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Post subject: Re: What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Vitalogy
Posted: Sun January 25, 2015 11:05 pm
Rank This Poster
Joined: Fri August 09, 2013 4:38 am Posts: 3864
Birds in Hell wrote:
Out of the "experimental" tracks I think only Stupid Mop actually harms the album (though I might make an argument that Bugs does too if I'm in the right mood) but if I had to keep only one of them it would definitely be Pry, To. It's a great lead-in to Corduroy.
I don't understand, I've loved Bugs since my first listen.
Post subject: Re: What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Vitalogy
Posted: Mon January 26, 2015 1:06 am
Production Police
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47177 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
I'm late to the thread and don't feel like sifting through the whole thing, so apologies if this is redundant...
I want to defend stupidmop for two reasons:
1. As a sometimes-drummer, I love the groove. It's a passionate performance.
2. I think the detractors are overthinking the song's inclusion. I went through a very experimental music phase in the early aughts, and me and my buds would toss off weird ephemera/sound collage stuff in between actual songs, because it was fun to get stoned and do that. They were off-the-cuff, one-take numbers that were done purely for the fun of it (they all sounded more-or-less like stupidmop, weird bits of pre-recorded dialogue and all). I think Ed pushed to have it included at the time because it was odd, it was uncomfortable, and it got Jack on the record before they hit the road. I doubt he saw it (and the other experimental tracks) as especially challenging, not in the same way that No Code was intentionally challenging, but more like fuck-you afterthoughts to all the fans who had glommed on over the last few years. "Hey, uh, we, uh, got baked and made these weird...jams. Tell the A&R people, they, uh, can suck it." Twenty years later, they are putting out concise, expertly-crafted albums that leave us all wanting something more like the old records. I'm happy that 1994 Ed wasn't so willing to bow to the powers of album & ticket sales.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Mon January 26, 2015 1:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
Post subject: Re: What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Vitalogy
Posted: Fri February 06, 2015 5:03 am
Banned from the Pit
Joined: Fri February 06, 2015 4:33 am Posts: 9
I'm not one to be negatively impacted by "filler tracks," maybe it's a generational thing. I'm in my early twenties and grew up listening to a boat load of crappy rap albums with tons of filler tracks (skits, etc). I've actually always liked the way Pry, To transitions into Corduroy, almost as if Pry, To is in fact directing you to Corduroy. I don't think Bugs was ever meant to be taken seriously in any way shape or form. Aye Davanita is cool as hell and provides a break in the action before the emotional Immortality. Stupid Mop, it is what it is. I don't think any PJ fans are putting it on their iTunes playlist, and it was never intended to be that kind of "song." Most of the time I just stop the track before it starts. But the fact that I never listen to it doesn't tarnish the overall image of the record, I don't count it as a flaw is what I'm saying. It's just kind of there.
The only thing that irks me about the record is that Satan's Bed was forced on without a real drum track (perhaps as a final "f u" to Dave A? Who knows). Satan's Bed is a great tune that, (and this would've been contrary to the band's (Ed's) seemingly ignorant stance on drumming at the time), could've been made even better with a more powerful and assertive sound from behind the kit.
Corduroy is, and always will be the ultimate Pearl Jam song. It combines their early work's propensity to make arena anthems with some punk sensibility. To me, Pearl Jam is a really good mainstream band that makes songs that are extremely sonically pleasing, full of pop sensibility, and yet rough around the edges, and more likely to go into a chunky solo than a lame hook. They're not completely artsy fartsy, they're not completely punk, and they're definitely not a pop group. They're a beautiful, aggressive fusion of all of those things. This album and specifically Corduroy completely captures that. It's fucking beautiful, that song. Other highlights for me are Last Exit and Not For You.
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