#492 Pearl Jam- Vitalogy (1994)

Somewhere in my transition between college and real life, I encountered Pearl Jam.  I had one foot firmly planted into corporate suit & tie life, and tried to keep the other foot somewhat anchored in "the music scene."  I couldn't understand why I kept pulling leg muscles.  It wasn't that I didn't like grunge, I think I just felt that I didn't belong anymore.  I felt like the alumnus with responsibilities and accompanying haircut, trying to hang with the longhairs around the keg.  Was it just me that went through this?

By the time Vitalogy came out, I'd had a couple of years to reassert my likes and dislikes in a way that was no longer distracted by guilt, nostalgia, or illegal substance; not to say those three didn't exist, I just wasn't as swayed.  It was also the year that I'd reentered the music scene, and sought a balance between business, and performing music... a quest that would confront me and Pearl Jam a few times over the coming years.

Last Exit's intro hints there's going to be some experimenting on this album, Pearl Jam's third release.  After a little bit of "avant garde", the song kicks in with a strong driving beat, but with no hook.

Spin the Black Circle-  The first single released from the album, could have easily been on the Husker Du album I reviewed.  It's got the same fast furious punk rock "in and out in under three minutes" vibe to it.  Guitarist Gossard wrote it much slower, but Vedder insisted they speed it up, much to the chagrin of the rest of the band.
Not for You, the second single, reminds me of some of Neil Young's later anthems.  I can hear the toll that the "biz" had been taking on them, the disillusionment and disappointment, fighting battles with Ticketmaster and eventually each other.

Tremor Christ- I'm digging this from the get go, but it's probably because I'm an unabashed Beatle-head, and this song sounds like it was lifted from Helter Skelter & I Am the Walrus outtakes.
Nothingman-  The first slow song on the album.  Written in less than an hour, it's ironic that the best songs often just come easy.  Also ironic is that some of the sweetest songs are by those who normally scream.

Whipping-  Eddie, what's the hurry, put the Starbucks down.
Pry, To-  Side 1 ends with more experiment (yes side 1, Vitalogy was first released on vinyl first before CD)

Corduroy- To me the best track on the album.  It's got a hook, it's got a book, and melodic at the same time.  "can't buy what I want because it's free"  Music and Business--always a strained marriage.

Bugs-  Avant garde, poetry read.  Do the bugs represent the businessmen? or the fans? fame?  What do they mean to you?
Satan's Bed- Drummer Abbruzze missed this track while getting his tonsils out, so they used his drumtech on the recording.  A few months later, Abbruzze was fired for personality reasons.  Tensions were at an all time high, and communication between members of the band, at an all time low.

Better Man- A song Vedder wrote in high-school about the "bastard that married my Momma".  I'd like to tell you how I don't like this overplayed song, and I would sound so hip saying why I don't... but I do.  Some bands sound best turned up to 11-- IMHO Pearl Jam owns the 7-8 range on the amp.

Aye Davanita- The Pearl Jam instrumental equivalent of hold music.
Immortality- The third released single is heavy of heart, and honest in its gravity.  While not directly about Kurt Cobain (suicide 7 months before album's release), it's a theme suitable to anyone struggling to remain true to themselves.
Stupidmop-  I can listen to the Beatles Revolution #9 at over 8 minutes with a smile, but this 7:44 avant garde album ender was the most challenging listen I've had so far on my countdown.

There were people I went to school with, who were in different "cliques": stoners, jocks, geeks, headbangers, etc.   I run into some of them today, and while we didn't seem to have anything in common back then, we often see each other as contemporaries now; maybe because we both were there at the same time and made it out alive.  The music of Pearl Jam now seems like a contemporary to me.  I feel like I can claim the grunge period today, not because I was clad in flannel and printed inked fliers, but maybe because we both made it out alive.

Next Up  #491 Mott the Hoople- All the Young Dudes (1972)