“Leatherman,” Given To Fly single: Another cover, and one the band liked to play live from time to time. Docked probably 40 points for this reason, and if that seems petty, too bad.Ĩ4. My hope is that it got new fans on board who then went backward and discovered all the brilliant original music the band had written. The massive hit single that it became is unexplainable and, to me, quite disappointing. Pearl Jam dusting it off for a cover is fine. “Last Kiss,” Lost Dogs, fan club single: The original oldie was fine but not special. “2,000 Mile Blues,” Ten Redux: Another song not released in the early days for a reason, but rather an entertaining bit of studio ephemera they found floating around.Ĩ5. “Evil Little Goat,” Ten Redux: A jokey cut recorded in the studio during Ten and left off for obvious reasons, but an interesting little piece that reminds people of this band’s sense of humor, a trait largely forgotten.Ĩ6. “Untitled (red dot),” Yield: Mildly interesting instrumental that lasts all of a minute.Ĩ7. “Pry, To,” Vitalogy: Mildly interesting instrumental that lasts all of a minute.Ĩ8. “Bee Girl,” Lost Dogs: I’m not sure what sort of vibe is going on here, some sort of folky coffeehouse acoustic piece with Vedder alternating between singing and philosophical musings, with the occasional laughter break, all in tribute to the girl from the semi-famous Blind Melon video for “No Rain.”Ĩ9. Some vaguely interesting guitar work, perhaps, but not much more.ĩ0. “I’m Open,” No Code: A close cousin to “Push Me, Pull Me,” this is an instrumental that Vedder decided to talk over top of for a couple minutes. As a drunken way to blow off steam, it’s understandable, but it didn’t need to be recorded.ĩ1. “Push Me, Pull Me,” Yield: This is a mishmash of Vedder rambling, the band flailing away with no direction and some Bowie-esque background vocals that made me think of the Labyrinth soundtrack. Vedder’s scratchy vocals are just painful.ĩ2. However, leading off with this willfully difficult song seems more like a calculated middle finger to “grunge” than an organic choice for best leadoff track. “Sometimes,” No Code: I’d say No Code is the most divisive album of the band’s first decade even to this day, but the bulk of it foreshadows the musical direction the band would take from Binaural forward, and remains quietly arresting in its own way. If you haven’t heard it, don’t bother.ĩ3. But its obscurity is deserved and un-mourned. Eddie Vedder later said it was a jam, and it sounds every inch of that. “Out Of My Mind,” live B-side: This one was only played twice live and then forgotten. But that doesn’t mean you have to listen to it again.ĩ4. Just like “Revolution 9,” the band had the decency to bury it at the end, in an almost willful shedding of their image up to that point. “Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me (aka Stupid Mop),” Vitalogy: The other song of no consequence on Vitalogy, if “song” is the right word for this sound collage. Nothing jerks you out of the excellent “Corduroy” faster than that damn accordion.ĩ5. “Bugs,” Vitalogy: I get that Vitalogy was experimental, and Tom Waits is beloved for reasons unknown to me, but this is unlistenable and weird, and disrupts the flow of a great album up to that point. I’m a fan, so I’m not above reason (it is Pearl Jam, after all). As with any ranking, this is of course subjective, though if you disagree only well-reasoned arguments will be accepted. Omitted is the Neil Young collaboration album Mirrorball and any live songs that were never officially recorded or released (“Baba O’Riley,” a band staple, for example). Therefore, this list will rank all of the officially released Pearl Jam songs from the band’s inception up through 1999’s monster “Last Kiss” single, collecting B-sides and songs recorded in the era but not released until the CD reissues of recent years. Once the new century hit and Matt Cameron joined, the band entered into more of a cult status, albeit one with a rabid fan base and great music, but that somehow felt different than its previous incarnation. The five albums of this time period all have a definite feel that is different from each other but unmistakably the same band. None of this would have mattered had the band not had great songs and albums, and they did in spades. It is the era most fondly remembered by longtime fans, the era of enduring, moody songwriting, a rotating cast of drummers, the Ticketmaster battle and the band’s solidification as an enduring rock band that outlasted its peers long after “alternative” had become mainstream. Pearl Jam’s first decade yielded five albums, a handful of singles and some of the best music of the ‘90s. Features Spin The Black Circle: A Pearl Jam (Of The '90s) Song Countdown by Benjamin Ray
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