Inside Job

Black73

jimc3 wrote:

To answer your question - yes, you are crazy.

You can certainly argue that it is a very good / great PJ song (I would disagree with that though, I think it's a flawed PJ song that had the potentional to be great).

And does hearing the live version of it elevate it? sure.

But the BEST SONG EVER WRITTEN??? Forget about hyperbole, that is still an outrageous statement.

Sympathy for the Devil?

Like a Rolling Stone?

All Along the Watchtower?

Won't Get Fooled Again?

Hotel California?

Freebird?

and dozens, arguably hundreds of others?

INCLUDING Alive?

I mean, come on. For a song to be the "best ever" it has to actually be known beyond the fanbase of the band that plays it.

Inside Job is creative and emotional, for sure. I get why PJ fans like this song. But personally, I could do without the clumsy piano in the intro, and some of the most inane PJ lyrics ever ("how I choose to feel...is how I am". O - K then, your cousin in 10th grade could've wrote that)

If you had said all the same about Unthought Known in your original post I would have sided with you.

First off, a disagreement: Hotel California in your considered list of greatest songs ever written? Seriously? The best thing that ever happened to The Eagles was when they went on hiatus...I just wish hell hadn't frozen over! Joe Walsh is badass, but the rest of those old farts are just that.

Now I gotta agree with you a bit Jim...the lyrics aren't my favorite of all PJ songs, and yes, Alive has much deeper lyrical meaning imo. That being said, the first time I heard Inside Job I thought from the long intro that it was a Pink Floydesque instrumental-type One Of These Days numbers, and I was psyched! Not that I want Ed to stop singing, but I thought an instrumental was long overdue and was happy it was on their 8th studio album (I didn't consider Brother from Lost Dogs, but I liked that as an instrumental too).

I think Inside Job is masterful, and I think it would have been brilliant if done with no words. I have a cool demo I picked up in the mid-90's that has just the music for most of Ten before the lyrics were added...gotta say Black has always been my favorite song, but to hear the instrumental version of that song made me like it even more.

Evacuation Rules

Fantastic closing song on an otherwise shitty album.

EdLaw

I Remember listening to this for the first time, and being captivated by the intro immediately. Easily my favourite off the s/t album. Would love to see it live one day.

tremors

inlet13 wrote:

I've always thought of Present Tense as Pearl Jam's "Stairway to Heaven"....

That said, Inside Job's a nice song, but not stairway. I think the music is spectacular. And the lyrics are decent. Let me put it this way, Mike wrote better lyrics in this song then Stone or Jeff ever did (in all their PJ compositions).... that said, I wish Ed wrote the lyrics to this song. It would've been that much better.

All in all, I just think Mike was trying to make a stairway style song. So, it's not surprising so many here compare it to Stairway. The magic of Stairway was the lyrics/musical combo. I'd say Inside Job is closer on the musical end then the lyrics.

I think however Ed & Mike worked together Inside Job, it really worked in getting Mike's voice out there clearly (how I imagine it anyway), and it is kind of a revelation like that - it seems a lot of ed and a lot of Mike, together.

However, I can't agree about Jeff's lyrics. In terms of punch per number of songs written, I think Jeff has a very strong ratio - some of my favourite, most 'moody' Vedder lines come from Jeff (I think they are his anyway!)

Lowlight, NAIS, Pilate, (especially the 'own reflection' lines) - Help Help those are amongst my PJ highpoints. Will never tire of Lowlight live or PIlate studio (I even tried to sample that vocal line once, cos it's so beautiful, I thought it could make a song of its own - Shame I'm no good at making music!! lol)

[The perfect writer to sample has gotta be Chuck D of Public Enemy imo- you could make about twenty songs out of every one of his (and a lot of people have done!!) But I digress.....]

En La Clandestinidad

tremors wrote:

inlet13 wrote:

I've always thought of Present Tense as Pearl Jam's "Stairway to Heaven"....

That said, Inside Job's a nice song, but not stairway. I think the music is spectacular. And the lyrics are decent. Let me put it this way, Mike wrote better lyrics in this song then Stone or Jeff ever did (in all their PJ compositions).... that said, I wish Ed wrote the lyrics to this song. It would've been that much better.

All in all, I just think Mike was trying to make a stairway style song. So, it's not surprising so many here compare it to Stairway. The magic of Stairway was the lyrics/musical combo. I'd say Inside Job is closer on the musical end then the lyrics.

I think however Ed & Mike worked together Inside Job, it really worked in getting Mike's voice out there clearly (how I imagine it anyway), and it is kind of a revelation like that - it seems a lot of ed and a lot of Mike, together.

However, I can't agree about Jeff's lyrics. In terms of punch per number of songs written, I think Jeff has a very strong ratio - some of my favourite, most 'moody' Vedder lines come from Jeff (I think they are his anyway!)

Lowlight, NAIS, Pilate, (especially the 'own reflection' lines) - Help Help those are amongst my PJ highpoints. Will never tire of Lowlight live or PIlate studio (I even tried to sample that vocal line once, cos it's so beautiful, I thought it could make a song of its own - Shame I'm no good at making music!! lol)

[The perfect writer to sample has gotta be Chuck D of Public Enemy imo- you could make about twenty songs out of every one of his (and a lot of people have done!!) But I digress.....]

Wow, I gotta be honest, I have never like Pilate or Help Help, though Nothing as it Seems is a masterpiece!

UncleNeil

listen to it almost every day. it is a great song.

its also a song where I like the studio version better than live versions because there is so much 'going on' in the song that a lot gets lost on the live recordings.

En La Clandestinidad

UncleNeil wrote:

its also a song where I like the studio version better than live versions because there is so much 'going on' in the song that a lot gets lost on the live recordings.

Agreed. The studio is better, though seeing it live is a treat.

The Juggler

AH129339 wrote:

I know everyone gets caught up with Led Zep, Beatles, Stones, Floyd and so on..... But i sincerely believe that Inside Job is the best song ever written. I agree its one that you have to relate to to really feel it but in my eyes it is perfect.

Am I crazy ?

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the single, most absurd post this board has seen... since someone said evacuation was the band's best song ever written a few days ago.

you people need to have your heads examined.

:roll:

jimc3

Black73 wrote:

jimc3 wrote:

To answer your question - yes, you are crazy.

You can certainly argue that it is a very good / great PJ song (I would disagree with that though, I think it's a flawed PJ song that had the potentional to be great).

And does hearing the live version of it elevate it? sure.

But the BEST SONG EVER WRITTEN??? Forget about hyperbole, that is still an outrageous statement.

Sympathy for the Devil?

Like a Rolling Stone?

All Along the Watchtower?

Won't Get Fooled Again?

Hotel California?

Freebird?

and dozens, arguably hundreds of others?

INCLUDING Alive?

I mean, come on. For a song to be the "best ever" it has to actually be known beyond the fanbase of the band that plays it.

Inside Job is creative and emotional, for sure. I get why PJ fans like this song. But personally, I could do without the clumsy piano in the intro, and some of the most inane PJ lyrics ever ("how I choose to feel...is how I am". O - K then, your cousin in 10th grade could've wrote that)

If you had said all the same about Unthought Known in your original post I would have sided with you.

First off, a disagreement: Hotel California in your considered list of greatest songs ever written? Seriously? The best thing that ever happened to The Eagles was when they went on hiatus...I just wish hell hadn't frozen over! Joe Walsh is badass, but the rest of those old farts are just that.

Now I gotta agree with you a bit Jim...the lyrics aren't my favorite of all PJ songs, and yes, Alive has much deeper lyrical meaning imo. That being said, the first time I heard Inside Job I thought from the long intro that it was a Pink Floydesque instrumental-type One Of These Days numbers, and I was psyched! Not that I want Ed to stop singing, but I thought an instrumental was long overdue and was happy it was on their 8th studio album (I didn't consider Brother from Lost Dogs, but I liked that as an instrumental too).

I think Inside Job is masterful, and I think it would have been brilliant if done with no words. I have a cool demo I picked up in the mid-90's that has just the music for most of Ten before the lyrics were added...gotta say Black has always been my favorite song, but to hear the instrumental version of that song made me like it even more.

I was just rolling off some of the titles of what the majority of people think of as "the best song ever written".

my point was, for a song to even get in the conversation, it has to not just be a virtually unquestioned masterpiece, it has to widely be known and loved.

IJ fits neither of those criteria, period. Hotel California, regardless of mine or your personal preferences, does.

Plus, the vast majority of non-PJ fans consider Alive to be PJ's best song. I personally think it is Immortality, and I'd totally stick up for PJ fans who thought it was RVM, and I get but don't agree with the Present Tense crowd. like I said, I think out of PJs newer songs, Unthought Known has much more of a right to start to get into this kind of talk than Inside Job.

Newch91

jimc3 wrote:

To answer your question - yes, you are crazy.

You can certainly argue that it is a very good / great PJ song (I would disagree with that though, I think it's a flawed PJ song that had the potentional to be great).

And does hearing the live version of it elevate it? sure.

But the BEST SONG EVER WRITTEN??? Forget about hyperbole, that is still an outrageous statement.

Sympathy for the Devil?

Like a Rolling Stone?

All Along the Watchtower?

Won't Get Fooled Again?

Hotel California?

Freebird?

and dozens, arguably hundreds of others?

INCLUDING Alive?

I mean, come on. For a song to be the "best ever" it has to actually be known beyond the fanbase of the band that plays it.

Inside Job is creative and emotional, for sure. I get why PJ fans like this song. But personally, I could do without the clumsy piano in the intro, and some of the most inane PJ lyrics ever ("how I choose to feel...is how I am". O - K then, your cousin in 10th grade could've wrote that)

If you had said all the same about Unthought Known in your original post I would have sided with you.

umm...Imagine.

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

i like the music, but Mike should be kept far far FAR away from writing lyrics. sounds like some kind of Stuart Smalley inspirational self help crap to me.

i can see Mike running through the rain singing about being a human light. its not a pleasant picture for me

gecko

Mike running or Mike singing?

I slightly cringe at the lyrics, the only line I like is 'It's an inside job today'. Still, I get the encouragement out of the song. It is my job interview song.
When I was standing in the cold and rain at the Christchurch concert, I really wished they would play this one. It was the last song I was thinking of when I went there, but when I was there, it was the only song I hoped for. Not that I didn't get more then I expected.

thefin190

gecko wrote:

Mike running or Mike singing?

I slightly cringe at the lyrics, the only line I like is 'It's an inside job today'. Still, I get the encouragement out of the song. It is my job interview song.
When I was standing in the cold and rain at the Christchurch concert, I really wished they would play this one. It was the last song I was thinking of when I went there, but when I was there, it was the only song I hoped for. Not that I didn't get more then I expected.

Job interview song...I love it. I will have to remember that if/when I interview for a job in the future.

tremors

The Jeagler wrote:

AH129339 wrote:

I know everyone gets caught up with Led Zep, Beatles, Stones, Floyd and so on..... But i sincerely believe that Inside Job is the best song ever written. I agree its one that you have to relate to to really feel it but in my eyes it is perfect.

Am I crazy ?

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the single, most absurd post this board has seen... since someone said evacuation was the band's best song ever written a few days ago.

you people need to have your heads examined.

:roll:

lol - there is a lot of competition out there! And yes, Inside Job wouldn't make the grade. As a live therapeutic experience however, it can be very moving!

I wouldn't really know where to start with best song ever written - girlfriend in a coma, drive my car, break on through, moonlight drive, like a rolling stone - shit - there are a lot of fucking good songs in the world!

Agree, Inside Job can't stand up against them - but then even PJs best songs are often as much about the passion as the craftsmanship. I would say Sometimes, In Hiding, footsteps - I could see myself defending them - garden, yes. mmmmmm.... this thread is doomed to a mass outbreak of arguments I fear! Hotel California is a brilliant song - I never liked Stairway much, I think four sticks is my favourite from that album!! Now TANGERINE - now you're talking!!

[tries to make a swift exit at this point!]

buck502000

Bump 9/11

NM70698

Song helped me find inspiration when I was in serious need of overcoming self-doubt.  Like others, I remember seeing the advance track list and expected it would be a mediocre political track.  Turned out to be one of my favorites.   

darwinstheory

It is a fantastic effort!

pearljammr78

I love  Inside Job. Lyrics are a little cheesy but that’s what makes it fun. Reminds me of a great 80’s hair metal sing along but with great music. Always puts me in a good mood. Great song. 

Cridder

Today...

Cridder

My basement wall