To these ears, the middle of their catalogue - Vitalogy, No Code, Yield, Binaural, and Riot Act - sound as good as (or better than) the day they were released. Ten and Vs haven't aged particularly well, though there is still plenty to find redeemable about each offering. Self-Titled and Backspacer have aged quite poorly.

Discuss.

I agree with most of this except I don't think Avocado has aged as poorly as others. In fact, I still like/dislike the same songs that I did back in 2006. Backspacer, I do agree on.

Agree with this 100%

Ten is on a level by itself. at this point i've heard it 100000000 times and has never really fallen out of radio play, and still gets heavy live play as well. i wouldnt say its aged poorly at all. its classic and timeless. its just been played so much AND hit so hard anf fast it isn't gonna really grow on you.

the rest have all grown on me to varying degrees, even Avocado. Backspacer hasn't, but then i guess they didn't make it to last, either. congrats to them on succeeding in making a forgettable, unimportant album, i guess.

Ten was a middle of the road Pearl Jam album for me from about Yield through Riot Act, where i liked the songs but didn't care much for the record. It was just overplayed. At some point in the early/mid part of this decade I fell in love with it again. It was a combination of some amazing concert experiences with even flow, alive, and jeremy, and the BoB remixes on RVM which caused me to go back to the original.

Vs is the only pearl jam record that feels overplayed to me. So it hasn't aged well in that respect, but I used to consider it my second favorite and now I'd say third, so it's hardly struggling. But whereas stuff like Alive, Jeremy, Black, Porch--songs I've played to death--still sound fresh to me I just dont' really care to hear RVM, Daughter, Indifference, etc that much anymore.

Vitalogy continues to be amazing

I was incredibly disappointed with No Code when it first came out. it's still at the bottom with Binaural and Riot Act but a few of the songs I used to really not like (around the bend/off he goes) I can tolerate now, and some stuff like who you are I like more than I did. But on the other hand stuff like Habit has declined, and the best songs (present tense, in my tree, red mosquito) don't really move me anymore. I guess it's moved up a little bit

Yield is staying still. Some songs like DTE and GTF I've overplayed but they're still great. I have more love now for All Those Yesterdays and even No Way than I once did, but less for MFC, and In Hiding and Faithful continue to disappoint. It was a middle of the pack record when it came out and still is.

I LOVED Binaural when it first came out, but it hasn't aged well for me. A few songs (thin air, evacuation, soon forget, of the girl. god's dice) i just don't care about, and Light Years aged poorly. Insignificance and Grievance were songs I loved and can still appreciate but don't get that into anymore. I do love Rival more than I once did--same with Parting Ways. But this one defintiely declined from the early stages

Riot Act continues to be a record with 3 great songs, a lot of okay songs, and a few weak songs. it hasn't really moved much for me.

S/T stayed the same--middle of the pack. Maybe it went down a bit. I liked it more than Yield for a while and now they're about the same. A bunch of songs have declined in my esteem (unemployable, army reserve, gone, inside job, severed hand), while come back and parachutes have gone up. But the first 3 songs remains quite possibly my favorite 3 song stretch on any PJ record outside of Ten. Those have all held up extremely well for me.

Backspacer has aged very well too. The songs I loved I still love. Other than speed of sound the weaker tracks have kind of stayed where they are, but my favorite songs I still love. Backspacer was right at the top of my second tier (just below the first 3) when it came out and it's still there.

I actually listened to Ten start to finish on New Years eve and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't love Ten and VS the way I did when I first heard them, but I still love them a lot.

Stip, I always appreciate how much thought you put into your posts.

You never fail to baffle me.

you know, I rarely listen to pearl jam albums other than when I'm writing up one of those tour threads. I tend to just have their catalog on shuffle if that's who I'm listening to. I wonder how i'd feel about these records from start to finish.

I hear what you're saying about Ten, but other than Black or Oceans, I don't think I could listen to more than a few of those songs for the first time now and be very excited. Just not my style of music anymore, it just sounds dated to me. Not sure if that's me or the fact that my ears have already been influenced by hearing those songs so much.

Faithful is one of Pearl Jam's best songs ever.

And not caring about Of The Girl? What's that about?

they're average songs that should have been great. But other than Given To Fly Pearl Jam doesn't have a mid tempo anthem I would give 5 stars to since Vitalogy unless you're going to count Life Wasted or I Am Mine--which I don't think you should. Force of Nature was close for me.


Actually Hard Sun is 5 stars, but that's just eddie and a cover to boot.

I'd give Faithful more than 5 stars if I could. It might be my all time favorite at this point in my life.

good lord no

it's a cool atmospheric piece that just kind of swirls around itself without going anywhere, and I like songs to have more movement. I get why people like it--it's just not for me.

The first three albums are still the best three albums of theirs IMO. Ten is a timeless classic as said earlier. But I hear them fairly often on the local classic rock station and unless there is a new single that was released in the past few weeks prior its all songs from the first two albums. They are staples of modern and classic rock now for a good reason. I can still put those on and feel the energy, passion, and drive.

Of the later albums the one that held up the best is Riot Act IMO. I actually found myself liking it more and more as time went on, where at first I kind of put a damper on my PJ fandom for a while. Yield is still a solid rock album but I don't find myself listening to it as much anymore. Binaural got play at first but I found myself rapidly growing tired of these songs for the most part. I like the stuff live mostly but the album I don't really put on anymore. Pearl Jam is a good album and some songs have fallen off with me while some have grown on my quite a bit like Inside Job. Awful sounding record though, I prefer the material live on that one. Backspacer is still too new for me to put a permanent judgement but I think its going to end up closer to the bottom of the pile when its all said and done.

So, what does "aging well" even mean?

This is why I at least respect you.