I wanna talk about Avocado!!

cwar077
cwar077 Posts: 72
edited November 2013 in The Porch
I wanna share my love for this record; a few observations, please feel free to add some of your own...

- I think this album flows the best from start to end out of all their albums. the track listing is perfectly placed. The first half hits hard and then the songs seamlessly become more open and spacey.

- this album reclaims the bands urgency, while I freakin love the weird tangents of RA and Binaural, Avocado hooks you in quickly. The band sounds the most energised and direct than anything since vs. I see this as the start of a new phase/progression in the band's evolution.

- I love the production on this album, there is a certain gloss that makes the guitars sound like a liquid blue. I also find that on the bootlegs from this tour the guitar tone retains this quality, check out breakerfall from Bern, Rearview mirror from Torino, or the many stellar versions of red mosquito.

- mike fucking tears it up at the end of life wasted and severed hand

- marker in the sand contains some of eddies most powerful lyrics and some of matts best drum fills. One of the few studio tracks where I can't find a live version that tops this studio cut.

- I was 20 when this album was released and the album accompanied some of my best and worst moments growing up and figuring out the world. I was in my first year of a sociology degree and I was forming the beginnings of a political consciousness and I related heavily to many of the themes in this record. Eddie's character and previous lyrics took on new understandings and I came to realise that pj had always represented my political leanings, however it was only at this point in time that I had the language to articulate and identify them. Also in this year at uni, avocado turned a bad acid trip into a very positive one!

Take a drive, turn avocado up. Share some love for this wonderful record
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Comments

  • CharlieP
    CharlieP Copenhagen, Denmark Posts: 1,035
    Great album for sure. My favourite songs from this one are rarely talked about here. Parachutes, Marker in the sand and Army reserve. Avo is actually one of my friends' favourite PJ record

    Roskilde 2000, Berlin 2006, Athens 2006, Dusseldorf 2007, Copenhagen 2007, New York NY 1 + 2 2008, Berlin 2009, London 2009, London 2010, Berlin 2010, Manchester 2 2012, Berlin 1 2012, Stockholm 2012, Oslo 2012, Copenhagen 2012, Amsterdam 1 + 2 (EV solo) 2012, Amsterdam 1 + 2 2014, Stockholm 2014, Oslo 2014, Leeds 2014, Milton Keynes 2014, Heartland Festival DK (EV solo) 2017, Berlin 2018, Barcelona 2018, Copenhagen 2022, Prague 2022 (Cancelled)



  • jumbojet
    jumbojet Posts: 1,484
    cwar077 wrote:
    I wanna share my love for this record; a few observations, please feel free to add some of your own...
    - I love the production on this album, there is a certain gloss that makes the guitars sound like a liquid blue. I also find that on the bootlegs from this tour the guitar tone retains this quality, check out breakerfall from Bern, Rearview mirror from Torino, or the many stellar versions of red mosquito.

    I was forming the beginnings of a political consciousness and I related heavily to many of the themes in this record. Eddie's character and previous lyrics took on new understandings and I came to realise that pj had always represented my political leanings, however it was only at this point in time that I had the language to articulate and identify them.

    Take a drive, turn avocado up. Share some love for this wonderful record

    I also always thought of the color blue for this album including its 2006 tour. :) Maybe it is because of the album cover.

    YOu said it perfectly. Eddie also put into exact words about what I was feeling at that time. I am proud that my favorite band has a song like World-Wide-Suicide.

    Just pay a particular attention to WWS and you'll see the minor details of how-well it is crafted. How Eddie's vocal line starts calmer, like he's explaining his case. And then his intensity increases at every line until and including the bridge part and the chorus part (The whole world.. World over..), his anger rises to top and gets crazy and the lyrics are not even detectable anymore.

    Just a perfect match of vocals and lyrics. Brilliant.
    What's your part, who you are?

    2012: Arras, Berlin 1-2
    2013: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires
    2014: Milano, Trieste, Vienna, Berlin
    2016: NY MSG 1
  • foodboy
    foodboy Posts: 988
    best work ever. best tour.
  • Indifference152
    Indifference152 Posts: 305
    I agree with the best track listing of any album. Marker, severed hand, life wasted, comeback,inside job...brilliant. Not a bad song on the album. Soooo much better than backspacer. Lightning bold has potential to be up there with self titled. Gotta give it another 4 to 6 months.
  • Gern Blansten
    Gern Blansten Mar-A-Lago Posts: 22,204
    Yeah this is a great one. I have 7 songs from this album that I consider favorites.

    LB = 6
    BS = 3
    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
    2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
    2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
    2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
    2020: Oakland, Oakland:  2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
    2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
    2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
  • Indifference152
    Indifference152 Posts: 305
    Gern Blansten wrote:
    Yeah this is a great one. I have 7 songs from this album that I consider favorites.

    LB = 6
    BS = 3

    Backspacer has...got some, unthought, and force of nature. Are those your 3?
  • DriftingByTheStorm
    DriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
    I thought Avocado was going to be "the crown jewel of the back half of the PJ catalog" when it came out. Backspacer reinforced that notion for me. Now that Lightning Bolt is out though, I'm not so sure.
    :P

    I actually think the flow on Avocado is a little weak. But it still holds up well.

    Regarding the color scheme,
    I really wish (and this is stupid to be nit picking color) that PJ would come BACK to color.
    They have been stuck in blackity-black-black world since Binaural. Hell Yield, really.
    Even when the albums have "color" (Backspacer, LB) it is still a seemingly limited color scheme over blackity-black-black.

    Especially given the nature of the songs themselves on LB, i was really assuming we would get some more earthy \ "jammy" type artwork, like the 2006 tour art (bootlegs, etc).

    BACK TO THE MUSIC.
    I think that Avocado was the NEAR completion of "the complete evolution of the band" that started with the cocoon-declaration of No Code. But I think it is Lightning Bolt that TRULY finishes that evolution. 90's Pearl Jam is DEAD now. 100%. This is the NEW Pearl Jam. And I love it!
    :D
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • Mawky1103
    Mawky1103 Posts: 311
    I agree! The production is very well done. Also, Mike's solos are great and you pick up something new from them each time you listen. Great album.
  • Olivavu
    Olivavu England Posts: 1,683
    It's the best of the new millennium PJ albums.
    Wembley 2000 • Reading 2006 • Paris 2006 • Wembley 2007 • Shepherds Bush 2009 • Manchester 2009 • O2 Arena 2009 • Hyde Park 2010 • Arras 2010 • Manchester 2012 • Manchester II 2012 • Leeds 2014 • Milton Keynes 2014 • Amsterdam 2018 • Amsterdam II 2018 • London 2018 • London II 2018 • Hyde Park II 2022

    http://www.last.fm/user/olivavu


  • EvilTim102
    EvilTim102 Posts: 135
    Inside Job is one of my favorite songs ever. It's perfect.
    Mine is mine and yours won't take it's place
  • curly
    curly Posts: 704
    I all in with you on this one....
    not to mention my older sis's fav pj song is Inside Job...

    this cd start to finish is my fav for sure since Yield...
    (shockingly, I don't hear that from many fellow pj friends/fans)...

    And I always forget W W Suicide was on this one....this songs really kicks ass live also...

    Gone and Comeback are prolly my favs off the cd...

    with Marker in the sand, life wasted, severed hand right behind them....and I mean RIGHT behind them!!!

    Also really like the ones I didn't mention.....and actually Parachutes was the only one I couldn't get into...

    tried,...tried....tried....Parachutes....and it just didn't hit me......UNTIL...

    Deluna Fest on the beach in Fall of 2012,...Ed came out with full 8 1/2 X 11 sheets of paper with the lyrics...

    it was one of those amazing moments in time....Just the right amount of Alcohol (3 beers, 3 tequila shots roughly) , at the right time of night with the ocean at our side and the moon overhead....Ahhhh....

    with the majority of the "FEST" crowd not knowing the song....We all were "IN" so to speak....handing on every word and every strum of the guitar...it was ,...well...ya know...

    And this was all way after the avocado was my fav.... :fp:

    Peace, love, family and PJ.....Curly
  • SVRDhand13
    SVRDhand13 Posts: 27,005
    cwar077 wrote:
    - I was 20 when this album was released and the album accompanied some of my best and worst moments growing up and figuring out the world. I was in my first year of a sociology degree and I was forming the beginnings of a political consciousness and I related heavily to many of the themes in this record.

    I was a 20 year old too and I was pissed with the Bush administration so this album had some intense moments for me
    severed hand thirteen
    2006: Gorge 7/23 2008: Hartford 6/27 Beacon 7/1 2009: Spectrum 10/30-31
    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
    2025: Pittsburgh 5/16+5/18
  • Gern Blansten
    Gern Blansten Mar-A-Lago Posts: 22,204
    Indifference152 wrote:
    Gern Blansten wrote:
    Yeah this is a great one. I have 7 songs from this album that I consider favorites.

    LB = 6
    BS = 3

    Backspacer has...got some, unthought, and force of nature. Are those your 3?

    Actually I have Unthought/Amongst the Waves/Got Some

    I just threw Got Some in to be nice....I can't stand the beginning. I've also never really got in to Force of Nature. It just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe in time....
    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
    2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
    2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
    2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
    2020: Oakland, Oakland:  2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
    2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
    2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
  • Indifference152
    Indifference152 Posts: 305
    Gern Blansten wrote:
    Indifference152 wrote:
    Gern Blansten wrote:
    Yeah this is a great one. I have 7 songs from this album that I consider favorites.

    LB = 6
    BS = 3

    Backspacer has...got some, unthought, and force of nature. Are those your 3?

    Actually I have Unthought/Amongst the Waves/Got Some

    I just threw Got Some in to be nice....I can't stand the beginning. I've also never really got in to Force of Nature. It just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe in time....

    I guessed 2 of 3 haha. Force of nature is my fav on the album. I think Eddie sounds amazing on that track.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    Avocado is one of my favorite PJ LPs but because I only have it on CD, I've never really heard it (same with Riot Act and No Code). If I ever come across a vinyl copy within my budget or if it's re-released on vinyl, then I'll really have something to celebrate.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • samjam
    samjam New York Posts: 9,283
    Always loved it, but takes a bottom-middle spot on my favorite PJ albums list just because of its stiff competition. But so many songs that I absolutely love on that album...Severed Hand, Marker in the Sand, Inside Job, Come Back, Unemployable are favorites. And over the years, Come Back and Life Wasted have grown to mean a shit ton to me. I remember Gone also hitting me hard when I first heard that song. Gotta agree on the flow thing you mentioned too. Very easy to put a song on, then find yourself at the end of the album because you just keep it on! I personally love this record. Wish I got to see them on the '06 tour, too, seemed fantastic and I think Eddie sounded great.
    "Sometimes you find yourself having to put all your faith in no faith."
    ~not a dude~
    2010: MSGx2
    2012: Made In America
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    2018: Barcelona, Wrigleyx2
  • DewieCox
    DewieCox Posts: 11,432
    It does have great sequencing. Outside of Binaural I'd say it's the best. Ten and Vs are great too, but you could put those songs in about any order and they'd be great. Despite not being the greatest group of songs, the album unfolds nicely.

    The production is an absolute abomination.

    It ranks below Riot Act and just above Lightning Bolt right now, but LB could pass it up. It lacks a certain artistic stamp that the previous albums had, but it doesn't lack for strong musical ideas.

    Alot of good to very good songs, with a few weaker ones, but nothing mindblowingly great. Marker comes closest, but I think there was a missed chance or 2, like Inside Job.
  • EvilTim102
    EvilTim102 Posts: 135
    I was lucky enough to score a sealed copy of it for 220 on ebay yesterday. Can't wait to listen to it =D
    Mine is mine and yours won't take it's place
  • aurynsdad
    aurynsdad Posts: 863
    I agree with most of the points the original poster makes, and I love this album. I dig the sparseness of the production (no overly glossy pop B.O.B. stuff) but think that the actual sound quality SUCKS HARD compared to an album like LB. With LB, I have to find the absolute best stereo to listen to it with because there's so much sonic clarity and density, all at once. With Avocado, it's almost like it helps to have a crappy set of speakers.
    10/31/93 Berkeley (Baba!) • 10/1/94 Bridge School • 9/16/96 Seattle (In My Tree!) • 10/19/96 & 10/20/96 B. School (Alt Corduroy & Alt Porch!) • 10/25/03 B. School • 6/1/03 Mtnview (Crazy Mary! You Are!) • 11/29/13 Portland (All Those Yesterdays! Even Flow!) • 10/25/14 Bridge School (Rain! Fuckin Up! TOTD!) • 5/13/22 Oakland (had to leave early, but W.M.A.! Immortality!) • 5/13/24 Sacramento (Light Years! Picture in a Frame!) • 5/25/24 Bottle Rock (Last Kiss! Maybe It’s Time w/Bradley Cooper!)
  • nickburrows14
    nickburrows14 Posts: 858
    It has Inside Job on it :D
    Happy up here in my tree

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