Artist: Pearl Jam
Album: Vs.
Released: October 19, 1993
This is my second post about Pearl Jam; the first one, about Ten, was my very first post and I decided it was time to write about them again. I previously discussed how Ten today remains a pioneer album for the grunge movement of the early '90s. Two years later, Vs. was a highly anticipated album; indeed, it set a new record for most copies sold in the first week after release (a record that has since been broken).
Now, if you've followed Pearl Jam's entire career, you know that they were never really comfortable with such incredible success. At this point, they were already taking measures to step back from the spotlight; for example, they didn't make music videos for any of the songs on this album. But starting with their third album, Vitalogy, they experimented in other types of rock, and even recorded a couple of really bizarre songs (listen to "Bugs" or "Stupid Mop" if you get the chance and you'll get what I mean).
In fact, with Vs. there are some early signs of already drifting away from the predictable (and I do not mean this in a bad way) grunge rock of Ten. The album starts off similar to Ten with "Go" and "Animal"; they aren't really what I would call standout tracks, but still are awesome songs. The band then shows a softer side with "Daughter"; a song that many of the band's hardcore fans probably weren't expecting. However, it's a great song and they totally nailed it. They tried this again later with "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town", which is still a good song but I think they were trying just a little too hard on this one.
The middle of the album features some of the same social consciousness of Ten. "Dissident" could easily fit into Ten; the main riff is great and it's a solid track, though not among what I would consider to be the band's very best. The other three songs are less subtle in their social criticisms. I'm thinking particularly of "Glorified G" and Eddie Vedder's mocking of a gun enthusiast friend ("Got a gun, fact I've got two/That's ok man cause I love God"; "Don't think, dumb is strength/Never shot at a living thing"). It's actually a very enjoyable song; I prefer it to "W.M.A.", which is alright but a little melodramatic, and "Blood", in which they tried to combine hard rock with a little psychedelic; the result isn't terrible, but not their best either.
The rest of the album isn't just filler; there's some great stuff. "Rearviewmirror" has become one of my favorite Pearl Jam tracks; the same passion they bring to many other tracks, mixed with some new found optimism to make for a really enjoyable song. "Rats" and "Leash" are two solid tracks that also follow the Ten formula pretty well. I really like "Indifference"; possibly my all-time favorite closing track to an album. It's mellow and contemplative, with a great mixture of riffs and vocals.
So, to come back to my early points, Vs. was a great follow up to Ten and pleased most Pearl Jam fans. Yet there were some early signs of changing direction, and this became much more realized with Vitalogy a year later (but I'll get into that at a future date). To conclude, Vs. was not the groundbreaking album that Ten was, and it might not have as many memorable tracks. But this was still a masterful effort, and when putting everything into context it might be their most impressive album.
Track #, Name of Song, Duration, My Rating
1. Go (3:13) - 9/10
2. Animal (2:49) - 9/10
3. Daughter (3:55) - 10/10
4. Glorified G (3:27) - 9/10
5. Dissident (3:35) - 9/10
6. W.M.A. (5:59) - 8/10
7. Blood (2:50) - 7/10
8. Rearviewmirror (4:43) - 10/10
9. Rats (4:15) - 8/10
10. Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (3:16) - 9/10
11. Leash (3:09) - 8/10
12. Indifference (5:08) - 10/10
By the way, if you get the deluxe edition (with Vitalogy plus another live album), make sure you listen to their acoustic version of Hold On; it's really good!
