i'm listening to this on headphones right now, and i have to say some of the coolest stuff mike has done is on this album from the backwards licks to the vamping up scratching noise... i perfer his coloring in the songs like this over his SRV/hendrix style stuff anyday (on record at least, i'd think live would be better the other way around.) i mean everyonce in a while a great big solo is great, but i'd perfer to have more of this. especially if we get the immortality guitar solo towards then end of the record. what are you guys thoughts?

I agree with you about Mike's ability to colour a song. I think it's definitely his strongest point as a guitarist.

Agree 100 percent. Vitalogy really is the Ed & Mike show, for better or for worse. I'm of the opinion that it's for the better.

normally I like the more conventional solos, but he just adds so much texture to this record that I don't miss it.

And if it meant every record sounded like vitalogy I would be more than happy to get more of this kind of playing out of mike

I also agree that the more traditional solos add a lot live. I'm not sure how it would have worked on the record (probably for the worst) but I love what mike does with it live

Mike's playing is a huge part of the reason why this is the band's best sounding record. That kind of coloration just has way more elasticity in manipulating and detouring a song than regular solos.

Mike he didn't play as much on Vitalogy as you guys appear to believe. He was having a very difficult time. These colorations are not Mike. That's why you don't hear this from Mike anywhere else. But where do you hear this? Think about it.

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It depends on which colorations you're referring to.

Well, there are interviews from over the years with Mike talking about playing the various solo sections of songs like Immortality (the song where the colors are, to me, at their most intense) and the accident that caused the spastic crackle that follows the "solo" bridge in Not for You. He's said at least once that he's unhappy with his playing on the record, and that he was too far gone during that time to really pull it together, but even within the sections I'm most in love with there are often little bends and hints to betray that it's Mike. Not only are they placed far more within his style and movement than anybody else's, but in a strictly technical guitar playing sense they are occasionally beyond any ability Ed has ever displayed in any location (not that he can't play, by any measure) and totally unlike anything Stone would ever want to play.

Looking only at the technical element of guitar playing, as well as tone and the consistent placement the players have always had in the mix, it's clear that Mike has a hand in most of my favorite guitar moments on that record.

i'd really like to know who plays what on that album, only because i'm interrested in the "emerging guitarist ed" factor to it and mike's unorthodox (for him) approach.
the fact that this is my favorite PJ album certainly has something to do with the absence of wank-fest in it. i can't say this about many guitar-oriented rock albums but this one rarely has a guitar sequence that i would remove or change.

Perhaps the absence of wank-fest is the result of all of the parts being written as opposed to jammed out, no matter who was playing them. What do you think about the playing on No Code?

the playing on no code is awesome, maybe even more nuanced than on every other PJ record. sometimes, hail, hail, in my tree, habit and present tense are performances of a unit at the top of its game IMO. this record and these songs in particular really breathe and the choice of tones couldn't be better. i'm sure that Jack Irons' style plays a large part in my infatuation with this album.
for vitalogy, the fact that most of its songs were written before they went in the studio surely influenced mike's involvment but i think he was a)too fucked up to give a bother and/or b)told not to wank because the band was struggling for credibility at that time and/or c)uncomfortable with the new dynamics of the band, him not being a proper songwriter yet.
what do you think of the playing on no code?

I don't play guitar, so I can't really comment. But none of the playing on either Vitalogy or No Code strikes me as requiring virtuoso skills. It strikes me as perfectly "orchestrated" if you will. And many things that are played on the studio versions aren't precisely duplicated live. I can't tell for sure based on the types of leads that are played on either Vitalogy or No Code who is playing what. I think that Mike plays the solo on IMMORTALITY, but other than that, can you tell for sure? No Code has what S/T doesn't have. Every tone is crystal clear. It sounds almost three-dimensional. I love that effect.

if they re-mastered vitalogy, no code and yield, i'd probably buy a surround system - can you imagine a 5.1 version of present tense?
and i agree that NC is perfectly orchestrated - as far as arrangments go, their peak IMO was on no code and yield (their "dharma bums" era)

Well, I'm not in your head and it's your opinion. I won't dispute it. I don't hear the same things you do, but you're not in my head either. One thing though, these subtle things you describe are achievable in the studio and are clearly within the bounds of Vedder's imaginative abilities. What I find most amusing in our conversations is that you remind me more of him from the musical sensibilities perspective than any one I know. Some things you say, while not phrased as poetically, reflect a similar approach that fascinates me. You're younger. I'd like to see how patient you are(n't) after 20 years in the studio.

You'd probably argue that, but you're not in my head so you can't.

: P

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And many things that are played on the studio versions aren't precisely duplicated live.

I agree with what you've written and the above excerpt is an understatement.

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i'm not sure where you're coming from here, just cause there's not a lot of solos... there's clearly lead guitar work... and i've thought about it. i don't think he just sat out on the record because there weren't guitar solos... chances are he played something on most tracks. some examples: listen to last exit for the reverse guitar. also listen in the right speaker at 2:24 of last exit. that's the kind of stuff i'm talking about. there's no way of knowing for sure who played, but i mean mikey's stabs are kinda identifiable. especially where you hear the wah wah. the end of spin the black circle there's a lot of good mikey stuff. i believe stone is on lead in not for you... at least he takes it live most of the time. there's a great short wah wah fest at the climax of tremor christ that really is too perfect... its kinda sloppy, which is what makes it great. i'm assuming mike plays the immortality solo, which in my opinion is the best guitar solo of all time. there's none that i enjoy more, and it never gets old. and stupid mop, i just like everything everyone played on that, though i know many don't agree.

we possibly may be vitalogy soul-mates

I probably would argue it, but I always enjoy the discussion we get when our perceptions diverge. You're fun.