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Pearl Jam's new album... (1 Viewer)

Christ Reynolds

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Riot Act is 90% filler material and average songwriting at best.
maybe my nickname wasnt pearl jam in high school, but i certainly love pj that much. and even though i dont agree with you as much about this cd, i think its their worst effort. it makes me hold binaural in much higher regard now, as i thought that was their worst up until two days ago. as for the other cds, i think they are all about equal prob, with vs and no code being at the top if i had to choose. then comes ten and vitalogy, then yield. although i do love yield a great deal. all i know is that riot act, despite having a couple good songs, is my least favorite.
CJ
 

Jarrod_L

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Odd...., I think it's their most mature effort....does that mean best, I don't know....
How anyone could listen to these songs, especially the ones where Mike totally goes off, and doesn't get a little of that PJ pride...well, it makes me wonder...
Typically, I don't think in terms of best/worse, because (IMHO) they've yet to make a "bad" album, (I don't think that there is a bad (or "weak") track on Riot Act), but If I had to make my ranking today, It would go:
Yield
Vitalogy
Riot Act
No Code
Binaural
Vs.
Ten
(with the top five being interchangeable, depending on what mood I was in).
 

Brian Dobbs

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Odd...., I think it's their most mature effort....does that mean best, I don't know
Odd....How come whenever a band tones down and doesn't play a bunch of lead guitar solos, doesn't take show any 'angst', doesn't write really fast songs, and doesn't play loud people automatically assume they've matured?

Hasn't anyone noticed the lack of creative guitar playing? NO RIFFS anymore! All we get now is power chords and punk style strumming. All we get is a simple, cliched x 10000 four chord measure with vocals that don't take any 'risks' or chances. I love EV as much as the next guy, but his vocal performance has deteriorated a lot over the years.

I'm not saying he has to scream into the mic, but for crying out loud EV, take your job f'n seriously. His voice sounds frail and weak, and his use of vibrato does not enhance his vocal performance. He's beginning to sound like an old maid. Eddie, you have a good voice still, i know it. You're just not using it!
 

Graeme Clark

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I think I look for different things, but I still love this album. The 2nd half, to me, it just amazing. Except for 1/2 Full, I love every song from You Are on. There's a great variety and some really interesting work.

I've tried ranking the albums before, but I can't. I want to keep moving each up higher. All I know is that Binaural is my least favorite, and Riot Act redeems them for that one.
 

Jason Quillen

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I'm gonna jump in here and defend Jarrod here...
I know when a new album comes out a lot of people jump to say "This is (insert band here)'s best album yet", and others jump to say this isn't the best, for whatever reasons.
I fall somewhere in the middle - I dont think this is PJs best album (Yield will always hold that spot in my heart), but by no means do I think this is their worst. Binaural was a good album - it had something in it, something I cant put my finger on - whatever it was that I liked about the album as a whole is once again present in Riot Act.
When I told me roommate that I picked up the new PJ CD, the first thing he asked was "Is it like their grunge stuff?" I cant put into words how much this statement bothers me, but once I thought about it, I thought it was the most complete return to their roots PJ had done since their grunge days - but at the same time Riot Act takes everything PJ has learned over 10+ years and puts it into one solid album. You can feel every album from Binaural to Ten inside Riot Act- maybe this is why I dont think its the best PJ album, because it seems to me like it represents every PJ album before it.

All we get is a simple, cliched x 10000 four chord measure with vocals that don't take any 'risks' or chances.
Your saying Vocal Risks or challenges arent present on Riot Act? Have you listened to Arc? Arc definitely marks the biggest 'risk' on Riot Act - but tracks like thumbing my way and love boat captain also show a 'risk' (at least to me) - if nothing else these three tracks alone show a new level of maturity for Pearl Jam.

I dont know, maybe I'm not seeing the album the same way that the Riot Act detractors see it. But when you sit down and think about the evolution of Pearl Jam from "Ten" through "Binaural", "Riot Act" seems like the next logical step - I've already explained why. But if your expecting Pearl Jam to put out another album like Ten or Vs (like my roommate) - its not gonna happen. And why should it?
JQ
 

Jarrod_L

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Sigh.

Every post grunge-era Pearl Jam album resurfaces these kind of talks. Why isn't X better than Y? Why couldn't they have done X like Y? Why isn't Ed/Mike/Stone/Jeff/Current Drummer better than they were on Y?

Honestly, I'm surprised people want to talk in circles about something like this.

I can remember when Vitalogy came out, listening the hell out of it, while many of my friends/contemporaries/whatever said that it stuck. "What's with all the punk stuff? Why did they put crap on there like "Bugs" and "Foxymop"? It ruined the album." At the time I can remember thinking that these once flannel-clad individuals, who just a few years prior had gobbled up any shred of music made available by the band, were now turning a deaf ear because there is is a two minute musical/vocal track where Eddie repeats P-R-I-V-A-C-Y, and a couple great little experimental tracks (one of which, was placed conveniently at the end of the album for easy skip-over). This astounded me, because nearly all my friends hated Vitalogy, and I thought it was their strongest work to date. If you went in and cut out all of the experimental stuff, you still have one of the best 45 minutes or so of rock produced in the '90s.

But no matter. This was the beginning.

No Code followed up a few years later. Barely a blip on the pop culture radar. "Who You Are" came and went as a first single, and nobody was left around for the following two radio releases "Hail Hail" and "Off He Goes," which rank (to me) as two of their best.

No matter, thought I, their my band now. "Not For You" indeed.

Yield came and went, no biggie. No videos, no promotion. Maybe the best rock album to come out in the late '90s, totally ignored, except for some hardcore PJ fans & some great reviews. Then came the tour, which I had the opportunity to see a couple of shows. People said things to me like "They're still together?" and "I sure wish Eddie would write something more like Yellow Ledbetter." Meanwhile, I was more than satisfied w/ performances of "Evolution" and "Given To Fly".

Between "Yield" and the next album was the "good intention paving the path to hell" single that was "Last Kiss". Sure the proceeds went to the Kosovo refuges, and it was kept from the #1 spot on Billboard only by "Livin' La Vida Loca", but the die was cast, and the band was reluctantly thrown back into the spotlight. Still, no video, no promotion.

Binaural came out in 2000. Good songs. Overproduced? Under-produced? Maybe. Still, "Grievance" and "Insignificance" alone made the album better than good. "Eddie's voice doesn't sound as strong," and "Why doesn't he belt something out like he did on Vs," and "Where's my Limp Bizkit album" were heard at the record stores.

The 2000 tour that followed was one of the best to date, maybe the best. Unfortunately the tragedy in Europe occurred, and briefly brought the band back into the spotlight. "Pearl Jam was playing a festival in Europe? Must be the only place they can sell tickets anymore," I heard.

Now comes "Riot Act". Once again, same old story, same old song and dance. 15 songs, some funky, some experimental, some traditional, and still the same comments. "Well, 10 years ago, they'd have never done an album like this," and "Why can't Ed sing like he did on X, Y, or Z?"

Well, there's your answer. 1991, by my last check, was nearly 12 years ago. In 1991 you had some great bands, like Nirvana and Faith No More, and Soundgarden, and PJ. You also had a ton of crap and pop on the radio (hair metal, NKOTB, etc). The more things change the more they stay the same. 2002 we get a new Nirvana single (not their best-effort, but I'll sure as hell take it), a new album w/ vocals by Chris Cornell (backed by RAGE...what a concept!), as well as a brilliant single by Pearl Jam, and a new album that (what a frickin' surprise) doesn't bow down or bend over for anyone. What brilliance! Pearl Jam doing something their own way? Whodathunkit?

And still we hear..."Eddie, why can't you sing like you did on X? I miss those days."

Well, I wish the Beatles would put out another "White Album", but it's not going to happen.

Pearl Jam is here. They're still putting out damn good music. They didn't kill themselves, they didn't succumb to drugs, they didn't marry super models and fancy cars and run them both off cliffs. They haven't done commercials for soda, or for car companies, and they've yet to release a over-hyped, over-marketed greatest hits collection in order to pacify all those who should have been buying their albums all along.

i've seen it all before... bring it on, cause i'm no victim ....
 

Paul Case

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Jarrod,
Excellent post! :emoji_thumbsup: Thanks for articulating the way so many Pearl Jam fans feel whenever the band releases a new album and the recycled complaints begin.
As for me, I love Riot Act more and more with every spin.
 

Angelo.M

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Jarrod:

Well said. I have loved Pearl Jam's evolution (no pun intended) over the years, and I still think that they are near the top of their game. My only (minor) complaint: why did Eddie Vedder feel the need to become the Most Serious Man in Rock? Was it because Bono ditched that act a long time ago?

Any thoughts on the hits that Eddie/PJ take in Cobain's diaries? I skimmed the exerpts in Newsweek a few weeks ago. I'm not a huge Cobain/Nirvanna fan, and I generally believe the Kurt, while talented, has been aggrandized into something far more important in death than he ever was in life (applying flame-retardant suit). Anyway, it was interesting to read how little he thought of PJ (not to mention Pete Townsend).

--AM
 

Graeme Clark

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Any thoughts on the hits that Eddie/PJ take in Cobain's diaries?
It was something that was said at the time when there were a crapload of bands riding the grunge. Eddie and Kurt kissed and made up, and I'm pretty sure I recall something with Kurt saying that he respected what they were doing.
 

Angelo.M

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Graeme:

Thanks, that's interesting. I remember PJ picking up a Grammy (I think it was for 'Spin the Black Circle,' Best Rock Performance or something), and I seem to recall them thanking or mentioning some other bands, like Mother Love Bone or Nirvanna. I vaguely recall it. Then I recall Eddie saying something like, 'I'm not sure what this [award] means... I'm not sure it means anything." Huh? Hey Eddie, shut up and sing...

--AM
 

Jarrod_L

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I think it's more than slightly ironic that in Cobain's journals he was complaing about PJ being all corporate & whatnot, and here we are a decade later & it's Cobain himself being exploited by corporate greed and and a money hungry widow. A video in heavy rotation on corporate giant Mtv, a greatest hits album being hocked for $19.95 on TV commercials, and his most private thoughts and ideas being sold for $30 a pop.

But I digress...

Eddie and Kurt's kissing & making up was detailed in the Nirvana bio "Come As You Are," IIRC. I think Kurt mainly disliked Jeff & Stone, because of their former glam-rock glory in Mother Love Bone.
 

ChadM

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I finally have had enough time to digest this album and ....

I like it. Good solid effort. I am glad this band is still around and making music. New music rocks. I will not rank it because I do not do that. Each of their albums is special to me in some way.

Keep up the good work and please keep releasing the live albums. What a stroke of genius.
 

Jarrod_L

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Brian grumbled:
I agree.
While RA hasn't achieved Yield status for me (which I think is thier most well-rounded album to date), I think it's pretty durn close.
To think, a few months ago when there were rumors around claiming that Riot Act would be more "Ten"-esque I had nightmares of Yellow Ledbetter and glorified versions of pellet guns. WHEW!
Riot Act :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of 5
---------
Oh, and for the PJ response to the Cobain diary....
Vedder and Ament say they wish Cobain, who accused Pearl Jam of selling out, had lived to see that.
But for now, they don't have any plans to read his diaries.
"That'll be really interesting reading, and maybe required at some point, like when I'm 50," Vedder said. "But I wouldn't feel right reading it now.
"I feel like we had kind of a coming together before he died, and I'm glad we had that chance, but there was a lot of weight we were all carrying around. I'd be happy if he had seen what we've done with our group, if he had stuck around, because I'm proud of it."
 

Paul Case

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"I feel like we had kind of a coming together before he died, and I'm glad we had that chance, but there was a lot of weight we were all carrying around. I'd be happy if he had seen what we've done with our group, if he had stuck around, because I'm proud of it."
That is such a great quote, and so true. How ironic is it that the band Cobain thought was the biggest Seattle sell-out ended up being the least commercial of all, while Cobain's own band has been shunted down the road of corporate whoredom by his money-hungry wife?

And to think Courtney Love used to trash Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder all the time. Sad.
 

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