I'll Never Suck...Satan's POLL! Pearl Jam's Vitalogy

Never was for you.

nothin forced abt the riff for corduroy dogg

fucking love this album and all its craziness. top 5: Last Exit, Satan's Bed, Corduroy, Immortality, Aye Davanita.

this once, right after this came out, my brother (BLAM) told me he'd give me all his hundreds of CDs if i could guess the song he was gonna play from his collection. it was spin the black circle. oh well. fuck CDs.

my fave pearl jam album. Picked Not For You

or was it nothingman

"Immortality" in a walk.

This is really, really hard.

Nah, this one was easy. A No Code poll though? That would be difficult.

"Immortality" might have my favorite guitar solo in the Pearl Jam catalog.

BUGS IN MY EARS. BUGS IN MY NOSE.

nothin forced abt the riff for corduroy dogg

Yeah, Corduroy is good - I'm thinking of Tremor Christ and Not For You, which just feel a little off to me. The others are fine - love Spin The Black Circle, Whipping, Last Exit...there's nothing here quite as relentlessly awesome as Leash or Rearviewmirror though.

bettermanisnothing
nothingmanisbetter

(a little mantra that used to run through my head)

tremor christ pipped at the post by the splendid corduroy

fuck there is some horrid filler on this record though

"Bugs" srsly might be the best song on this record

What? I don't remember Not For You being almost 6 mins long, but okay. Maybe I should go back and listen to this album. These days, I generally only keep No Code, Yield and Binaural in rotation, so it's been a while since I've heard any of the others (especially the earlier ones).

That said, Corduroy kinda pwns this whole record.

Put this on last night to actually feel like I had some basis for voting and I feel drawn to doing one of those weird track-by-track things that makes me sound like a huckster who doesn't know the genre, reviewing things for the local paper....

"Last Exit" – 2:54 - good, punchy opener, not quite as good as "Go" but the 'this is, this is!" part is good.

"Spin the Black Circle" – 2:48 - used to LOVE this, kind of wore it out, still like it a lot. My friend in high school thought it was about heroin; it seems pretty clear to me that it's about vinyl records but maybe there's an intentional ambiguity?

"Not for You" – 5:52 - ughhhh, totally draggy.

"Tremor Christ" – 4:12 - ditto - this is a really ugghy patch of this record...the way the main guitar thing gnashes along is really grating to my ears

"Nothingman" (Vedder, Ament) – 4:35 - ALSO a drag, although at least a differently-textured one. In high school we conceived of an alternate version, "Muffinman," concerning the fortunes of an inept baker. "Burned, BURNED!!!"

"Whipping" – 2:35 - this is pretty sweet, doesn't overstay its welcome, and the lyrics actually click although I think on paper they look really cheesy. Eddie sells this one.

"Pry, To" – 1:03 - backwards messages are cool, this gets a pass. And it's only a minute long.

"Corduroy" – 4:37 - good song, the clearest anticipation of "No Code" on here. The only thing that keeps it from my top spot is "...spill my TINCTURE!"

"Bugs" – 2:45 - Kind of glad this is here, on general principles; I admit it's not the most enjoyable listening experience on this record. I'll take it over "Rats" though.

"Satan's Bed" (Vedder, Gossard) – 3:31 - Pretty hard to fuck with this. I do feel like between this and "Spin The Black Circle" there was something a little off on the uptempo numbers here - the guitar tone sounds pinched or the tape is playing too fast or something. Both songs kind of feel like they nail their one riff and have a lot of trouble finding a good bridge or even a chorus - the BRANG BRANG BRANG BRANG of the chorus here recalls the same irritating sound of "Tremor Christ" although it doesn't sink the ship here. I dunno.

"Better Man" (Vedder) – 4:28 - this is good.

"Aye Davanita" – 2:58 - I LOVE THIS. With the wisdom of age I can see that the excursion into "trippy," warbly, muffled grooves and weird languages is a kind of generic step that Serious Rock Bands must make - but it still feels like they were having fun with this one. Cha-oooom cha cha!

"Immortality" – 5:28 - Also good, really strong contrast to Indifference on Vs. which just kills the album in its tracks. This is a strong song, melodies are good throughout and I like the "trapdoor in the sun" image. As observed by some dude, the solo is solid too.

"Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" (Ament, Gossard, Jack Irons, McCready, Vedder) – 7:44 - and, well, this. See "Aye Davanita" - I got into this record at a time when this kind of thing was really new to me and I loved it. If this were I Love Pearl Jam I would totally do a poll of all the clips/sounds in this.

This album was about 50% great ballads and weirdo filler (which I like) and about 50% hoary noisy ballsout rock stuff (which I'm not that keen on).

Didn't think much of this at the time, though I remember Tremor Christ being good and atmospheric.

I don't think "Better Man" has worn at all with play and age.

Immortality for me...Satan's Bed & Last Exit close seconds. And I do love me some Bugs. I can go back to Betterman occasionally, and if I take it on its own I do love it...but it has taken on a commercial, 'jingle' quality that I just can't shake.

Well, it's definitely a victim of its own success, I'll buy that. And the first verse is a little too ponderous and "deep" sounding - but that's a hell of a chorus on that song.

"Spin the Black Circle" – 2:48 - used to LOVE this, kind of wore it out, still like it a lot. My friend in high school thought it was about heroin; it seems pretty clear to me that it's about vinyl records but maybe there's an intentional ambiguity?

yeah I used to see the same thing, all aggressive-sounding and screaming "SEE THIS NEEDLE, SEE MY HAND" that when I realized the song was actually this really joyous celebration of vinyl. even Pearl Jam's happy songs tend to sound angry (see also: "Smile").

how does "Corduroy" anticipate No Code, though? i mean i love both the album and the song but i see little connection.

err THINK the same thing

and that sentence didn't really have an ending either. maybe "that it was funny when i realized." whatever, you get the gist. even my message board postings are lazy on the weekend.

Corduroy and No Code - not the A part ("The waiting drove me mad") but the B part ("I don't wanna take what you can't give...") has a kind of loping, peaceable feel to it - it's one of the most easygoing rhythms in PJ's catalog to date, but with a certain amount of grit to it that separates it from Daughter and Nothingman. I guess that's what reminds me of No Code - things like "Off He Goes" and "Who You Are." It's probably a stretch though!

this is, this is...
my...last exit

Spin The Black Circle is a husker du rip off

Still great though

Corduroy. The best song they ever wrote, and most likely ever will.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I'm kind of impressed by this despite all the stated Corduroy love on this thread...thanks for voting in any case!

PFM reviews the reissues:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15263-vs-legacy-edition-vitalogy-legacy-edition-live-at-the-orpheum-theatre-boston/

liked this: http://www.avclub.com/articles/pearl-jam-driven-into-a-niche,53777/

am i a bad person for loving Dissident?

i like it, so probably, yeah

we've never done a Vs. poll have we?

I think we have actually

nevermind dude can't find it

Okay, the guitar and organ only version of "Better Man" is breathing some new life in a song I grew tired of awhile ago. Its gorgeous.

is it a totally different take or just the original track w/ rhythm section removed?

I haven't A/Bed them to be sure, but I'm leaning towards the latter. Even so, it just sounds really nice.

In high school we conceived of an alternate version, "Muffinman," concerning the fortunes of an inept baker. "Burned, BURNED!!!"

This forever ruined my ability to listen to this song with a straight face

hahahaha awesome

i mean, sorry

Only other thing I can remember was "Had a secret recipe / Cursed the day he let it goooooo"

loooooooool

in high school I tried to convince a couple of friends that "Better Man" was about a gambling addict who just wants to find another gambling addict to love her, but it never took

twenty-five YEARS, man

someone voted for aya davanita here so the other vitalogy poll can suck it

strong chance that was me

would've voted for "satan's bed", kind think this is the best pearl jam album

Wait wait wait...how am I only (counts) 26 years later discovering that 'Tremor Christ' was a charting Billboard Hot 100 single? I have no memory of this whatsoever.

Sales.