I get it now.

First I need to say that I am very disappointed to not have had the opportunity to officially author this thread in this new forum. I will take solace in knowing there will be many more "Ranking" threads to come, and I plan on monopolizing the authorship of these threads at an alarmingly high rate. Anyway, I will take the simple ranking of the albums a bit further and include some extra info for your reading pleasure.


rank. album name (previous ranking May 12, 2012) Top 3 Songs - Summery (Rating)

1. Vitalogy (3) Last Exit, Corduroy, Immortality - PJ at their creative peak. This album has everything; rockers, ballads, experimental tracks, and it all works perfectly. A true masterpiece. (5/5)

2. Ten (2) Release, Jeremy, Black - The seminal debut album from one of the greatest bands in American rock history. Anthem after anthem that still blow my socks off 20 plus years since its release. (5/5)

3. Yield (1) Do The Evolution, Faithful, Given To Fly - Great from start to finish. At times this has been my favorite PJ album. Pilate is the only reason this album doesn't get a perfect rating from me. (4.5/5)

4. Pearl Jam (4) Unemployable, Army Reserve, Severed Hand - Production will always be the main issue for this album. S/T is great collection of songs that PJ fans regularly rate lower then they deserve to be. I won't be in that category. (4/5)

5. No Code (6) Red Mosquito, Present Tense, In My Tree - This is the hardest album for me to consistently rank. No Code has some unbelievably high peaks and some deep valleys. Because of these inconsistencies it ranks in the middle of the PJ pack. (4/5)

6. Vs. (5) Leash, Animal, Go - I have always loved Vs. I still do. The only real problem I have with the album is that I very rarely find myself choosing to listen to it as a complete work. It has ranked as high as #2 on my list and this is as low as it will ever be ranked. (4/5)

7. Riot Act (7) You Are, Help Help, I Am Mine - Riot Act never reaches the high points of any of my top six PJ albums, but there are a lot of really good songs here, maybe just no great songs. (3.5/5)

8. Binaural (8) Sleight of Hand, Nothing As It Seems, Of The Girl - Sleight of Hand is my second favorite PJ song. The original track list would have this in my top 5 for sure. Maybe even higher. (3.5/5)

9. Backspacer (9) Johnny Guitar, Amongst The Waves, Force Of Nature - There are no great songs on Backspacer. There are only a few really good songs. I think this is easily PJs weakest album. I don't think its even in the same ballpark with anything else they have ever done. (2.5/5)

I do really like every one of PJ's album. Even the bottom records I still think are quite good

The same for me. I mean, if any band recorded an album like Riot Act i would be saying its a masterpiece for sure.

Let's be real though, if anyone else recorded Backspacer no one would pretend to like it.

backspacer is pretty much the only PJ album besides vitalogy I feel like listening to these days.

It would rank higher for me.

Isn't Yield outranking S/T on Stip's list kind of a big moment? Or has it been that way all along?

they go back and forth

My list is pretty much this, only swapping the 6/7 and 8/9 spots. "Ten" and "Vs." are my least favorites.

I will hold the Vs candle til it burns up my arm.

My wife and I would like to thank you for having us over to your dinner party.

right now is in second place, but vs is THE record for me. Its pure power.

I would probably hate "Ten" and "Vs." if I heard them for the first time today--I have such a built-in aversion to the kind of theatrical angst Eddie displays on those records (which, admittedly, may be the result of frustrations with the generation or two of imitators who pushed the superficial elements of Eddie's warbly baritone to the brink of parody, but still) that I'm not even sure I'd pick up on some of the finer musical subtleties of songs like "Oceans" or "Daughter" or the beautiful drone of "Release." The last two records are due their criticisms, but what folks have historically summarized as the hurr-durr isn't one of them.

The parallel universe approach may be a stupid way to consider your musical tastes but I'm going with it.

i get what you mean, sure, bands like fucking creed and 3 doors down have really fucked up Eddie´s voice from that era, but i never had any problems with it. They are just bad imitators and the music is just bad. Even if i dont listen to Ten at all these days, its just an amazing record...i dont know if i can find a record with so many good to great songs i mean, Release, even flow, alive, why go, black, oceans, porch goddamit...even fucking jeremy is great.

Jeremy is one of my favourite Pearl Jam songs.

This would be my ranking..and it never changes....who else thinks this is a weird ranking? (there's gap between 5 and 6...because I believe the first five are all great and much better than those other ones..)

1-No Code
2-Ten
3-Vitalogy
4-Riot Act
5-Yield

6-S/T
7-Vs
8-Binaural
9-Backspacer

i have pretty sizeable gaps between my 1 and 2 (Vitalogy/Ten) which are my first and third favorite albums of all time, 3-6 (really good records, but far from perfect) and 7-9 (good records I like a lot, but nothing showing up on a favorites list any time soon)