Stereogum pearl jam albums ranked
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These two albums come from a band staring straight ahead at a fork in the road – at a point of decision-making about what kind of band they were and wanted to be.
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Pearl Jam had come so strong out of the gate that a dip in quality was bound to happen. I actually think that a good number of people, Pearl Jam fans included, weren’t along for the ride at this point of the trip.
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These two albums exist in Pearl Jam’s second stage, one I have to admit I wasn’t totally a part of (see: Phase, Hippie). But they do have a couple albums that are, you know, not totally great. They don’t have any bad albums, which is impressive given the length of their career. Pearl Jam’s albums exist on a scale of Wow, This Album Is Great to Meh, This Album Is Okay. Actually, I’m not sure I can say that about any other bands. I’ve grown up with Pearl Jam, and I can’t say that about many bands. I still remember listening to Ten over and over again in my folks’ basement, and the giddy anticipation my buddy and I had as his mom drove us to buy Vs. Why? Because that’s where Pearl Jam resides for me, and where they’ve lived since I first heard them more than 20 years ago. If I included the live albums, we could be here for weeks Pearl Jam probably just released a couple more live albums in the time it took you to reach this point of the piece.Īs for how the rankings were done and now this list was constructed, I let two key things make the decisions, my gut and my heart. The task was to rank Pearl Jam’s studio albums. In the end, I believe I reached a conclusion I can live with. I covered a cork board in Polaroids, string, and index cards that was so extensive, it would make Carrie Mathison jealous. I consulted with experts*, did hours of research, and asked my dog for advice. Pearl Jam are one of the few stalwarts surviving from the long-ago age of grunge hype, and they've actually become bolder and better with age.This was easily one of the most agonizing things I’ve ever done.
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2002's Riot Act proved that the band was as relevant as ever, and in 2006 they returned with a self-titled, heavy blast of anthemic anger at the state of the world. In 2000, Pearl Jam began releasing no less than 72 volumes of live material chronicling the American and European legs of their tour in support of Binaural, which came out the same year. Not coincidentally, the band bravely began messing with its straight-ahead rock formula around that same time: "Spin the Black Circle" married punk with garage rock, "Off He Goes" put their own "Daughter" to shame for fireside ambiance, "Around the Bend" manifested the effects of Mirror Ball (their 1995 collaboration with Neil Young) soft and clear, and "Low Light" out-R.E.M.'d R.E.M. Many accused Pearl Jam of being a mainstream hard rock band that happened to hop on the alt-rock gravy train at its busiest stop (Grungeville circa late 1991/early 1992), thereby reaping the benefits of constant exposure on suddenly flannel-friendly MTV with hit videos for "Alive," "Even Flow" and, most notably, "Jeremy." In the wake of the unpredictable success of their multi-platinum anthem-fest/debut Ten, Eddie Vedder eventually got used to being a celebrity.