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there was that old consensus around Riot Act that the album felt tired. With hindsight that's not the right word, but weary probably is - it's baked into the albums themes and aesthetics and is one of its strengths, but that also saps more from the listener. Gigaton, on the other hand is an album designed to feel like an alarm clock/wake up call, and so unsurprisingly the album has an energy that doesn't really flag.
I sometimes wonder if who you are when you first listened the album has more to do with how you hear it than the actual music.
That's probably why I consider Binaural to be their "horniest" album.
Riot Act feels to me like a band that used to deliver redemption through music…as a promise if not an actuality….reaching out for some of that themselves, and largely not finding it.
Which would be emotionally gripping and also a provocative mirror to the political messaging found on the album…except that the 90’s left their central lyricist writing from a place of self-protection rather than openness (understandably so).
So instead of expressing the moment, Riot Act (ironically titled) tries to talk around it while still feeling cathartic. It’s loaded with platitudes of avoidance. It’s like a person who goes to therapy but doesn’t want to talk about their problems directly….just feel better.
This doesn’t combine well with assertive and often clunky political messaging, and I don’t enjoy listening to those moments where the band tries to deliver catharsis to its audience without feeling it themselves.
Probably my favorite moment on the record, though not the best song, is You Are…because it isn’t trying to be about anything other than playing music and making neat sounds…and that’s as close to a good headspace for them to be in as anything, at that moment.
This seems to come up every few months... but I just can't properly articulate how much Riot Act means to me nor how genuinely perfect I think the album is. I honestly wouldn't change a thing about it.
Sometimes I think I have to rank Vitalogy higher on my lists because I do think it has a few more truly iconic, classic songs (Last Exit, Not Fore You, Tremor Christ, Nothingman, Better Man, Immortality). But there is also stuff on Vitalogy I can skip (like Pry, To or Aye Davanita or Stupid Mop), or sometimes want to skip (like Spin the Black Circle or Whipping or Bugs), or that doesn't totally hold up over time (like Satan's Bed). But there is nothing like that on Riot Act for me. Every track is necessary. It's the best Pearl Jam album as far as I'm concerned.
I vaguely remember a fairly large Riot Act tour program. Anybody still have one or remember what was included?
I sill have mine in a box somewhere. I should dig it out. I don't remember it being too in depth, just a lot of cool photos and artwork. More like an expanded album booklet/liner notes.
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