Mr Sparkles needs his Binky

belfast1

Anyone know why there's only really one outtake from Vitalogy (Hard to Imagine)?

Laddie

I was hoping this thread was about this Mr. Sparkle

belfast1

imagine it is...

no but seriously - were the band done in or what?

RiotAct10

Hopefully we will find out if they ever re-release the rest of the albums. But it is possible, considering it was a shorter time between albums, and that they were touring most of the time the album was being made, that they didn't really have anything extra when they felt it was time to put the album out.

pleatherman

Remember last summer, how the band members were discussing turning the remainder of the songs from the Backspacer sessions into an EP. Well, it wasn't the first time they were struck with that idea. If I'm not mistaken, Vitalogy was originally conceived as an EP. The plan was it would center on the outtakes from Vs. (whipping, better man). I'm going to make a wild guess and say the finished instrumentals Eddie never got around to adding lyrics for during the Vs. sessions were also in the running. I've got a feeling these ones were left by the wayside, in part, due to the shifting dynamics within the band: Eddie fills the role of leader, in effect becoming the main songwriter and only working on more obscure material brought in by the other members. And let's not forget, this was also a time, for various reasons, the communication levels within the band were at an all-time low. In spite of, or perhaps because the strain these circumstances brought on, the group remained somewhat prolific during the '93-'94 tours. The fact they could not all be in a room together for more then 20 minutes means they had to arrange songs rather quickly. Not that it was all doom-and-gloom. The collective creative impulses that brought life to Tremor Christ and Nothingman are considered by pearl jam to be a highpoint in their recording career.

What the hell was the question? Oh, yeah. I'm getting there. As pearl jam began to amass more songs developed during various soundchecks over the course of the Vs. tour, the proposed EP soon outgrew itself to become the Vitalogy we know and love. All of the other albums by them, before or since, were made with every intention of being a full-fledged LP from the start; giving more opportunity and leeway for outtakes and B-sides to emerge. Blah, blah, blah… Hopefully, there are still a few songs collecting dust in that legendary vault, waiting to be heard.

Maybe recording would have continued had the ’94 summer tour not been cancelled. Who knows? Actually, I recall that summer was proposed to be the original target date to release the new songs. Instead, the guys decided to put pearl jam on hold for a bunch of reasons I don’t feel like getting into.

Useless trivia: Hard to Imagine is possibly the only completed song of theirs to be a serious candidate for three different albums! The one on Lost Dogs is from Vs. era, it was floating around for Vitalogy, and briefly considered during the making of No Code. The version selected for the Chicago Cab soundtrack includes, at least, a vocal take from the No Code sessions, according to an old interview with Jeff.

Gmoney

pleatherman wrote:

Remember last summer, how the band members were discussing turning the remainder of the songs from the Backspacer sessions into an EP. Well, it wasn't the first time they were struck with that idea. If I'm not mistaken, Vitalogy was originally conceived as an EP. The plan was it would center on the outtakes from Vs. (whipping, better man). I'm going to make a wild guess and say the finished instrumentals Eddie never got around to adding lyrics for during the Vs. sessions were also in the running. I've got a feeling these ones were left by the wayside, in part, due to the shifting dynamics within the band: Eddie fills the role of leader, in effect becoming the main songwriter and only working on more obscure material brought in by the other members. And let's not forget, this was also a time, for various reasons, the communication levels within the band were at an all-time low. In spite of, or perhaps because the strain these circumstances brought on, the group remained somewhat prolific during the '93-'94 tours. The fact they could not all be in a room together for more then 20 minutes means they had to arrange songs rather quickly. Not that it was all doom-and-gloom. The collective creative impulses that brought life to Tremor Christ and Nothingman are considered by pearl jam to be a highpoint in their recording career.

What the hell was the question? Oh, yeah. I'm getting there. As pearl jam began to amass more songs developed during various soundchecks over the course of the Vs. tour, the proposed EP soon outgrew itself to become the Vitalogy we know and love. All of the other albums by them, before or since, were made with every intention of being a full-fledged LP from the start; giving more opportunity and leeway for outtakes and B-sides to emerge. Blah, blah, blah… Hopefully, there are still a few songs collecting dust in that legendary vault, waiting to be heard.

Maybe recording would have continued had the ’94 summer tour not been cancelled. Who knows? Actually, I recall that summer was proposed to be the original target date to release the new songs. Instead, the guys decided to put pearl jam on hold for a bunch of reasons I don’t feel like getting into.

Useless trivia: Hard to Imagine is possibly the only completed song of theirs to be a serious candidate for three different albums! The one on Lost Dogs is from Vs. era, it was floating around for Vitalogy, and briefly considered during the making of No Code. The version selected for the Chicago Cab soundtrack includes, at least, a vocal take from the No Code sessions, according to an old interview with Jeff.

This is brilliant!

belfast1

Awesome - I knew one of you guys would come up with the Binky - Mr Sparkles can now sleep easy with some new info

remember 94 was pre Internet and if you lived in my part of the world you heard jackshit until an album was in the shops!

Hugh Freaking Dillon

belfast1 wrote:

remember 94 was pre Internet and if you lived in my part of the world you heard jackshit until an album was in the shops!

I thought I was the only one.......

LikeAnOcean

I'm going to be a nerd, but Hard to Imagine was also a Vs. outtake, so technically its from the Vs. sessions. I think they recorded again during the Vitalogy sessions.

locked

Johnny Sitar wrote:

belfast1 wrote:

remember 94 was pre Internet and if you lived in my part of the world you heard jackshit until an album was in the shops!

I thought I was the only one.......

Folks, all was not smoke signals and grunting..

Remember we had the FM Broadcasts (Atlanta 4/3/94 concert , Self Pollution Broadcast 1995, Berlin 1996 Check Point Charlie concert)

And do you remember recording these shows with TDK C90 cassettes and the dreaded "tape flip"...!

:shock:

.....Plus you could always place a collect call to the ten club seattle phone number and listen to the pre-recorded annoucements (who was the woman on that voice message anyway?)

To the people on this board under 40 years old.... I'm not kidding!