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60 Days of Pearl Jam
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Monday saw the release of "The Fixer," the lead single from Pearl Jam's upcoming ninth album, "Backspacer," due out September 20th. In celebration of the new PJ, I am going to work my way back through the hugely influential band's glorious catalogue and rank their songs, albums, live moments, etc.
I will attempt to pay tribute to the greatest band of this generation every day, and if I happen to miss one or two, I promise to make up for it. If any of my readers are unfamiliar or only vaguely familiar with the band, my wish is to provide an introduction to the band and demonstrate why their following is so devoted, why their shows continue to sell out and why they were voted by USA Today readers as the greatest American band of all time.
160. Sweet Lew (Lost Dogs, 2003 - Recorded 2000 during Binaural sessions) - Bassist Jeff Ament's poor attempt at a diss song toward Mr. Lew Alcindor, a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. How they managed to include this on Lost Dogs, their 2003 B-sides collection, but leave off "Angel," remains a typical PJ-esque mystery.
159. Olympic Platinum (Christmas Single, 1996) - Bizarre, off-key cover of Nick DiDia's strange song that appeared on the band's 1996 Christmas Fan Club single. Not much to say except that it belongs right here.
158. Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me (Vitalogy, 1994) - An avant garde sound collage a la John Lennon's "Revolution 9," from the Beatles' White Album. The track cannot fairly be called a song, although the band does play instruments on it. "Stupid Mop," as it is alternately called, is mostly known for the creepy kid who repeats disturbing phrases throughout, such as "My spanking...that's the only thing I want so much." Vitalogy was a weird album, but "Immortality" should have been the closer. This was just unnecessary.
157. Red Dot (Yield, 1998) - Another song that's not really a song, this one minute, seven second Jack Irons' composition is silly but fun, and largely out of place on the otherwise perfect "Yield."
156. Evil Little Goat (Ten Redux, 2009 - Recorded 1991 during Ten sessions) - I contemplated not including this minute and a half jam, but included it due to its mass release on this year's "Ten Redux." It is obviously just a joke Vedder was muttering into the mic that turned into a jam, and nothing more. Many fans considered it a serious find, but only because it went unreleased until this year.
155. Gremmie Out of Control (Lost Dogs, 2003 - Recorded 1996 for Music for Our Mother Ocean, Vol. 1) - Once again, silly and fun, this cover of the Silly Surfers track is easily forgotten in the midst of so many brilliant tracks on Lost Dogs.
154. Jingle Bells (Christmas Single, 2007) - A decent instrumental version of the holiday classic, but nothing special for the mighty PJ.
153. Bugs (Vitalogy, 1994) - An interesting but difficult meditation on the annoyance of media attention. Vedder wrote this sardonic, accordion-based song about the intense scrutiny he was facing in the midst of being the leader of the biggest band in the world at the time of its release.
152. Whale Song (Lost Dogs, 2003, Recorded 1996, Orig. Released 1999 for Music for Our Mother Ocean, Vol. 3) - Just like the title indicates, this Jack Irons-penned song is about whales. Its heart is in the right place, but the trite lyrics and mediocre music just plain fall short.
151. Pry, To (Vitalogy, 1994) - Vedder repeats "P-R-I-V-A-C-Y is priceless to me" in a tired drawl before screaming "P-R-I-V-A-C-Y" over and over in a sort of distorted climax, all while the band jams dissonantly in the backgroud for one minute and three seconds. The third Vitalogy non-song on this list.
150-141 tomorrow...stay tuned
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