60 Days of Pearl Jam; Part Deux

Wobbie

acutejam wrote:

This dude is goin to rank all of PJ's songs over the next 60 days ramping up to the album release.
He's starting at the bottom -- and it's not good for Vitalogy! (And the Whale Song!?!?!?)

160-150:
http://www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianap ... -Pearl-Jam
150-140:
http://www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianap ... -Continues
140-130:
http://www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianap ... -Pearl-Jam

Regardless, should lead to loads of fun here on the msg board!

Another guy did this a few years back....he wasn't quite so upbeat with the tail end of the list, but shows his love as the songs "improve." If this list generates any discussion, I'll add his next "tier" every few days...


140-128. The Bad Songs and the Bad Jokes

Yes. Even I will admit that this band has put out some pretty crappy songs, but not too many. A rather small tier considering the massiveness of the band's library. It's even more impressive since most of these are joke songs that just got pulled off badly. I do have a sense of humor but sometimes this band is just plain weird.

140 - Bu$hleaguer (Riot Act)

Look Eddie Vedder, I hate Bush as much as the next guy. I even don't mind politically driven songs as if I did, I would absolutely abhor this band. But this song is just a wasted track simply bashing the president without any decent effort into doing so. Your voice sounds like you just had a hang over and you barely try to sing towards your hatred to Bush. It's basically a rant put behind music. Boo!

139 - Whipping (Vitalogy)

Unlike other songs on this tier, the sad thing about this song is that they actually tried to make a seriously good song. I can't even appreciate the music behind it since it's a very standard chord progression done extremely fastly over and over again. Now, I'm all for simplicity (done right) but this song irks me the wrong way. Ahhhhhh Whipping! It's one of the rare hard-rocking tracks where it appears the band sacrifices melodic content for noise and that's just plain wrong. Should have never made the record.

138 - Hitchhiker (Lost Dogs)

Very weird for this to be a Pearl Jam song. The music doesn't sound Pearl Jam, the vocals nor lyrics sound Pearl Jam. This can be alright if done right (see Parachutes) but it's just not effective. Juvenile lyrics... "You fool, what do you think you're doing?" This must have been Pearl Jam talking to themselves for writing and recording this one.

137 - Pry, To (Vitalogy)

1:03 of filler. Thank you Pearl Jam. Leading into Corduroy of all songs. Thank you. What are you even saying Eddie?

136 - Aye Davinita (Vitalogy)

3 minutes of filler. Thank you Pearl Jam. Leading into Immortality of all songs. Thank you. At least I know what you are saying and it's slightly catchy. Congrats. You're better than Pry, To.

135 - Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me (Vitalogy)

Ugh... you choose to close a freaking album with this? The closer of all tracks. Think of all the great closers this band has. It could have been a hidden track to ease my mind. Plus, the song is ****ing tripped out which is actually redeeming points. It's psychotic patients talking about death and Mike does pretty wicked guitar work. My spanky... it's the only thing I want so much. At least I think that's what they are saying. I've only listened to it in full about 3 or 4 times and it was enough. I picture hell to be this song on loop.

134 - Let Me Sleep (Lost Dogs)

It's a cute little Christmas single about Christmas. Its about a guy trying to relive Christmas how he remembered as a kid. Pretty repetitive. Actually... very repetitive. It's cute. Nothing more.

133 - Help Help (Riot Act)

Pretty psychotic chorus. Help Me sounding zombified over and over. I picture Robin Williams being able to pull off this chorus yelling "Help Me!" in the chorus rather effectively. I like Boom's organ work in this, but I can certainly live this song and never hear it again. It seems like they tried too hard to make something meaningful. I just don't feel a sincere cry for help which is what this song is trying to pull off.

132 - Bugs (Vitalogy)

The last of the Vitalogy gags to appear on the list. This one is actually quite humorous. Accordians and Ed asking the listener if he could squash a bug or be it's friend? Hilarious. But what is a song like this actually doing on the album? Maybe I should lighten up, but the song's got nothing going for it musically and a 6 year old (and most likely did) could have written its content.

131 - Evacuation (Binaural)

Most annoying chorus you're likely to hear from a band this good. Evac...uation! over and over. Mike does nifty guitar work but it's not enough to salvage the worst song on Binaural. It's so annoyingly catchy that if it gets stuck in yout head, you may be driven to suicide.

130 - Deep (Ten)

This is probably my first pick that may be unpopular to Pearl Jam fanatics, but it's a bad song. Don't deny it. It's noise to me. Considering it's the only real blemish on Ten, its stock makes it drop even lower. In tooo Deeep yea!!! I hate the music. I hate the content. I hate the vocals. Gets old very quickly. Bad... bad.

129 - Gremmie Out of Control

It's a surf song. A gremmie is a novice surfer. Sounds like a horrible 60's parody. I think that's Stone doing the background vocals and he's a hilarious human being in it. "There's nothing worse than a Gremmie Out of Control." They were close. There's actually like 10 songs worse, but they almost had it. They were just having fun, but that doesn't mean that it makes good music.

128 - Push Me Pull Me

Ehh... I kinda like this one but I realize it belongs in this tier. I had a false belief. But you know it's just a rant by Ed with backing vocals yelling Push Me Pull Me. It's a good rant though. He kinda pulls off talking melodically and car horns and that other horn I can't think of the name of are an added bonus. Tripped out sounds in this one. The puddles on the ground harmony makes me laugh every time for some reason. Just pull me out!

127 - 125. Effective Joke Songs and Wasted Reprise

It's nice to have songs that perform it's intended purpose. That's what these songs are about. Not trying to do anything special, at least if they are, they are achieving it well. These are the workmen of Pearl Jam songs! Doing their jobs without ever having to ask. You guys above should take notes.

127 - Sweet Lew (Lost Dogs)

Sweet Lew, how could you!? Any song that says Milwaukee Bucks and a barbeque is made of win. I love basketball so this song has got game. Ya, pretty lame description on my part, but the vocals are completely unique and err umm... yea. Like most of these gags, never performed and never would be, but it's nice to listen to once and a while. It's good for a few laughs.

126 - Wasted Reprise (Pearl Jam)

I didn't know what tier to put this belonged in but it belongs in between these two I suppose. I'm a fan of reprises and I love organs and Boom does a nice job. It's nice to be listening to an album and then 7 songs later hear a slowed down reprise of it. Gives the album connectivity I guess. Still, its not strong enough to get it above others. Still, its role is appreciated. Badass song coming out of Encore number 2 straight into Life Wasted. Even works nicely as a concert opener.

125 - Black Red Yellow (Lost Dogs)

I don't know if this song is a joke song but I think it's funny so therefore I hope it is. Otherwise it'd be plain bad. But the line "firing like a 50 ft Roman" reassures my thoughts. I actually enjoy the harmony here. Black.... and ... red ... and yellow. The first line has the potential to be stuck in your head all day, so you are warned.

ytrepus

Cool..I like these countdowns. Would be interested to see the rest.

SVRDhand13

Wait... this guy is a fan of Pearl Jam?

And I'm pretty sure those Vitalogy songs weren't meant to be jokes.

Wobbie

ytrepus wrote:

Cool..I like these countdowns. Would be interested to see the rest.

In that case, you shall (in a bit).

SVRDhand13 wrote:

Wait... this guy is a fan of Pearl Jam?

And I'm pretty sure those Vitalogy songs weren't meant to be jokes.

he is (I think). His reviews make more sense as he counts down.

tcaporale

It would be kind of hard for me to "rank" the band's songs, especially going that high. I mean, what really makes #120 better than #121? I wish people would stop over-analyzing things.

Of course, I'm curious as to the rest of the list, so I guess that makes me a hypocrite!

gndcd402

#1 better be given to fly :P

Wobbie

gndcd402 wrote:

#1 better be given to fly :P

I'll go check for ya....

1STmammal2wearPants

this guy just seemed like a moron, but hating 'deep' just confirmed it for me.

Spiritual_Chaos

You take this to seriously. It's a fun read... nothing more.

130 - Deep (Ten)

Never liked Deep either, but can't figure out why. Seems like it soesn't fit on TEN for some reason.

Wobbie

1STmammal2wearPants wrote:

this guy just seemed like a moron, but hating 'deep' just confirmed it for me.

Give it a chance (or not ). I'll post the next tier tomorrow.

Stephen Flow

I'm thinking about doing my own list because I really don't agree with these lol.

Better Dan

Spiritual_Chaos wrote:

You take this to seriously. It's a fun read... nothing more.

130 - Deep (Ten)

Never liked Deep either, but can't figure out why. Seems like it soesn't fit on TEN for some reason.

Yeah Deep's the only song I skip off of Ten..and one of the few I skip off any PJ album. Definitely one of my least favorites.

Stephen Flow

DS114969 wrote:

Spiritual_Chaos wrote:

You take this to seriously. It's a fun read... nothing more.

130 - Deep (Ten)

Never liked Deep either, but can't figure out why. Seems like it soesn't fit on TEN for some reason.

Yeah Deep's the only song I skip off of Ten..and one of the few I skip off any PJ album. Definitely one of my least favorites.

I like Deep but it's my least fav off Ten, there are many other songs that would fall into that spot for me.

ChadsStillAlive

I'm the Examiner author (Charles) and I was trying to stay away from posting on here in response to my list. Something about it seemed self-indulgent or intrusive on people's experiences with the countdown, buuut...I have to comment here that this guy who did the previous list may like Pearl Jam, but he doesn't seem to have much respect for the band, nor does he seem to be much of a writer - two things I deem important when creating my list. Yes, I listed "Bugs," "Stupid Mop," etc. low, but this guy called them "joke songs" and a waste of time. That's wholly inaccurate and just plain sad to me. I humbly hope my list is more thorough, insightful and descriptive than his.

Dero

ChadsStillAlive wrote:

I humbly hope my list is more thorough, insightful and descriptive than his.

It is. Great read, informed and well written...

Wobbie

ChadsStillAlive wrote:

I humbly hope my list is more thorough, insightful and descriptive than his.

Yours is all of the above. This guys list gets a lot more thorough, insightful and descriptive at about song #60ish. That being said, here's his next tier:

124-100. They 'Hey this song is pretty decent' Tier

I like these songs. I really do. For one reason or another. Probably only one reason which is why they are rather high on this list. These are for the most part the low end quality songs on an album.

124 - Habit (No Code)

This song sucks. The line "Speaking as a child of the 90s..." saves this wrecking ball, and turns it into a song worth listening to. Just to get to this line. That's all you have going for you habit.

123 - In The Moonlight (Lost Dogs)

Pretty nice riff. The song is pretty unmotivated though. I can make it through a listen, but I can take it or leave it. Nice moaning going on in the chorus. Roaring Michael solo.

122 - Big Wave (Pearl Jam)

Gremmie Out of Control done seriously, you may call it. It's a fun song to listening to once in a while. The chemistry between Stone and Mike really shine in this one.

121 - Get Right (Riot Act)

Think car commercial.

120 - Pilate (Yield)

Probably the weakest non-experimental song on Yield. Hate the chorus, love the verses. Black Pilate I have you don't can be very annoying very quickly, but the opening verse is badass.

119 - Thin Air (Binaural)

The songs bleeds with cheese. Probably the cheesiest lyrics Eddie's come up with. But because of the rarity unto which he writes a song like this, you can appreciate it better. Nice Stone guitar work too.

118 - I'm Open (No Code)

Eddie's attempt at the local poetry club gathering. If you listen to it, its pretty inciteful stuff, and the breaks of "I'm Open" are nicely done. Good to hear them play this one during some '07 shows.

117 - You Are (Riot Act)

I love the opening guitar riff. It's like a rubber band or something expansive if that makes sense. It's actually a good song, but it gets lost in this band's legendary library of greats.

116 - Drifting (Lost Dogs)

I don't care for this, but a harmonica is used so... yea.

115 - All Night (Lost Dogs)

It seems like they've done this song somewhere else... hmmm... a lot of times... hmmm.... but nice harmony ooo yea! Wicked stop in the middle too.

114 - Don't Gimme No Lip (Lost Dogs)

Pretty generic, but Stone sings it so it's a novelty to hear. It was between this and Mankind to make No Code and the better one did.

113 - Hold On (Lost Dogs)

A Ten outtake. Good reason why this didn't make the album, though still it's better than Deep. It bleeds distortion but I loved the melody. High-voiced Ed so early in his career kicks ass too. Where does it end!? Awesome harmony too. I just listened to it again, it's actually pretty badass so I just moved it up a few spots.

112 - Blood (Vs.)

The last album yet to represented (I think) finally gets some. Mike does killer guitar work, as this song certainly brings the noise, but the vocals are a blur to me. ITSSS MAAHHH BLOOOODDDD... this isn't why I love Pearl Jam. I love the hard ones, yes, but they usually never sacrifice sensical music for noise. Here they did. Mike salvages this one which is one it is suprisingly low considering my disdain for what kind of song it is.

111 - 1/2 Full (Riot Act)

It's one of those great live tracks but just doesn't do much on the record. Mike has some great stuff going on here, but the song is unorganized mush. This is actually most of Riot Act's issue but somehow they manage to perform it great live. Most of Riot Act is great live, and this is probably the quintessential difference between a great live song that just doesn't do it on the record, for Pearl Jam at least.

110 - Soon Forget (Binaural)

It's Ed on a uke, so it's definitely got bonus points of uniqueness. He says horny so I lol at that part. Beautiful melody though and it's really fun to play (and easy). It's lyrics ring true though... I think. Whenever he plays it live, it's kinda weird though and it's more solo Ed than anything. I want Pearl Jam in my Pearl Jam. Weird that this one was on the album, when ****ing Fatal and Sad were left off.

109 - Rival (Binaural)

The whole thing is double vocal tracked which is badass, and it's a great drunk sing-a-long. At least, I imagine it to be. >_> The opening whip is pretty odd, and the riff can get a little repetitive. I love the repeating piano strikes though. Nice one there, whoever is playing it. O'Brien maybe?

108 - Spin the Black Circle

If you ever bored look up the Spin the Black Circle acceptance speech at the Grammy's. It's hilarious. Oh well, I'll get it for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHEYs0CMe4U

It's the band's only grammy win and probably will remain that way after that. It's probably the fastest song in the band's song list and has pretty decent melodic content. The old ode to playing records the right way, on the vinyl oh yea.

107 - Breakerfall (Binaural)

Break her fall... haha get it ? Ja. The first of the album openers to appear so I guess by default that makes it the weakest. It's a pretty cool song though and does in fact fit as an opener. The first Matt Cameron drumming experience within Pearl Jam is awesome too you know. He does a slammin' job on this one. Run-of-the-mill Mike work too, which is always a good thing for him. But it's short! A 2:20 opener for a rocker? Meh. I guess that's fine. But cool double voice tracking as well.

106 - Mankind (Binaural)

Isn't it an accomplishment, Stone, that your vocals beat out so many of Ed's? Congrats on that. I suppose. This one actually made the album and is so ****ing catchy. I even think Stone sings this better than Ed could have been I can't be sure unless I heard Ed do it in fact. 60s era pop song done the right way.

105 - Untitled (Yield)

Also known as Red Dot, this is the pride of Jack Irons. The band actually messes with some pretty cool tempos here and speeds and slows rather nicely. Is it just me or is there some sort of chomping going on the backround by someone?

104 - Wishlist (Yield)

I believe this is the first of the Greatest Hits to make the list, though I'm not too sure. Sometimes this song hits top 50 other times it can barely make 130. It's probably the difference between if I am listening and catch a line like "I wish I was a sacrifice but somehow lived on" or I hear "I wish I was a Christmas tree the star that went on top." Today I heard both so here we are.

103 - Leavin Here (Lost Dogs)

Pretty decent late 50's/early 60's type song here. Hey fellows have you heard the news!? AWWW YEAAAA!! Pro treating women right song so that's bonus points. Generic Guitar Rock #7 though, but the song was great when Sleater-Kinney used to come out and sing it back in '05.

102 - Save You (Riot Act)

Nice melody line and this is one of Boom's favorites to play. They play it too much live... **** me. There'd be no us without you is a pretty cliche line I guess, but I love it. Love how it's said too.

101 - Gone (Pearl Jam)

Cliche get away from it all song. So at least it's got that going for it. If I hadn't heard it first played at AC, it probably would not have placed so high.

100 - Green Disease (Riot Act)

Awww... so close to making it out of the tier, but no. G-R-E-E-D-G-R. It's pretty blatant attack on public mindsets on money. Classically awesome guitar intro from Michael. Ed sounds like he's a second or two away from death at the beginning of this one.

tcaporale

His criticism of "Blood" doesn't even make sense.

Ledbetterman10

How can anyone respect a list that has Sweet Lew ranked 127 and Whipping ranked 139???? So this guy is saying that Sweet Lew is a better song that Whipping. Wow.

And he has RED DOT from Yield ahead of Spin the Black Circle!!! Oh my god.....PLEASE stop posting this silly bullshit

G Force

131 - Evacuation (Binaural)

Most annoying chorus you're likely to hear from a band this good. Evac...uation! over and over. Mike does nifty guitar work but it's not enough to salvage the worst song on Binaural. It's so annoyingly catchy that if it gets stuck in yout head, you may be driven to suicide.
TOTALLY AGREE


130 - Deep (Ten)

This is probably my first pick that may be unpopular to Pearl Jam fanatics, but it's a bad song. Don't deny it. It's noise to me. Considering it's the only real blemish on Ten, its stock makes it drop even lower. In tooo Deeep yea!!! I hate the music. I hate the content. I hate the vocals. Gets old very quickly. Bad... bad.
TOTALLY DISAGREE

Wobbie

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

How can anyone respect a list that has Sweet Lew ranked 127 and Whipping ranked 139???? So this guy is saying that Sweet Lew is a better song that Whipping. Wow.

And he has RED DOT from Yield ahead of Spin the Black Circle!!! Oh my god.....PLEASE stop posting this silly bullshit

You've heard the old quote "opinions are like a**holes"? :shock:

You're all gonna agree with his Top Ten! :roll:

Brisk.

Why on this god dam earth would someone bother doing this?