I dont know why I feel the need to post this, but its something kind of interesting happening with me this summer with Vs. I didnt really like Vs. when it came out, it didnt stand up to Ten to me, and I didnt really like Dissident and Daughter....and then Vitalogy came out and I was so enamored with it that I buried Vs. with my 'never listen to' CDs. I kind of rediscovered Pearl Jam (I had never really left, but I got obsessed again) in 2000 or so, but again Vs. was never something I got specifically into.....at the time, to me...'old stuff' was Ten, Vitalogy, the extras, and just the 'hits' off of Vs. while I got obsessively into the 'new stuff' on No Code, Yield and Binaural. Don't get me wrong....I had listened to it enough to know every song well, but it just never 'stuck to me' or something like the other CDs had.
Anyway.....with that background on me, I have had kind of a revalation this summer, it started when they played so many Vs. tracks at the show in Toronto that I saw....then they played Leash at my Camden show...then Blood and some others at Pittsburgh. After that Pburgh show, I actually busted out Vs.- the studio CD...not a concert boot or the Greatest Hits CD....but Vs.! I am now obsessed with it right now...it has become THE workout CD of this summer for me, both while running and lifting. I feel the anger and energy in the record for the first time....it is a combination of Ed still working out that past stuff that so characterize Ten, but now there is that element of betrayal and hypocrisy that Vedder and the others feel towards the corporate types who want a piece of them while they are the 'darlings of the moment.' Yet in the midst of all of it....the record brims with hope that things can get better in things like the chorus of RVM and the first stanza of Leash and others. Just a great, great record that really captures where they band was at that moment in history, that includes so many great songs.....for me, its no longer the weak stepchild of Ten or the drunken stepfather of Vitalogy. I might be alone with shit like this...but its kinda cool to have these kinds of awakenings to records and bands years and years after their release.

Thanks a lot for posting this. I love these sort of reawakenings that happen to us. I'm working on a book that covers Ten and Vs. right now and I agree there is lots to be found in Vs. that some people just over look or don't give it the time to sink in. There's lots of stuff going on in that record. It's good to know others out there see/hear/feel/think so too. So thanks.

My cousin is 32 years old and we were having a family gathering at his house. A bunch of us younger kids were in the basement and he knows my obsessions with PJ so he says "yo mowbs, how about we put some pearl jam on?" He pops Vs. in and when he got to about track 4 he said out loud "This is a fucking great CD. I haven't listened to this in like 10 years!"

Vs. is mine best!

This same thing has happned to me pretty much this week with Yield. Just realized how fucking great that CD is, especially Wishlist. I never liked it much, now it's probably top 10 PJ songs for me.

Took me a while to get into Vitalogy (except Tremor Christ, Nothingman and Last Exit) but recently I got into it. It was all i listened to for about 2 weeks.

I agree, it is a hell of a record to work out to.

Blood has been on every work out cd/playlist I've ever made (so have Porch and STBC)

on Vs. I love it, but I think Blood is one of the most overrated PJ songs.

good ol' olden day pj

This album has had its moment with me. I really liked it but now it is my least favourite. It seems to be the one that has dated the most for me... as far as getting into an album again I just can't get enough of Binaural if I want to listen to PJ at the moment.

It used to be one of my least favorite Pearl Jam albums, but then on the way to see them in Grand Rapids I realized what a fantastic album it is. Man, it fucking rocks.

hella of fun album!

Great album. I love Eddies voice on this, probably equal with Vitalogy on that account. I love the raw, sound. You can really hear the emotion in his voice.

The bass on Wishlist is awesome.

i got massively back into no code in a way simarler to this.

Thats awesome. I have mini No Code, Yield, and Binaural rebirths about once a year or so. With those, its always the same, I put the CD away for a few months, then something (hearing a particular song live on a boot, or a thread on here) will respark my interest in it and I will get obsessed again. This thing with Vs. for me is not a rebirth, its a birth. I realized my preconceptions about the record were wrong just now, and have fully appreciated it for the first time.

loved it then... love it now.... it really never gets old to me

Vs. is the album with the goat on the album cover. I love that album.

Thanks so much for posting this.........I always argue that VS is a much better album then Ten simply b/c its not so polished it has a much looser feel like on Ten the record company was going ok we wnat 5 singles but on VS they just let it all hang out VS is Pearl Jam plain and simple