Binaural/Riot Act

jumbojet wrote:

People tend to pair these 2 albums but I think RA is closer to Avocado. Binaural gives more of No Code taste to me.

Boom! Very well said.

I LOVE Riot Act...great record...

Binaural is good....but overrated....

PJ_Soul wrote:

thefixer9 wrote:

I LOVE Riot Act...great record...

Binaural is good....but overrated....

Binaural is not overrated.... Kind of the point of the thread. Many of us think it's underrated.

I like the approach to the album but many songs on it (Rival, Insignifance, Soon Forget, Evacuation) I just don't get into as much as eveyone else...

Riot Act is top notch though!

WhyGo91 wrote:

PJ_Soul wrote:

jumbojet wrote:

Binaural is a masterpiece and RA is very close to it, a great album. Grievance and Insignificance are 2 of my favorites.

People tend to pair these 2 albums but I think RA is closer to Avocado. Binaural gives more of No Code taste to me.

I find Binaural and RA to be more similar because I consider them to be PJ's darkest and moodiest albums. I tend to think of them together.

Agreed. I think they're both darker and they are both during a period where PJ wasn't at a big peak with their fan base I think. That for me is a reason i think that those 2 albums are overlooked. Like it was said by Mike in PJ20, he thought that Binaural was the period where they felt like they lost a majority of the fan base.

Yes, and God knows why, since it's their best album.

Binaural and Riot Act are my least favorite Pearl Jam albums. That's not to say they're bad or missteps or anything like that.

On a side note: That's the amazing thing about PJ's career. How many regrettable music decisions have they made in 23 years? I don't think they have a cringe-worthy major release. You can nitpick some of the leftovers on Lost Dogs, but the fact those songs went unreleased argues *in favor* of the band's editing ear.

Anyway, back to Binaural and Riot Act. Possible explanations as to why those albums, for me, don't measure up.

1. Fatigue. The band had been writing, recording and touring at a frenetic pace since they broke through in 1992. They released seven full-length LPs from August 1991 to November 2002, essentially one every other year, possibly to satisfy contract terms with Sony/Epic. They've released three LPs in the subsequent 11 years.

2. The production for Binaural and Riot Act do not sound as vibrant. Many have noted Ed's low-energy or unenthusiastic vocal delivery on Riot Act, but I think the arrangements during this period also are—perhaps intentionally—more subdued . . .

3. As a result, neither record produced a true live anthem. For example, they played Sleight Of Hand, I Am Mine and Save Your four times each in 25 dates on the fall tour, and those were the *most frequently played* songs from Binaural and Riot Act.

4. A documented case of writer's block contributed to E.V. writing fewer lyrics during this period in the band's history. This is not a knock on the other band members, but more of an endorsement of Ed. His lyrics are a huge appeal for me as a long-time fan of the band (back to fall 1992).

Lyric writing credits for Binaural include three for Stone (Thin Air, Of The Girl, Rival) and two for Jeff (Gods' Dice, Nothing As It Seems). That's nearly 40% of the album's lyrics not written by Ed. Similar deal with Riot Act, where lyric credits are broken down as two for Matt (You Are, Get Right), one and a half for Jeff (Help Help, half-credit for Ghost) and two half-credits for Stone (All Or None, Bushleaguer). This is nearly one-third of the album not written by E.V.**

Number of lyrics not written by Ed on the last three albums: One. That would be Inside Job, by Mike.

4. What always strikes me about the 2000 through 2002 period is that the songs that DIDN'T make Binaural or Riot Act. How awesome would an album with these songs be? Sad, Fatal, Undone, Down, Other Side, In the Moonlight, Education, Strangest Tribe, Drifting . . . those are the b-sides and outtakes from that period.

** According to the PJ20 book, the lyric-share situation developed organically when Ed asked other band members to contribute complete song ideas—both music and lyrics. Those compositions would be the most likely to be demoed and recorded. The presence of the songs by Jeff (Low Light, Pilate) and Stone (No Way, All Those Yesterdays) on Yield seems to support this theory.