The Avocado Album: A Discussion

cyndarious1 · April 2011

I can't remember how excited I was when the Avocado album came out in 2006. I had started listening to PJ back in 2002, and since I had to wait 4 years for their new material the album felt to me like it was their first.

When songs started to leak on the internet the first one I loved was Comatose. I thought it was great punk rock music. Later they came Unemployable, Severed Hand, Life Wasted and Come Back, which I also loved immediately.

When I got the album and together with it the chance to listening to it entirely I realized that, like most albums, it had some songs I wouldn't have liked to be there. The first time Eddie played Gone I really liked it but it was hard for me to stand it in the album. The other one was World Wide Suicide, which I still think it a great song, but it seems too basic and awkward when they play it live; it lacks the epicness of some of their other compositions. Something similar happened with Marker in the Sand.

The problem here is that I really like the album, but some songs just can't seem to equal the quality of the best songs.

I'd like to know what you guys think.

joewalshdc · April 2011

Interesting. When I think of an 'album'...i think of collection of songs. from first note to the last. The whole package. I think both avocado and backspacer are 2 of pj's most complete "albums"....as in a collection of songs to be played together. I absolutely love avocado. I know alot of people dont. Come Back to me is one of pj's finest moments. Marker, inside Job, comotose are stunning. I really dig parachutes too. Must agree tho Gone is my least favourite song on the album. Very close actually to being my least favourite pj song. Anytime is a good time to get in to Pearl Jam. I feel sorry for those who dont get it!!!

Force of Nature 23 · April 2011

I love the Avocado Album! Great collection of songs. Come back is such a great song. I heard it live in Chicago. Just amazing. They also played a clip of it on Friday Night Lights, one of my favorite shows, the song was played in the perfect moment!

cyndarious1 · April 2011

Force of Nature 23 wrote:

I love the Avocado Album! Great collection of songs. Come back is such a great song. I heard it live in Chicago. Just amazing. They also played a clip of it on Friday Night Lights, one of my favorite shows, the song was played in the perfect moment!

Now that I think about it, I saw PJ live in 2005 here in Chile. By that time they were just starting to put the album together and of course they didn't play any of its songs.

Now that there are rumors about a second coming to South America I'm expecting them to play some of the Avocado songs. For sure they'll play WWS but I'd really love to listen to Come Back live; it would be something i'd never forget. I'd also love to see them play Life Wasted and Comatose. I wish they'll play less popular songs like Unemployable and Big Wave.

nothing_man_92 · April 2011

Its one of my favourite pearl jam albums very underated IMO absolutly love the back half of it from marker down

LightYears33 · April 2011

Being a younger fan, I was 14 and just getting into pearl jam when avocado was released. I think that this album (along with my first show right after it was released) really solidified my love for pearl jam. I love the entire thing front to back. I never really understood some of the hate that it gets. Although I'm probably biased since its the album that first got me into them, its definitely my favorite

brianlux · April 2011

LightYears33 wrote:

Being a younger fan, I was 14 and just getting into pearl jam when avocado was released. I think that this album (along with my first show right after it was released) really solidified my love for pearl jam. I love the entire thing front to back. I never really understood some of the hate that it gets. Although I'm probably biased since its the album that first got me into them, its definitely my favorite

"I never really understood some of the hate that it gets. "

YEAH- what is it with that??? Avocado is a superb album. For my tastes there are a few weak songs but, hey, what can I say- I'm a fussy guy. Doesn't mean I don't love the hell out of the album though!

rollings · April 2011

The first few times I heard the album & even now, three songs on there sound amazingly like they belong to other bands.

Specifically,

Parachutes sounds like a Beatles song
Come Back sounds like a Stones song
and the song after Parachutes (duh to me) sound just like a Bruce Springsteen song.

supersonicyears · April 2011

cyndarious1 wrote:

I can't remember how excited I was when the Avocado album came out in 2006. I had started listening to PJ back in 2002, and since I had to wait 4 years for their new material the album felt to me like it was their first.

When songs started to leak on the internet the first one I loved was Comatose. I thought it was great punk rock music. Later they came Unemployable, Severed Hand, Life Wasted and Come Back, which I also loved immediately.

When I got the album and together with it the chance to listening to it entirely I realized that, like most albums, it had some songs I wouldn't have liked to be there. The first time Eddie played Gone I really liked it but it was hard for me to stand it in the album. The other one was World Wide Suicide, which I still think it a great song, but it seems too basic and awkward when they play it live; it lacks the epicness of some of their other compositions. Something similar happened with Marker in the Sand.

The problem here is that I really like the album, but some songs just can't seem to equal the quality of the best songs.

I'd like to know what you guys think.

Marker in the Sand, Gone and Worldwide Suicide are my favorite songs. The whole album is great though

TenVsRhys · April 2011

I too find some of negativity about avocado strange, but hey, music's subjective I guess.

For what its worth, I'm an older fan who lost touch with the band a bit in the early 2000's and it was actually avocado that got me back into them.

For that reason alone alone, I bloody love this album. For me, its the one that helped me rediscover their brilliance ..... and it taught me that I never should have lost the faith.

cyndarious1 · April 2011

rhysg wrote:

I too find some of negativity about avocado strange, but hey, music's subjective I guess.

For what its worth, I'm an older fan who lost touch with the band a bit in the early 2000's and it was actually avocado that got me back into them.

For that reason alone alone, I bloody love this album. For me, its the one that helped me rediscover their brilliance ..... and it taught me that I never should have lost the faith.

I didn't mean any negativity towards Avocado with my post. I just think some songs are really great and others just don't go with the album's greatness. I love Avocado. I love it for its consistency and for that awesome distorted vibe. I really think it works as a whole, I just would make some tiny changes here and there

Eraserhead · April 2011

cyndarious1 wrote:

When songs started to leak on the internet the first one I loved was Comatose. I thought it was great punk rock music. Later they came Unemployable, Severed Hand, Life Wasted and Come Back, which I also loved immediately.

Am I the only one who doesn't bother listening to "leaked" songs from the net? The first I'll hear any new stuff is when I have the CD in my cold hands (well, the CD being in my CD player, if you're being pedantic...) :P

iamica · April 2011

For me, Avocado was the album that reawakened my obsession with Pearl Jam. I had still listened to them, loved Binaural/Riot Act and still do, but this album was just an explosion. The first 5 songs are just so powerful. I think the only song I kind of feel weird about on the album is Come Back, but only because it's never really sounded like a PJ song to me. But I love the album.
By the way...I've noticed that here on the message board, there seems to be a cycle where the album that came out before the most recent one gets a lot of hate...it happened with Binaural, it happened with Riot Act, and it's happening now...guess Backspacer will start getting hated on when the new one comes out.

SatansFuton · April 2011

Eraserhead wrote:

cyndarious1 wrote:

When songs started to leak on the internet the first one I loved was Comatose. I thought it was great punk rock music. Later they came Unemployable, Severed Hand, Life Wasted and Come Back, which I also loved immediately.

Am I the only one who doesn't bother listening to "leaked" songs from the net? The first I'll hear any new stuff is when I have the CD in my cold hands (well, the CD being in my CD player, if you're being pedantic...) :P

I'm the same way. Before Riot Act came out I did hear "Save You" here on the site, and the same with "The Fixer" from Backspacer, but even though there were more songs available I forced myself to wait for the album.

Personally I love Avocado. Most everybody I know (personally, not here on the forums) were a little disappointed by Riot Act, and Avocado was like a breath of fresh air to us. While I do really like some Riot Act songs, as an overall album it doesn't flow too well and seems stitched together, as do some of the songs. Avocado seems to have much more direction than Riot Act. There are a couple of songs on Avocado I don't care for, but to be honest I can't think of any album by any band, ever, that I like every single track on. Even Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has a couple of tracks I can do without.

And while I like some songs on Riot Act, some of the songs on Avocado really blew me away when I first listened. Marker In The Sand and Unemployable still blow me away, while some of the straight forward rockers like Comatose are still enjoyable, but not as much as when they were new to me.

Sorry if I keep comparing it to Riot Act, since I know that wasn't the topic, but that was really the frame of mind my friends and I were in when we first heard it, mainly because Avocado was a relief after about 4 years of trying to force ourselves to enjoy Riot Act. We didn't have to force ourselves to listen to Avocado, appreciation for it just came naturally.

iamica wrote:

I've noticed that here on the message board, there seems to be a cycle where the album that came out before the most recent one gets a lot of hate...it happened with Binaural, it happened with Riot Act, and it's happening now...guess Backspacer will start getting hated on when the new one comes out.

From what I've seen, Backspacer is already getting a good deal of hate.

JL19851 · April 2011

Over the years as I have settled into how I feel about all of their albums, Avocado has always stood out to me. As a caveat, I generally think of their albums as the Big 5 plus Avocado as the best (Ten, Vs., Vitalogy, No Code, Yield), with the other 3 still great but somehow missing some little something that hasn't sparked my enthusiasm in just the same way (Binaural, Riot Act, Backspacer).

I think a lot of the objection in hindsight to this album for a lot of people was that it did not really break any new ground. It sounded like cut and dry Pearl Jam, no frills, no Radiohead-like head turning change of direction, and nothing at all like anything that had been coming out and was hip at the time (plodding hipster tunes allergic to more than 3 chord progressions was the rule of the day). That was, in fact, what made the album so appealing to me. There was no sense of Pearl Jam attempting to make some grander scale piece of epic artistry...they just made a rock album, with some rock your socks off jams, some ballads, a little fun, and a whole lot of social commentary mixed in (funny how back then, the PJ whiners wanted Eddie and the gang off their high horse, and now reverse course and claim they've sold out all their principles...there's just no winning some people over). They did exactly what I hoped for, and created an album that would make Pitchfork cringe.

The interesting thing, noted here already, is that the backlash by PJ fans against this album didn't appear to start until the Backspacer rumors started swelling. And while I enjoy Backspacer, I can sort of get it when that starts happening in a few months when they start hearing about the next album...but I never did quite get it with Avocado, including Gone, which is different than the demo, but still strong in its own right.

Fatal · April 2011

I like Avocado...for me its a better album than Riot Act, but it does have its flaws. It's a good collection of solid songs, but none of the highs approach the highs on their other albums (outside of Riot Act).

If i was a ranking man (and i am!), it goes as follows:

1. Vitalogy
2. Ten
3. No Code
4. Vs.
5. Yield
6. Binaural
7. Backspacer
8. Avocado
9. Riot Act

pjhawks · April 2011

i really enjoy Avocado studio version but to me the songs don't quite make it in a live setting. really to me only Life Wasted sounds really good live. the others sound way better on the studio version. and for PJ songs that is pretty rare to me, which is why i prefer to listen to boots. i still enjoy the studio version though and currently have it in my car's cd player.

BoltOfLightnin' · April 2011

I was going through a rough time when Avocado came out and I loved it immediately...listened to it over and over for months. Parachutes does sound very much like a Beatles song...one of the reasons I love it. My other favorite is Unemployable. Come Back of course...has a very personal meaning to it for me (that rough time I was going through).

dante3445 · April 2011

Like all Pearl Jam albums "Avocado" keeps coming back to me. When it first came out in '06 I can remember hearing "Come Back" in my Mom's car on the way to the store, I was still in high school at the time, in fact rather than go to my senior prom I went to the PJ show at the Tweeter Center in Camden, possibly the best decision I have ever made in my life. My favorite song on the album is probably "Inside Job," although it was not initially, it has grown on me over the years, and in my opinion truly emulates what Pearl Jam is as a band. Inside Job" starts off slow but intense, lyrics are reflective and deep, and it all leads to a volcanic climax of musical power that gives me chills every time I listen to it. My only question about "Avocado" is at the end of "Inside Job," what is the significance of that mystically whatever it is? Avocado is simply an example of why PJ has lasted so long, they keep you guessing, I remember hearing that since it was their self titled album that it was to be their last, and yet they luckily keep coming back to us.

small_my_table · April 2011

joewalshdc wrote:

Interesting. When I think of an 'album'...i think of collection of songs. from first note to the last. The whole package. I think both avocado and backspacer are 2 of pj's most complete "albums"....as in a collection of songs to be played together. I absolutely love avocado. I know alot of people dont. Come Back to me is one of pj's finest moments. Marker, inside Job, comotose are stunning. I really dig parachutes too. Must agree tho Gone is my least favourite song on the album. Very close actually to being my least favourite pj song. Anytime is a good time to get in to Pearl Jam. I feel sorry for those who dont get it!!!

It's funny to me that you say that, I actually have the opposite reaction, especially with Backspacer. I find that it flows weakly as an album, which is part of why it had little lasting impression for me (but this isn't the thread to get into that). Compared to something like Yield or Binaural, both of which I feel are concrete pieces rather than just groups of songs, I find Avocado doesn't have quite the same effect. There's a lot of great stuff on it, I just don't have the same love for it as most of the other albums.

PearlJamPatriot · April 2011

I really really love Avacado/self titled. I was listening to it again the other day and was like, WOW...what a great underrated & under appreciated album. Just my opinion. But I have always been a supporter of it.

Arthur Digby Sellers · April 2011

I find it hard to rank Pearl Jam records because they are all so good and Avocado is no exception. I always thought Comatose sounded like Husker Du which is probably why I like it so much.

SatansFuton · April 2011

Arthur Digby Sellers wrote:

I find it hard to rank Pearl Jam records because they are all so good and Avocado is no exception. I always thought Comatose sounded like Husker Du which is probably why I like it so much.

Coming from the guy who wrote 156 episodes of "Branded" (the bulk of the series), that is high praise.

TenVsRhys · April 2011

dante3445 wrote:

Like all Pearl Jam albums "Avocado" keeps coming back to me. When it first came out in '06 I can remember hearing "Come Back" in my Mom's car on the way to the store, I was still in high school at the time, in fact rather than go to my senior prom I went to the PJ show at the Tweeter Center in Camden, possibly the best decision I have ever made in my life. My favorite song on the album is probably "Inside Job," although it was not initially, it has grown on me over the years, and in my opinion truly emulates what Pearl Jam is as a band. Inside Job" starts off slow but intense, lyrics are reflective and deep, and it all leads to a volcanic climax of musical power that gives me chills every time I listen to it. My only question about "Avocado" is at the end of "Inside Job," what is the significance of that mystically whatever it is? Avocado is simply an example of why PJ has lasted so long, they keep you guessing, I remember hearing that since it was their self titled album that it was to be their last, and yet they luckily keep coming back to us.

Nice summation. I wasn't in high school when it came out, instead, I was an old schooler PJ fan who'd gone elsewhere musically, but this one got me back. And it helped me discover things like Riot Act which whilst flawed for me, has some absolute gems. It's this type of varied opinion (and catalogue) thats a sign of a great band to me ... makes me question my own opinions, makes me think hard about what I'm listening to.

jamfan102003 · April 2011

Personally, I would say Avocado is one of my favourite PJ albums. For me it ranks right in behind the big 3 (Ten, Vs, Vitalogy) and Yield and just ahead of No Code. It's probably the PJ album I listen to the most. I love how the first half rocks, the middle kinda slows down and the end just makes you think and feel something. I love Mike's solo in Comeback just after the "it's ok" part. I love the simple little clean part with the delay and then he kicks in with the distortion and lets it go. Simple, yes, but one of my favourite McCready solos of all time.

PearlJamPatriot · April 2011

jamfan102003 wrote:

Personally, I would say Avocado is one of my favourite PJ albums. For me it ranks right in behind the big 3 (Ten, Vs, Vitalogy) and Yield and just ahead of No Code. It's probably the PJ album I listen to the most. I love how the first half rocks, the middle kinda slows down and the end just makes you think and feel something. I love Mike's solo in Comeback just after the "it's ok" part. I love the simple little clean part with the delay and then he kicks in with the distortion and lets it go. Simple, yes, but one of my favourite McCready solos of all time.

I really feel the same way. Man, i just love Avacado. A lot. I dont ever rank the albums, but its right up there as being one of my favorites. I think every PJ album has been my favorite album at a certain point except for Riot Act & Backspacer. It has always been a dynamic thing, thats why it makes no sense for me to rank them

12345AGNST1 · April 2011

It's the album that really got me into the band, So I love it even more for that. I think all of the songs are so modern and fresh sounding, they are going to age very well and never sound outdated IMO. I can't really say that for Backspacer. The entire album, along with the album art just screams "fresh" to me. Perfect PJ album to blast on a nice summer day with your sunroof open and windows down. The only negative thing about it is the horrible distortion from the production. I happen to think every thing sounds great production wise (maybe the drums could be better) but the distortion from playing it loudly ruins it a bit.

If BoB produced this album it would be alot better.

Smarter_Than_U · April 2011

cyndarious1 wrote:

I can't remember how excited I was when the Avocado album came out in 2006. I had started listening to PJ back in 2002, and since I had to wait 4 years for their new material the album felt to me like it was their first.

When songs started to leak on the internet the first one I loved was Comatose. I thought it was great punk rock music. Later they came Unemployable, Severed Hand, Life Wasted and Come Back, which I also loved immediately.

When I got the album and together with it the chance to listening to it entirely I realized that, like most albums, it had some songs I wouldn't have liked to be there. The first time Eddie played Gone I really liked it but it was hard for me to stand it in the album. The other one was World Wide Suicide, which I still think it a great song, but it seems too basic and awkward when they play it live; it lacks the epicness of some of their other compositions. Something similar happened with Marker in the Sand.

The problem here is that I really like the album, but some songs just can't seem to equal the quality of the best songs.

I'd like to know what you guys think.

Many of the songs from Avocado sound thin live, but to me it doesn't change the fact that it is a great album. For example, I've been disappointed by every version I've ever heard of Marker in the Sand live--but the album version is epic in my opinion. Same thing with Come Back and World Wide Suicide. Ironically, I also agree that the production on the album is not great in some spots.

mike-mcfuckin-cready · April 2011

THE most underrated and overlooked pj album. love it think its great, has its flaws but so what. theres enouhgh good to carry it through. not as raw as other earlier albums but you can tell its marks a change in the direction of the band as they get older and start to mellow a bit ... but its still nice to have songs about bush and war that the guys obv get passionate about.

mike-mcfuckin-cready · April 2011

Fatal wrote:

I like Avocado...for me its a better album than Riot Act, but it does have its flaws. It's a good collection of solid songs, but none of the highs approach the highs on their other albums (outside of Riot Act).

If i was a ranking man (and i am!), it goes as follows:

1. Vitalogy
2. Ten
3. No Code
4. Vs.
5. Yield
6. Binaural
7. Backspacer
8. Avocado
9. Riot Act

as much as i really do like this album i think i have to agree with you on its ranking place. ive got it in the 8 spot as well probably. just because the other albums are just outrageously good! theres nothing wrong with coming 8th to those 7 albums ahead of it

goldrush · April 2011

I love Avocado! I can still remember the first time I ever heard it - the afternoon of April 19th 2006. I was driving up to London from South Wales with a mate, we were crashing at his sister's place for the Astoria show the following night. Avocado was the very first album that I ever...um... 'acquired' before it's release date. If it wasn't for the Astoria show I wouldn't have bothered but when I saw it online something made me get it. Anyway we played it pretty much non stop on the drive up (about 4 hours or so) and all night in his sister's place.

The next day we joined the queue around the block outside the Astoria with all of the other lucky souls who were about to experience one of the great PJ shows. They played 8 Avocado songs that night, 7 of them for the first time, including an opening blast of World Wide Suicide, Life Wasted, Severed Hand, Unemployable and Gone. That's a pretty good start to any show but opening with 5 new songs is pretty special. I love WWS and it made for a really powerful, and unexpected, opener. I was listening to the audience boot of this show just yesterday - I love it when Ed says "I don't know if you've these songs these songs before but that's ok because we haven't played them before!" I'd love to hear an official release (Avocado SDE maybe?...)

While I don't love every song on the album individually (I can do without Come Back), I think Avocado is a great collection of songs that work together and, therefore, a great album and one that will always remind me of one of my all-time favourite shows.

Astoria, London, 20/04/2006:

World Wide Suicide
Life Wasted
Severed Hand
Unemployable
Gone
Even Flow
Sad
I Am Mine
Insignificance
Army Reserve
Present Tense
Better Man
Marker In The Sand
Do The Evolution
Why Go

Encore 1
Man Of The Hour
Given To Fly
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Porch

Encore 2
Comatose
Leaving Here
Yellow Ledbetter

Encore 3
Alive

The Avocado Album: A Discussion

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