The JC Top 100 Albums Of All Time! : 1) Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

It's 2008 and Pearl Jam is still going strong, selling out concert tours worldwide and selling solid amounts of albums. I think it's safe to say they are more than a 90s band...

They may be, but in the 90s I was always hearing new stuff by them played all the time. I don't hear them played near as much in main stream radio, and any time I do its their older stuff (90s).

 

Strilo, you'll probably disagree with me on this, but here it is: my take on this is that in their 1990s output, Pearl Jam (and more specifically, Eddie Vedder), never seemed to reconcile themselves with the runaway success that Ten became. In Ten's wake, there was the so-called feud with Nirvana/Cobain; being compared to other succeeding bands (Stone Temple Pilots were initially regarded as Pearl Jam "clone" even though STP was from San Diego and not Seattle); the media tidal wave with Vedder on the cover of Time magazine as the poster child for the grunge movement, etc.

Vs and especially Vitalogy both sound like they were trying like hell to get out of the shadow of Ten, sounding like they were both the anti-Ten. Sounded to me like they were trying deliberately to alientate a good portion of those folks who bought Ten. Ever notice the videos from Ten? Vedder is animated and looks like he's enjoying himself and enjoying performing--like when he was crowd surfing in the "Even Flow" clip. By 1993 or so, the band quit making videos, Vedder stood like a statue when performing (or at least looked like a statue when performing on television), and the band as a whole started speaking out against Ticketmaster, "The Man", and so on.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the sound on both albums sounded like they were trying to put the genie back in the bottle, to make themselves less popular than before. Vs sounds more reactionary and angry. I first heard it in college not long after it dropped, and I couldn't believe the difference from Ten. Most people told me they liked it. I didn't. So when Vitalogy dropped the next year, I found it to still be very rough around the edges, but it sounded better as a whole than Vs did. Vs has its moments, but Vitalogy was a step back in the right direction. It certainly had more songs played on the radio airwaves than Vs did. Even so, Vitalogy's big misstep for me was including the goofy little blurbs like "Pry To" and "Bugs". Vedder would say they're acting on their artistic instincts, but I say it's pointless if all it does is make me push the {>>} button instead each time I listen. But I definitely agree with most folks here, it's a better album than Vs is. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

You are correct on most of your points. Pearl Jam have gone on record as saying that they did certain things to deliberately slow things down, because things were fast getting out of control. Vs. sold a MILLION COPIES in one week, with no singles on the radio and no videos. That has never been done before or since. I strongly believe, as does the band, that had they not put the brakes on they would no longer be together.

As for the songs on the radio, that's largely true, David, but that is not the only way to look at it. Like I said, take a look at the solid tours in 2000, 2003 and 2006. They played all over the world in 2006. Also I see the video for World Wide Suicide on MHD all the time. That song gets a good amount of radio play, as did/does I Am Mine. I strongly believe that Pearl Jam will be around for a long time to come, making new music and continuing to be popular. They are one of the only bands to do that who started out in the 90s.

 

I'll leave the history lesson to Strilo, Vitolgy is a brilliant album, with one fault, in that it tends go a bit overboard on the experimenting. Still So many great songs (Corduroy remains one of my favorite PJ songs) and the whole package works incredibly well together. Like Ten and Vs before it, and Pearl Jam after, truly a great "album", with great individual parts that work even better as a whole.

 

68) Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance
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Helena
Give 'Em Hell, Kid
To the End
You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison
I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
The Ghost of You
The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
Interlude
Thank You for the Venom
Hang 'Em High
It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish
Cemetery Drive
I Never Told You What I Do for a Living

Again... not my cup of tea.

 

I am disgusted that anything from this god-awful band made it into this list.

 

NEXT!

 

This.

 

I thought Three Cheers... was a fun album with a good sense of humour. I loved this album to bits for at least three months, and though I don't listen to it so much now, I still have it stored on my Sony mp3 player.

The fact that it made it onto the list means it belongs on the list - it's favourite albums, not best or most accomplished.

 

67) It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
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"Countdown to Armageddon
Bring the Noise
Don't Believe the Hype
Cold Lampin' With Flavor
Terminator X to the Edge of Panic
Mind Terrorist
Louder Than a Bomb
Caught, Can We Get a Witness?
Show Em Whatcha Got
She Watch Channel Zero?! - Not great quality
Night of the Living Baseheads
Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos
Security of the First World
Rebel Without a Pause
Prophets of Rage
Party for Your Right to Fight

I've owned this one twice... not sure what happened to it though.

 

Backtracking to Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, I'm not sure I'll ever get a certain amount of Seattle Grunge and Punk... there seems to be more shouting than singing and more loudness and clamorousness than I care for. I understand it's angry, yes. I might like the lyrics if I could understand them. I don't think it's that I haven't heard that kind of music enough or that I wasn't around when it was coming out (I was there for grunge, I listened to some Nirvana, liked Foo Fighters better though). It just sounds like all too much noise to me. Is that the intended effect?

Just my observations and likes/dislikes. Carry on.

 

Have you never heard "Better Man"?

 

66) (Come On Feel The) Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens
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Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands! - Sorry for the short clip... there wasn't much to choose from.
Come On! Feel the Illinoise!
*The World's Columbian Exposition
*Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream
John Wayne Gacy, Jr
Jacksonville
A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons
Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step Mother!
One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman
Chicago
Casimir Pulaski Day
To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament
The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
Prairie Fire That Wanders About
A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze
The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!
They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!
Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell
In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth
The Seer's Tower
The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders
*The Great Frontier
*Come To Me Only With Playthings Now
Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few
Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run

"At first I marveled at how beautiful all of the music sounded. Then I was thrilled at how much of it there was. And then I was able to finally take in just how dense all of it was. There is so much to this album that goes far beyond the state of Illinois. The album is incredibly ambitious and succeeds on every level. It quite simply is one of the highest forms of art I've ever experienced on any level--a glowing, sincere masterpiece in every sense of the word. "
~StarWars_Revelation

I was unfamiliar with this one until now. He vaguely reminds me of Elliott Smith. I'll have to pick up the cd, and listen to it, for sure.

 

That is admittedly an exception, yes. I like that one Yes, there are some songs which are different.

 

A few thoughts,

To be honest I've never been that impressed with PE, their sound is too muddled and a lot like Rage their political tone overrides the actual musicianship in most cases. The only album of theirs that I consider worth owning is Fear Of A Black Planet, and that's just because it's the one album where they actually let Flava go a little and he proves that he can actually rap and can do so while not being self indulgent like Chuck D.

Pearl Jam is a middling band for me, they are essentially a lesser version of the Foo Fighters. Every album contains a few good singles surrounded by a bunch of forgettable tracks. Vitalogy is admittedly their best effort, but that still doesn't make it a great album, as like usual you have a few good songs, Spin The Black Circle, Nothing Man & Better Man, surrounded by a bunch of forgettable stuff. Funnily enough I really like Eddie Vedder when he is not with Pearl Jam, almost all of his solo and soundtrack work has been very good.

Sufjan Stevens is a hell of an artist, but I have never heard Illinoise. Avalanche was great, and I suggest that anyone wanting to hear an artist do something completely different from what they are known for listen to either Avalanche or Illinoise and then go and check out Enjoy Your Rabbit. EYR is pure symphonic bliss and completely off the wall and the opposite of what you would expect to hear from the folkey Stevens.

 

65) The Rising- Bruce Springsteen
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Lonesome Day
Into the Fire
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Nothing Man
Countin' on a Miracle
Empty Sky
Worlds Apart
Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin)
Further On (Up the Road)
The Fuse
Mary's Place
You're Missing
The Rising
Paradise
My City of Ruins

"Just about every artist has had to deal with 9/11, if only to get closure for themselves, but only Springsteen reached greatness. This album swings from bitter anger to defiance to grief to pain to hope to raw joy. Mary's Place is the E Street Boys cooking like they haven't in years. Nothing Man is the purest distillation of grief in musical form. "
~Rogue1-and-a-half

This is a beautiful album. To be honest, I've never been a Bruce Springsteen fan, but this album is absolute greatness.

 

Not terribly familiar with this one. Ze list is getting longer.

 

Never been a fan of the Boss.

 

I think if the poor man took something for his constipation, he'd sound a lot better.

 

Philistines. This album would end violence forever if everyone on the planet would listen to it until they were moved to tears. For me, it didn't take very many listens.

 

As for the songs on the radio, that's largely true, David, but that is not the only way to look at it. Like I said, take a look at the solid tours in 2000, 2003 and 2006. They played all over the world in 2006. Also I see the video for World Wide Suicide on MHD all the time. That song gets a good amount of radio play, as did/does I Am Mine. I strongly believe that Pearl Jam will be around for a long time to come, making new music and continuing to be popular. They are one of the only bands to do that who started out in the 90s.

Let me put it this way: Pearl Jam was an important part of the alternative music scene in the 1990s (a budding new genre which seemed to be taking over the airwaves), helping to define the music of the decade and (by virtue of) the evolution of said music for years to come. They were not alone in this, but they were a definite and important part of it. They may indeed continue to enjoy a great deal of success, but I believe their pivital role in music history was played in the first decade of their formation.

 

The Rising is one of the best albums, if not the best, of the 21st century so far.

 

64) Illmatic - Nas
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Links will contain profanity

The Genesis
N.Y. State Of Mind
Life's A Bitch
The World Is Yours
Halftime
Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)
One Love
One Time 4 Your Mind
Represent
It Ain't Hard To Tell

"Not only the greatest rap album of all time, but the greatest album of all time easily. 10 tracks total. And each track is perfect. Not a flaw on the album, not one skippable song. Classic."
~Armenian_Jedi

Another one I'm not familiar with, but I like what I heard.

 

the greatest rap album of all time. Should be much higher on this list.