RIOT ACT * THE PEAK ALBUM * NO B.S.

brianlux
brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
in The Porch
Ah, but believe me, I truly get it that many will feel differently because, after all, we all do hear differently and we all have come to Pearl Jam from a different place. But after a several week reprieve of not hearing Riot Act and then putting it on today, my first reaction was what I titled this thread. For me that album is so strong, hits the mark so well, and is delivered with so much intent and purpose that it remains my no. 1 PJ pick.

Any other lover for Riot Act out there?
"It's a sad and beautiful world"
-Roberto Benigni

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Comments

  • bellosjam
    bellosjam Posts: 288
    I love albums that express passion, maybe even rage, regarding the social/political atmosphere of the times. Yield will always likely be my favorite, but I get what you're saying about RA. I'm with ya brother! :)
  • Amongst the Ani
    Amongst the Ani @Wobbie Posts: 7,790
    Agreed. I was listening to the Projects boots from the RA album and they did an awesome job capturing that album and PJ at that time with it. RA is their best album to me.
    Tom Brady & Donald Trump, BFF's
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    Rob
    Seattle
  • bellosjam
    bellosjam Posts: 288
    The RA posse is growing! Nice to see!
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    Awwwwwww riiiiiiiiiiiiight! Let's here it Riot Act! :-)
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • colors blend
    colors blend Posts: 202
    I love Riot Act! Very strong record front to back. Felt like it was perfect in 2003 and has held up well since.
    you're god and you've got big hands
  • cwar077
    cwar077 Posts: 72
    A very complex album ; to me it feels like pj at their most mature and most complex. The production is also great, seems to have a folk overtone, even.in the heavy tracks. My picks are ghost, green disease, cropduster and help help
  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,518
    cwar077 said:

    A very complex album ; to me it feels like pj at their most mature and most complex. The production is also great, seems to have a folk overtone, even.in the heavy tracks. My picks are ghost, green disease, cropduster and help help

    Quoted for truth.
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • boyo79
    boyo79 Warrington, UK Posts: 6,525
    Ties with Vs as my favourite PJ record. Love the run from Help Help through to All Or None, purq quality.
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  • Travelar
    Travelar Posts: 3,441
    Love some Riot Act. It's aged nicely for me.
  • tino_11
    tino_11 Posts: 2,188
    I love Riot Act too! Not in my top bracket of albums but sitting strongly in the middle of my rankings.
    'F*** the pessimists. F*** 'em.' Eddie Vedder
  • PJStatTracker
    PJStatTracker Posts: 2,400
    I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum. For me it is the low point. Granted that "low point" isn't very low...RA is a great album!
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  • 2-feign-reluctance
    2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,462
    Great record for sure and the last record with more than one song that's vibe-y.
    www.cluthelee.com
  • BinFrog
    BinFrog MA Posts: 7,314
    It was a great time for the band. That renewed sense of purpose, moving away from anger directed at their pasts and the spotlight, and instead lashing out at the big wigs in charge and the stupidity and arrogance of the then current administration. It was a more directed, "full" sounding album after the experimentation of Binaural. And lucky for us they followed it with an absolutely amazing tour in which I was lucky to see 9 shows (if you count the Key Arena shows in 02).

    I keep saying LB is the best album since Riot Act. Riot Act was great. I don't think it's perfect, but it's great. By not perfect, I mean a few things:

    1) The only really hard/angry song, Save You, just seems out of place with the rest of the album.
    2) Get Right would have been great as a B-side. It is a cool tune, but I think it misses the mark as an album track. Especially since right next to it you have a very similar song that hits the mark perfectly: Green Disease.

    It was also the last time you had a bunch of legitimate b-sides: Down, Other Side, and Undone. I miss that. I think Undone and Other Side would have been amazing replacements on the album in place of Save You and/or Get Right.
    Bright eyed kid: "Wow Typo Man, you're the best!"
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  • 2-feign-reluctance
    2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,462
    I miss the b-sides too. One of my favorite bands (now defunct) Powderfinger released a ton of b-sides. Made me collect all their CD singles because there were typically 4-5 tracks on each one. Recently made a comp CD and counted some 24 b-sides. We're talking demos, re-worked versions of album songs, b-sides and live performances. In those early days of PJ I'd go nuts searching for various imports for their live cuts and b-sides.
    www.cluthelee.com
  • Mad Mohab
    Mad Mohab Posts: 310
    edited April 2014
    I had a thought recently that if Riot Act looked more like this I would have put it in the top tier, lots of great music!

    4/20/02
    Other side
    Ghost
    Can't Keep
    Down
    I am Mine

    In the Moonlight
    Get Right
    Clouds are Parting
    Cropduster
    All or None
    I'm Still Here
    Arc



    Post edited by Mad Mohab on
  • 2-feign-reluctance
    2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,462
    What is Clouds Are Parting? Wasn't 'In The Moonlight' a Binaural outtake?
    www.cluthelee.com
  • DewieCox
    DewieCox Posts: 11,432
    Certainly, a pretty high ranking era as far as creativity goes, but I think it was a step down from the previous 3. I do have to give it the nod as the best sounding album they've ever put out, but I don't think the songs hold up as well.
  • F Me In The Brain
    F Me In The Brain this knows everybody from other commets Posts: 31,843
    Don't get me wrong, I love RA, but I dont see it as peak. For me the peak was Yield and 1998. The rest of the albums have not been as great to me but there is lots to love about them.
    Probably has much to do about my journey alongside the music as well but I do love RA.
    The love he receives is the love that is saved
  • Mad Mohab
    Mad Mohab Posts: 310
    2-feign-reluctance said:

    What is Clouds Are Parting? Wasn't 'In The Moonlight' a Binaural outtake?

    Clouds was an improv I really liked from around that time that would have fit and Moonlight is one of their best songs and would have been available to really elevate Riot Act IMO.
  • choop
    choop Posts: 1,060
    Riot Act and that tour were the end of a Pearl Jam who took chances in songwriting and they played a ton of improvs that tour. VFC was cool too, but short. By the time they toured in 05 they were probably recording avocado, and were in full on rock star mode, in my opinion.
    "If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music." KV Jr.

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