[series] Fifteen for Thirty - Part Six

[saikou]

06. "Vs." by Pearl Jam

I don't know if many of you are aware of how much I love Pearl Jam. It's not a crazy stanning love, mind, but it is the purest brand of musical love I can muster. They have consistently been one of my favorite bands since I discovered them (along with the rest of the world) in 1992. I had a crisis of preference in choosing which Pearl Jam album to include on this list, which makes this an auspicious entry. Unlike some of these choices, this selection was weighed with intense consideration and immersion in the candidates. I rediscovered all of my favorite Pearl Jam albums in the process. I have chosen what I hold in esteem as The Best.

For so long I've touted "Yield" as my favorite Pearl Jam album, and in so many ways, it is. But when I look at other albums, and the emotion inside of the album, I have to knock "Yield" down a few pegs (regardless of it including two of my favorite songs by any band, ever: "No Way" and "Do the Evolution". I thought about tipping my hat to "Vitalogy", which blew me away in 1994 with its liner notes and its accompanying dark narrative core. But I just can't give this to the album I listened to the most.

The decision came down to a fight between "Ten" and "Vs." - not surprisingly, Pearl Jam's first and second albums, respectively. Now, "Ten" is full of nostalgia for me. Listening to "Jeremy" and "Evenflow" on my best friend's porch in 7th grade, all that goes along with discovering a band for the first time (falling in love with Eddie Vedder, mostly thanks to Sassy magazine...)

But then I flipped back and forth, listened to both albums again and again, and kept getting caught up on "Vs.". For the first time, I really went and dove into the stories behind the two albums. By virtue of sheer emotional content, "Vs." became the winner.

If you were a teenager in the 90's, you probably have thoughts about Eddie Vedder. He was sort of the poster boy of grunge rock - the safe poster boy of grunge rock. Where Kurt Cobain was the one true lord and savior of the genre, Chris Cornell was its brooding poet, and Scott Weiland its mad scientist, none of them were particularly media friendly. It's interesting how that mantel fell to Eddie Vedder - no one can deny its probably because he was a particularly attractive fellow.

"Ten" introduced the world to the dark lyrics of Pearl Jam that tapped into the vein of social injustice and fingered the open wounds of uncomfortable truth, but it didn't really seem to matter to anyone, in the end. The shock was outdone by the sheer beauty of the music wrapped in the novelty of a new genre. Gossard and McCready, as guitarists, brought virtuoso talent to the mix, infusing Pearl Jam's sound with a polish that many grunge acts did not have when the genre took off.

"Vs." is interesting because it showcases Dave Abbruzzese for the first time with Pearl Jam; Abbruzzese is a stunningly talented drummer who contributed so much power and depth to the album, but he was ultimately one of the driving forces in the band's implosion and rebuild during the next album's recording. He would depart after only two albums with the band, but his influence can be clearly heard in both "Vs." and "Vitalogy".

Pearl Jam has always been an interesting band to me because, though there is a prominent media frontman in Vedder, the entire band has a very real and very personal process in the creation of each album's lyrical and thematic content. "Vs." happened to be recorded on that magic sophomore ascent for Pearl Jam, and the band's rise was meteoric. The dizzying wages of success made for an intense recording, and the vitriol and emotion is felt in every lyric and every note. "Vs." is not a comfortable album. It is not a professional album.

It is angry, it is purposeful, but at the same time it is indicative of the more meditative lyrical depth that Pearl Jam always has and hopefully always will bring to the table.

I mean, let's look at how the album opens:

The whole record begins with a deconstruction followed by an explosion of sound. The first words we hear from Vedder are a desperate, personal plea to nothing in particular, and that is what makes "Go" such a mysteriously powerful song:

Oh, please don't go out on me, don't go out on me now
Never acted up before, don't go out on me now...

"Go" is perhaps my favorite song on the album, for pure emotional impact. Because I like to keep songs open to interpretation where possible, I read about the making of the album and the meaning behind the songs once, and have tried to forget them. Because of this, I still associate "Go" with epic battles and personal crises of some mysterious first person POV character. Interestingly, Abbruzzese wrote the guitar riff for this song. I love the way it builds to such a violent climax, and leads seamlessly into the next track...

I have a very personal creative relationship with "Animal". When I was writing my long-defunct space fantasy "Quartet", It helped me find the voice for a deeply emotional scene which affected the backstory of one of my characters for his entire storyline. Simply put, since that point I have always associated this song with rape. I know that's pretty heavy to throw down here, and I apologize if I triggered anyone. It's just I adore how Eddie Vedder's music and his voice can manage to evoke such universal fear and feeling, all with his vaguely-specific-accidentally-on-purpose lyrics. He is probably one of the best lyricists in contemporary American music, hands-down.

And he's not afraid of the big issues. He's not afraid to take voices that other musicians won't go near, toeing the line between folk and rock for acoustic songs like "Daughter", which is about child abuse and autism.

Sure, we got shades of Pearl Jam's penchant for social awareness with "Jeremy" in 1991, but with "Vs." we really learned that it wasn't a passing phase.

Funny then that the most scathing social commentary on the album is delivered in the form of its most upbeat track:

It's about the hypocrisy of NRA members, mostly. But it's such a great song. To this day my childhood best friend Gretchen's nickname is "Glorified G". Great sing-along song for long car rides.

Writing about it now I can't even begin to describe the juggernaut that is the first half of this album. "Vs." packs its most well-known songs into the first five tracks, leaving little wiggle room for the brain to even consider turning the album off. By then, you're in for the ride. I know I'm spending a LOT OF TIME talking about the first few songs on the album but I promise you, that's because they're my favorites. "Vs." is an oddity for my taste, as I usually go against the grain of "radio singles" in order to choose my most beloved tracks (especially with Pearl Jam, and especially in later years with Pearl Jam) (fuck "Wishlist", fyi). I legit love every single from this album.

Maybe you're heard "Dissident". It embodies what I love about Eddie Vedder's lyrical style: it tells a self-contained story, and you can draw your own conclusions within a very detailed framework. The only real idea we have about the song is that it's about a political refugee.

I'm quite intrigued by this song because it has a central female figure who is not defined by a romantic relationship. Just saying.

Regardless of your interpretation, the main character of this song has agency, and it's pretty cool even if it's tragic.

I'm getting distracted clicking around on songs from "Yield" while I'm on YT... no, no, bad Vee!!! Bad Vee, stop!! You decided on "Vs." now stick with it! :|

As the album continues, it simply builds in its intensity, which is no great surprise once you know the reasons behind the songs - "W.M.A.", for instance, is about Vedder's run-in with the cops alongside a black friend of his. The black friend, of course, was harassed while Vedder was left alone. "Blood" is a searing vilification of the media. "Leash" has that tragically spiteful romance vibe about it. But the stand-out from the second half of the album is, for me, "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town".

The song is what it says on the tin, and yet again Vedder is one of the few musicians who is not afraid to inhabit the mind and the agency of a female point-of-view in examining great human stories. It is, along with "Daughter", one of two acoustic guitar tracks on "Vs.".

After "Go", this song is my favorite on the record:

The climax of this song is so subtly and gently tear-jerking, I just can't. Vedder's howling delivery from the thought process of an elderly woman is one for the Kleenex, imo:

I just wanna scream "Hello,
By God it's been so long, never dreamed you'd return,
But now here you are, and here I am..."
Hearts and thoughts they fade... away...

I will always remember driving on a rainy day with my mom in 1993, listening to this album. She worked in advertising sales at the time for a small local newspaper. While she drove around town all day long she'd occasionally take me along (I wasn't quite old enough to be left at home alone all day long during the summer, nor was I young enough to not have my own stuff I would rather do - like listen to music!). I loved it. I loved the chance to bond with my mom, and to listen to my favorite tapes (TAPES) in the car for a few hours. She loved a few of the same bands I did - Pearl Jam was one of them. She called "Vs." the scary sheep record, and loved "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" especially.

<3

HINT FOR PART SEVEN: The most recent release on this whole list, and also the only album in the "R&B" genre... although its classification is debatable.