Vitalogy - Pearl Jam (CD 1994)

Pearl Jam s Vitalogy may be hard to get into for some, but many who stick through it can appreciate it as one of the band s best and definitely their most interesting album to date. On one hand, the album contains a Grammy-winner and one of the band s biggest radio hits. On the other, it s a major change from its predecessors, marking a transition in the band s style. No longer would Pearl Jam be a mainstream powerhouse. Instead they would keep moving along, doing their own thing and caring more about their fans than about ticket agencies, bootleggers, or those who keep begging for Ten 2.

Vitalogy blasts open with Last Exit, setting the stage for this album s raw, coarse, aggressive sound. Spin the Black Circle follows with a feverishly fast guitar part and more heavy drumming behind Eddie Vedder s screaming vocals. This song is absolutely sick and should be played live more often I believe I ve only heard one live version. This song can easily work a crowd into a frenzy in a matter of seconds.

Not For You slows things down, but Vedder s vocals and Jack Irons pulsing drum piece keep it nice and heavy. A fine example of PJ s lyrical prowess comes with a simple line that says so much: Can t escape from the common rule/ If you hate something, don t you do it too.

It took a while for Tremor Christ to grow on me. It s still not one of my favorites, but I began to enjoy it more after hearing it live in . Nothingman is one of the band s most beautiful-sounding songs. Vedder s voice is soft but emotional, especially when he belts out, Burn. Burn. Buuuurn!/ and takes it right back down with Could have been something Nothingman. Completely contrasting that is Whipping, a great heavy number with some creative lines: Don t need a helmet, got a hard hard head/ Don t need a raincoat, I m already wet. Crank this one way the hell up.

Then the weirdness kicks in. Pry To is a short bit of Vedder spelling privacy repeatedly and incoherently. After that odd piece comes one of Pearl Jam s best: Corduroy. It alternates from soft to heavy with a great jam to fade out. All the instruments come together perfectly along with Vedder displaying his vocal range. The lyrics are very cool too: I don t want to take what you can t give/ I d rather starve than eat your bread.

More weird sh*t in the form of Bugs. Awful accordion playing accompanies Eddie as he psychotically delivers a poem about bugs trying to take over his life. For some strange reason, I ve always dug this. But I m sure most people will find this incredibly strange and annoying, so be prepared to hit the skip button. After that s over, we get Satan s Bed, an unpolished but catchy number with some biting sarcasm possibly directed toward commercialism or record executives: Model, roll model, roll some models in blood, I sh*t and I stink/ I m real join the club, I ll never suck Satan s dick.

Next up is one of PJ s biggest hits, Betterman. This song is excellent, though often misinterpreted. It s about domestic abuse, so stop dedicating it to your loving boyfriend before he gets in trouble. Trivia: Betterman was originally made for Vedder s previous band, Bad Radio. A short interlude called Aye Davanita bridges the gap and brings us to a dark yet amazing song called Immortality, one of the band s finest. Though Vedder has said different, some believe it to be about Kurt Cobain due to many lines about suicide, most notably the last one: Some die just to live.

Immortality would have been a perfect ending, but this is the weird album, remember? It ends with Hey, Foxymophandlemama, That s Me, or Stupid Mop for short. This is Pearl Jam s Revolution #9 -- strange, eerie music and sounds with weird voices repeating weird things. Weird, weird, weird. You may not like the last track, but it does illustrate Pearl Jam s point. They were out to try new things and make it painfully clear that they are their own band and that anyone who wants them to maintain their status quo shouldn t buy their albums.

Vitalogy was a turning point for Pearl Jam. Some fans rejected the new style the band would go with, but it was worth it for the integrity they earned with those who stayed.


This is part of MattA75's Pearl Jam W/O. Check out the reviews from these PJ fans too: thevoid99, guildenstern, jeff_wilder78, stairway2drew