I was listening to a mix of PJ stuff on my way to work, and while I would be wary of throwing out broad typologies like this, I think this one makes sense.

Pearl Jam basically has had two broad sounds. They've had their clear sound and their muddy sound. This isn't about the music per se, but about the feel of the songs.

Clear: Ten, Vs, S/T, Backspacer
Muddy: No Code, Yield, Binaural, Riot Act

Vitalogy is a transition album between these two styles (there is a jump, rather than a transition, between Riot Act and S/T), which may be why it is so popular. It offers a way in for fans who are attracted to both feels.

Note too that this has nothing at all to do with the quality of the song writing, etc. Just similarities in the feel of the albums. There may be an exception here or there on each record, but I feel like this generally holds.


The 'clear' albums: These albums are like floodlights in the darkness, or like razors. There is a forcefulness that comes from certainty, a sharpness that comes from clarity. Even though an album like Ten, in which every song is about not feeling grounded, there is still a sense of focus to those songs, like the music is as certain as you can possible be about its uncertainty, confident in its confusion. There are no fuzzy edges here--all these songs are bright lines and sharp divisions, even when the lyrical themes say otherwise. That's (at least for me) one of the things that drew me to the songs. A confidence that if you listened long enough you'd find your way out. Or compare the focus and confidence in a song like WWS to the question marks in a song like Bushleaguer.

The 'muddy' albums: These albums are full of uncertainty. They lack the sharp contrasts of the other albums. They ask questions rather than offer answers, which is why there is a questing and probing feel even in songs like Given To Fly, which offers them, that is absent in a song like Alive, which is looking for them. There is uncertainty to how these stories will end, even how they should end, even though most of these albums are full of songs that are trying to offer a survivor's wisdom and perspective, they all have hidden question marks throughout. The clear records see the path even as they are looking for it. The muddy records are looking for the path even as they claim to be on it.

Again, I think this plays out in the music, the vocals, the words, the whole album, and I suspect people are drawn to one style/perspective over the other. This has nothing to do with how much you end up liking an album (which depends on the quality of the songs and performances) but I do think it says something about what kind of an album you are looking for.

Just for clarification - would you equate your terms "clear" and "muddy" with "visceral" and "cerebral"?

I agree with the groupings.

Good: Ten, Vs, S/T, Backspacer
Great: No Code, Yield, Binaural, Riot Act
Perfect: Vitalogy

Haha.


Well articulated, stip. I definitely agree with these categorizations.

Muddy all the way.

I like this thought process, except that I would include Yield in the clear category. I recall Yield feeling like Pearl Jam coming up for air after the heavy thematic and musical arrangements of Vitalogy (the resistance/meaning behind the imposition of outside forces upon man) and No Code (the power/meaning behind introspective impulses). It seems to see the world as it is while contemplating potential rather than pushing against something tangible or not. With Binaural and Riot Act, I thought there was more of a return to the feel of Vitalogy and No Code as they went back to muddy sounds and focus on resistance to societal and political impositions. I think the production of Yield is a lot cleaner in that regard as well.

I don't think so, although each style may lend itself to more visceral or cerebral songwriting

The most stip thread of all time

could you rank the most stip threads of all time?

well put, stip. I agree, and I think it's a big reason the lyrics and themes from No Code through Riot Act appeal to me (even if my favorites don't perfectly mirror the categories).