For whatever reason arc has never really moved me, and it took a while before I was able to admit that to myself (kind of like how it took a few viewings of the Phantom Menace before I was prepared to admit that it just flat out sucked--although arc is okay. Not bad. But it should have been great). I wonder how this would have worked following All or None--maybe as a hidden track.


There is a richness and depth to All Or None that isn't there on Thumbing My Way, even though they're both stark acoustic songs. Still I can't help but feel that this song is a little boring. I liked it a lot more when this song was indifference. Mike's outro playing is really good, but it's not worth sitting through the rest of the song to get to. Maybe on a shorter record this would have worked better, but at this point I'm kinda ready for Riot Act to be over. It's too bad. Eddie' has more life here than he does on quite a few other songs on this record.


It really became clear to me how much I wasn't all that happy with Eddie's overall vocals on the No Code through Riot Act run. It's better in some places than in others, but there are a lot of songs on these 4 records where he is my primary issue.


Can't Keep, Save You, and I Am Mine are great. After that i'd have a hard time pointing to other great songs. Lots of slightly above average ones, but that's it. I guess this one is the PJ record I like the least. there probably aren't as many songs on here I dislike as much as the low points on No Code or Binaural, but those records have more highs.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:40 pm 
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stip wrote:
Ghost has nothing all that interesting happening in the music but I've always felt drawn to it. I'm trying to figure out why but I can't explain it I love the solos that mike plays on this one. This is another one where Eddie's tired vocals makes sense as an artistic choice, but it does make the song a little less enjoyable as a result. It's a 3 or 3.5 star song that I REALLY want to be 4.

Mike does a lot of good stuff on this one I had forgotten. That's a good thing since it's usually him or Eddie that gives a song its emotional climax, and Eddie usually doesn't on this one.


Totally disagree...I think the chorus is one of the better things they've done recently. Matt has some really nice fills, and that watery/reverb vocal thing is pretty interesting. Overall Ghost isn't top self PJ, but I think it's a lot better than most give it credit for.

Stand out's for me: Can't Keep, Help Help, All Or None, Green Disease, and I Am Mine.


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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:44 pm 
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let's not actually listen to this

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:45 pm 
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stip wrote:
1/2 Full starts out promising. Even though there are some heavy songs on the record prior, it's nice to finally have something with some balls on the record. Sure it's Red Mosquito part II, but Red Mosquito is a great song so who cares. Yet at the same time there's still that same curiously muted quality to this. It's not rocking as hard as it sounds like it is. You just need to listen to this one live to hear the difference. I don't know what it is. Eddie, I guess.

The outro is a little overlong.


:?


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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:49 pm 
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Stip really is an asshole.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:58 pm 
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Farmer John wrote:
stip wrote:
1/2 Full starts out promising. Even though there are some heavy songs on the record prior, it's nice to finally have something with some balls on the record. Sure it's Red Mosquito part II, but Red Mosquito is a great song so who cares. Yet at the same time there's still that same curiously muted quality to this. It's not rocking as hard as it sounds like it is. You just need to listen to this one live to hear the difference. I don't know what it is. Eddie, I guess.

The outro is a little overlong.


:?

well, it's not a rewrite but it's pretty fucking similar as far as structure and envelope go.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:00 pm 
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mastaflatch wrote:
Farmer John wrote:
stip wrote:
1/2 Full starts out promising. Even though there are some heavy songs on the record prior, it's nice to finally have something with some balls on the record. Sure it's Red Mosquito part II, but Red Mosquito is a great song so who cares. Yet at the same time there's still that same curiously muted quality to this. It's not rocking as hard as it sounds like it is. You just need to listen to this one live to hear the difference. I don't know what it is. Eddie, I guess.

The outro is a little overlong.


:?

well, it's not a rewrite but it's pretty fucking similar as far as structure and envelope go.


I suppose.


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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:01 pm 
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darth_vedder wrote:
stip wrote:
Ghost has nothing all that interesting happening in the music but I've always felt drawn to it. I'm trying to figure out why but I can't explain it I love the solos that mike plays on this one. This is another one where Eddie's tired vocals makes sense as an artistic choice, but it does make the song a little less enjoyable as a result. It's a 3 or 3.5 star song that I REALLY want to be 4.

Mike does a lot of good stuff on this one I had forgotten. That's a good thing since it's usually him or Eddie that gives a song its emotional climax, and Eddie usually doesn't on this one.


Totally disagree...I think the chorus is one of the better things they've done recently. Matt has some really nice fills, and that watery/reverb vocal thing is pretty interesting. Overall Ghost isn't top self PJ, but I think it's a lot better than most give it credit for.


I said I liked it!

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:05 pm 
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Undone and Can't Keep are my favorite tracks from this recording session.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:07 pm 
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thodoks wrote:
Undone and Can't Keep are my favorite tracks from this recording session.

:shock:

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:08 pm 
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Alex wrote:
thodoks wrote:
Undone and Can't Keep are my favorite tracks from this recording session.

:shock:

Did I take the internet too far?

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:09 pm 
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stip wrote:
darth_vedder wrote:
stip wrote:
Ghost has nothing all that interesting happening in the music but I've always felt drawn to it. I'm trying to figure out why but I can't explain it I love the solos that mike plays on this one. This is another one where Eddie's tired vocals makes sense as an artistic choice, but it does make the song a little less enjoyable as a result. It's a 3 or 3.5 star song that I REALLY want to be 4.

Mike does a lot of good stuff on this one I had forgotten. That's a good thing since it's usually him or Eddie that gives a song its emotional climax, and Eddie usually doesn't on this one.


Totally disagree...I think the chorus is one of the better things they've done recently. Matt has some really nice fills, and that watery/reverb vocal thing is pretty interesting. Overall Ghost isn't top self PJ, but I think it's a lot better than most give it credit for.


I said I liked it!


But...you said "nothing all that interesting"...I just listened to it, and disagreed about what you said...I find the chorus of the song to be pretty interesting.


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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:10 pm 
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This is the kind of record that would have benefitted from being released as two or three distinct LPs.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:13 pm 
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thodoks wrote:
Alex wrote:
thodoks wrote:
Undone and Can't Keep are my favorite tracks from this recording session.

:shock:

Did I take the internet too far?

no, i agree with you. undone, can't keep, down, and i am mine are the only tracks from this recording session i like. i consider riot act to be the Patrick Bateman of pearl jam's catalog.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:18 pm 
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Alex wrote:
thodoks wrote:
Alex wrote:
thodoks wrote:
Undone and Can't Keep are my favorite tracks from this recording session.

:shock:

Did I take the internet too far?

no, i agree with you. undone, can't keep, down, and i am mine are the only tracks from this recording session i like. i consider riot act to be the Patrick Bateman of pearl jam's catalog.

I listen to most of this album with a kind of bemused indifference; Can't Keep, Undone, and, maybe every once in a while, Cropduster are really the only cuts I find myself wanting to listen to.

I don't hate Riot Act, but I don't get much out of listening to it either. Probably their most inconsistent record. Meh.

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 Post subject: Re: Let's Actually Listen to the Albums: Riot Act Edition
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:18 pm 
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thodoks wrote:
Alex wrote:
thodoks wrote:
Alex wrote:
thodoks wrote:
Undone and Can't Keep are my favorite tracks from this recording session.

:shock:

Did I take the internet too far?

no, i agree with you. undone, can't keep, down, and i am mine are the only tracks from this recording session i like. i consider riot act to be the Patrick Bateman of pearl jam's catalog.

I listen to most of this album with a kind of bemused indifference; Can't Keep, Undone, and, maybe every once in a while, Cropduster are really the only cuts I find myself wanting to listen to.

I don't hate Riot Act, but I don't get much out of listening to it either. Probably their most inconsistent record. Meh.

This is the album we finally differ on. It's pretty inconsistent but I still love it.

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