Riot Act is hugely underrated
Can't Keep is perfect album opener.
All or None is a perfect album ender. Right up there with Indifference and Immortality (not counting Foxy) as closers.
I Am Mine, Love boat Captain and Thumbing My Way are classics.
You Are is experimental PJ at their best. I think this song is easily one of their most overlooked.
Get Right, Green Disease and Save You are fun rockers. Get Right should be played live more often.
The weakest link for me has always been Cropduster. The album is a bit long and would have had a better flow without it.
It is easily one of the best sounding records they have released production wise. It's really warm and has a lot of space. Earlier albums sound almost tinny when you listen to them back to back.
The theme and lyrics for this album always take me back to the darkness of the early 2000's. 9-11, Bush administration, Irag/Afghanistan war, Roskilde. It's a heavy, deep, emotional record.
Love it.
All or None is a perfect album ender. Right up there with Indifference and Immortality (not counting Foxy) as closers.
I Am Mine, Love boat Captain and Thumbing My Way are classics.
You Are is experimental PJ at their best. I think this song is easily one of their most overlooked.
Get Right, Green Disease and Save You are fun rockers. Get Right should be played live more often.
The weakest link for me has always been Cropduster. The album is a bit long and would have had a better flow without it.
It is easily one of the best sounding records they have released production wise. It's really warm and has a lot of space. Earlier albums sound almost tinny when you listen to them back to back.
The theme and lyrics for this album always take me back to the darkness of the early 2000's. 9-11, Bush administration, Irag/Afghanistan war, Roskilde. It's a heavy, deep, emotional record.
Love it.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
9/17/2011 - MTS Center - Winnipeg
riot act is truly pearl jam's last album of the first half of their career so i kind of built a soft spot for it.
2012: Arras, Berlin 1-2
2013: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires
2014: Milano, Trieste, Vienna, Berlin
2016: NY MSG 1
Agree with you on highly overrated and it being one of the best sounding records. However, I do NOT agree with you about Cropduster. That song is one of the gems of that album if not the best song on there after Ghost. The guitars and drums on Cropduster just completely make it, plus Ed's lyrics over top: perfect. The album is one, if not, my favorite PJ album ever (Vs. and No Code are in there too). I love the artistic value that the album produces in its sound and lyrics. And it's a huge testament to how well the other members of the band can write, especially Matt. I've always given this album an A++ :thumbup:
Agree with this post. Certainly Cropduster is a great song. My 2nd favorite on this album, just behind LBC. Also agree that overall this is a favorite of mine. Also my favorited PJ tour.
It was the first Pearl Jam album that really, really hit me. And it has a very special place in my heart.
The magical thing about the album is that it changes over time, and sort of grows/evolves along with me. I feel like there are so many layers in each song, that i am still just starting to experience. Such beauty!
One thing i've noticed, that i can't explain why, is that i tend to play Riot Act more often after Lightning Bolt was released.
I am referring to the album being an overall favorite. And that tour is the 2003 tour that I favor over the rest. Nashville "03 was just a classic show.
I loved that tour too. I went to 5 shows and they all blew me away. Boston 1 and 2, NYC 1 and 2 and Holmdel. I also loved listening to the boots from other shows. Esp. Uniondale, Buffalo, State College and Tokyo.
For me at the time, it was their best record since No Code. I really like the production and guitar tones, and more importantly, it sounded like Mike had been unleashed from the cage he'd been stuck in since the second album, as far as lead guitar is concerned. So many great solos on this one, prominent in the mix unlike the previous few records.
As far as the songs, for me the two classics are "I Am Mine" and "Thumbing My Way," but right behind them are a lot of really good ones like "Can't Keep," You Are," "Get Right," "Green Disease" and especially "All Or None" (which I had the great fortune to hear live for the first time in L.A. last month! Speaking of great McCready solos...in G#m, no less...)
Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the album is a bit long and does have several weak links that could be removed to both tighten it up and make it better: the two obvious duds for me are "Help, Help" and "Bushleager," totally lame songs IMO. And, despite the nobility of the sentiment and its inspiration, "Love-Boat Captain" has just never done much for me. Not a big fan of "1/2 Full" either.
I've grown to love "Cropduster" over the years, and it was great to see Ed do "Arc" on one of his solo tours. I would REALLY love to hear them do "Get Right," but I have a feeling I never will. (Though with this band, you never know what oddity they might dust off years later!)
Also, looking at this album's b-sides and outtakes just shows what great songs and sessions they had at the time. Especially "Down" and "Undone," what a fantastic album this would have been had they made it in lieu of the two I mentioned not liking.
And again to reiterate, All Or None is definitely one of their best album closers and certainly one of my favorite PJ songs. It truly is a masterpiece and just well put together.
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Me too!
Perhaps the most artistic of all pj albums. A gem that is only known and appreciated by true pj fans.
I agree with the gist of your post . . . but you lost me when you said Cropduster is the weakest link ... R U Kidding? That F'n song nails it. "I was a fool because I thought I thought the world . . . turns out the world thought me." #truth
Love boat captain
Take the reigns,.. steer us towards the clear.
M.Y.T.H. is
Belief in the game controls that keeps us in a box of fear
Madison Square Garden, NYC, July 2003 (BEST Concert of ALL TIME)
Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA, November 2013 (2nd BEST Concert of ALL TIME)
***Milan, IT, June 2014****
***Trieste, IT, June 2014***
***Berlin, DE, June 2014***
If I had to name one and only one favorite Pearl Jam record it would have to be Riot Act... just a tiny bit above No Code, and Yield.
Yeah, Riot Act was a brave effort when it was released, it was obvious PJ made a huge leap into an even darker territory with it, and it took me years starting to appreciate, moreover love it!!! Its dark, but still uplifting vibe always reminded me of those gloomy The Cure records (a huge fan of them), however I am glad they put an end to that sad period.
Eddie: Dublin & London
6-16-93 University Theatre, UM
2-8-95 Adams Field House
6-20-98 Washington-Grizzly Stadium
5-28-03 Adams Field House
8-29-05 Adams Field House
7-22-06 Gorge Amphitheater
9-3-11 Alpine Valley
9-30-12 Adams Field House
10-31-12 The Pearl - Eddie Vedder
11-01-12 The Pearl - Eddie Vedder
9-6-13 Key Arena
6-20-14 Milan
6-22-14 Trieste
11-28-15 Mexico City
Brilliant songs throughout.
As far as the whole album goes. . . . I break it out here & there & am constantly discovering new things on it, but it has a long way to go for me to consider it as one of my favorites by PJ. In my opinion none of their releases since Yield have come close to the brilliance of those first 5 albums.
Doesn't mean you folks are wrong though, it's all subjective. This thread WILL however inspire me to pull this album out again this week.
Yes! Been my of my favs since Riot Act came out! Happy that I've seen Eddie do it, but the PJ version is what I love.
+1