Best Pearl Jam Album?

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Comments

  • tbergs
    tbergs Posts: 10,513
    My first PJ album I purchased after Ten was Vitalogy. I don't know why, but I skipped purchasing VS until after No Code came out. I'm not sure why anymore, but I think it was mostly because of the cover art :loser:, and mainly because Daughter's over play on rock radio was driving me crazy. Anyway, coincidentally I started driving right around the release of Vitalogy so it was naturally getting heavy play the following summer whenever my dad would let me drive his new truck with the 6 disc changer in it. No Code was the first PJ album I got on release day when we were in Chicago. I had my cousin pick it up for me and then spun it in his room for a few hours. I therefore love those two albums the best, but would still rank Binaural as my favorite when it comes to overall quality musical performances.

    Ultimately, Vitalogy is the best record they have ever made. 3 of my favorite songs are on that album (NFY, Corduroy, Immortality) and the rest are great as well. I actually even really enjoy the the non-songs and short novelty tracks. It all makes for a great album.
    It's a hopeless situation...
  • HesCalledDyer
    HesCalledDyer Maryland Posts: 16,501
    Yield is my favorite but if we're talking "best" I have a hard time picking one. I'm gonna go with Vitalogy on the merit that they took a chance on their own creativity, abandoning the polished "grunge sound" of the first two albums for more experimental sounds, harsh rocking punk tunes, and some gut-wrenching folky ballads thrown in.  The whole album is like a melodramatic orchestra and Pearl Jam threw it out there as if to say "Digest this, we dare you!"  It challenged us as fans.  And those that stuck around, stuck around for the long haul.  I feel like it's really where Pearl Jam found the strongest of their songwriting bones.  I could argue that No Code/Yield/Binaural honed in & perfected their creative juices, but the importance of Vitalogy weighs out in the end.  Honestly, you could pick any of those 4 and I wouldn't argue one bit.

    (There's also the fact that Vitalogy held the record for most initial vinyl sales for 20 years and was the 2nd fastest selling album of all-time behind their own Vs. at the time.)
    Star Lake 00 / Pittsburgh 03 / State College 03 / Bristow 03 / Cleveland 06 / Camden II 06 / DC 08 / Pittsburgh 13 / Baltimore 13 / Charlottesville 13 / Cincinnati 14 / St. Paul 14 / Hampton 16 / Wrigley I 16 / Wrigley II 16 / Baltimore 20 / Camden 22 / Baltimore 24 / Raleigh I 25 / Raleigh II 25 / Pittsburgh I 25
  • drakeheuer14
    drakeheuer14 Posts: 4,634
    mcgruff10 said:
    No code is my favorite but ten is the best. 
    Agreed
    Pittsburgh 2013
    Cincinnati 2014
    Greenville 2016
    (Raleigh 2016)
    Columbia 2016
  • Big Bank Hank
    Big Bank Hank Seattle, WA Posts: 8,639
    Vs
  • Thirty Bills Unpaid
    Thirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    Big Bank Hank said:
    Vs

    Yes to this.

    It's Vs for sure. We can't hold the fact that some songs were so damn good the radios overplayed them against the album.

    Lots of anger and pain throughout it.

    This album was not made 'radio-friendly'. Radio endeared itself to the album.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • HesCalledDyer
    HesCalledDyer Maryland Posts: 16,501
    Anyone else's votes not showing up in their comments?  I don't see any for anyone.
    Star Lake 00 / Pittsburgh 03 / State College 03 / Bristow 03 / Cleveland 06 / Camden II 06 / DC 08 / Pittsburgh 13 / Baltimore 13 / Charlottesville 13 / Cincinnati 14 / St. Paul 14 / Hampton 16 / Wrigley I 16 / Wrigley II 16 / Baltimore 20 / Camden 22 / Baltimore 24 / Raleigh I 25 / Raleigh II 25 / Pittsburgh I 25
  • tbergs
    tbergs Posts: 10,513
    HesCalledDyer said:
    Anyone else's votes not showing up in their comments?  I don't see any for anyone.
    Same here. I'm guessing the OP set it up that way.
    It's a hopeless situation...

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