Now when I say underrated, I am not talking about their early hits from 1991 that saturated the airwaves and made the band a nice nest egg. I am talking about that period that started with Vs -- Vitalogy -- No Code -- Yield -- Binaural ..a five album streak that was just brilliant. Even Binaural has some of their best work. Listen to the track "Grievance", one of the coolest songs they ever created.
No Code and Yield side by side are on the borderline of being two classic releases in a row. I am surprised that No Code isn't seen to be on par with albums like OK Computer or Kid A. The song "The Present Tense" being on par with songs like Bohemian Rhapsody or Pink Floyd's Echoes. Their ability to form perfect punk songs like Habit, Do the Evolution, Grievance, Spin the Black Circle and Lukin is due to Eddie's obsession with Fugazi, but the band are so good at it.
The bands back catalog is incredible. We are talking about close to 100 great distinctive and memorable songs.
Even their post Riot Act period albums have 4-5 great quality songs.
So my question is why does their significance seem to be unnoticed compared to some other bands out there?
Metallica, REM, NIN, Radiohead, U2, Pumpkins, Nirvana etc. all get thrown about for their catalogs, why not PEarl Jam?
I just, I really don't know how a band can be this good. Are they not aliens?
Personally I don't think they have matched their first two albums, which were released over 20 years ago. That's not to say that their other work hasn't been good. It's just that Ten and Vs were brilliant.
Fair enough in terms of their hit singles, but I think No Code, Vitalogy, Yield are easily as good if not better.
No Code is a classic. Even after one listen.
Just listen to the songs Present Tense, Red Mosquito, Given to Fly, In Hiding etc...Evolution...Wishlist...Brain O J...Last Exit...Corduroy...Habit...Hail Hail...etc.
Personally I don't think they have matched their first two albums, which were released over 20 years ago. That's not to say that their other work hasn't been good. It's just that Ten and Vs were brilliant.
Vs is awesome. reminds me of so many innocent post adolescent fumblings.
vitalogy and no code (at a stretch) where reasonable.
cant tell the difference between them and Bernhard fanning these days.
Present Tense is on No Code. Its infinitely better than songs like Alive and Even Flow. A gem of a song. Just like many others on that album and Yield.
Bernard Fanning??
The difference is the Pearl Jam actually write great songs.
Its apples and oranges.
PJ sound more like Bad Religion, Dave Matthews or Neil Young than they do Fanning.
A good mate of mine has expressed the exact same feelings on the later records (post Vitalogy) and I made a mental note to give them a good listen, as I, like many, moved on at that point.
Still haven't got round to it, with so much new stuff to listen to, its hard to find time.
Now that you've refreshed the idea I will try over the next few weeks.
Vs is my favorite album. And contains a couple of my all time favorite lines that I reference in a songwriting course I run on occasion.
From Elderly woman ... etc. (Longest song title ever??)
"Memories, like fingerprints .. are slowly raising"
"Can I find the candle of thought, to light your name"
Brilliant.
Vedders got a great voice, but I think it runs second in his skill set to his talent as a lyricist.
A master at saying heaps with economy & originality.
Eddie's lyrics are so very intelligent and well produced. Political as well.
In the PJ20 documentary his writing space is this spacey looking house on a beach front with him and his type writer and a fire pole that takes him down to his kitchen and lounge room.
Apparently he obsessively listens to a lot of vinyl, music etc.
Vedders got a great voice, but I think it runs second in his skill set to his talent as a lyricist.
While I reckon Pearl Jam's first two albums were their best work, Vedder's vocal chops have definitely improved with each album. Not in the Chris Cornell league mind you to compare him with a contemporary.
The level they reached on Ten has never been reached again (imo).
That album just kept rolling with great song after great song....I've got Vs and Vitalogy and although I really like them both, they just don't compete with Ten.
Ten was good in the sense that it had the anthems. the big hits, and they were constructed well, it represents their gunge era very well. It was mainly written by Stone Gossard.
No Code and Yield brings the entire bands depth, strengths together into one space. It shows that the band can move to Beatlesque and Neil Young levels of song crafting. Which is really nice.
They also showcased that they are very good at writing quality punk songs as well, which wasn't represented during the Ten period of the band. That song 'Evolution' and 'Grievance' are two of the best punk statements in modern times, the music video to Do the Evolution is one of the coolest punk videos I've ever seen based on modern society woes.
Present Tense is on No Code. Its infinitely better than songs like Alive and Even Flow. A gem of a song. Just like many others on that album and Yield.
Bernard Fanning??
The difference is the Pearl Jam actually write great songs.
Its apples and oranges.
PJ sound more like Bad Religion, Dave Matthews or Neil Young than they do Fanning.
alriiiiight, you're on blastFM where everyday is funday and if your the first caller through you'll win a mountain of cash and one of 5 north coastal townships in our secret sound of summer contest which isn't a cow eating a choc wedge.
the tide turns slowly mootsy. all your heroes from triple j eventually find there way next to barnesy farnesy and delta - y on commercial. and begin to look to retirement by producing safe, sterile music for the masses.
I still like Pearl Jam but have to admit they've never got close to their first 2 albums. My eldest daughter's song is Better Man. I always call it "her song" because immediately after her birth this is the first song I heard getting in my car to drive home. It was on Triple J at the time.
Radiohead's first 3 albums I believe are still better than their latest stuff. Still rate The Bends as their best. My daughter got into them a while back but had never heard their early stuff. Was totally blown away. I've got 6 Radiohead albums on my iphone and decided to listen to every song on my train journeys to work and home whether I thought the song was good or not. Must say some of their albums left a lot to be desired.
What nonsense is that? I’d even say Vitalogy gets its dues with at least a couple of songs everyone knows. Post Vitalogy is what this thread should be about.
I don't think they're under-rated, i think they are thought of pretty highly. But i also personally think they've had little to offer since the turn of the century. I have all of their albums from the 90's, but nothing post 2000 made me think "yeah, i gotta get that". Maybe my tastes changed, or maybe they hit the wall. My life certainly changed around then and to all intents and purposes I bailed on PJ at Binaural. Not sure why. So i can agree with Mootsy that Yield, No Code etc all have some excellent work on them. I actually don't know which album i would rate as their best, perhaps Vs but i can take parts from the next three as well. No Code is actually a very good album in its entirety ("Off he goes" really struck a chord with me) , the others i think had become a bit hit and miss. But in my mind, the 14 year "black hole" since Yield means i just cannot rate them as highly as i once would. and thats ok, i reckon most bands have a used-by date. Soundgarden are perhaps my favourite band, but i haven't bothered with their recent stuff either. Chris and the boys have had their say.
maybe all these guys are still around because current airtime music offers very little to those looking for genuine guitar-driven rock? and as an off-shoot of that pondering, am i being unreasonable and selfish to say that i would perhaps rate Pearl Jam higher had they stopped in 2000? probably. but the fact is that i probably would.
But well done to Mootsy, I'm going to dig out a mid-90's PJ album and have a listen again. which will undoubtedly lead me to some old AIC, and motherlove bone, and Screaming Tree's, and Mudhoney, and Soundgarden. And an ale or two, and memories of a young bloke riding motorcycles all over the country and moshing at various melbourne locations.
its great stuff, favourite music. takes you away to some place else.