Pearl Jam- Opinions

All of it.
It's all worth it.

You can get "RearView Mirror" if you want the Greatest Hits.
Though, i would recommend the "Live on the Gorge" concert compilation. 100 live tracks in a fantastic setting. Beautiful.

Prefer Mother Love Bone.

Dig Vitalogy.

How have you missed them all these years?

Almost any Pearl Jam fan would give you a different answer in terms of where to start, which says a lot about the strength of their catalogue.

I'll echo Tati's "All of it."

An often overlooked and underrated PJ release (even by the diehard contingent) is the double-disc B-sides/rarities/outtakes compilation Lost Dogs. The fact of the matter is, the majority of the songs can easily stand next to the best of their studio album material. Unlike many bands' shelved works, there's nary an embarrassing misstep or lack of direction inherent in the songwriting. It's amazing how much of it holds up. I'm sure the band has hundreds of unreleased demos buried behind studio doors that would warrant an audience.

The thing about their discography is that the band kept evolving all these years. So it's all good. Sure, the first few records have a distinct sound to them, and the last 3 have a similar sound to them too. But it's all PJ at it's core.

And Lost Dogs is amazing. All those songs are great, specially live. They get a lot of play. For a reason.

Yea you really can't go wrong with any Pearl Jam disc. Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy are more rock orientated, Bineural and No Code are a little more abstract, but still equally impressive.

I don't think I could choose a favorite.

Every year that passes I realize retroactively how great PJ was. No Code is still my favorite, but it's kind of like picking your favorite blowjob.

It wouldn't kill you to skip BINAURAL. But everything else is bliss.

Pearl Jam

I second the idea of Mother Love Bone as a precursor to the greatness called Pearl Jam but I would suggest that you just go in order of their releases. Throw in one of their many official bootleg CDs from a venue that was close to you and you have a good twelve hours of listening experience ahead of you.

Have fun

I've actually grown more and more attached to Binaural as time has passed.

Yea it really is a hugely underrated album. I think it's more of a grower, added to the fact that alot of average PJ fans wanted albums that sounded exactly like Ten, it was destined to take some shit when released.

The frustrating thing about Binaural is that the band had great material to work with, but they squandered the potential of those sessions with poor decisions. Looking at the tracks that didn't make the album ('Sad', 'Fatal', 'In the Moonlight', 'Education', 'Hitchhiker'), Binaural could've easily been top 3 Pearl Jam tier with a rearranged tracklist and the weaker tracks that did make the album axed. Don't get me started on Tchad Blake's off-kilter production. It simply didn't gel with the band's sound. Had Brendan O' Brien produced the album (though he ended up doing the final mixing on some tracks to give them a harder edge), I have no doubt it would've rocked to the core.

Skipping Binaural is an awful idea. I'll go to my grave defending both Binaural and No Code as the highlight of their studio album output. It's all subjective, of course, and as has been stated a lot on this board (especially recently) you could ask a half dozen fans what their favorite album is and get 6 different answers.

Ten - The problem lies in the production. I still think the best of the album is the second half (Oceans to Release), though one could attribute that to the radio saturation of Alive, Evenflow, and Jeremy. It's probably the album I return to the least of theirs (that I like).

Vs. - A remarkably solid follow up to the commercial juggernaut that was Ten. Go rocks your socks off, Blood/Rearview Mirror is a fierce double shot of glory, and Indifference is a beautiful finale. Daughter and EWBTCIAST suffer from being overplayed, but work well within the confines of the album. I find Dissident to be the only misstep.

Vitalogy - Perhaps their most cohesive album, which seems weird because there are three throw away tracks towards the end (Pry, to , Hey Foxy..., and, to a lesser extent, Aye Davanita), Yet on Vitalogy, they flat out work The first four songs comprise the strongest opening of any studio album of theirs to date and Immortality retains the haunting fragility I felt upon first listen.

No Code - This is the album that finished their reign as the "biggest band on the planet", and all because (in my opinion) they released Who You Are as the fist single instead of the much more accessible Hail, Hail. Casual fans turned on the band with shocking speed. This eclectic batch of songs is often viewed as the bands foray into "world music". This was the first full album with Jack Irons (late of The Chili Peppers), and his drumming was a complete 180 from the drumming on the first three albums, specifically the aforementioned Who You Are, Red Mosquito, and In My Tree. (Subsequently, these songs miss Irons' touch and have been radically altered in concert, all for the worse). Present Tense is criminally underrated.

In My Tree remains to be great live. It's almost haunting.

I'm going to keep pushing for The Live on The Gorge compilation. That's just all you need really.

Or, find the Buenos Aires Bootlegs from November 2005. Just 2 great shows with the band literally speechless from the crowd's involvement.
Eddie cried on stage twice. I still dream about those nights. There were pure magic. Ever single moment of them. YouTube them if you can.

Yield - A conscience effort to get back to their roots. Top to bottom, it is a solid, consistent rock album. Highlights include Do The Evolution, MFC, and No Way (the red headed stepchild of the Pearl Jam oeuvre). Coincided with their first full blown tour which led to Live On Two Legs, a compilation live album that took songs from several different locations and a precursor to the Official bootleg avalanche that started with the next jaunt and have become expected whenever the band tours.

Binaural - The polarizing album of their career. Equally revered and maligned by fans. I think it's biggest fault is the head scratching decision to leave off Sad and Education (later released on the odds-n-sods collection Lost Dogs). Bottom line is, I buy into the vibe. I love Light Years and Sleight of Hand and Of The Girl and even the ukelele led Soon Forget. I think history will be very kind to this album, and it's status will rise as time goes by.

Riot Act - Not a fan. Can't Keep, Save You and Love Boat Captain are it's only bright spots. A few of the other songs are palatable in concert (Specifically You Are and, to a lesser extent, Cropduster). Other than that...meh. If you are to skip an album, this is the one to skip.

Pearl Jam - their second straight ho-hum effort. I find it very forced and almost boring. Most of the songs start off strong, and then just kind of meander until they end. After Gone, you might as well shut it off. Parachutes is as good as this album gets, and it doesn't get that good again.


Lost Dogs - A double album of mostly unreleased B-sides and assorted tracks. There are some really great songs on here (though they butchered Wash and Alone, both out-takes from the Ten sessions).Fatal, Sad, Education, Down, Footsteps,Hitchhiker, Let Me Sleep...All good stuff. As is the case with these albums, it has it's share of drek (Gremmie and Whale Song spring to mind), but all in all better than a B-sides compilation has any right to be.

I'm not the biggest PJ fan, but I do have, or have heard, all of their albums. In my opinion, I would say their first three albums are essential. From then on out however, you could take the best tracks from the rest and make a nice double comp CD; with each album after Vitology having fewer and fewer great tracks. I will backup the claims that Lost Dogs is also a must have; at least the first disc. The 2nd disc feels too much to me like the 2nd half of their career, just kind of boring for the most part. Obviously this is just a personal opinion. You should listen to it all and see what grabs you, but Vs. and Vitology have always been my favorite full albums of theirs - except for that whole Bugs shit!!! If you download these from iTunes or something, just don't bother downloading Bugs off of Vitology. It will be a waste of a dollar (if that's how it's priced.)

Boo. Hiss.

Amazing how two opinions can widely diverge so much. I think their self-titled could be their best album overall. The band has never sounded so mature and effortless at the same time. The Pearl Jam of the '90s couldn't have recorded this album. The songs reveal a veteran band hitting all of their strengths in tandem.

The real joy is in the live concerts, though. I've been lucky enough to see them dozens and dozens of time (living in the Northeast lends itself to many opportunities), and have probably heard another few hundred shows on disc. I doubt any of the Binaural shows are still in print, nor the few Riot Act shows that were released in stores, but I can't imagine it is that difficult to find tons of shows on the information superhighway. And you can probably still pick up the Gorge boxset that Tati won't shut the fuck up about (rightfully so).

And i'll keep not shutting up about it!
And the Buenos Aires show, really, check it out.

I'm gonna make a mental note to give this a fresh spin soon. I haven't listened to it in its entirety in a year and a half or so. At first, I tried to convince myself to like it more than I did, and that probably worked to it's detriment.

Still not buying the BINAURAL love. It is Pearl Jam, meaning it's better than 98 percent of whatever radio is playing these days, but it's by far their weakest album.

If I had to choose, I'd pick NO CODE as Pearl Jam's very best, followed closely by YIELD.

Most underrated is RIOT ACT, which deserves more credit than it's getting in this thread. The first half of that album features some brilliant songwriting.

PEARM JAM, the self-titled album, is a little hit and miss but totally worth it for Marker in the Sand and Inside Job. Breathtakingly great songs both.

I'll agree with that statement. Riot Act feels better and better each day.

I have to admit, that when Binaural came out, i didn't like it. Then it grew on me.
Then when Riot Act came out, i didn't like it. Then it REALLY grew on me.
No with "Pearl Jam" i liked it when it came out, and now i don't like it that much. I still love some of the songs though. Gone, Inside Job and WWS get a lot of play.

I loved that little 2005 tour they did. They were on fire. I saw one of the Atlantic City shows and the Philly show, and have heard most (if not all) of the South American shows. They sounded killer (I remember the Rio De Janeiro shows in particular).

Completely seconding this as well as your take on the self-titled release. It's just not good. Worldwide Suicide was a great single, yeah, but on the whole the album just bored me.

My favorites: Vitalogy, Vs., No Code, Yield. I adore No Code just because it was a complete curveball from them that was actually pretty great - seconding the love for In My Tree live, and Sometimes is also great live.

I'll also throw in my hat for Binaural. It's not great, but it was a bizarre little turn for them that clicked with me more than I expected it to. Rival is a guilty pleasure, I just like the crunchy guitar and Gossard on backing vocals.

Dammit, I'm going to break out with my PJ collection tonight.

Rio happened after Argentina. The Chile shows were not that good (crowd wise) and Argentina blew them away, and they were completely revitalized the rest of the tour. Really trying to involve the crowd and give them more. Specially with the Ramones covers. The Ramones are HUGE in South America, and Eddie knows this. He was here in 97 when The Ramones did their last show in River Stadium. Hearing the crowd roar through I Believe in Miracles really shook Eddie. He couldn't sing half of the song because he was crying.

And I still maintain that we got the best Black and Rearviewmirror ever. Black was just a magical moment that the crowd kept carrying out. The night was perfect. The weather, the vibe, and the crowd kept singing and band kept going with it.

After Argentina, the band realized that South American crowds are just wild and kept playing it up each show. God i want them back.

And i realize i sound really Fanboy-ish. I am. PJ is my favorite band.

The "Do do do do do do do" part? When that part is on, it's fucking on. Chill inducing. It went on for what seemed like 10 minutes at one of the Philadelphia (area) shows this summer.

I've loved Riot Act since its release. I was genuinely flabbergasted when I saw all of the "Riot Act sucks" threads popping up in some of the PJ forums months after its release. And I have no doubt it's the most underrated gem in their catalogue. It's an adventurous, rich pastiche of bristling sound and colorful emotion. The band's never used the studio to their advantage as well as they do on this disc. Ed may not wail up to his potential or like he used to, but it really doesn't matter when the vocal effects and layering gives life to these tunes. Ed's voice is still beautiful and understated.

I'd imagine it sounds awesome on vinyl.

Prefer Temple of the Dog.

How many of you own everyone of their live albums? If you don't, you're not a real fan!

Now you're just being absurd. Outtaline, Fat Elvis!

(I think I own five of them.)

I have been in a huge Pearl Jam kick lately.

- Get as many live bootlegs as you can find, they are amazing live. Especially track down the MTV Unplugged session.

- Great songs that the general public has never give the time of day: Porch, I Am Mine, Oceans, Why Not, Once, Given to Fly

THIS. Porch, Oceans, Once, Given to Fly - all great.

Even better? Vedder's cover of Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay. It's a total blast.

Prefer Mad Season.

Actually do own the first wave of official bootlegs. Bought off of Ebay back in '99. Never got around to listening to them all.

If you can find it, the bootleg of their '94 concert at the Fox in Atlanta is pretty fantastic. (Recorded for local radio station 99X). Also have a bootleg of the big concert they did in '95 where Eddie got sick and couldn't go on. The crowd was getting pissed so Neil Young came on and put on a show with the band. Sounds fantastic. If you're a Neil fan its a treasure.

God damn it, will you stop bringing up collaboration bands that I adore? You're making this difficult!

EDIT: Also, for PJ fans, this is my favorite retreat - http://www.theskyiscrape.com/

I believe I have that one, where they debut "Better Man". Damn good show.

Now you are just making songs up.

I don't get the complaints that Binaural is inconsistent. Like a lot of Pearl Jam albums, it emphasizes certain influences over others, but it's pretty rock-solid, as far as how well they incorporate those influences and play the songs (bonus points for being the first studio album with Matt Cameron on drums).

I think what throws people off is that there aren't one or two tracks to help put it across - there aren't any standouts like "Love Boat Captain" or "Given to Fly." It's just a set of great songs. I love that they started using weirder time changes and incorporating a Fugazi-like attitude toward stop-and-start riffs ("Insignificance," "Grievance," and "Evacuation"). And I love that they do two callbacks to the Who, first in "Breakerfall" (which cops "I Can See for Miles" in the opening), then in "Soon Forget" (which is practically a rewrite of "Blue, Red, and Grey"). "Light Years," "Thin Air," and "Parting Ways" (a great version of which also exists on Neil Finn's "Seven Worlds Collide" album) may have some of Vedder's prettiest vocal melodies.

Okay, "Rival" and "Of the Girl" seem a little underwritten to me (although the band sure seems to like playing the latter live), but I don't get the lukewarm feelings on this one. It just sounds very confident and strong to me, especially compared to Riot Act, the second half of which may be some of their weakest material, period. They should have thrown "Down" on there - easily one of the best songs on Lost Dogs.

Though I love RIOT ACT, this point is correct and undisputed. The first time I ever heard Down was live in Charlotte on the RIOT ACT tour and was blown away. Not only is it a great song, but it's a wonderfully poppy, hook-heavy song that would have been perfect for rock radio. How did it not make the album? Actually, maybe I just answered by own question with the "poppy, hook-heavy, made for radio" stuff, which has never been Pearl Jam's primary concern. (One of the many reasons I love them.)

Still, can't deny that Down is an awesome song.

It warms my heart to see so much love going out to my favorite band. It's been a fun ride being a huge fan of their's their whole career. Can't wait to see what they do next.

My favorite part about them is the huge amount of other music they've introduced me to through their influences.

I don't hate Pearl Jam, I just don't much care for them at all. Meh. Uninteresting.

You can call them a lot of things. Uninteresting, however, is not one of them. I can't ne real objective on the subject, though. A buddy of mine went to college in the D.C. area back in the early 90's, and he and I are huge Chili Pepper fans. I went down to visit him and catch a show in late '91. On a lark we went down to Tower Records because we heard that the opening band for the Pepper's show was playing an acoustic in-store perofrmance. So I was smitten pretty early on.


Though I am down on them for the last two studio albums, It's all relative. I hold them to impossibly high standards at this point.

Fuck, I meant "Why Go". My apologies.

Footsteps.

Live, it takes a whole different meaning. Such an amazing song.

Also, PJ is probably the best cover band out there. Their ramones, The Who, Neil Young and many more covers are amazing.

Vs. is Pearl Jam's most consistently great album, in my opinion. Vitalogy has a few throwaway tracks, but I like the better songs on there even more than a lot of Vs. All things considered, I'd call them about equally essential. Ten is chock-full of classic songs, but it's by far the most dated and samey sounding album they've ever recorded. If you're at all interested in how I'd rank them from favorite to less favorite right now:

- Vs.
- Vitalogy
- Pearl Jam
- No Code
- Riot Act
- Ten
- Yield
- Binaural
- Lost Dogs

Add a few live recordings to that list and you're good to go.

Ryan, you forgot to rank Yield, though the fact that you forgot might say it all.

Kidding.

Goddammit, I just went through a Pearl Jam kick a week or two ago. Now they're going to get even more iPod play.

As for recommendation; can't say anything that hasn't already been said. Just go through their whole catalogue. You're guaranteed to find something you like on all their albums.

I as well found Binaural the hardest to get in to when it was released. I was really, really disappointed with it. I think it's rock solid now, though.

If I had to rank:

Vitalogy
Vs.
Pearl Jam
No Code
Yield
Ten
Binaural
Riot Act

Fuck, that was hard.

Yeah, although I like it, I'm not as big of a fan of that album as I used to be. Anyway, thanks - edited my post to include Yield now. I also had to change up my ranking order. Twice. I'd better get out of here or I'll be doing that all day.