Hey all,

Just dropping a line to let you know that there is now a complete discography review of Pearl Jam's major label releases up on Ground Control. You can check it out here if you're interested:
http://groundcontrolmag.com/detail/3/1457/

...It's a little different from the stuff that has run before, what do you think?

~Bill

Looks good did not get a chance to read all the reviews but this did catch my eye.



I will never understand some people's dislike for Vitalogy and I don't see it can ever be considered the weakest album.

Makes it hard to respect the guys opinion when a statement like that, especially after he praises self-titled. I don't feel good, i'm gonna go lie down now.

Hi, Bill. Welcome to Red Mosquito. Question for you:

Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors. Behind one door is a car, the others, goats. You pick a door, say #1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say #3, which has a goat. He says to you: 'Do you want to pick door #2?' Is it to your advantage to switch your choice of doors?

The writing and reviews were good. The take on Vitalogy is WAY OFF. That album gives off more feeling than Binaural and Riot Act combined and they both get glowing reviews here. Extolling the virtues of Light Years and NAIS paving the way for the listner to get into the headspace to really enjoy Thin Air? I love that the guy loves Binaural that much, but how do you have that opinion of those three and then not GET the quality of Vitalogy?

..especially after proclaiming to be a fan of the more raw and messy side of Nirvana.

My revulsion at Vitalogy initially stemmed from the time it was originally released, but I discovered as I was writing the discog that my opinion had changed very little since. Now though, it's for entirely different reasons; now I find that, while the album isn't without merit (of course there are some good songs in there), it simply isn't as strong as the albums that preceded it (I really dig Vs. and the remixed, Brendan O'Brien rendition of Ten) nor is it as good as some of the material that would follow it in my opinion. Thanks for piping up though! Keep 'em coming please!

~Bill.

I'm just curious what the listening process was for these albums since they were'nt listened to when they originally came out.

That is some lame and decadent reviewing in my opinion. I think the guy dry humps his Nirvana cds or something.

I thought it was a great write-up, but I too disagree with your Vitalogy take, particularly your opinion of "Tremor Christ"; that song is an absolute gem.

One of my favorite things you said was that "Sleight Of Hand" may be one of the best headphone rock songs of all time (or something like that)...to me, that is pretty spot on. The first time I heard that song I really didn't like it, and honestly it took like 5 years to grow on me. One day when revisiting Binaural, I did the headphone thing, and realized this is one of the coolest PJ songs ever.

Listening process? Well, I didn't grow up in a bubble or anything, I was aware of Pearl Jam. Ten came out when I was in sixth grade and one of my classmates (currently serving time for aggravated assault actually, but that's neither here nor there) loved the album. He and I were pals so I ended up hearing it a lot. I dug Vs. when it first came out (still do -- it's actually one of those albums that I rotated formats with, from tape to CD), and then Vitalogy came out and, for twelve years, I simply stopped listening in spite of my best friend being an enormous fan and it always being there as a result (he and I have had the Pearl Jam vs. Nirvana debate so often it's terrifying, but even he has some trouble with Vitalogy). The idea for the discography review first came up when Ten was reissued. I reviewed it and found myself really, really liking Brendan O'Brien's production of it and I wondered what I'd missed in the interim so, armed with a whole lot of historical knowledge and an open mind, I started over. I actually considered writing the first few albums both from the standpoint of a 13-year-old kid as well as a 30-year-old, but it would have been very, very lengthy and would have been difficult to piece together from a chronology standpoint. So I tried to take each album on its own merits with a bit of peripheral vision paid to what was going on outside the band at the time (Ticketmaster lawsuits and all the other battles, as well as what I knew was happening in magazines and fanzines back then) AND the arguments that used to happen between all my friends in high school as the albums were coming out originally. Essentially, I knew what I thought - at least of the first three albums - back then, and, operating on the adage that "After a record is out, it's there for you to find when you're ready for it" started putting together and reviewing the rest. That might sound a little confusing and I apologize for that, but that's where I got started. I developed the idea and it sort of grew from there.

Vitalogy's historical place in PJ's discography is quite ambiguous in the sense that a part of the fan base groups the 1st 3 albums and says No Code is the big change while another part of the fan base says Vitalogy marks the band's substantial change (along with No Code). From the band's perspective Vitalogy would be the one. Most of the fans agree that Vitalogy is at least "top 3".

See, that's the irony Mine. I prefer No Code to Vitalogy; it, along with Vs. and the self-titled album are my favorites of the original releases (which would exclude the reissue of Ten) -- of course, I've also never regarded myself as a diehard fan; more a new one now after having seen them live in 2006 and then doing this review. I still don't like every album, but what fan does you know?

Have you listened to 'Lost Dogs'? There are some absolute gems there, and shows another side to Pearl Jam...Many of the Lost Dogs are great songs, but you can see why they were left off the album. At any rate, it's a solid collection of tunes.

Take out the artistic pieces that aren't technically songs on Vitalogy and that small group of tracks absolutely kicks ass. To rate the recent 2006 release higher than Vitalogy doesn't seem right. Additionally, Vitalogy as a whole is a nice set up for the following album, No Code.

For dissing Vitalogy, this dude will be forced to write for Ground Control magazine.

I love reading intelligent reviews, and while I certainly don't agree with all of your takes on songs or assesments of the records, that was well thought out, nicely written, and an interesting juxtaposition of the music alongside the development of the band. thanks for linking it here, and thanks for writing it!

and that pearl jam/nirvana rivalry is absolutley right. I was on the PJ side, and my best friend was on the Nirvana side, and while we both also really liked the other band, we each felt guilty for doing so.

Dude, this is an internet message board. Get with the program.

I totally disagree with the poor review of Vitalogy, while granted there are a few "skip" songs on there the other songs all have a such unique qualities that are not seen on the earlier Ten and Vs. or the later projects. Pearl Jam in 1994-1995 captured a tone or a mood that myself being a 19-20 year old totally felt. For me that music captured a tone of a time and place more so than any music I've ever heard or experienced. The tone of life for myself and many people under 30 had been experiencing had changed dramatically in a short period of time. And the music on Vitalogy reflected these changes:

"Not for You"
"Betterman"
"Corduroy"
"Immortality"
"Tremor Christ"
"Nothingman"

I can remember when I first heard these songs on the radio, they blew me away. These songs captured something for me, and I saw it had the same effect on my friends and kids at my college who were not even hard core fans. Everyone owned this album, and had the same connection I felt.

If I could have changed anything about Vitalogy it would be to drop that "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" and replaced it with "Hard to Imagine" to close the album. "Hard to imagine" was perfect for Vitalogy, it fit perfectly and would have been a strong closer.

For me I have to put Vitalogy in the top three of Pearl Jam albums, along with Vs. and Ten. It's not better than Vs. in my opinion, but it gives Ten a run for it's money. Vs. I feel is Pearl Jam's best studio album, while Pearl Jam's best songs might be found on different albums the quantity of quality songs on Vs. (no skip songs) puts it at the top of Pearl Jam albums. There's some real raw emotion coming across that recording, Pearl Jam's best albums are the ones produced by Brendan O'brien. Which is why I'm looking forward to their upcoming album Brendan is once again producing.

Again top three Pearl Jam albums have to be Vs., Ten, Vitalogy.

After those three the next three would be No Code, Yield and Pearl Jam.

Binaural would be 7th behind self entitled, for the sole reason as I just feel the song writing was just not the best. While the recording style is cool, and the songs have a unique sound the song writing is not on par with their earlier works. Parting Ways has potential, but the song seems little changed from the '96 boots of the song being toyed with during sound checks. Riot Act brings up the rear, a bunch of skip songs on that album.

I concur with the Live on Two legs comments, that I think might have been Pearl Jam's best tour (to date). And I think that's because they seemed to be having the most fun they ever had playing live, I saw them that tour at MSG on 9/10/98 (the day before the Breath show). Even though they had a lot of technical problems that night and Stone forgot the solo in "All those Yesterdays", the songs they did play straight through were some of the best live performances of those songs I've ever heard. They sounded awesome, and the band was in a great mood. A far different experience than Randall's Island in '96 and Oakland in '97 where I had seen them previous.