Pearl Jam: Ten: POLL (plus a presumably lonely celebration for the new, remixed release of Pearl Jam's "Ten")

This might be the album that turned me off to fretless bass forever. (It's was probably some elevator jazz, tbh.)

Also, first half completely smokes the second half here.

Even Flow, for the hugest chorus on an album of huge choruses.

Goddamn, this album still destroys. I don't even normally buy things when they are remastered, but I bet this will be awesome. I was actually preferential to the second side. Will have to think on this.

"Black"

^yeah

this was probably my first 'favorite album,' and my feelings about it have changed a lot over the years, but the answer to this question was "Porch" then and it's "Porch" now.

Porch is great...for my money, Yield is PJ's finest hour...

yeah...i like the first two albums alright, but Vitalogy through Yield is the peak period for me

I'll cop to still being a stan of this album, planning to pick the remaster up tomorrow. I'll even cop to having a notebook cover my freshman year of high school that was littered with quotes from "Release". I'm going to go with "Porch" too.

I'd love to hear these songs without tons of reverb.

I'll go with Alive, narrowly over Porch.

happy for you guys.

It means nothing to me, but.

the remaster is great. the album was great. really been getting into Yeld lately, though...

"Black"

― follow the fudge through this chocolatey challenge (Curt1s Stephens), Monday, March 23, 2009 8:31 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^yeah

― I am Robertson Speedo (Drugs A. Money), Monday, March 23, 2009 8:34 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, i voted black too. alive is still pretty killer, though, and release can still choke me at ten paces.

It's funny how, years after the fact, I've come to the conclusion that "Jeremy" sucks hardcore.

"Alive", which makes Rock Band 2 soooo worth it. It's funny remembering how this album was passed around among the most lol hipsters at my high school as though it was the secret gold...funny not because it wasn't good but because how so quickly after it broke many of those same people took sides on it, the whole careerist nonsense.

"Evenflow", on the other hand, is one of the few songs by anyone that I absolutely despise.

Listening to the alternate mix, it's like someone took off the "concert hall" setting on the stereo.

looool

poor Rick Parashar, the biggest production job of his career gets shitted on so much and now people are rejoicing that someone else did a do-over. I actually think he did a great job w/ the Temple Of The Dog album, though it's more just that the songwriting suits his sound so much more there.

Is he responsible for that useless drum machiine pitter-patter at the beginning and end?

Have been listening to the remaster a few times today. It definitely brings a lot of things out that I never picked up on, or at least focused on... one of which is Vedder's slightly painfully earnest role-playing spoken word parts in "Even Flow" (he says a few things in the 'character' of a homeless guy during one of the instrumental sections; things along the lines of "hey man, can you spare a dollar?" / "God bless ya...").

Sonically, though, it's pretty fascinating. The piano stuff in "Black" is brought WAY to the forefront, which has a pretty huge effect on the song. If the fretlessness of the album bugged you before, it sounds even more fretless now. It sounds like somebody lubed up Ament's stock before they hit record half the time. Without the reverb, a lot of the wah pedal stuff seems kind of clinical - like you can practically hear Gossard/McCready hitting the pedal to kick it in. I love, though, when they kick into that huge chorus on "Garden."

I always liked the b-side version of "Oceans" with the drums put in, but that's nowhere to be found on here. I'm surprised/slightly disappointed they didn't include the various "Ten" b-sides, really. I always liked "Alone" and "Footsteps" (that re-worked Temple of the Dog tune from the 'Jeremy' single). "Jeremy" is still their weakest and most heavy-handed song.

The bonus tracks are great: A song I had never heard in any form called "Brother," which has a monster chorus, early versions of "Breath" and "State of Love and Trust" (the latter of which is really raw and amazing); "Just a Girl," which is a definite B-Side in every way, and a couple of loose blues jams which are fun.

my head says black but my heart says even flow

Interestingly, Christgau changed his review to two-stars and omitted this blurb from his book:

PEARL JAM: Ten (Epic Associated)

This isn't the worst of the slew of Seattle albums that are Nirvana's gift to alternative consciousness. But from scag-dragged Alice in Chains and straight-heavy Temple of the Dog to psychedelic stooges Mudhoney and legendary hearts Mother Love Bone, few if any sustain, and all modulate the same misguided ethos. So I'm picking on the big kids, already over three million with The Band That Changed the World stuck at four. What must be understood is that the frame of reference here isn't punk but hippie--at root, this is San Francisco ballroom music. As someone who had it on intelligent, enlightened, and you'd-best-believe-hip authority that only my own small-mindedness stood between me and the true meaning of Blue Cheer, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Savage Resurrection, and Shiva's Headband, I risk acute deja entendu hearing all these white male longhairs play their guitars too long but not too well. Though the mood is less euphoric, it's equally wasted, with the demographic shift from pot and acid to beer and heroin nowhere near as decisive as chemical prophets used to claim--all it means is that grunge is acid-rock transmuting into metal rather than folk-rock on a trip. Take the right drugs and you may find time to note distinguishing characteristics, like the power hooks that hold Jam's jams together or the pained vocals that tear them apart. Take the wrong ones and you may give techno another chance. B MINUS

wow i haven't listened to this in ten years at least

max otm i guess

hahaha goole your screen name = A+

Man, Christgau is a blowhard.

(most obvious thing EVER stated, I realize)

one of which is Vedder's slightly painfully earnest role-playing spoken word parts in "Even Flow"

DAMMIT I love "Even Flow" and voted for it but I don't ever want to know what Vedder's singing about, ever.

thats why yellow ledbetter is the best pearl jam song

^^^^^ Truth.

i don't agree, but it's definitely the best Ten-era song, at least!

the amount of time in my life i wasted trying to figure out what the lyrics to that dam song are

I love that he's just stringing words together for that one.

I once read an interview with Craig Wedren from Shudder to Think about the song "Chakka" from Pony Express Record where someone asked him what the words were, and he claimed there were no actual lyrics - the vocals were more like him singing along to a song in his head that he didn't know the words to. Ledbetter's kind of like that.

The other fun one from this era was a cover they did of "I've Got a Feeling," which I had on this promotional "Ten" sampler cassette released before the album (which I got for free at a Kemp Mill Records in Washington, D.C.)

black easy

plus for something that i heard like a zillion times, i'm surprised i can't remember most of the b-side

I am sort of amazed at the number of people repping for "Black" here; for some reason, I always thought I was odd for really loving that track compared to the other singles.

"Porch" seems like the most "90s" song title ever

"Black" was played in my dorm freshman year more than any other song, except maybe "Back In Black", "Fade To Black" (notice a theme?) and "Walk On The Ocean" (which won by dint of being left on at full blast while the guy went home for the weekend, holy shit I am still scarred).

my college radio co-dj made it impossible for me to ever listen to this album again.

when I say "left on" I mean, "left on, on repeat". At 3 minutes that means it played, uh, about 1200 times in a row.

The bonus tracks are great: A song I had never heard in any form called "Brother," which has a monster chorus, early versions of "Breath" and "State of Love and Trust" (the latter of which is really raw and amazing); "Just a Girl," which is a definite B-Side in every way, and a couple of loose blues jams which are fun.

A raw, amazing take on "State of Love and Trust"? Holy shit, I might actually buy this...

state of love & trust is an official street anthem

I don't ever want to know what Vedder's singing about, ever.

Yes.

That super-mega-deluxe box looks mega-tempting.

http://991.com/NewGallery/Pearl-Jam-Ten---Super-Delux-460576.jpg

i think the only thing tempting me from getting anything other than the basic 2-disc edition is that cassette replica of the "Mamma-Son" demo

I think I'll end up with the 2-CD/1-DVD version, because it would be great to finally have Unplugged on DVD.

Would this poll exist if they'd called themselves Mookie Blaylock?

Would this poll exist if the lead single from Ten was "Dirty Frank"?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Take away Even Flow and Jeremy and this is a flawless record. So many good jams, Black being one of my favorite rock songs. But I had to vote for Release which I remember paying attention to for the first time in one of those live shows Pearl Jam broadcast on the radio back in 91-92 era. The live version was amazing and it let me to love the album version just as much. I can listen to that shit on repeat for sure.

i first heard Ten this year. i find it incredibly boring.

LATE

Take away "Even Flow"???

My wife found this and the Singles soundtrack on cassette in a box in the basement, which we've been listening to in the car lately. I hadn't heard it in at least ten years. I still really hate the album cover.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

quite predictable/reasonable results, but 'garden' was always one of the better tracks, i found.

agreed on garden, shocked that anyone voted for jeremy

I like the part that goes "Jeremy spoken, spoken, jeremy spoken, spo-keeen, jeremy spoken, class todaaaaaaaaaay heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heeoo heooohhhhhh-oooooooh (spoken, spoken), heooohhhhhh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, heeoooooohhhheeeee, ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh"

i remember watching a performance of jeremy at the 92 (?) MTV music awards and being quite disturber when eddie vedder delivered that bit you just described. he looked and sounded like a madman.

disturbed

i think it's kinda funny that "Jeremy" is the only exception to the album's big hits dominating the poll. maybe it's more dated/embarrassing to people now? i could see that, although i think it's aged better than a lot of the other songs.

i think jeremy is a bit silly, but liked it back in the day.

i'm giving ten a spin now. it sounds so tight and purposeful. it's interesting to be reminded of that, because at some stage PJ became really simplified and sloppy, and while a lot of people really liked the change they went through - calling it a sign of maturity and inevitably citing those wretched comparisons to the who and neil young - i could never quite get a handle on it. mind you, vitalogy delivers three or four fine, fine gems. everything after didn't connect with me.

i dunno -- McCready definitely became a sloppier soloist at some point, but otherwise i don't really understand what you mean about becoming simplified and sloppy.

take a song like 'wishlist' from yield for instance. vedder is barely enunciating the words and the main riff uses about two chords. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's clear to me that at some point we stopped hearing the more complex, elaborate arrangements that characterise a lot of the tracks on ten and certain mother love bone songs if you want to delve back even further. when i caught PJ live, the tighter, more focused numbers - with the notable exception of 'rearviewmirror' and 'corduroy' - came from ten. songs like 'who you are' and 'do the evolution' sounded extremely loose and insipid, by contrast.

yeah i dunno...complexity's never really been their bag, it's not like they were every going to out-prog Soundgarden even after Matt Cameron joined, but I think they pushed themselves as far as rhythms, arrangements, production etc. a fair amount in the Jack Irons era and on Binaural, even as they did more straightforward stuff like "Wishlist."

I don't understand, Charlie. "Wishlist" is one of those "tighter, more focused numbers" you said the band stopped writing after the Ten era.

i couldn't imagine putting this album on right now.

you have no idea hard it is to not come with a YOU'RE THE DUDE LISTENING TO A THOUSAND ALBUMS THIS YEAR lazy zing over here

haha, i see your point alfred since 'wishlist' isn't exactly sprawling. but i think it has a chugging looseness about it nonetheless as well as that lazy drawl you hear EV take on board a lot of the time :)

hmmm, yeah i guess i should give no code (irons plays on this one, right?) and binaural a bit of a reevaluation. maybe it's the all-round cleanness of ten that leads me to believe it's the one where the band was the most assured and on-song. i find later releases to be challenging and frequently inspired, but find it hard to isolate areas where the members are merging their talents to leverage the impact of the songs. always seems like eddie or one of the guitarists is holding back a tad so as to keep the listener at a slight arms-length. then there'll often be a hint of a hook that's never quite played out or developed. i like that kind of restraint in a lot of music but tend to find that pearl jam don't really give themselves much to fall back on. maybe it's due to that lack of complexity.

yeah, No Code and Yield are the Jack Irons ones...check out my batty NC tribute thread: Pearl Jam - No Code

I was trying to be silly by posting that gibberish from "Jeremy" but honestly I think it's a great song.. I might think so partially because the video is pretty intense. I wasn't sure what Vedder was doing at the VMA's when I was watching.. I think by that point I was still pumped up from Nirvana's performance.. But upon more recent viewings, Vedder clearly shapes his fingers like a gun and points it into his mouth with his eyes all bulging and looking crazy.. and at the end of the song it sounds like he's quoting lyrics from Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer."

he probably is, i've heard a couple boots where they cover "Sonic Reducer"

me too

My friend's old band used to cover Sonic Reducer but they were covering Pearl Jam covering it, they'd never heard the Dead Boys' version.

I don't think I've ever heard Pearl Jam.

25 years old today...

"Featuring members of Mother Love Bone"

http://www.twofeetthick.com/2011/07/12/summer-break-pearl-jams-july-1991-u-s-tour/

"07/13/91 – The Marquee Room: New York, NY
This date is originally listed as Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, but Pearl Jam was instead inserted into a lineup featuring Sub Pop bands Rev. Horton Heat, Afghan Whigs, Gorilla, Beasts of Bourbon, Codeine. Could Pearl Jam have played a later set at Maxwell’s? Possible, but we’re not entirely sure. We are particularly amused that the same general period that Pearl Jam played the Marquee Room, so did Tribe After Tribe (whose frontman Robbi Robb went on to Three Fish with Jeff), The La’s (whose “Timeless Melody” was a favorite PJ cover in 2000), not to mention Firehose (fronted by Mike Watt, who Ed recorded and toured with four years later)."

I saw this show 2 weeks before the album release I guess? There were a lot of lame stains swingin’ on the flippity flop.

God, those one-word titles. So pretentious. As a result, I have no memory at all of what like five of these songs sound like

i still have my original cassette copy- i listened to it so much all the print wore off & then i lost the cover so i had to write on it with a marker

<3

hmm

memory clearly flawed, just found it & i wrote on the cover. print on cassette is worn but not gone. musta been thinking about a different album

Fun trivia, iirc Nirvana played the tiiiiiny Dobbs in Philly right around when Nevermind came out. I remember PJ coming back to play the Trocadero, but my hipster friends wouldn't go.

"Porch" rules

otm

that one is always a good time live

happy 30th