http://www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianap ... f-of-songsThe upper half of the Pearl Jam song countdown is riddled with contradictions, much like the band itself. Many of my readers have noted such contradiction in some of the language I have used throughout my earlier analyses and I can only concur and wonder how it would even be possible not to fall into this trap. After Brandon posted a comment wondering where this list was over the weekend and signed off as "B, theskyiscrape.com," I quickly remembered that I had not visited the aforementioned site in a long time. I jetted over there and humbly discovered yet another thread devoted to my countdown, one in which I soon learned I was "anti-melody," "a moron" and "an idiot," that I "hate" Binaural, that I will have six songs from the Ten album in my Top Ten and that my top three songs are going to be "Alive, Evenflow and Jeremy." Hmm... I am going to keep everyone guessing when it comes to my Top Ten, but I enjoyed my discovery of new commentary from my fellow PJ-crazed community. Some of those remarks are pretty entertaining. But back to the contradictions.
"Cutuphalfdead," from the theskyiscrape.com forum (who was coincidentally the one who called me a moron) noted that "no matter HOW he ranked the songs people would disagree," adding, "(Pearl Jam is) such a varied band that everyone has a different opinion on what songs are the best and what songs are boring." This is an idea that has been repeated throughout the countdown and I believe it to once again be a testament to the band itself.
Referring to Friday's list (#90-81) and particularly my description of "Wasted Reprise," Stip asks, "How can one of the most beautiful things the band has written be ranked #85?" I have three answers for that: 1) I over-use superlatives in my writing, especially when it comes to something I love, like Pearl Jam, and 2) Lots of the band's catalogue is that beautiful. 3) Not everything in my Top 25 is beautiful, but is better than some of the more beautiful pieces that are ranked lower, for other reasons. For example, I believe "Blood," from today's list, to be a better song than "Wasted Reprise," but not as beautiful. Great questions, and I do absolutely appreciate the criticism. The responses have been as contradictory and as varied as this list and the band's songs, and provide character in the spaces I lack it. Thanks again, readers.
P.S. - You Ten haters finally get your first wish today.
80-71:
80. Unemployable (Pearl Jam, 2006) - This song has been compared to Bruce Springsteen, to new wave and pop music and to dog crap. I guess that is as good an example as any of the diversity of Pearl Jam. "Unemployable," as I mentioned during my analysis of its A-side, "World Wide Suicide," interested me more as a b-side, primarily because it contained a distinct and unique sound, unlike anything I had ever heard before. I can hear the Springsteen influence in the "Oh-oh-oh-ooohhh!" woops of the chorus, but the music drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Mike McCready composed for this song stands alone as a PJ track. Unfortunately the song has not translated well live, perhaps because it is admittedly a heavily-produced pop/rock song, and the band's rawer songs usually have a greater shot of making a successful conversion from the studio to the stage. Vedder's lyrics are concerned with the American workingman and his struggle to take care of his family in the modern world. No matter how much this track gets blasted, it remains one of my highlights from 2006.
79. Fatal (Lost Dogs, 2003 - Recorded 2000, during Binaural sessions) - Stone Gossard's "Fatal" was left off of 2000's Binaural, leaving many of us scratching our heads in confusion ever since. Many explanations have been given for the reasons the band chose to discard so many excellent songs from that record, but "Fatal" likely would have fit the tone of the album perfectly, so my brow is still crooked over this one. The music is low-key and brooding, beginning with an acoustic guitar then stretching out into electric territory, the guitars and drums joined by a gleaming organ during the instrumental bridge. The composition's format calls for notice, as it is structured with two verses up front, then a varied but similar chorus repeated throughout the the rest, broken up only by instrumental passages. The band has played with unusual song structuring elsewhere ("Faithfull," "Sometimes," etc.), which will be discussed more as we make our way down the line, edging ever closer to number one.
78. Education (Lost Dogs, 2003 - Recorded 2000, during Binaural sessions) - One of many Eddie Vedder songs that have made me stop and take a serious moment to ponder my existence, "Education" is a funky rocker with a big brain. The rhythm section is alive and well here, as Matt Cameron's drumming and Jeff Ament's bass have a mean groove to match Vedder's chord progression. Vedder's harmonized vocals are pretty and pretty eerie, much like the entirety of the song itself. Once again, the band has created a sound here that forces the listener to take pause and dig deep into the music and the lyrical subject at hand. "Education" focuses on how what we learn during childhood affects the rest of our lives. The song is not so much concerned with academia as with emotional and spiritual education, as evidenced by the culminating lyric of the two verses, "If I'd been taught from the beginning, would my fears now be winning?" Another astounding outtake from the Binaural sessions.
77. No Way (Yield, 1998) - A huge chunk of Stone Gossard hard rock funk makes its appearance at #77. Many songs have at some point been the most requested of the band's catalogue for live shows, and the current champion seems to be "No Way," played only three times since its 1998 release, all in a two week period of that very year, according to pearljam.com. The song features one of the heaviest bridges of any PJ song, giving way to a dark, interplaying instrumental break, in which Gossard's riffing, McCready's flavorful tinkering and Ament's drooping bass all build their way back to the insistent chorus, their final passage coming in the form of some fantastic drumming from Jack Irons. Here's to our hope for a return of "No Way" to the setlists in 2009.
76. Other Side (Lost Dogs, 2003 - "Save You" single, 2003, Recorded 2002) - Yet another "Lost Dog" finds its way home to our list, Jeff Ament's "Other Side" clocks in at the bottom of the top half. The tune reflects the mood of the Riot Act sessions, both in sound and in content, as Ament's speaker mourns his/her own death and separation from a long-time loved one, the other side of the story told in Vedder's "Sad," as noted in the Lost Dogs liner notes. One of Jeff Ament's finest career moments arrives in the soft break mid-song, when Vedder moans, "Ooh-ooh" over a minor chord-strumming acoustic guitar. A striking moment amidst an album and career full of them.
75. Parachutes (Pearl Jam, 2006) - Another song that has earned a huge amount of hatred that I simply cannot comprehend, "Parachutes" is the most poignant of all the ballads on the self-titled album. Stone Gossard's piece fits in with his handful of songs ("All Those Yesterdays," "Thin Air," etc.) that significantly recall The Beatles. "Parachutes" is basically semi-psychedelic acoustic folk pop rock, a label that does not do the song justice and makes it sounds more complicated than it truly is. The chord progression is another one that goes places no other band can, while the lead guitar is delicate enough to barely be there until the song's coda. Vedder sings about love, appearing to combine the concepts of romantic boy-and-girl storytelling with his grander wishes for a loving, peaceful world at large. Boom Gaspar's organ rides quietly behind much of the song, becoming more prominent as "Parachutes" climbs, while the aforementioned lead guitar explodes in Abbey Road fashion when Vedder sings, "Break the sky and tell me what it's for," providing a heart-warming moment, goosebumps and all.
74. Once (Ten, 1991) - "Once" is the first track from the band's iconic Ten album on this list, as well as the first cut on the album. It is also the first appearance of a song from the Mamasan Trilogy, a concept to be discussed later in this countdown. The song opens with the instrumental "Master/Slave," which bookends the Ten record, appearing again after "Release" ends. Telling the story of a serial killer, Vedder sings passionately and almost violently, nearly screaming and nearly crying each repetition of the word "Once." The bridge is paranoid and frightening, Ed's barely audible voice muttering, "You think I got my eyes closed but I'm looking at you the whole f**king time." As with most of the early songs, "Once" is a Stone Gossard composition with lyrics by Eddie Vedder and a lead guitar by Mike McCready (including a rip-roaring solo here), a combination that would prove to be earth shattering.
73. Blood (Vs., 1993) - "Blood" opens up side two of Vs. with no holds barred and no regard for the ears of the listener. Power chords and Dave Abbruzzese's crashing drums beat their way through a gutsy and nasty introduction, before a funky wah-wah chika-chiks its way through the song's first verses, Vedder singing about critics and journalists putting his life on paper as if they know him, i.e. drawing "blood." As with much of Ed's earlier lyrical content, "Blood" is scarce, concise and abstract, but there is no mistaking his bitter rage toward those who were writing about him at the time, the music reflecting his anger with a harsh, pounding sound and a throat-tearing delivery from Vedder himself. The song's outro serves as a catharsis, as Ament's bass rumbles madly and Abbruzzese's drumming claws its way around like a reflection of Ed's troubled emotional state.
72. Sleight of Hand (Binaural, 2000) - Out of the huge batch of songs from Binaural that had to take serious time to work their way into my consciousness and slowly grow on me, "Sleight of Hand" is the king. Arty, experimental and different, the song is a cousin of songs like "You Are," examples of the band expanding and taking risks, moving in unconventional directions with determination and earnestness. A Jeff Ament composition with lyrics by Eddie Vedder, "Sleight of Hand" stakes its claim in the ordinary, taking a long look at a man stuck in structure and routine with room for little else, a man broken by the patterns that have become his life. Like much of the rest of the Binaural album, "Sleight of Hand" is heavily layered and contains sounds that drift in and out of focus and can only fully be realized through the use of headphones. Look out for that delivery of the "I'll see you on the other side" lyric - it has the power to take you somewhere far away from your actual physical location.
71. All Or None (Riot Act, 2002) - While "Bushleaguer" is the personification of Pearl Jam's mood during the Riot Act sessions and blunt response to the first term of George W. Bush, "All Or None" is the true culmination of the band's sound in this era. The song is so utterly downtrodden that after opening with a dropped-tuned, minor chord introduction, the first line is "It's a hopeless situation." The rest of the lyric, co-written by Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder, delves into an examination of self, as the speaker comes to understand some hard truths about himself, especially the tendency to see and react to the world only in extremes, hence "All Or None." Vedder practically mumbles the first two verses and choruses, matching the somber tone of the music, but raises the bar for the final verse and chorus, wailing, his voice barely cracking, one of his signature human moments on record. Gossard composed the music, and the arrangement is breathtaking, from his acoustic guitar to Boom Gaspar's soft piano styles, and especially Mike McCready's shining, bluesy lead guitar.
70-61 coming at you tomorrow.
http://www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianap ... -Pearl-JamWhile many have called me crazy for taking on the task of ranking each and every one of Pearl Jam's classic songs, I have to admit that I am thoroughly enjoying my job at this point. As much fun as some of you say it is to read detailed descriptions of each track, it is an even bigger thrill to take the time to listen to each of them over and over and be able to dig into every piece of every song. To have people everywhere from here in the U.S. to Venezuela to Denmark to Indonesia listening along with me and sharing their thoughts and how this band has altered their lives is an amazing gift. I cannot say thank you enough to everyone for not only reading my own thoughts, but also partaking in the experience yourselves. Perhaps it is because "Untitled" is on today's list, I don't know, but my heart is full and this countdown is filling it up even more with the kind of love only we PJ fans share.
That being said, I have given up even considering the idea that my list will come close to pleasing anything representing a majority, and that is just fine by me. If I were to change the list I created before I published a single word of text to try to appease the masses, this thing would be an even bigger mess than it is now. Credit is due once again to the theskyiscrape.com forum, as it features easily the most entertaining thread on my countdown I have read thus far. Between yesterday and today, I found out I should be shot and that my dog should be raped. I am so grateful I do not have a dog.
Er...um...on to today's list!
70-61:
70. Untitled (Live On Two Legs, 1998) - Okay, so I am cheating here. But when considering this countdown, I just could not picture listing "MFC" without including its live lead-in track, "Untitled." This is an essential song for any PJ fan, so although it has never been released in a studio-recorded format, it belongs on this list. It was officially released on 1998's Live On Two Legs, this author's first introduction to the magnificence that is Pearl Jam live, as well as my introduction to "Untitled." The Vedder song is a meditative, spiritual one, with strong hints of what is to come immediately after in "MFC." Vedder sings about escapism, "Let's get out of here, get out of here fast," but defines the nature of this journey as one of camaraderie and love, "I wanna go, but I don't wanna go alone." The guitar lines are simple and repetitive, but Vedder's vocal shines, charged by his tendency to improvise and change the lyrics during each performance. Nearly always, however, he ends with a line asserting that, "with you, I will never feel/be alone," as the final chord gives way to...
69. MFC (Yield, 1998) - ...Mini Fast Cars, or "MFC." One of Vedder's patented songs about getting away from it all, including several classic phrases, such as "Ask, I'm an ear," "There's a lot to be said for nowhere," and, of course, "F**k it, we'll disappear." The song is somewhat punk-influenced, but carries much more melody than the average sped-up Vedder punk rock track. The harmony vocal during the chorus does wonders for the tune, adding a layer of light and color, much like the image mentioned in the lyric, "off in the sunset she'll ride." The guitar work is another interwoven treat from the three six-string wielders, including everything from what sounds like backwards recording, siren-like sounds, power chords and various pedal effects. Stone Gossard's lead guitar and solos are a real treat, integrating classic rock, blues and rockabilly. "MFC" is one of those songs I do not necessarily think of when pondering what I want to hear at my next Pearl Jam show, but once the band storms through it, I wonder why it was not on my wishlist.
68. Deep (Ten, 1991) - Nasty, intense and dark, "Deep" is Ten's heaviest track. Once upon a time I would have ranked the song as low as a handful of people have suggested I should have during this countdown, but the song has since dug its claws, for lack of a better word, "deep" into me. Musically, the song is a sort of metal blues, but certainly not of the same variety as Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. Mike McCready's guitar playing is rockin', as he grinds the line between noisy and melodic soloing and riffing. Lyrically, the song points toward heroin addiction with the obvious line, "He sinks the needle deep, can't touch the bottom, in too deep." Along with "Garden" and "Jeremy," "Deep" is one of Jeff Ament's earliest musical contributions to the band, co-written with Stone Gossard. It was the first of many shuffling, mid-tempo blues songs that the band turned into something completely different, i.e. "1/2 Full," "Red Mosquito," and another song in today's section of the countdown.
67. Animal (Vs., 1993) - While Ten was passionate and hard, Vs. took the band's fury and intensity to a whole new level, first apparent in the album's opening track, "Go," but most prominent in the almost painfully loud introduction to "Animal," the record's second song. A Stone Gossard composition that outdates Ten, "Animal" is hard rock that insists itself upon the listener, integrating funk and containing a classic McCready solo - one which he barely and rarely messes with during live performances. Some have accused Vedder's lyrics of being about gang rape (why is rape so involved in today's countdown?), but I take the other side of the argument, believing it to be yet another angry rant against the people Eddie considered the band's enemies at the time: the press, record company executives and huge corporations, hence "five against one," which nearly became the album's title. Vedder's growling, screaming vocal is a fine one, matching the music and lyrics perfectly.
66. W.M.A. (Vs., 1993) - Racist police brutality is the subject at hand in "W.M.A.," or "White Male American," a tribal funk rock song with another angsty vocal from Vedder (this one reverbing like crazy and almost in the background), a jangling tambourine deep in the mix and all the space of the studio somehow transferred to each listener's headphones. Dave Abbruzzese's drums are in the forefront, incessantly pounding home the aforementioned "tribal" feel of the song, along with Jeff Ament's bulky bass and Vedder's repeated moaning, wailing and chanting, particularly present as the song fades. The funk, however, mostly comes from the choppy guitar playing of McCready and Gossard, the former occasionally screeching and squalling, the latter bending and ringing. A true ensemble performance and a true masterpiece, "W.M.A." is the most underrated song from "Vs."
65. Angel (Holiday Single, 1993) - Former drummer Dave Abbruzzese wrote the music for this one, while Vedder assumed his usual position writing the lyrics. They are also the only two band members present on the recording, Abbruzzese playing a lone acoustic guitar, while Vedder's vocals are layered over the two and a half minutes. "Angel" is one of the highest ranked Holiday singles, and with good reason. A stirring acoustic ballad, the song is a rarity in the catalogue for both its lack of availability and its odd, different sound. Vedder's vocals soar and howl on the record, his harmonies vivid. When Eddie delivers the "I am by your side" refrain near the end of the song, one wonders why the band has never made a bigger deal out of this song. Perhaps their love for it faded once they kicked Mr. Abbruzzese out of the band, but it is surely worthy of a comeback today.
64. Grievance (Binaural, 2000) - Eddie Vedder can write a mean protest song, and his pledging "Grievance" is a fine example. An up-tempo hard rock/post-punk composition, the track relies on fantastic drumming from Matt Cameron and a rolling bassline from Jeff Ament. The three guitar attack arrives again, this time with one guitar trailing Vedder's vocal melody, another scratching and scraping its way through the track, and the other lightly riffing throughout. Ed's lyrics find themselves immersed in one of his favorite subjects, and can be summed up with just a few lines, such as, "Progress laced with ramifications, freedom's big plunge," "For every tool they lend us, a loss of independence," and "Break the innocent when they're proud/ Raise the stakes, then bring 'em down/ If they fail to obey." "Grievance" is merely nine years old and is already a classic live Pearl Jam song, the kind that can pick up any show and push the crowd's energy, kicking the audience into a higher gear.
63. Brother (Ten Redux, 2009 - instrumental version on Lost Dogs, 2003 - Recorded 1991 during Ten sessions) - A different, instrumental version of "Brother" appeared in 2003 on Lost Dogs, while a low quality version of the early track had been making its way around the internet for a while before this year's Ten Reissue. It has been surreal for some of us to hear the tune on the radio this year, but in the best way possible. The Stone Gossard composition is a rocker and features another haunting melody and chord progression. Eddie Vedder's harmonized vocals add to the eeriness, while his lyrics come across as claustrophobic and paranoid, an example being, "brother don't wanna just let me be," along with the repetition of the phrase, "back, back, back, oh better back on up." The "hey now" bridge is wonderful, along with the song's breakdown, arriving immediately after said bridge. Another fine example of how nuanced a songwriter Gossard was and still remains.
62. Man of the Hour (Big Fish Soundtrack, 2003) - Never has a Tim Burton movie sounded so good. Eddie Vedder's "Man of the Hour" played over the credits of Burton's tender, surreal fantasy film, "Big Fish," and although Burton and PJ sound like a strange combination, the song fit like a glove. Disregarding the film, Vedder's ballad is one of the finest of his career, a tender tribute to important men in our lives, particularly fathers. It opens with Ed's guitar, before Ament joins in with a soft bassline and McCready's light slide guitar sweetly backs up the first verse. Once the drums kick in and open the second verse, a harmony vocal joins Vedder's lead. It takes until after the second chorus, just prior to the song's middle eight before one can distinguish Gossard's acoustic rhythm, soon playing alongside Boom Gaspar's organ. A slow builder, "Man of the Hour" is a gorgeous tune and stands as a sweet but deep eulogy for anyone's loved one.
61. Dissident (Vs., 1993) - Another hard blues-rock song that gets tagged with the word "grunge" way too many times a day, "Dissident" is the kind of song that is stuck in my consciousness and my subconscious forever, largely due to the fact that it was played on my local "alternative" radio station so much when I was first discovering the band back in the early to mid 1990's. McCready's lead is one of his trademark themes, a wailing near-solo that plays in the intro, choruses and outro. The verses heavily feature Stone Gossard playing a chunky, fat, distorted rhythm guitar, while Vedder softly croons about a girl who turns in a man wanted by the government, then explodes into the near-celebratory chorus. The bridge transitions powerfully into the final chorus, when Abbruzzese's snare drum takes center stage for the briefest of moments, before his trademark cymbals come crashing in and take the song home.
See you there!