Mon December 23, 2013 8:03 pm
stip wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:Immortality: 99 out of 100 times this is where Vitalogy ends, which makes Immortality their best closer, and is arguably their best song. When I complain about how I find Binaural to be somewhat hollow and lifeless this is what I'm comparing it to--a song that captures the same sense of desolate empty space and the lost soul wandering in it, but there's still life and warmth and humanity here that gets stripped out of so much of that record. That's what made this so special--the way Eddie was able to take such an unrelenting and bleak and personal set of songs and still manage to invite you (and only you) into that space.
I don't even know what to highlight about this song. Everything is perfect. The music has always reminded me of a darker reprise of U2's One.
Completely unexpected solo from Mike, but one of his best. I love how heavy the build gets coming out of the chorus into the final verse, and how abruptly it flattens out into something quiet and open.
There's a very compelling methodical quality to this song, like slowly investigating a wound that you fear might be fatal.
The outro is really great, but so different in tone from the rest of the song, like the singer reached a crossroads and then freezes there, jogging in place, not sure where they're gonna go.
Well said, except there's nothing hollow and lifeless about parting ways, of the girl, etc. those are two of the 'warmest' sad songs in their catalogue
I don't know. Those songs feel pretty empty to me. I don't mean that as a knock against them, mind you. I think that's their point.
nah, they feel fuller to me than immortality. all the songs in question are brilliant, but immortality is certainly more desolate. immortality and footsteps pretty much win the most desolate pj song award.
I don't mean empty musically, just so that's clear
Mon December 23, 2013 8:20 pm
Mon December 23, 2013 8:40 pm
stip wrote:Immortality: 99 out of 100 times this is where Vitalogy ends, which makes Immortality their best closer, and is arguably their best song. When I complain about how I find Binaural to be somewhat hollow and lifeless this is what I'm comparing it to--a song that captures the same sense of desolate empty space and the lost soul wandering in it, but there's still life and warmth and humanity here that gets stripped out of so much of that record. That's what made this so special--the way Eddie was able to take such an unrelenting and bleak and personal set of songs and still manage to invite you (and only you) into that space.
I don't even know what to highlight about this song. Everything is perfect. The music has always reminded me of a darker reprise of U2's One.
Completely unexpected solo from Mike, but one of his best. I love how heavy the build gets coming out of the chorus into the final verse, and how abruptly it flattens out into something quiet and open.
There's a very compelling methodical quality to this song, like slowly investigating a wound that you fear might be fatal.
The outro is really great, but so different in tone from the rest of the song, like the singer reached a crossroads and then freezes there, jogging in place, not sure where they're gonna go.
Tue December 24, 2013 7:33 am
stip wrote:Okay, this is both my favorite album of all time and, I think, the most compelling rock album of all time. I do think it's that good. the way it manages to take something so viscerally personal and invite the listener in, the way it takes something so narcissistic and melodramatic and cuts right to the human core of it. The songs are all pretty much amazing (how do you get last exit, not for you, tremor christ, nothingman, betterman, corduroy, and immortality on the same album), the guitar tones are fantastic, the rhythm section is totally locked in, and Eddie manages to simultaneously have a breakdown while maintaining iron clad control over himself, releasing just the right amount of pressure each time to push the explosion further down the line. In every single one of these songs every member of the band is doing something worth listening to. That you can have the same band putting spin the black circle, immortality, corduroy, and betterman on the same record is nuts.
This is as good as it gets. All other pearl jam albums have to answer to this standard. none have measured up.
Tue December 24, 2013 7:50 am
parasolmonster wrote:
Also, I've always liked that Ed's voice is a bit lower in the mix than other (especially modern) PJ records. I love to hear his voice, but it feels like he is pushing with everything he has in order to be heard over all the other instruments. That urgency and push adds to the tension throughout the record.
Tue December 24, 2013 7:51 am
DeLima wrote:stip wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:Immortality: 99 out of 100 times this is where Vitalogy ends, which makes Immortality their best closer, and is arguably their best song. When I complain about how I find Binaural to be somewhat hollow and lifeless this is what I'm comparing it to--a song that captures the same sense of desolate empty space and the lost soul wandering in it, but there's still life and warmth and humanity here that gets stripped out of so much of that record. That's what made this so special--the way Eddie was able to take such an unrelenting and bleak and personal set of songs and still manage to invite you (and only you) into that space.
I don't even know what to highlight about this song. Everything is perfect. The music has always reminded me of a darker reprise of U2's One.
Completely unexpected solo from Mike, but one of his best. I love how heavy the build gets coming out of the chorus into the final verse, and how abruptly it flattens out into something quiet and open.
There's a very compelling methodical quality to this song, like slowly investigating a wound that you fear might be fatal.
The outro is really great, but so different in tone from the rest of the song, like the singer reached a crossroads and then freezes there, jogging in place, not sure where they're gonna go.
Well said, except there's nothing hollow and lifeless about parting ways, of the girl, etc. those are two of the 'warmest' sad songs in their catalogue
I don't know. Those songs feel pretty empty to me. I don't mean that as a knock against them, mind you. I think that's their point.
nah, they feel fuller to me than immortality. all the songs in question are brilliant, but immortality is certainly more desolate. immortality and footsteps pretty much win the most desolate pj song award.
I don't mean empty musically, just so that's clear
do you mean empty emotionally? p ways is rife with slow-cooking grief.
maybe we should save this discussion for the LALttA binaural thread.
Tue December 24, 2013 11:32 am
digster wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:DeLima wrote:stip wrote:Immortality: 99 out of 100 times this is where Vitalogy ends, which makes Immortality their best closer, and is arguably their best song. When I complain about how I find Binaural to be somewhat hollow and lifeless this is what I'm comparing it to--a song that captures the same sense of desolate empty space and the lost soul wandering in it, but there's still life and warmth and humanity here that gets stripped out of so much of that record. That's what made this so special--the way Eddie was able to take such an unrelenting and bleak and personal set of songs and still manage to invite you (and only you) into that space.
I don't even know what to highlight about this song. Everything is perfect. The music has always reminded me of a darker reprise of U2's One.
Completely unexpected solo from Mike, but one of his best. I love how heavy the build gets coming out of the chorus into the final verse, and how abruptly it flattens out into something quiet and open.
There's a very compelling methodical quality to this song, like slowly investigating a wound that you fear might be fatal.
The outro is really great, but so different in tone from the rest of the song, like the singer reached a crossroads and then freezes there, jogging in place, not sure where they're gonna go.
Well said, except there's nothing hollow and lifeless about parting ways, of the girl, etc. those are two of the 'warmest' sad songs in their catalogue
I don't know. Those songs feel pretty empty to me. I don't mean that as a knock against them, mind you. I think that's their point.
nah, they feel fuller to me than immortality. all the songs in question are brilliant, but immortality is certainly more desolate. immortality and footsteps pretty much win the most desolate pj song award.
I don't mean empty musically, just so that's clear
do you mean empty emotionally? p ways is rife with slow-cooking grief.
maybe we should save this discussion for the LALttA binaural thread.
I don't really feel anything empty about those songs or that album. Desolate, perhaps, but not empty. Of their catalog, Vitalogy and Binaural are pretty similar bedfellows, in terms of the dread that accompanies listening to them.
Tue December 24, 2013 3:12 pm
Tue December 24, 2013 3:50 pm
hlniv wrote:Satan's Bed drummer was Dave's tech, Jimmy Shoaf
from Vitalogy wiki page-
Drums on "Satan's Bed" were performed by Abbruzzese's drum tech Jimmy Shoaf. On the day it was recorded, Abbruzzese was in the hospital having his tonsils removed. Vedder and Gossard asked for Shoaf's help to get a drum machine working, and after setting it up, the pair asked Shoaf to perform the same beat on the drums. He is credited on the lyric sheet as "Jimmy".[7]
In other words, just a big to Dave A
Tue December 24, 2013 9:58 pm
Captain Termite wrote:and throwing Sometimes into the dustbin.
Wed December 25, 2013 4:24 am
Self wrote:Captain Termite wrote:and throwing Sometimes into the dustbin.
Wed December 25, 2013 6:36 am
hlniv wrote:Drums on "Satan's Bed" were performed by Abbruzzese's drum tech Jimmy Shoaf.
Wed December 25, 2013 6:42 am
Thu December 26, 2013 12:43 pm
Thu December 26, 2013 4:05 pm
Thu December 26, 2013 7:53 pm
Thu December 26, 2013 9:43 pm
stip wrote:Thanks McP. That was a great read. I've sometimes felt the most important lyric on the record is the mention of syssiphus in the not for you liner notes. There is noguiding light, no way out, but there is also a refusal to surrender, and stubborn defiance in the face of dark certainty is a victory, and an important part of the recordagency
Thu December 26, 2013 11:03 pm
Thu December 26, 2013 11:19 pm
Fri December 27, 2013 1:20 am
BurtReynolds wrote:Though we generally cringe at "Grunge", with Vitalogy, In Utero, Superunknown and AiC's general sound by 1994, I think you could argue that Grunge could be considered its own subgenre by that time.
Nirvana got sludgier, PJ got punkier and Soundgarden and Alice moved away from the metal. Originally coming from different backgrounds, they all seemed to move toward each other to some degree by 1994. I wonder how conscious it was.