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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 11:05:05 GMT -5
What is the best Pearl Jam album and why?
If you pick one of the live shows, be sure to tell us which one and why.
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Post by Galactus on Jan 25, 2007 11:12:23 GMT -5
Can I just pick the bootlegs in general? or do I have to pick a specific show?
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Post by skvorisdeadsorta on Jan 25, 2007 11:14:29 GMT -5
I voted for No Code.
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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 11:17:38 GMT -5
If you pick the bootlegs, you have to pick a specific show.
For example, I could make a case for the 2000 Milan show (it's still the best one I've got, and that includes a 3 disc Seattle set).
But you can't just vote for "all the bootlegs" b/c that would be a cop-out.
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Post by Galactus on Jan 25, 2007 11:27:53 GMT -5
No Code it is then.
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Post by Thorngrub on Jan 25, 2007 12:12:53 GMT -5
man, I really think the No Coders Know Of What They Speak.
my vote is in
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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 12:28:05 GMT -5
You guys voting for No Code are basing it on sentiment and time since release. Pearl Jam is clearly a better record in every significant respect, and deserves this title, hands down.
At least that's my position today, right now, this second. Gonna have to engage in some PJ listening again soon to reconsider the wisdom of said position. But I don't see the self-titled slipping in my estimation. It's the strongest thing, start to finish, they've ever done. And (as I've said before) it's the only PJ album where the songs actually sound finished in the studio -- every other record is just a rough draft for what the band would do with the songs live. If I had to play a studio recording to demonstrate to someone what the big deal about PJ is/was, the self-titled is the one I'd pull.
I almost picked "bootleg" though, and went with the Milan show. I love that sucker, warts and all. Damn near perfect setlist, too.
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Post by Galactus on Jan 25, 2007 12:43:13 GMT -5
I really think No Code is a better album, just barely though.
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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 12:50:08 GMT -5
I'm listening to No Code right now ... this really is an awfully good record. It's still just behind the self-titled for me, though.
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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 12:54:13 GMT -5
Who produced No Code?
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Post by Galactus on Jan 25, 2007 12:54:57 GMT -5
Brendon O'Brian
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Post by Galactus on Jan 25, 2007 12:58:00 GMT -5
BO'B produced Vs. thru Yield.
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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 13:04:54 GMT -5
That's what I thought. Oddly enough, No Code is the only one that I think is really well produced. I prefer the sound of Binaural to all the other BO'B efforts.
"Mankind" is one of my picks for great overlooked PJ tracks ... it always makes me smile.
I've got one live version of it -- from a Mass. show, I forget the date. It's great live, too.
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Post by Kensterberg on Jan 25, 2007 13:30:16 GMT -5
OK, I went straight from the end of No Code (which really peters out, BTW, not a great album closer) to the start of Pearl Jam ... now up to Marker in the Sand, and this one is just on a whole different level.
The songs on PJ are better concieved, developed, and performed. It's a brutal smack to the head rather than the sound of a band rummaging around the attic. It's a furious, driven, propulsive response to where the band and our country have wound up.
It's quite simply the best thing they've ever done. With all due respect to No Code and Vitalogy and to all their fantastic live efforts, this is IMHO the definitive Pearl Jam release. It's also one of the very best albums of the last twenty years. Brilliant.
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Post by Paul on Jan 25, 2007 13:32:50 GMT -5
I voted No Code.
I don't know so much about the rest of the country, or over seas, but here in DC it aint too cool to like Pearl Jam. Just mention them to any hipster around here, and you'll be ridiculed and not taken seriously. Of course these people don't really know Pearl Jam and pretty much associate everything to Ten or Vs. While both are fine albums, one simply cannot judge Pearl Jam on those two alone. Each Pearl Jam album has a different feel and vibe to it, and I feel they too often get unfairly bashed. To the people who don't like Pearl Jam, diss them, and then admit after I grill them that they've never heard the later albums, I play them No Code. People are typically shocked when they hear this. Songs like "Who You Are", "Sometimes" and "In My Tree" really surprise the naysayers. I haven't converted a lot of folks around here to PJ fans, but I've opened up the ears to many. A lot of these folks lay off Pearl Jam now and even admit that No Code is a very talented album.
Not really sure what the point of all that was, but I guess I'm saying I think NC is their best album and the one I play for people who don't know them so well.
As for Avocado....I do agree with Ken when he says it's their best start to finish. I believe its Pearl Jam's most consistent album. But the songs on No Code I love (Present Tense, Off He Goes, In My Tree, Hail-Hail, Who You Are) I love more so than anything from Avocado. I don't know what it is about No Code that I love so much, but it's just one of those albums that really reaches out to me. I'd put it in my own personal top 10 of all time. Oh, and my all time favorite Pearl Jam song is "In My Tree".
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