Has anyone ever done the "Jam-athon"? / My Completion and Reflection.

truckin24 · June 11

I am attempting to listen to every Pearl Jam studio album straight through back to back in chronological order today, and I was curious if anyone else had ever done this, and if so whether it changed your perspective on any albums? Regardless, I think it is a great way to spend my off day...

Led Zeppelin's marathon is called the "Zep-athon", so the "Jam-athon" is just the best name I could think to give this...

I plan on ranking all the albums and tracks conclusively after. I will also be including Lost Dogs, as I feel those singles deserve to be treated as an album, though it may be tough to rank as an overall album, the singles deserve to be ranked in the overall songs category.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok wow. I have just finished. I have listened to 12+ hours of Pearl Jam today. I listened to every studio album, including Lost Dogs, and a few singles and b sides with probably less than 10 minutes of total stoppage time.

Here is what I have learned.

1. I forgot how much I listen to live recordings over studio recordings. Some of these it felt like I haven't listened to in years.

2. You can hear how much the band has shifted from the beginning as each album passes, it is very cool seeing all the different artistic directions they have explored.

3. I know I said I was going to rank the tracks, and I plan on doing that over some time, but it is near impossible to do efficiently immediately after completing this marathon. I will rank the albums from my favorite to least favorite though.

Ten, Vs., Yield, Vitalogy, No Code, Lost Dogs, Riot Act, Dark Matter, Binaural, Avocado, Backspacer, Lightning Bolt, Gigaton

4. While doing this I discovered things about almost every album I didn't remember previously that I very much enjoyed.

5. I plan on doing this again eventually but with a fully conclusive list of Christmas singles, B-Sides, and all Pearl Jam releases.

This was fun to do, and it was just nice to hear some of the studio stuff that I have either never heard, or don't remember as well...

DE4173 · June 11

👀👀👀👀👀

Kwieneke · June 11

I've considered it for a road trip but have not done it

Vitalogensia · June 11

I haven’t done it all in one sitting. I did play the albums in order on a road trip over a decade ago, took notes on where I was in the discography when passing states and such. I’ll have to go back and find that.

mookeywrench · June 11

I listened to everything 2002 the day before Riot Act was released. Got burnt out and bored around Yield. Too much sitting around, plus ear fatigue of the same artist.

We All Believe · June 11

This is great. Will do this sometime soon. I haven't listened to Riot Act or Avocado in full in forever.

Ryan · June 11

mookeywrench said:

I listened to everything 2002 the day before Riot Act was released. Got burnt out and bored around Yield. Too much sitting around, plus ear fatigue of the same artist.

Yeah this sounds like torture.
It’s when people do this with an artist, while I doubt the artist themselves would ever binge on an artist they themselves like. For instance, I doubt EV ever bothered or would suggest listening to The Who’s catalogue straight through.
Too much other interesting stuff out there! This is like eating only your favourite food at every meal.

JeBurkhardt · June 11

No, but I have listened to the XM Pearl Jam channel the entire 18 hour non stop (except gas, food and bathroom break) drive from Southern Illinois to Gunnison Colorado.

Shaindli1 · June 11

JeBurkhardt said:

No, but I have listened to the XM Pearl Jam channel the entire 18 hour non stop (except gas, food and bathroom break) drive from Southern Illinois to Gunnison Colorado.

I listened to PJ radio the entire road trip from Worcester MA to Raleigh (three days), Raleigh to Pittsburgh (one day), and Pittsburgh to Worcester (two days).

JeBurkhardt · June 11

Shaindli1 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

No, but I have listened to the XM Pearl Jam channel the entire 18 hour non stop (except gas, food and bathroom break) drive from Southern Illinois to Gunnison Colorado.

I listened to PJ radio the entire road trip from Worcester MA to Raleigh (three days), Raleigh to Pittsburgh (one day), and Pittsburgh to Worcester (two days).

That is a lot of Pearl Jam!

josevolution · June 11

Back in the way I probably would’ve of but I haven’t gotten through a whole album of theirs in a long time not even sure when was the last time I did

Shaindli1 · June 11

JeBurkhardt said:

Shaindli1 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

No, but I have listened to the XM Pearl Jam channel the entire 18 hour non stop (except gas, food and bathroom break) drive from Southern Illinois to Gunnison Colorado.

I listened to PJ radio the entire road trip from Worcester MA to Raleigh (three days), Raleigh to Pittsburgh (one day), and Pittsburgh to Worcester (two days).

That is a lot of Pearl Jam!

I'm kind of a fan.

JeBurkhardt · June 11

Shaindli1 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

Shaindli1 said:

JeBurkhardt said:

No, but I have listened to the XM Pearl Jam channel the entire 18 hour non stop (except gas, food and bathroom break) drive from Southern Illinois to Gunnison Colorado.

I listened to PJ radio the entire road trip from Worcester MA to Raleigh (three days), Raleigh to Pittsburgh (one day), and Pittsburgh to Worcester (two days).

That is a lot of Pearl Jam!

I'm kind of a fan.

same.

DE4173 · June 11

I have done this, but over time. Commit to an artist and go through their discography album by album and then move on to another artist when completed. So far I've completed:
Foo Fighters

Tool

Pearl Jam

R.E.M.

Nirvana

The Doors

Nirvana

Royal Blood

AC/DC

Black Keys

U2

Van Halen

Led Zeppelin

julieooliern · June 11

DE4173 said:

I have done this, but over time. Commit to an artist and go through their discography album by album and then move on to another artist when completed. So far I've completed:
Foo Fighters
Tool
Pearl Jam
R.E.M.
Nirvana
The Doors
Nirvana
Royal Blood
AC/DC
Black Keys
U2
Van Halen
Led Zeppelin

Impressive! 👏🏻

ally12 · June 11

Ohh I might give this a try

julieooliern · June 11

ally12 said:

Ohh I might give this a try

I was taking it as a challenge

Vitalogensia · June 11

Vitalogensia said:

I haven’t done it all in one sitting. I did play the albums in order on a road trip over a decade ago, took notes on where I was in the discography when passing states and such. I’ll have to go back and find that.

I was driving from Pittsburgh to Iowa, pre-Lightning Bolt, for reference. Here are my notes from that 10 or 11 hour trip, where I had to play a few deep cuts to make it to the end:

- Ten (redux) started in PA, "State of Love and Trust" plays at the Ohio line [state motto: So Much To Discover]

- Vs OH
- Vitalogy OH
- Yield OH, "Give to Fly" crossing into Indiana [Crossroads of America]

- Binaural IN (storm began at the beginning of "Breakerfall" and lasted through "Evacuation")

- Riot Act IN, "1/2 Full" crossing into Illinois [Land of Lincoln]

- Pearl Jam IL

- Backspacer IL (bird flew alongside the car during "Amongst the Waves")

- Lost Dogs IL, ("Down" starts while driving past the birthplace of Ronald Reagan sign)

- "Fatal" plays crossing into Iowa, over the Mississippi River

- Bright red sun falls behind dark clouds on the horizon as "4/20/02" plays

- Merkinball IA

- "Olympic Dream" from Manifesting Morrison IA

- "Leatherman" from Pittsburgh 2000 bootleg ends while pulling into the driveway.

Fun trip down memory lane.

truckin24 · June 11

Vitalogensia said:

Vitalogensia said:

I haven’t done it all in one sitting. I did play the albums in order on a road trip over a decade ago, took notes on where I was in the discography when passing states and such. I’ll have to go back and find that.

I was driving from Pittsburgh to Iowa, pre-Lightning Bolt, for reference. Here are my notes from that 10 or 11 hour trip, where I had to play a few deep cuts to make it to the end:

- Ten (redux) started in PA, "State of Love and Trust" plays at the Ohio line [state motto: So Much To Discover]
- Vs OH
- Vitalogy OH
- Yield OH, "Give to Fly" crossing into Indiana [Crossroads of America]
- Binaural IN (storm began at the beginning of "Breakerfall" and lasted through "Evacuation")
- Riot Act IN, "1/2 Full" crossing into Illinois [Land of Lincoln]
- Pearl Jam IL
- Backspacer IL (bird flew alongside the car during "Amongst the Waves")
- Lost Dogs IL, ("Down" starts while driving past the birthplace of Ronald Reagan sign)
- "Fatal" plays crossing into Iowa, over the Mississippi River
- Bright red sun falls behind dark clouds on the horizon as "4/20/02" plays
- Merkinball IA
- "Olympic Dream" from Manifesting Morrison IA
- "Leatherman" from Pittsburgh 2000 bootleg ends while pulling into the driveway.

Fun trip down memory lane.

This is awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing!! This is motivating me to keep going. I just started Backspacer. I have been listening pretty much nonstop since this morning...

NewJPage · June 12

Do Neil Young next

trees · June 12

I do on the drive to the pj show iam going to then all the live bootlegs of shows ive been too on the way home

truckin24 · June 12

Ryan said:

mookeywrench said:

I listened to everything 2002 the day before Riot Act was released. Got burnt out and bored around Yield. Too much sitting around, plus ear fatigue of the same artist.

Yeah this sounds like torture.
It’s when people do this with an artist, while I doubt the artist themselves would ever binge on an artist they themselves like. For instance, I doubt EV ever bothered or would suggest listening to The Who’s catalogue straight through.
Too much other interesting stuff out there! This is like eating only your favourite food at every meal.

I wouldn't describe the Jam-athon as "torture", but after completion I definitely think splitting it up into a few days would also be beneficial. I felt like this would be a fun challenge, just to see if I would be able to listen to the albums all the way through.

truckin24 · June 12

julieooliern said:

ally12 said:

Ohh I might give this a try

I was taking it as a challenge

It is definitely somewhat of an open challenge! I also just wanted to start a dialogue about it in general. I figured I wouldn't be the first person to attempt and complete something like this... so sharing ideas with those who have done the Jam-athon in the past, especially those here who have mentioned some of their road trip stories makes me think there are even more ways to do this challenge!

julieooliern · June 12

truckin24 said:

julieooliern said:

ally12 said:

Ohh I might give this a try

I was taking it as a challenge

It is definitely somewhat of an open challenge! I also just wanted to start a dialogue about it in general. I figured I wouldn't be the first person to attempt and complete something like this... so sharing ideas with those who have done the Jam-athon in the past, especially those here who have mentioned some of their road trip stories makes me think there are even more ways to do this challenge!

Indeed, added to a running/workout routine I suppose, or any means of travel!

ally12 · June 12

julieooliern said:

ally12 said:

Ohh I might give this a try

I was taking it as a challenge

Haha.. no kidding Vitalogy, riot act and binaural are going to be tough. Funny thing is I don’t mind those songs live!? Of the girl and sleight of hand are great live! Corduroy is completely different song live.

washedinblack91 · June 13

tons of times as a teen, though they were only up to riot act at that point

Washedinblack22 · June 14

I'm doing this now, except I'm listening to all of their albums, singles, bootlegs, etc. in chronological order. I have everything on cd except the 2025 bootlegs. I listen during the drive to work and back home, so I only get in around 10 to 12 songs a day. It's gonna take a few years before I listen to them all, but that's perfectly fine with me. Ironically, I'm listening to "Riot Act" now.

mookeywrench · June 14

I dont get the irony...

Washedinblack22 · 2:36PM

mookeywrench said:

I dont get the irony...

Washedinblack91 mentioned listening up to "Riot Act," plus a protest yesterday in Portland, Oregon turned into a riot.

Has anyone ever done the "Jam-athon"? / My Completion and Reflection.

Comments