WHY!? dont people like riot act?

PJammin'

Sandro Ribeiro 7691 wrote:

2° - I have a crush on Backspacer but there´s a song that I don´t dig as the others: Supersonic (even though it shares some chords with Mankind)...

i don't dig Supersonic either. i don't dig Comatose. in fact, a lot of their "punkish" songs i don't really dig. :?:

SatansFuton

Sandro Ribeiro 7691 wrote:

I agree with dimitrispearljam when he talks about age and how that´s an influence on how people choose their best (or worse?!?!?!) PJ album.

I don't think Riot Act needs to have excuses made for it, but I think that's all the age thing is. People that love it thinking that there must be some reason other than musical taste for others not thinking Riot Act is as great as they do.

It doesn't explain why I (and others) like/love the albums before and after Riot Act. If we just had an opinion that nothing good was ever recorded after Yield, and we were just stuck in the 90's, then I could understand. But I haven't seen any comments like that.

It's just a matter of taste, there is no being too old, too young, not "getting it" or whatever. I mean, I was 22 when Riot Act came out, so I wasn't some crotchety old man who hated what "the kids were listening to these days". It just didn't hit me like Yield and No Code, or even Vitalogy when I was still just a "casual fan", or Avocado a few years later.

abhijeet

To me, it's just odd that the album is so disliked. Riot Act is in my Top 4 PJ albums - Ten, Vs, Vitalogy and Riot Act. I am not a fan of No Code or Binaural.

Riot Act was the first time PJ made an album that rocked hard and yet mixed in all their weird experimentation of the second half of the 90s. It actually sounds to me like what the natural progression from Vitalogy *should* have sounded like, instead of the terrible No Code. While No Code has some good songs, overall I've never liked it as an album. Riot Act sounds just fantastic as an album.

To be honest, the Avocado album was a little disappointing at first. A total return to the early 90s sound? I wanted PJ to keep going down the path created by Riot Act, successfully combining the two threads of their music since No Code, but doing it right this time.

mcgruff10

I don't think it really has to do with age; it just seems like riot act is the weakest pj album. I understand that everything is subjective but it is the worst selling of all the pj studio albums and the tour that followed wasn't exactly sold out in a lot of places. and i went to 13 shows on the riot act tour! to each his own.

jammerfall

Who knows about the age thing. I turned 40 the year of Riot Act, and I connected with it for some reason. I had kinda put Pearl Jam on the backburner for a few years (Binaural) and RA pretty much renewed my love and enthusiasm for them.

I know, just the opposite of most folks here.

UpSideDown

Bushleaguer has the best sound quality of any PJ studio track ever.

Then again, so does the entire Riot Act album.

pineapplesandwaves.

mcgruff10 wrote:

if you poll 25,000 pearl jam fans i'm thinking the vast majority would agree that no code and yield are better than riot act. are there certain songs on riot act that are good? absoultely! (can't keep, 1/2 full, bushleaguer!) but there really is no comparison between the three albums. riot act just doesn't translate well live. that's why i feel it's one of the least played in concert and the lowest in sales amongst the studio albums.

Picking your favourite album is like picking your favourite child - you just can't do it.

On the other hand, I have no difficulty picking my least favourite album and that is definitely Riot Act. I would be one of those fans who agrees that No Code and Yield are far superior to Riot Act. There's no comparison. In fact, I don't think any post-Binaural album compares to any of the first six albums, but I certainly like Avocado and Backspacer better than Riot Act.

Sure, there are songs on Riot Act that I like, but I just never connected to the album like I did with every other PJ album before it. I don't know what it is exactly. As an album, it doesn't flow, and even live, I find that it's a buzz kill. Overall, the songs sound tired and uninspired, imo.

Like McGruff said, there's a reason why Riot Act is the least played album in concert.

pineapplesandwaves.

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

My first problem is that there isn't enough Stone and Mike, and I have never heard anyone mention this about the album before. Matt actually has more songwriting credit than either one of them! Mike's contributions are practically nil. The only song he gets any credit for is Save You, but then again so does the rest of the band; that song was very co-written.

Agreed.

I'm just not the biggest fan of a lot of Matt's songs, whereas I love most songs that Mike has written and, unfortunately, he seemed pretty uninvolved on Riot Act.

Tom Wilbur

BLACKOUT WEAVES ITS WAY THRU THE CITY
BLACKOUT WEAVES ITS WAY THRU THE CITY

tremors

SatansFuton wrote:

Sandro Ribeiro 7691 wrote:

I agree with dimitrispearljam when he talks about age and how that´s an influence on how people choose their best (or worse?!?!?!) PJ album.

I don't think Riot Act needs to have excuses made for it, but I think that's all the age thing is. People that love it thinking that there must be some reason other than musical taste for others not thinking Riot Act is as great as they do.

It doesn't explain why I (and others) like/love the albums before and after Riot Act. If we just had an opinion that nothing good was ever recorded after Yield, and we were just stuck in the 90's, then I could understand. But I haven't seen any comments like that.

It's just a matter of taste, there is no being too old, too young, not "getting it" or whatever. I mean, I was 22 when Riot Act came out, so I wasn't some crotchety old man who hated what "the kids were listening to these days". It just didn't hit me like Yield and No Code, or even Vitalogy when I was still just a "casual fan", or Avocado a few years later.

True, I wish this was applied to me whenever I say I dig Backspacer - rather than being told I am misguided because it is objectively their worst album. I think a lot of the discussions about our favourite and least favourite albums here would go better if there was more room for the concept of "subjective taste"

I love Riot Act btw- 3am, lights down low, spinning the vinyl...... I recommend this!

clover68

i love it too .. in my taste it's the best album of their second decade

PJ51390

Not so thrilled with the politics of the song, but that may be my favorite part of the album, except of course for ALL of LBC

Tom Wilbur wrote:

BLACKOUT WEAVES ITS WAY THRU THE CITY
BLACKOUT WEAVES ITS WAY THRU THE CITY

The Waiting Trophy Man

abhijeet wrote:

To me, it's just odd that the album is so disliked. Riot Act is in my Top 4 PJ albums - Ten, Vs, Vitalogy and Riot Act. I am not a fan of No Code or Binaural.

It's funny how you say it's odd for people to dislike Riot Act so much, and then you turn around and say that you're not a fan of No Code and Binaural. Did you really just do that??

To the rest of us, it's odd that you are not a fan of No Code or Binaural! lol

The Waiting Trophy Man

pineapplesandwaves. wrote:

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

My first problem is that there isn't enough Stone and Mike, and I have never heard anyone mention this about the album before. Matt actually has more songwriting credit than either one of them! Mike's contributions are practically nil. The only song he gets any credit for is Save You, but then again so does the rest of the band; that song was very co-written.

Agreed.

I'm just not the biggest fan of a lot of Matt's songs, whereas I love most songs that Mike has written and, unfortunately, he seemed pretty uninvolved on Riot Act.

Oddly enough, I love In the Moonlight, on Lost Dogs. But yeah, too much Matt and not enough Mike!

tremors

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

abhijeet wrote:

To me, it's just odd that the album is so disliked. Riot Act is in my Top 4 PJ albums - Ten, Vs, Vitalogy and Riot Act. I am not a fan of No Code or Binaural.

It's funny how you say it's odd for people to dislike Riot Act so much, and then you turn around and say that you're not a fan of No Code and Binaural. Did you really just do that??

To the rest of us, it's odd that you are not a fan of No Code or Binaural! lol

Binaural is, objectively speaking, Pearl Jam's worst album


edit - meaning, I am not part of this 'rest of us' your describe!

fox_mulderX

riot act as a whole is boring. ed's vocals, if you can even call them that, are at an all time low. it sounds like he wasn't even trying... and i don't care if that was the point of the album. i enjoy a few songs from it. can't keep is probably the best opener on any pj album, but songs like cropduster, ghost, green disease, and bushleager are almost laughably bad.

The Waiting Trophy Man

tremors wrote:

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

abhijeet wrote:

To me, it's just odd that the album is so disliked. Riot Act is in my Top 4 PJ albums - Ten, Vs, Vitalogy and Riot Act. I am not a fan of No Code or Binaural.

It's funny how you say it's odd for people to dislike Riot Act so much, and then you turn around and say that you're not a fan of No Code and Binaural. Did you really just do that??

To the rest of us, it's odd that you are not a fan of No Code or Binaural! lol

Binaural is, objectively speaking, Pearl Jam's worst album


edit - meaning, I am not part of this 'rest of us' your describe!

No problem. I just meant I think you're in the minority there. No Code and binaural are definitely more liked than Riot Act; around here, anyways. I think. Shit, I don't know. Maybe not, lol. What do I know!?

tremors

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

tremors wrote:

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

It's funny how you say it's odd for people to dislike Riot Act so much, and then you turn around and say that you're not a fan of No Code and Binaural. Did you really just do that??

To the rest of us, it's odd that you are not a fan of No Code or Binaural! lol

Binaural is, objectively speaking, Pearl Jam's worst album


edit - meaning, I am not part of this 'rest of us' your describe!

No problem. I just meant I think you're in the minority there. No Code and binaural are definitely more liked than Riot Act; around here, anyways. I think. Shit, I don't know. Maybe not, lol. What do I know!?

I'm partly in the gang, and partly out of it. I love No Code, like Riot Act, but Binaural is my least favourite album - I love all the 90s albums plus riot act and backspacer - but I think you're probably right that I am out of step with this board on the post-2000 albums - liking riot act and backspacer and disliking Avocado and Binaural :shock: I don't know either - I just know what I like If I had to explain it, I would probably say the main factor is the quality of the songwriting on the albums I dislike

tremors

fox_mulderX wrote:

riot act as a whole is boring. ed's vocals, if you can even call them that, are at an all time low. it sounds like he wasn't even trying... and i don't care if that was the point of the album. i enjoy a few songs from it. can't keep is probably the best opener on any pj album, but songs like cropduster, ghost, green disease, and bushleager are almost laughably bad.

I don't think ed is not trying - I just think he is fucking miserable as hell, and this is how he uses his voice when he is low (contrast with Backspacer). You could hear this in Eddie's voice I think during the US leg of the 2000 tour - the way he used his voice changed on that tour. With a song like Thumbing My Way the voice and the lyrics go together - it is a very painful subject matter, sung in a very honest way. I think this is true for the bulk of Riot Act, and is what I get from it. If I want to tune in on high and happy Pearl Jam I will go for Backspacer, but if I want the dark side I will go with Riot Act.

Also, I would personally put the studio version of Cropduster in my top 10 Pearl Jam songs, and the studio version of Ghost in my top twenty. All a matter of taste I guess!

The Waiting Trophy Man

tremors wrote:

I'm partly in the gang, and partly out of it. I love No Code, like Riot Act, but Binaural is my least favourite album - I love all the 90s albums plus riot act and backspacer - but I think you're probably right that I am out of step with this board on the post-2000 albums - liking riot act and backspacer and disliking Avocado and Binaural :shock: I don't know either - I just know what I like If I had to explain it, I would probably say the main factor is the quality of the songwriting on the albums I dislike

No one can tell you what you like or dislike; that's a given!