Riot Act: How has your view of it changed after 14+ years?

ledvedderman · April 2017

Have always been neutral on this one.

Hmmmm. I'm not sold on that version of Riot Act. I think Thumbing My Way is THE song from these sessions. Ed's lyrics, music, and melody are possibly one of his best from any album.

I might have to piece one together though for me. I have a feeling that all of the bsides will be on it.

thispureamericanriot · April 2017

Didn't care for it then, don't care for it now.

thispureamericanriot said:
This is a "loaded gun" question for me. I never really liked the album in totality (too many songs), but that doesn't mean I dislike the "songs" themselves if that makes any sense? Some of my most favorite songs are on Riot Act: Love Boat Captain, I Am Mine, Save You, Down (outtake), Half Full, Cropduster, All or None, etc. To me, if the album was paired down to just 10 tracks sequenced in a different order, it may have clicked more for me. It's just not one of my favorite PJ albums. Still better than 95% of the crap out today though.

Riot Act Redux:
1. Love Boat Captain
2. I Am Mine
3. Down (not on original album)
4. Half Full
5. Cropduster
6. Save You
7. Get Right
8. Green Disease
9. Can't Keep
10. All Or None

So the "lost dogs" from Riot Act for me would have been: Ghost, Thumbing My Way, You Are, Help Help, Bushleaguer, Arc with Undone and Other Side actually being on Lost Dogs. I'm sure many here could discuss the merits of these songs I'm calling the "lost dogs" from Riot Act. However, if you look at them down the line they might be compelling on deeper listening, but do not benefit the album IMO. I think that's why I never fully got into Riot Act...probably my loss.

brianlux · April 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

I can see where it would be tempting to envision an album differently- almost any album really. But then think- would you change any lines on a Monet or Van Gogh? Would you tear off a wall in one place and add another to a Frank Lloyd Wright home? Would you rearrange the chapter in Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea?

Well, OK, that last example is unfair. It is, after all, perhaps the one perfect book in all of literature!

OceansJenny · April 2017

Have always been neutral on this one.

Least favorite then and now by miles, although dislike it slightly less than now than I did then. Still better than a lot of non PJ music. Interestingly, Riot Act was the new album when I got into Pearl Jam.

rgambs · April 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

ledvedderman said:
Hmmmm. I'm not sold on that version of Riot Act. I think Thumbing My Way is THE song from these sessions. Ed's lyrics, music, and melody are possibly one of his best from any album.

I might have to piece one together though for me. I have a feeling that all of the bsides will be on it.

Agreed, Thumbing My Way is one of those masterpiece acoustic singer songwriter tracks that really gets at the heart of writing music.
A person with an instrument and their voice, making sweet rhythm and melody to near perfection.

thispureamericanriot · April 2017

Didn't care for it then, don't care for it now.

rgambs said:

ledvedderman said:
Hmmmm. I'm not sold on that version of Riot Act. I think Thumbing My Way is THE song from these sessions. Ed's lyrics, music, and melody are possibly one of his best from any album.

I might have to piece one together though for me. I have a feeling that all of the bsides will be on it.
Agreed, Thumbing My Way is one of those masterpiece acoustic singer songwriter tracks that really gets at the heart of writing music.
A person with an instrument and their voice, making sweet rhythm and melody to near perfection.

I don't disagree. It's a very Neil Young (Harvest/Harvest Moon) moment and Ed is one of the best on the tender ballads for sure. I guess most of the time I'm a "heavy music" person, so I usually listen to PJ for the rocking tunes or mid tempo tunes (love: Release, Elderly Woman, Nothingman, etc.) I like Thumbing My Way too, just not as much as you do.

my2hands · April 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

buck502000 said:
They were too political back then skipped my area shows and didn't listen to the album either. The album is the last great one they made.

You boycotted Pearl Jam due to politics in the Bush era?

tbergs · April 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

my2hands said:

buck502000 said:
They were too political back then skipped my area shows and didn't listen to the album either. The album is the last great one they made.
You boycotted Pearl Jam due to politics in the Bush era?

Still waiting for him to sell those Bruce vinyls on Lost Dogs from a few months ago

mcgruff10 · April 2017

Didn't care for it then, don't care for it now.

tbergs said:

my2hands said:

buck502000 said:
They were too political back then skipped my area shows and didn't listen to the album either. The album is the last great one they made.
You boycotted Pearl Jam due to politics in the Bush era?
Still waiting for him to sell those Bruce vinyls on Lost Dogs from a few months ago

I 'm pretty sure I had dibs on "greetings from asbury park".

Pap · April 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

I don't think there's a better political album out there.

ledvedderman · April 2017

Have always been neutral on this one.

tbergs said:

my2hands said:

buck502000 said:
They were too political back then skipped my area shows and didn't listen to the album either. The album is the last great one they made.
You boycotted Pearl Jam due to politics in the Bush era?
Still waiting for him to sell those Bruce vinyls on Lost Dogs from a few months ago

Me too! Hell, I'll pay shipping.

brianlux · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

Having finally secured a vinyl copy of Riot Act (thank you ten to the billionth time for this re-issue!), I sat down let it spin.
Oh,
MY
GOD!

I have always thought of Riot Act was one of Pearl Jam's very best records. It's complex yet easy to fall into a grove with. It's great rock music peppered with touches of jazz, smoothed with folk influences, sprinkled with little sonic trips, flavored with bits of exotica. The songs run from the urgent ("Save You", "Ghost") to the barely reigned-in dramatic ("Love Boat Captain") to the social/political ("Green Disease", "Bu$hleaguer" . It rocks hard at just the right times. And it has "I am Mine". Perfection. And the level at which the band plays here... damn!

It's such a great album. And the record! I was dumbfounded listening to this vinyl reissue of this amazing LP. What sound! Talk about "Be still my heart!". Man, this record SOUNDS AMAZING! It blows my mind. I don't mean to sound like some vinyl expert (I'm not!) but after all these years of listening to thousands of records, CDs, tapes of various sizes and ips, I dare say, this might be the best sounding record I've ever heard.

Combining the craftsmanship of the band and the quality of the LP, I was literally in tears at a few points, shattered by the sheer joy of such rich, fine sounds. This is one of their records which, for me, makes Pearl Jam such an enormously fine band.

SmallestOceans · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

Nowadays I see it sort of as their dark Avocado or dark No Code. It's the perfect balance of fuck the elite ruling class with existential trippy love stuff. I love what Matt Cameron brought to the studio around 1999-2002. He added a totally different dimension to the band. Arguably even more diverse of a record than No Code? The songs are all criminally underplayed live. There's nothing like a show that begins with "Can't Keep". And Arc is great tribute to our fallen comrades. It brings me peace any time I hear it. Easily coulda seen them back in 03, but didn't and i'll never get over it.

Could definitely see them playing the album live in Italy, Poland, Czech Republic or Germany. It's a fantastic album and deserves to be played in front of an audience. Italy would really appreciate it I think! Wonder if they'd change Bushleaguer to Trumpleaguer, ha!

Spiritual_Chaos · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

First album I bought in some kind of present tense. Bought it new. Also the second album I bought after Ten.
Loved it then. Love it now.

I AM MINE being in heavy rotation on a swedish music video channel (due to it being picked "hit of the week") was great.

PB11041 · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

I'd add nuance to my answer. It is a very good record, but it is the most period piece of their records, even more so than S/T.
It is not a go to studio record the way Vitalogy, No Code and Binaural are to me, but it is still one I like to spin several tracks on.

mrk2 · November 2017

Didn't care for it then, don't care for it now.

Too long and average, then and now.

my2hands · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

Love Riot Act

erocshifty · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

My favorite PJ record for 15 years now. This was also the year we got married. Love the "King & Queen" artwork. The album very much captured my headspace around this time. Especially living in the D.C area, post 9/11. Before the album was released, I had to get the I Am Mine Australian single to get Down and Undone. The production and soundscapes on this album is pretty much perfect to me. Last record that had b-sides on the singles.. I found this pic looking at Riot Act images on Google.

brianlux · November 2017

Definitely a fan and have always liked it.

SmallestOceans said:

Nowadays I see it sort of as their dark Avocado or dark No Code. It's the perfect balance of fuck the elite ruling class with existential trippy love stuff. I love what Matt Cameron brought to the studio around 1999-2002. He added a totally different dimension to the band. Arguably even more diverse of a record than No Code? The songs are all criminally underplayed live. There's nothing like a show that begins with "Can't Keep". And Arc is great tribute to our fallen comrades. It brings me peace any time I hear it. Easily coulda seen them back in 03, but didn't and i'll never get over it.

Could definitely see them playing the album live in Italy, Poland, Czech Republic or Germany. It's a fantastic album and deserves to be played in front of an audience. Italy would really appreciate it I think! Wonder if they'd change Bushleaguer to Trumpleaguer, ha!

Nice summation, SO. Yes, Matt really brought it on this record! I was very much noticing that last night.

I was thrilled to have the pleasure of hearing "Ghost" live in Missoula. That was both a surprise and a highlight for me.

erocshifty said:

My favorite PJ record for 15 years now. This was also the year we got married. Love the "King & Queen" artwork. The album very much captured my headspace around this time. Especially living in the D.C area, post 9/11. Before the album was released, I had to get the I Am Mine Australian single to get Down and Undone. The production and soundscapes on this album is pretty much perfect to me. Last record that had b-sides on the singles.. I found this pic looking at Riot Act images on Google.

Great illustration- I love it!

PJ_Soul · November 2017

Like it better than I used to.

It's not so much that I like it more now because I didn't like it as much before. It's just that I wasn't paying attention when it came out because my life was crazy at the time, so I never really considered it one way or the other until a few years after its release. I was well aware of I Am Mine because it was a radio hit of sorts, and I loved it, but besides that, I really didn't know the difference either way. Once I did consider it, though, I fell in love with it immediately. I think it's one their very best albums.

Riot Act: How has your view of it changed after 14+ years?

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