The Journey/Rank Thread to Rank Them All - the Worst Thread

[guitar_davey]

Inspired by our over-complaining (I am included) about how Eddie Vedder’s new output is comparing with the larger output across the last well almost 40 years, I am going to work through an extended bloated Pearl Jam related journey including side bands, solo albums, and band material. We rank as we go along (see the Elvis Costello thread for reference). I will do my best to go in order. This will be epic, all encompassing, and probably insufferable at times. Perfect for RM.

The Haves - the gift that keeps on giving.

[Anders]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

Do you feel this way because your fandom has always focused on Ed? His voice and lyrics, and song writing contributions. You have said elsewhere you have heard little of the solo stuff or side project stuff apart from his.

[liebzz]

Green River - Rehab Doll (Deluxe Edition)

These deluxe reissues are the gifts that keep on giving. This one, for the most part, is the remastered album and then mostly slightly rougher but still well produced 8 track recordings of most of the same songs. At this point, Green River is shifting again towards a more alternative rock sound, if such an item makes sense. They are still producing a sort of slowed down metal, but here some funkier elements, particularly in Jeff’s bass, also give it moments of feeling a bit closer to Chili Peppers (as bizarre as that sounds - it’s in there buried), Jane’s Addiction, Guns N Roses, and some other bands that were starting to kick around in the latter 80s. Mark Arm probably sounds the best on this album, but this one is slick by comparison to the other releases. Rehab Doll, the retooled Swallow My Pride, Take a Dive, One More Stitch, and Porkfist are serious highlights. Smilin’ and Dyin’ actually sounds better a little rougher and is also a highlight. The cover of Queen Bitch closes things out, and this chapter, in fine form. This for me was the strongest Green River release. Legitimately excellent album.

Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Green River - Come On Down
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[evenslow]

tried to read this thread title and thought i was having a stroke.

[liebzz]

Mother Love Bone - Shine EP

Jeff, Stone, and Bruce Fairweather are in a new band, but tracing the sound here from Rehab Doll is pretty easy. A little more of that alternative rock sound I noted in the last post, with a touch of Andrew Wood’s glam, but whereas this seemed like a massive shift when I hear them totally independently, going in order reveals a still evolving band getting closer and closer to what they seem to be reaching for. Thru Fade Away sounds like Jane’s Addiction almost. Mindshaker Meltdown, Capricorn Sister, and Half Assed Monkey Boy bring some big rock, and well we all know Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns quite well. Really a solid start for this new iteration.

Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[liebzz]

tried to read this thread title and thought i was having a stroke.

Kind of how I felt when I decided to do this…

[joostone]

Those Green River 1984 demos are also great! Those were officially released a couple of years ago..

[liebzz]

Those Green River 1984 demos are also great! Those were officially released a couple of years ago..

Yeah I should have included them. The amount of stuff related to this one is hard to keep track of. Perhaps I can cover it on the side somewhere.

[Chris_H_2]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

agreed. i would bet that if most of the people that say they like it now didn't know that a member of pj was playing the first time that they heard it, they would give it a hard pass.

[liebzz]

Bad Radio Demos

…meanwhile, in another corner of the country, Southern California, Eddie Vedder is hanging out trying to get it together with a decent band he’s probably much too talented for in Bad Radio. I figured I would cover these demos despite never finding full release to sort of fill in that gap a little.

Here, Eddie Vedder and Bad Radio demo a bunch of tracks that nearly alternate between being the Greta Van Fleet of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and songs that close in on either straight away rock or reggae. His songwriting hadn’t seem to quite take shape yet, save for an alternate and pretty solid Better Man (the live version over the demo). It’s really not completely embarrassing and the band gets into a good groove in a number of spaces, including during Believe You Me, I’m Alive, Homeless, What the Funk, the Springsteen cover of One Step Up, and the reggae attempt at Reggae Woman - though other than say Better Man, the songs themselves aren’t so great and often, possibly purposefully, it sounds like a young band kind of riffing on whatever they were feeling - which was a lot of Chili Peppers.

Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Bad Radio Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[RockPusher]

Bad Radio Demos

…meanwhile, in another corner of the country, Southern California, Eddie Vedder is hanging out trying to get it together with a decent band he’s probably much too talented for in Bad Radio. I figured I would cover these demos despite never finding full release to sort of fill in that gap a little.

Here, Eddie Vedder and Bad Radio demo a bunch of tracks that nearly alternate between being the Greta Van Fleet of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and songs that close in on either straight away rock or reggae. His songwriting hadn’t seem to quite take shape yet, save for an alternate and pretty solid Better Man (the live version over the demo). It’s really not completely embarrassing and the band gets into a good groove in a number of spaces, including during Believe You Me, I’m Alive, Homeless, What the Funk, the Springsteen cover of One Step Up, and the reggae attempt at Reggae Woman - though other than say Better Man, the songs themselves aren’t so great and often, possibly purposefully, it sounds like a young band kind of riffing on whatever they were feeling - which was a lot of Chili Peppers.

Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Bad Radio Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

Bad Radio's guitarist was in a class with me at UCBerkeley and it was fun talking to him about that band. I actually really liked hearing the original "Better Man" that they did, quite a few years before it found its way onto a PJ album.

[liebzz]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

agreed. i would bet that if most of the people that say they like it now didn't know that a member of pj was playing the first time that they heard it, they would give it a hard pass.

Green River - 1984 Demos

Revisiting this, though sadly not as enthusiastic about it. Green River is sort of on the edge, especially early on, of rough to too rough and I think this sort of falls in that latter category. 10,000 Things and New God stuck out on first listen as highlights, but this might have been too rough for me, especially with how much I ended up enjoying them as their sound developed. Can’t win them all I guess.

Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[liebzz]

I quoted the wrong convo there, but you get the idea.

[stip]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

Do you feel this way because your fandom has always focused on Ed? His voice and lyrics, and song writing contributions. You have said elsewhere you have heard little of the solo stuff or side project stuff apart from his.

No - I've found so much of that early stuff I've heard unlistenable (I've heard them all at least once) on its own merits (in my opinion). My preference for Ed stuff is why I haven't been interested in most of the other band's post Pearl Jam output, but I don't think it's terrible. It's just not for me.

[VinylGuy]

I have never been a fan of Mother Love Bone, tough i can see the appeal and why they were signed on a major. I always though Green River was a great band and a logical precursor to Mudhoney or Nirvana for example, more close to that side than to MLB-Pearl Jam.

[Kevin Davis]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

Do you feel this way because your fandom has always focused on Ed? His voice and lyrics, and song writing contributions. You have said elsewhere you have heard little of the solo stuff or side project stuff apart from his.

No - I've found so much of that early stuff I've heard unlistenable (I've heard them all at least once) on its own merits (in my opinion). My preference for Ed stuff is why I haven't been interested in most of the other band's post Pearl Jam output, but I don't think it's terrible. It's just not for me.

I don't really like any of it either, though I do think "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is a good song.

Beyond Ed and Stone's solo albums and WWC, most PJ-adjacent stuff has never really hit the spot for me. Looking forward to following along with this and hopefully picking up on a few things I've missed.

[liebzz]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

Do you feel this way because your fandom has always focused on Ed? His voice and lyrics, and song writing contributions. You have said elsewhere you have heard little of the solo stuff or side project stuff apart from his.

No - I've found so much of that early stuff I've heard unlistenable (I've heard them all at least once) on its own merits (in my opinion). My preference for Ed stuff is why I haven't been interested in most of the other band's post Pearl Jam output, but I don't think it's terrible. It's just not for me.

I don't really like any of it either, though I do think "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is a good song.

Beyond Ed and Stone's solo albums and WWC, most PJ-adjacent stuff has never really hit the spot for me. Looking forward to following along with this and hopefully picking up on a few things I've missed.

Because I kept stopping at Come On Down, it took a long while for Green River to properly hit me. Mother Love Bone I always thought was okay, but then seeing Chris play it on the TotD tour, I got a whole new appreciation when I went back again. None of it for me even sniffs Pearl Jam’s output, and I can see people not bothering when Pearl Jam is right there and probably scratches the itch better. Nonetheless, I have over the years really come to appreciate most of it (as you can see).

[McParadigm]

Always loved the naked Blue Oyster Cult lift in Swallow My Pride

[liebzz]

Mother Love Bone - Apple

The sole proper album from the band that really immediately preceded Pearl Jam. I do think the suggestion that this band was going to be huge is a bit of an overstatement. While they did a great job mixing the groove and guitar work of alternative rock groups like Jane’s Addiction and a hint of Chili Peppers with Andrew Wood’s natural glamminess, I do think their own peers in Seattle would have rendered them obsolete pretty quickly in any event.

For the album, it certainly is an album with big highs (Crown of Thorns and Man of Golden Words the obvious picks) with good songs that are almost a precursor to Ten. Big riffs, though where Eddie Vedder would bare his soul through characters he envisioned, Andrew Wood wears his huge personality on his sleeve to great effect on This Is Shangrila, Stardog Champion, Holy Roller, and Come Bite the Apple. The rest for me is good but nothing to really go crazy over. Yes, a very talented band and front man, but they were soon taking on the world proper rather than in their collective imagination.

Green River - Rehab Doll
Green River - Dry As a Bone
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Mother Love Bone - Shine
Green River - Come On Down
Bad Radio Demos
Green River - 1984 Demos
Deranged Diction - Life Support / No Art, No Cowboys, No Rules

[stip]

everything that featured a band member pre pearl jam (excluding soundgarden) is just terrible

Do you feel this way because your fandom has always focused on Ed? His voice and lyrics, and song writing contributions. You have said elsewhere you have heard little of the solo stuff or side project stuff apart from his.

No - I've found so much of that early stuff I've heard unlistenable (I've heard them all at least once) on its own merits (in my opinion). My preference for Ed stuff is why I haven't been interested in most of the other band's post Pearl Jam output, but I don't think it's terrible. It's just not for me.

I don't really like any of it either, though I do think "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is a good song.

Beyond Ed and Stone's solo albums and WWC, most PJ-adjacent stuff has never really hit the spot for me. Looking forward to following along with this and hopefully picking up on a few things I've missed.

Chloe/crown is pretty good. Honestly there are a few bad radio songs with some potential, but most of that is shit too. I do genuinely like the one step up cover