
BACKDROP: I didn’t care much for Pearl Jam when they first appeared on the scene as part of the grunge explosion, pretty odd considering how quickly my tween self took to the other grunge bands. I’ve always admired the band, from tackling Ticketmaster to releasing CDs of every live concert so that fans wouldn’t have to shell out ridiculous amounts for bootlegs. Their music though, particularly Eddie Vedder’s voice, took time to grow on me. But grow it did, and for a brief while, Pearl Jam hovered in my top ten.

TEN: I haven’t listened to this album in a while, but holy fuck! This clearly remains a benchmark of 90s music. I can’t believe there was ever a time when I didn’t love this album. It has that combination of loud guitars and depressed lyrics that was all I’d pump out of my stereo. Actually, that type of music is still pretty much all I still listen to. But from the majestic force of "Alive" to the sublime beauty of “Black,” this album hits so many high notes, it’s only natural that the band would never again release anything to rival it.

VS: Despite 103.3 still overplaying half the tracks off this album, I actually didn’t feel sick of these songs when hearing them in their proper context. It’s a step down from TEN obviously and at times, it feels like they’re slacking in the lyrics department (“Animal,” I’m looking at you). The band is actually successful in attempts to stretch out their sound in songs like “W.M.A.” and “Rats.” “Daughter” and “Elderly Woman” are still touching, and the rock of “Rearviewmirror” cannot be denied. If not quite essential, it’s a worthy addition to any music collection.

VITALOGY: For the longest time, I kept the notion in my head that this was the point that Pearl Jam took a downturn, giving in to their worst indulgences. In truth, this album is actually a step up from VS. Perhaps because it didn’t saturate radio as much, though mainstays “Corduroy” and “Betterman” still pack quite the wallop. The songwriting is tighter and the production crisper. Even oddball excursions like “Pry, To” and “Bugs” work for the most part. The only saving grace of “Stupid Mop,” however, is the fact that it appears at the end of the album, allowing you to stop the record at the much more appropriate closer, “Immortality.”

NO CODE: I’ve always felt mixed about this album. Listening to it now, I feel like I want to like it, but I just can’t. Even the songs I used to enjoy, like “Hail Hail” or “Habit,” feel curiously incomplete now. There’s a sense that the band attempted to explore new areas but ended up mostly mining familiar territories with diminishing results.

YIELD: Ironically, this was the album in which I originally began to enjoy Pearl Jam’s music. Ironic in how short it falls of my memory of it. Like NO CODE before it, YIELD isn’t a bad album, just more a half-baked one. While the Led Zeppelin-spawned “Given To Fly” and the muted “Wishlist” deliver the goods, should-be rockers “Pilate” and “Do The Evolution” seem to be missing that extra something. And the less said about their weird-out experiments, the better.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I used to have RIOT ACT, but I listened to it once, grew bored with it, and traded it in. Nothing else they’ve done has really built in any desire in me to check out. I don’t begrudge Pearl Jam for wanting to expand their artistic horizons, I just don’t think they’re much good at it. And I don’t know what it says about them when their best two songs (“State Of Love And Trust” and “Yellow Ledbetter”) are non-album cuts. The completely unnecessary TEN REDUX seems a curiosity coming from a band that’d seem to be against this type of cash-in.
No comments:
Post a Comment