The Aging of Avocado

foodboy

one word.....masterpiece.

Zod

Avacado is my favourite PJ album of the 21st century (ie Post Yield era). I was quite stoked when it came out and I think it still rocks today. Great album front to back (except for maybe Big Wave).

SVRDhand13

Amount of times played since the 2006 self titled tour:

MITS- 11
Parachutes- 9
Big Wave- 8
Gone- 9 (not played 2010-2013)
Army Reserve- 7

HesCalledDyer

My top 5 on the album, no particular order: Unemployable, Inside Job, Severed Hand, Army Reserve, WWS

And to be my usual complete-opposite-of-the-masses self, Marker is the one song I skip. And I love Parachutes, Gone, & Big Wave.

bootlegger10

SVRDhand13 said:

GREAT- Severed Hand, Come Back, Inside Job, Wasted Reprise/Life Wasted
GOOD- WWS, Comatose, Marker In The Sand, Parachutes, Unemployable, Army Reserve
POOR- Big Wave, Gone

Interesting.

GREAT- Severed Hand, Wasted Reprise/Life Wasted, Comatose, Marker In The Sand
GOOD- WWS, Parachutes, Unemployable, Army Reserve
POOR- Big Wave, Gone, Inside Job, Come Back,

mcgruff10

GREAT- Severed Hand, Life Wasted, Marker In The Sand, WWS, Come back
GOOD- Big Wave, Army Reserve, Wasted Reprise, Comatose
POOR- Gone, Inside Job,
Terrible: Parachutes, Unemployable

SVRDhand13

I started a trend haha

Just happy to see Severed Hand in the great lists!

mschostok

I think Marker is a great lyric, I think one of their more underrated tunes. I honestly could never get into Inside Job, just think it sounds cheesy, too prog. rocky which I don't think the band ever did very well. However, it's one of my favorite albums.

whoanelly15

GREAT- Severed Hand, Life Wasted, Marker In The Sand, WWS, Come back, Comatose, Gone, Inside Job
GOOD- Unemployable, Army Reserve
"MEH"- Big Wave, Wasted Reprise (does this count?), Parachutes
POOR- None
Terrible: None

walkunafraid

RiddledWithMetaphors said:

Severed Hand- Decent music, but some of the lyrics make me cringe: "Tried to walk found a severed hand/ recognized it from the wedding band." TF???

For about 7 years I've been intent on writing an exposition about the parallels (intentional or not) between Self-Titled and George Orwell's 1984. There are a TON of lyrical references throughout the songs (excepting Big Wave, which is a large part of the reason why it doesn't seem to fit in to me) that are so closely connected to Orwell's novel that I am convinced there's something deeper under the surface of the album that just hasn't been dug out yet.

Anyway, your comment about Severed Hand reminded me to look back at the part of the novel where Winston is musing about how he and most others in his society have become dehumanized by the government and themselves, at which point he recalls walking down the street and coming across a severed hand:

The proles had stayed human. They had not become hardened inside. They had held on to the primitive emotions which he himself had to re-learn by conscious effort. And in thinking this he remembered, without apparent relevance, how a few weeks ago he had seen a severed hand lying on the pavement and had kicked it into the gutter as though it had been a cabbage-stalk.
'The proles are human beings,' he said aloud. 'We are not human.'

When I have enough time I'll get to writing something more about the song as a whole, and the other songs, and how they relate to the novel, in my opinion. I might be way off-base, but I've thought about this a lot and really do think there's something potentially there.

The Juggler

mcgruff10 said:

Good album that was very much needed after the two previous flops. I wish they d play marker more live; on the flip side inside job might be one of their most boring songs live after what seems like a two hour intro. The 06 tour was great imo, I wish I could have caught more shows that year.

I really dislike Inside Job. Lyrics reminds me of a Celine Dion song.

mrussel1

The Juggler said:

mcgruff10 said:

Good album that was very much needed after the two previous flops. I wish they d play marker more live; on the flip side inside job might be one of their most boring songs live after what seems like a two hour intro. The 06 tour was great imo, I wish I could have caught more shows that year.

I really dislike Inside Job. Lyrics reminds me of a Celine Dion song.

I feel like with the groove, the opening solo (Page style) and the title, this could have been a political song about how most military actions today are inside jobs, driven by the military industrial complex. Alas, the opportunity was missed.

SVRDhand13

walkunafraid said:

RiddledWithMetaphors said:

Severed Hand- Decent music, but some of the lyrics make me cringe: "Tried to walk found a severed hand/ recognized it from the wedding band." TF???

For about 7 years I've been intent on writing an exposition about the parallels (intentional or not) between Self-Titled and George Orwell's 1984. There are a TON of lyrical references throughout the songs (excepting Big Wave, which is a large part of the reason why it doesn't seem to fit in to me) that are so closely connected to Orwell's novel that I am convinced there's something deeper under the surface of the album that just hasn't been dug out yet.

Anyway, your comment about Severed Hand reminded me to look back at the part of the novel where Winston is musing about how he and most others in his society have become dehumanized by the government and themselves, at which point he recalls walking down the street and coming across a severed hand:

The proles had stayed human. They had not become hardened inside. They had held on to the primitive emotions which he himself had to re-learn by conscious effort. And in thinking this he remembered, without apparent relevance, how a few weeks ago he had seen a severed hand lying on the pavement and had kicked it into the gutter as though it had been a cabbage-stalk.
'The proles are human beings,' he said aloud. 'We are not human.'

When I have enough time I'll get to writing something more about the song as a whole, and the other songs, and how they relate to the novel, in my opinion. I might be way off-base, but I've thought about this a lot and really do think there's something potentially there.

Whoa cool stuff- I'd love to read.

samjam

Dr.Teeth and the Electric Mayh said:

And yes to whoever said that the end of marker in the sand is some of the finest pearl jam ever. The whole song really.

Came here to add that MITS is definitely one of the most underrated PJ songs. So good. So very good.

PJfanwillneverleave1

samjam said:

Dr.Teeth and the Electric Mayh said:

And yes to whoever said that the end of marker in the sand is some of the finest pearl jam ever. The whole song really.

Came here to add that MITS is definitely one of the most underrated PJ songs. So good. So very good.

Good stuff! Thanks for bumping this with your opinion.
The touring year of this album was amazing.
MITS is simply fantastic.

The Juggler

mrussel1 said:

The Juggler said:

mcgruff10 said:

Good album that was very much needed after the two previous flops. I wish they d play marker more live; on the flip side inside job might be one of their most boring songs live after what seems like a two hour intro. The 06 tour was great imo, I wish I could have caught more shows that year.

I really dislike Inside Job. Lyrics reminds me of a Celine Dion song.

I feel like with the groove, the opening solo (Page style) and the title, this could have been a political song about how most military actions today are inside jobs, driven by the military industrial complex. Alas, the opportunity was missed.

Hey look at me! I'm running in the rain to be a human light again!!!

Cheese.

PJfanwillneverleave1

The Juggler said:

mrussel1 said:

The Juggler said:

mcgruff10 said:

Good album that was very much needed after the two previous flops. I wish they d play marker more live; on the flip side inside job might be one of their most boring songs live after what seems like a two hour intro. The 06 tour was great imo, I wish I could have caught more shows that year.

I really dislike Inside Job. Lyrics reminds me of a Celine Dion song.

I feel like with the groove, the opening solo (Page style) and the title, this could have been a political song about how most military actions today are inside jobs, driven by the military industrial complex. Alas, the opportunity was missed.

Hey look at me! I'm running in the rain to be a human light again!!!

Cheese.

Nailed it with your lyrics in all ways!
100%
or is it

Let me run into the rain
To be a human light again

pledgeagrievance

Great:

Marker in the Sand, Come Back

Good:

Life Wasted, Severed Hand

Skippable:

Big Wave, Gone (one of my least favorite songs in catalogue), Army Reserve

The Juggler

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

The Juggler said:

mrussel1 said:

The Juggler said:

mcgruff10 said:

Good album that was very much needed after the two previous flops. I wish they d play marker more live; on the flip side inside job might be one of their most boring songs live after what seems like a two hour intro. The 06 tour was great imo, I wish I could have caught more shows that year.

I really dislike Inside Job. Lyrics reminds me of a Celine Dion song.

I feel like with the groove, the opening solo (Page style) and the title, this could have been a political song about how most military actions today are inside jobs, driven by the military industrial complex. Alas, the opportunity was missed.

Hey look at me! I'm running in the rain to be a human light again!!!

Cheese.

Nailed it with your lyrics in all ways!
100%
or is it

Let me run into the rain
To be a human light again

not familiar with paraphrasing, eh?

The Juggler

pledgeagrievance said:

Great:

Marker in the Sand, Come Back

Good:

Life Wasted, Severed Hand

Skippable:

Big Wave, Gone (one of my least favorite songs in catalogue), Army Reserve

always felt marker and come back are incredibly underrated songs

and I've grown to like gone over the years. wasn't a favorite at first.

Eraserhead

Looking through this thread it's great to see a big wave (chuckle) of opposing thoughts. I stand by my earlier comment of Parachutes being one of the worst songs the band has ever done, and to add to that, Inside Job is one of the best (top 5 for me).

HesCalledDyer

I really, really don't get the mass love for Marker? Did I get a different version of this song than everyone else?

Of The Aggie

Really love this album after not liking it when it first came out. Only "bad" songs are Parachutes and Army Reserve.

rummy

Not a huge fan of this album although I gave it a good try in 2006. I can listen to the tunes in mall doses when they're interspersed with all their other classics on all the bootlegs.

Ozzie

Has aged well; better than any other avocado I've ever bought!

BeerBaron

Overall, not an album that I listed to a lot, but it does have its moments.

My breakdown:
GREAT: Life Wasted, Marker, Parachutes, Come Back
GOOD: Army Reserve, Comatose, Severed Hand, Inside Job
SKIPPABLE: Wasted Repise, WWS, Gone, Big Wave, Unemployable

whoanelly15

HesCalledDyer said:

I really, really don't get the mass love for Marker? Did I get a different version of this song than everyone else?

Haha. You must have. Only reasonable explanation, really, cause it's magic!

CarryTheZero

Avocado is one of my favorites! Front to back I love it. I tend to skip Gone a bit, but nothing for me is better than closers Come Back and Inside Job. First six tracks are just amazing as well.

cameramoonstone

Eraserhead said:

Looking through this thread it's great to see a big wave (chuckle) of opposing thoughts. I stand by my earlier comment of Parachutes being one of the worst songs the band has ever done, and to add to that, Inside Job is one of the best (top 5 for me).

I too like seeing everyone's different opinions on each song. Such a great demonstration of how it's almost impossible to objectively state what is "good" vs "bad" when talking about art. We always have to know that it's what we like vs what we don't like, for whatever subjective reasons...

Re: Inside Job, the first time I really heard the lyrics I was blown away and so grateful to Mike for writing that song. As someone 12+ years in recovery, the lyrics are incredibly meaningful to me and I imagine to anyone else who knows, from deep in their heart and soul, exactly what he is talking about. Some of the lyrics can be taken literally, other phrases are more metaphorical, but altogether I think the song is a beautiful testament to faith and hope and redemption.

PJfanwillneverleave1

cameramoonstone said:

Eraserhead said:

Looking through this thread it's great to see a big wave (chuckle) of opposing thoughts. I stand by my earlier comment of Parachutes being one of the worst songs the band has ever done, and to add to that, Inside Job is one of the best (top 5 for me).

I too like seeing everyone's different opinions on each song. Such a great demonstration of how it's almost impossible to objectively state what is "good" vs "bad" when talking about art. We always have to know that it's what we like vs what we don't like, for whatever subjective reasons...

Re: Inside Job, the first time I really heard the lyrics I was blown away and so grateful to Mike for writing that song. As someone 12+ years in recovery, the lyrics are incredibly meaningful to me and I imagine to anyone else who knows, from deep in their heart and soul, exactly what he is talking about. Some of the lyrics can be taken literally, other phrases are more metaphorical, but altogether I think the song is a beautiful testament to faith and hope and redemption.

Nice post.