From Ten to Backspacer, themes/moods of each PJ album

fisttothejaw

I had this thought the other day, listening through the PJ catalog a bit... each album seems to represent a stage in the band's mentality, personal life, development, etc -

I mean, we've seen a bunch of people lament the "happy" love songs on BS, only to have others respond, "hey, the band's in a more settled place now, that's the kind of songs you get." So I thought it would be interesting to look at each album and see if each has an overall "theme" or emphasis...

(of course, each of these are just my own opinion, and each will have exceptions to the rule, or songs that don't necessarily exemplify the theme, but I wanted to see if I could take a stab at identifying part of what makes each album uniquely its own)

So here's my list - love to see yours

Ten - the youthful mix of nervous tension and unbridled energy, flirting with moments of insanity
Vs - a mix of all-out rage and disillusionment - the frustration of discovery replaces the anger of "not knowing"
Vitalogy - there's more of a "pain" element here - wounds, bruises, and the backlash that follows
No Code - metamorphosis, experimentation, and cautious self-realization
Yield - some evidence of stability and self-assuredness, a few grander statements about life and personal experience, plus even a bit of fun. the band is beginning to enjoy doing what they want, outside of fan/label pressure to be big.
Binaural - wry storytelling, the voice of an outside observer, analyzing more than necessarily expressing
Riot Act - a true mix of self-realization and societal analysis - getting outside one's mind and seeing how you interact with the world
Avocado/ST - even more of society's ills explored, the storytelling becomes more overt, and the anger shows up in a more structured, contained form
Backspacer - the word "structure" begins to apply more, and humor and wistfulness begin to coexist with the hard edges and exposed needles. the stability of life is reflected in the direction and purposefulness of the songs

So there's my list. You're now free to shred it, agree with some or all of it, and maybe post your own.

jumbojet

fisttothejaw wrote:

I had this thought the other day, listening through the PJ catalog a bit... each album seems to represent a stage in the band's mentality, personal life, development, etc -

I mean, we've seen a bunch of people lament the "happy" love songs on BS, only to have others respond, "hey, the band's in a more settled place now, that's the kind of songs you get." So I thought it would be interesting to look at each album and see if each has an overall "theme" or emphasis...

(of course, each of these are just my own opinion, and each will have exceptions to the rule, or songs that don't necessarily exemplify the theme, but I wanted to see if I could take a stab at identifying part of what makes each album uniquely its own)

So here's my list - love to see yours

Ten - the youthful mix of nervous tension and unbridled energy, flirting with moments of insanity
Vs - a mix of all-out rage and disillusionment - the frustration of discovery replaces the anger of "not knowing"
Vitalogy - there's more of a "pain" element here - wounds, bruises, and the backlash that follows
No Code - metamorphosis, experimentation, and cautious self-realization
Yield - some evidence of stability and self-assuredness, a few grander statements about life and personal experience, plus even a bit of fun. the band is beginning to enjoy doing what they want, outside of fan/label pressure to be big.
Binaural - wry storytelling, the voice of an outside observer, analyzing more than necessarily expressing
Riot Act - a true mix of self-realization and societal analysis - getting outside one's mind and seeing how you interact with the world
Avocado/ST - even more of society's ills explored, the storytelling becomes more overt, and the anger shows up in a more structured, contained form
Backspacer - the word "structure" begins to apply more, and humor and wistfulness begin to coexist with the hard edges and exposed needles. the stability of life is reflected in the direction and purposefulness of the songs

So there's my list. You're now free to shred it, agree with some or all of it, and maybe post your own.

I love what you did. I have more or less the same kind of feelings from the records as you stated. I am excited to experience the theme from Lightning Bolt.

DriftingByTheStorm

I think what you have stated is fairly coherent.
I tend to think of the albums as paired, with vitalogy being the odd ball...

Ten & VS - both fairly raw emotional albums. Lots of youthful rage, much of it in narrative form (Jeremy, daughter, deep, mamasan trio, dissident, wma, all songs that are literal stories about other people)

Vitalogy - the singular transitional album, which said "hey we are gonna stop playing by the rules". The sound changed. Ed started writing and strumming, asserting his leadership. Kurt died. Lots of death and morbidity here. Punk stars showing up in earnest. Foreshadows of later period darkness are here as well.

No Code & Yield - the transition that started with vitalogy folds in to pure transcendence with these albums. The band is reaching full maturity, along with its members. For the first time real hope is present on album, and for the first time humanitarian & political issues show up fully expressed, sandwiched in between real whimsy and playfulness. The playfulness is something we haven't really seen before.

Binaural & Riot Act - I call these albums "the Bush Twins" as I think a large part of their overall theme and mood is driven by the political climate of George W's days. The other two major events that I perceive to encapsulated in these albums are Rokskilde and Eddie's divorce from Beth. Darkness, despair, lack of faith in the human condition, political resentment, disenfranchisement, and relationship closure seem to fill these albums.

Avocado & Backspacer - this may sound goofball, but I sort of see these two albums as marking the start of pearl jam's Masonic work (and I have a feeling lighting bolt will continue that in earnest)... What I mean is that where as everything prior to these two albums is largely pessimistic or rage driven (there has always been glimmers of hope in their lyrics but generally it's all pretty glim) , and although no code and yield show personal enlightenment, they don't express much constructive forward motion outside of personal healing. Avocado and backspacer, while they certainly contain songs about tragedy, for the first time ever these songs are sandwiched between songs which are constructive. Life Wasted and Inside Job are personally constructive. Comatose, WWS, and Marker are all ostensibly pointing out societal negatives, but the phrasing and music actually seems like Eddie and the band are no longer outright rejecting hope for humanity, it's like "hey these issues, these are problems, but we can work together and fix it." Again, on avocado that theme is largely musical, not lyrical (although direct balme seems to be replaced with ernest questions -- marker in the sand doesnt just say "fuck religious hypocrites", its says "what went wrong? how can we reunite humanity?") Then comes backspacer and there are fully formed constructive lyrics... The fixer, and supersonic, amongst the waves stand out, but in several other spots too, raw positivity. It isn't that the band and Eddie are no longer insenced, it is that age has granted them the wisdom to shape that anger in to something that is working towards a better world, not simply criticizing the negatives.

I know a lot of people think it is the pussyfied PJ that whimped out on avocado and backspacer, but I think it shows remarkable maturity and creative risk taking for the band to say, "we know we are perceived as the grungy rage band that whines and screams, but now we are gonna do something about it, here are songs with real hope, even through intense sadness, and here is something constructive. Take it or leave it. Hate it or learn to love, like we have.

JonnyPistachio

Cool thread, fisttothejaw, I like your take on things.
And Driftin... That is very well said! I've thought many of the same things...(Are you a writer?)

DriftingByTheStorm

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Cool thread, fisttothejaw, I like your take on things.
And Driftin... That is very well said! I've thought many of the same things...(Are you a writer?)

no. but i'm always told i should be.
i was waiting for someone to lay in to me for saying Rokskilde was a theme on Binaural and No Code when in fact, Binaural was the album they were touring when the incident happened. But still, to me both those albums are mostly about deep political resentment and loss. Even the songs that aren't patently about those things, they still are pretty dark. (get right, i am mine, etc)

fisttothejaw

I like the "companion albums" thing - I think it's pretty accurate, and it reminds me of Revolver and Rubber Soul...

Only now am I realizing how much of PJ's stuff is narrative, told in the 3rd person, etc...

fisttothejaw

...and the Carrie B interview seems to touch on threads of love, mortality, and mistrust of institutions that run through Lightning Bolt - I'd say that's accurate, given what we've heard from MYM and Sirens...