6 songs I like: Amongst The Waves (GREAT) Force Of Nature (GREAT) Speed Of Sound Got Some Supersonic The End and you can have the rest of it, my 11th favorite Pearl Jam album okay actually I don't mind Just Breathe
Just Breathe is alright, I guess I warmed up to it after Eddie dedicated it to his daughter Harper for her 3rd birthday, since he had to miss it, it made me see the song from a different perspective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BTp0Y_o6_Y
My favorite 21st century PJ album. Very accessible. Easy listen. For whatever reason i grab this off the shelf than any other of their albums post-Yield
Toronto 10-05-2000 / Toronto 06-28-2003 / Toronto 09-19-2005 / Toronto 05-09-2006 / Buffalo 05-10-2010 / Toronto 09-11-2011 / Hamilton 09-15-2011 / London - Canada 07-16-2013 / Buffalo 10-12-2013 / Ottawa 05-08-2016 / Toronto 05-10-2016 / Toronto 05-12-2016 Amsterdam 06-12-2018 / Amsterdam 06-13-2018 / Chicago 08-18-2018 / Boston 09-02-2018 / Boston 09-04-2018 / Quebec City 09-01-2022 / Ottawa 09-03-2022 / Hamilton 09-06-2022 / Toronto 09-08-2022 / New York City 09-11-2022 / Chicago 09-05-2023 / Chicago 09-07-2023 / Austin 09-18-2023 / Austin 09-19-2023
7 years ago my wife and I were about a month away from welcoming triplets into the world to join out older daughter. Of course listening to the album, the lyrics from Just Breathe hit really hit home for me, so much so that about 2 years ago I put my heart (and kids intials) on my sleeve.
Super fun quick little album, but It's probably my least favorite.
Deer Creek, IN Aug '98 Deer Creek, IN Aug '00 Deer Creek, IN June, '03 Deer Creek, IN May, '10 US Bank, Cincy OH, Oct '14 Rupp Arena, Lexington KY, April '16 Wrigley Field, Chi Ill Aug 20th Wrigley Field, Chi Ill Aug 22nd
I need Hard to Imagine once, live, I'll do things I'm not proud of to make this happen
I know a lot of folks don't like Backspacer that much buttttttt it got me back into PJ after not listening to them since the mid 90s & 20 shows, 14 cities, 9 countries in the ensuing 5 years, yeah not too bad of an album!! Happy birthday Backspacer!
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PJ - Auckland 2009; Alpine Valley1&2 2011; Man1, Am'dam1&2, Berlin1&2, Stockholm, Oslo & Copenhagen 2012; LA, Oakland, Portland, Spokane, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle 2013; Auckland 2014
EV - Canberra, Newcastle & Sydney 1&2 2011
My favorite 21st century PJ album. Very accessible. Easy listen. For whatever reason i grab this off the shelf than any other of their albums post-Yield
Me too. Love this album. Don't understand any opinion otherwise
I still can't get into it. It does, however, make me happy that others love it because it keeps me positive about the band in general.
I'm just sort of baffled by the direction they've taken as they're getting older. It's like they're going backwards. I wish we were getting more Off He Goes or Binaural-type stuff now (remember the days when Evacuation was considered their worst song?? I listen to that song now and it sounds brilliant).
The new "introspective" songs feel more like Eddie solo songs and lack the mystery of earlier work. That's the key word for me: mystery. Pearl Jam always had an element of mystery and it's what really separated them from other bands. I feel like their more recent efforts, in an attempt at straight-forward rock with more simplistic lyrics and themes, are a step back for them. All that said, I really don't mean to come off like I'm bashing them. It's just my opinion as of late, and I still can't wait for what still lies ahead.
I've said this before on another thread, but the demo of Speed of Sound is (in my mind) 100 times greater than the full band version. It's so personal. You can hear the longing in his singing and in the message he is putting out there.
Am I the only person who cringes completely with the "gems and rhinestones" line in Unthought Known. One of Ed's worst lyric lines.
Not half as bad as "I wanna live my life with the volume full." Yuck. Sounds like a Doritos slogan.
The album has its moments (GSMF, Got Some, Johnny Guitar), but it ultimately feels very tired. The fact that the album is so short and tight, with little built in space for experimenting live or drawing songs out with solos etc, always seemed to be the perfect cover (a "fun" or "quick" garage rock album) for a band that was out of ideas. They seem to recognize how tightly built the songs are too, when you consider how little they do live with the songs that do have a little space built in (e.g. Supersonic is played straight to the point virtually every time).
I don't hate the album, but I'll always think of it as the album from the period when they were at a career crossroads. Keep going? Become a one-off festival band? Reinvent themselves? To put it in perspective: how different have the Lightning Bolt tour years felt than the Backspacer tour years? It seems as though they recognized in the post-Backspacer years the potential for the legacy they could build. In 2009, they weren't sure what to do next but release a short, uninspired album that hasn't matched their intense live persona (3 songs somewhat regularly played, at most). In 2016, they've recognized where their future as a band lies. Hopefully, that will be reflected in whatever their next step is.
1998-06-30 Minneapolis
2003-06-16 St. Paul
2006-06-26 St. Paul
2007-08-05 Chicago
2009-08-23 Chicago
2009-08-28 San Francisco
2010-05-01 NOLA (Jazz Fest)
2011-07-02 EV Minneapolis
2011-09-03 PJ20
2011-09-04 PJ20
2011-09-17 Winnipeg
2012-06-26 Amsterdam
2012-06-27 Amsterdam
2013-07-19 Wrigley
2013-11-21 San Diego
2013-11-23 Los Angeles
2013-11-24 Los Angeles
2014-07-08 Leeds, UK
2014-07-11 Milton Keynes, UK
2014-10-09 Lincoln
2014-10-19 St. Paul
2014-10-20 Milwaukee
2016-08-20 Wrigley 1
2016-08-22 Wrigley 2 2018-06-18 London 1 2018-08-18 Wrigley 1 2018-08-20 Wrigley 2 2022-09-16 Nashville 2023-08-31 St. Paul 2023-09-02 St. Paul 2023-09-05 Chicago 1 2024-08-31 Wrigley 2 2024-09-15 Fenway 1 2024-09-27 Ohana 1 2024-09-29 Ohana 2
Comments
Amongst The Waves (GREAT)
Force Of Nature (GREAT)
Speed Of Sound
Got Some
Supersonic
The End
and you can have the rest of it, my 11th favorite Pearl Jam album
okay actually I don't mind Just Breathe
2010: Newark 5/18 MSG 5/20-21 2011: PJ20 9/3-4 2012: Made In America 9/2
2013: Brooklyn 10/18-19 Philly 10/21-22 Hartford 10/25 2014: ACL10/12
2015: NYC 9/23 2016: Tampa 4/11 Philly 4/28-29 MSG 5/1-2 Fenway 8/5+8/7
2017: RRHoF 4/7 2018: Fenway 9/2+9/4 2021: Sea Hear Now 9/18
2022: MSG 9/11 2024: MSG 9/3-4 Philly 9/7+9/9 Fenway 9/15+9/17
Hamilton 09-15-2011 / London - Canada 07-16-2013 / Buffalo 10-12-2013 / Ottawa 05-08-2016 / Toronto 05-10-2016 / Toronto 05-12-2016
Amsterdam 06-12-2018 / Amsterdam 06-13-2018 / Chicago 08-18-2018 / Boston 09-02-2018 / Boston 09-04-2018 / Quebec City 09-01-2022 / Ottawa 09-03-2022 / Hamilton 09-06-2022 / Toronto 09-08-2022 / New York City 09-11-2022 / Chicago 09-05-2023 / Chicago 09-07-2023 / Austin 09-18-2023 / Austin 09-19-2023
https://instagram.com/p/4eqMwgsQIZ/
Deer Creek, IN Aug '00
Deer Creek, IN June, '03
Deer Creek, IN May, '10
US Bank, Cincy OH, Oct '14
Rupp Arena, Lexington KY, April '16
Wrigley Field, Chi Ill Aug 20th
Wrigley Field, Chi Ill Aug 22nd
I need Hard to Imagine once, live, I'll do things I'm not proud of to make this happen
www.cluthelee.com
www.cluthe.com
PJ - Auckland 2009; Alpine Valley1&2 2011; Man1, Am'dam1&2, Berlin1&2, Stockholm, Oslo & Copenhagen 2012; LA, Oakland, Portland, Spokane, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle 2013; Auckland 2014
EV - Canberra, Newcastle & Sydney 1&2 2011
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
I'm just sort of baffled by the direction they've taken as they're getting older. It's like they're going backwards. I wish we were getting more Off He Goes or Binaural-type stuff now (remember the days when Evacuation was considered their worst song?? I listen to that song now and it sounds brilliant).
The new "introspective" songs feel more like Eddie solo songs and lack the mystery of earlier work. That's the key word for me: mystery. Pearl Jam always had an element of mystery and it's what really separated them from other bands. I feel like their more recent efforts, in an attempt at straight-forward rock with more simplistic lyrics and themes, are a step back for them. All that said, I really don't mean to come off like I'm bashing them. It's just my opinion as of late, and I still can't wait for what still lies ahead.
The album has its moments (GSMF, Got Some, Johnny Guitar), but it ultimately feels very tired. The fact that the album is so short and tight, with little built in space for experimenting live or drawing songs out with solos etc, always seemed to be the perfect cover (a "fun" or "quick" garage rock album) for a band that was out of ideas. They seem to recognize how tightly built the songs are too, when you consider how little they do live with the songs that do have a little space built in (e.g. Supersonic is played straight to the point virtually every time).
I don't hate the album, but I'll always think of it as the album from the period when they were at a career crossroads. Keep going? Become a one-off festival band? Reinvent themselves? To put it in perspective: how different have the Lightning Bolt tour years felt than the Backspacer tour years? It seems as though they recognized in the post-Backspacer years the potential for the legacy they could build. In 2009, they weren't sure what to do next but release a short, uninspired album that hasn't matched their intense live persona (3 songs somewhat regularly played, at most). In 2016, they've recognized where their future as a band lies. Hopefully, that will be reflected in whatever their next step is.
2003-06-16 St. Paul
2006-06-26 St. Paul
2007-08-05 Chicago
2009-08-23 Chicago
2009-08-28 San Francisco
2010-05-01 NOLA (Jazz Fest)
2011-07-02 EV Minneapolis
2011-09-03 PJ20
2011-09-04 PJ20
2011-09-17 Winnipeg
2012-06-26 Amsterdam
2012-06-27 Amsterdam
2013-07-19 Wrigley
2013-11-21 San Diego
2013-11-23 Los Angeles
2013-11-24 Los Angeles
2014-07-08 Leeds, UK
2014-07-11 Milton Keynes, UK
2014-10-09 Lincoln
2014-10-19 St. Paul
2014-10-20 Milwaukee
2016-08-20 Wrigley 1
2016-08-22 Wrigley 2
2018-06-18 London 1
2018-08-18 Wrigley 1
2018-08-20 Wrigley 2
2022-09-16 Nashville
2023-08-31 St. Paul
2023-09-02 St. Paul
2023-09-05 Chicago 1
2024-08-31 Wrigley 2
2024-09-15 Fenway 1
2024-09-27 Ohana 1
2024-09-29 Ohana 2