The case in defense of Pearl Jams Vitalogy: Why do some of yall hate it so much? It not being Ten isnt a valid reason. I probably wouldve dislike Vitalogy if it were more of Ten. Or more of Vs. Not that I dislike either album, rather Tens one of my favorites and Vs is really good for what it is. But, if Pearl Jam really did release an album that didnt show them experimenting with different ideas, then I could definitely see hate coming the albums way. Fortunately enough, and apparent enough, this is not the case. The album kicks off with Last Exit which begins with the band warming up almost sounding like something on Trout Mask Replica, perhaps alluding to those times signifying that this album was going to be a more risky and experimental effort. Then the drums kick in, riff not too long after, and so begins an instance where the album shows off being particularly rhythmic. Such rhythmic focus shows up in songs like Whipping, Spin The Black Circle, Corduroy, and many others. Whats also significant are stylistic explorations that see the band straying away from the Grunge sound they were affiliated with albums like Ten and Vs. Theres actually couple of moments where the album just does nearly straight-up punk rock. Arguably Spin The Black Circle could be case given the amount of aggression being delivered from all parties, especially Vedder. Theres a few ballads most notably Nothingman since its the only song that doesnt pick up in dynamics like with Better Man and Immortality. But for a good chunk of the album, about half of the tracks, youre getting straight-up, in your face, somewhat hard hitting Alternative and Experimental Rock the Grunge movement did well advocating. Amongst these 7, I would say that Tremor Christ is my favorite if I had to pick. Also notable are the amount of strange tracks on Vitalogy. Such as Pry, To, the shortest track on the album, which I think is more of an interlude than anything else. Or Bugs where Eddie Vedder is singing in eccentric, stream of consciousness fashion whilst playing accordion. Yeah, Eddie Vedder on accordion. Aye Davantia feeling like a longer yet more interesting version of Pry, To, but the most experimental of all the tracks on here would be Hey Foxymophandlemama, Thats Me (which I will refer to as Stupid Mop). In sort of inspired by Velvet Undergrounds The Gift fashion, the track takes these recordings of patients from... I believe a psych ward of some kind, and throws that over some tension building instrumentation. Certainly, this has to be the strangest song Pearl Jam has ever done. I want to conclude my list of reasons as to why I think Vitalogy is a noteworthy album with one thing: Vedders vocals as well as his lyricism. Arguably what could also be drawn as to the reasoning why the album is experimental would be in how raw his voice and vulnerable he sounds on all these tracks. Yes, the moments where his vocals get intense, say Spin The Black Circle, Tremor Christ, etc., isnt anything new since it was indeed done on Ten and Vs., however, theres something that feels more genuine here than those two other releases. Especially on Bugs where it sounds like hes immobilized by all these bugs that have found their way to entrenching and weighing him down, yet at the same time he seems incredibly indifferent to it. Vedders just showing a lot of dimmension in how hes singing and what hes singing about I was missing so much from Ten and Vs. Like with Satans Bed where it appears hes singing about not submitting to BDSM from the Devil or something that nature. Not [wanting to] suck Satans dick being an interesting line here. Im theorizing that theres a metaphor about his loss of privacy that shows up as a theme on numerous tracks here. And if so, Vedder is an incredibly creative lyricist to create such variety here. All of the soft tracks he feels vulnerable vocally, all the experimental tracks he feels in a daze, and all the tracks that straight up rock hes incredibly aggressive. I applaud Vedder on the whole thing. Overall its my favorite Pearl Jam album. What do yall think?
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 03:06:54 +0000
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