Album #71 : Pearl Jam - Vs.

Pearl Jam

Vs. (1993)

After smashing their way into the musical mainstream with their monster debut Ten, Pearl Jam reconvened after a mammoth tour to record their second album. Beginning with rehearsals in Seattle, the group (including new drummer Dave Abbruzzese) relocated to the 'tranquil' surrounds of California....which singer and songsmith Eddie Vedder hated.

After a prolonged lull, and a period where the band went out of their way to make Vedder uncomfortable, the group finally unleashed Vs., their second album, which featured a much harder sound in general (as well as some traces of funk, country and folk). As the followup to something as massive as Ten, it perhaps is somewhat overlooked in the group's catalogue other than by PJ fans.

So, today, I'm going to review it, because I think it's one of their most important albums, and also one of their best.

The Album

The first three tracks on Vs. must be considered as among the best three-punch opening combos to an album I've reviewed so far. We begin with the raw, aggressive Go, its dark riffs matched with some really sharp drum work from Abbruzzese (who also wrote the riff) and Vedder's powerful growl. It's followed by Animal, with its mild funk flavour present in the wah-pedal infused riff (not for the last time on this album either). There's some crunchy riffage, some neat lead guitar from Mike McCready and more decent drumming and singing. The third track is the largely acoustic ballad Daughter. Featuring an evocative vocal about a girl who is beaten by her parents, who don't understand her learning disability, it's Vedder's first real shining moment on the album, even if his usual growly anger is rarely glimpsed. Abbruzzese sharpens the rhythm with some deft, jazzy hi-hat work, and there's a tasteful solo from the impressive McCready.

The challenge after that is to keep the quality coming. Generally speaking, Vs. does that very, very well. The commercial sound of Dissident is somewhat jarring on an album where aggressive guitar and grunge/funk is the order of the day, however its bluesy riff is still a hooky earworm. W.M.A. points out, in typical Pearl Jam fashion, the inherent unfairness of racial profiling before it was even a thing; Vedder's lyric, "He won the lottery when he was born", calmly observes the sheer luck experienced by the very privileged. Glorified G is not quite as appealing as other tracks, but its piss-taking lyrics (taking aim at your stock standard MURRICAN gun owner) and demented country-flavoured riff are enough to distinguish it from the rest of the album.

Blood and Rats continue the grunge/funk theme; the former is a track full of incoherent fury from Vedder and some sweet bass work from Jeff Ament, while the latter makes the interesting point that rats are not as scummy as humans. Splitting those two tracks is album (nay, career) highlight, Rearviewmirror. Built around a repeated six-note riff, it is driven by a thick, steady rhythm (created by Vedder and Stone Gossard on dual rhythm guitar, supported by Ament and Abbruzzese). There's a quiet breakdown, which calms the listener, before building again, this time even louder and more energetic than the opening verses; Vedder's vocal returns to that passionate, high-register growling scream. It's that use of multiple shifts in tone and intensity that mark it as one of Pearl Jam's finest.

Of the final three songs, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town is the best by far, and another great tune. Taking folk and country influences, and combining them with the group's more alternative ballad sounds, Vedder delivers a heartfelt, touching lyric with a deep, resigned vocal, only rarely cranking it up when describing the title character's desperation and emotional relief. Leash is a final visit to Anger Land, with one more stop off in Grungy Funky Wah Pedal Riff City. Vedder again sings with real bite and venom....it's not a bad song at all. Closer Indifference goes down the path of Ten's closing track, Release; it's a slower, more moderate track with simple percussion and calming guitar. The only key difference is that while Release turns up the intensity further into the track, Indifference hardly leaves the station. Vedder's mildly reverberating vocal is the real star; it's pleasant but nothing more. 

The Verdict

There's plenty to like about Vs. Apart from the fact that it provides some of the band's signature songs, its willingness to stray from the established "mainstream grunge" sound of their debut marks Pearl Jam's previously unseen desire to broaden their musical horizons. It manages to build on their earlier work without going back to the well to rip off what worked before. For that, it deserves respect.

Well worth your time, and as I said at the start, it's probably still my favourite Pearl Jam album, because it has diversity while still remaining an aggressive, rocking release. 

My rating: ****

Standout Tracks

Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town

Rearviewmirror

Go

Daughter

Tomorrow, we ask the question: have you ever been to Electric Ladyland?

Album #7 : Nirvana - In Utero

Nirvana

In Utero (1993)

Can you believe it's been just over twenty years since this album was released? TWENTY YEARS. 

Now that you feel old, I must confess that I never really saw the appeal of Nirvana. I recall a number of my friends waxing lyrical like they were the second coming of The Beatles (and, in hindsight, in a way I guess they were, in terms of their importance and influence). I was, of course, familiar with the hits, but nothing else. And I didn't care to explore either, because the music did nothing for me. Call it a touch of musical snobbery.

I chose to tackle this album because it's not Nevermind and it is (rather tragically) the band's final studio album. It would have been easy to tackle Nevermind, aka The Nirvana Album Everyone Knows That One Song From, but I would prefer not to take the easy path. Additionally, everyone in the music press craps on about Nevermind. I don't see anyone talking about In Utero.

Let's remedy that.

The Album

Beginning with the autobiographical Serve the Servants, there are hints of the musical sounds contained within. This is very much a 'bare' recording, a conscious decision of noted producer Steve Albini. There are no overdubs on overdubs on overdubs, the drums are naturally booming with no part of the kit dominating the mix and Kurt Cobain's vocal is unaffected by studio effects. The opener is a steady track that is very much overshadowed by the rest of the album, though it does contain some particularly biting lyrics directed at Cobain's dad. Scentless Apprentice finishes the job of letting you know that this is not Nevermind; an aggressive, anarchic track, full of rage and fury. It's meaty and heavy, as all three musicians work in tandem to achieve a big, thumping sound. Even the guitar solo sounds like someone screaming in anguish.

Heart Shaped Box vies with All Apologies for the title of Best Known Song on This Album. It takes that Nirvana trademark of quieter, stripped-bare verses leading to raucous choruses and marries them with lyrics that are somewhat touching, in a dark kind of way ("I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black" - AWWW SWEET). It's a compelling listen and a definite highlight of the album. Rape Me was apparently conceived by Cobain as an 'anti-rape' song; personally I don't see it. It does however seethe with rage, and Cobain's vocal at the close is that of someone whose anger is so great they are desperate to lash out. After that we get the greatest song title in Nirvana's history bar none, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle. Not a bad song either, it had two particular highlights - firstly the bridge is really cool, a sweet riff married to a driving off-beat rhythm section; secondly, I really, really loved the line, "I miss the comfort of being sad". Don't know why, just a really poignant line.

Dumb comes out of nowhere. Easily the 'poppiest' song on the album, it lacks the abrasiveness of the other songs; the guitar and Cobain's voice sound gentler and the production is comparatively lush. It's also a slower, steadier tempo than anything else on In Utero. I found it a very enjoyable song. Very Ape is the first of two sub-2 minute punk tracks and in my opinion, the less good one; it's fairly forgettable. Milk It, on the other hand, is anything but. Grabbing you by the throat with a growling, angry riff, it then gives way to just drums, bass and vocals; except the bass is rumbling, the drumming deft and musical, and Cobain's vocal floats over the top, tying everything together. Just when you think it's safe to enjoy, though, the song gets loud again, and the abrasiveness is turned back up to 11. It's a brilliant song made even better by the passionate vocals of Cobain. Each time he turns the singing up to 11, the resonant room that Albini chose to record him in gives his voice a double-tracked effect...except at the end of this song, where it's clean and dry, and very effective. This was one of my favourite songs.

To understand the song Pennyroyal Tea, one needs to know that pennyroyal has been used throughout history as a herbal abortive, i.e. a natural drug to abort a foetus. In that prism the song's lyrics make sense - this is a song about a depressed person who is, in Cobain's words, "on their death bed, basically". The 'abortion' is an abortion of self. It's one of the few songs on In Utero that contains a catchy pop hook sound (it probably wouldn't be out of place on Nevermind) despite the subject matter. I also found the closing moments of the track interesting; the music gradually slows down before an almost anti-climactic end. Perhaps the subject of the song has succeeded in their suicide.....

Radio Friendly Unit Shifter sees Cobain as satirist. The song is anything but a radio friendly unit shifter. Discordant chords and pounding drums, lyrics exhorting you to 'hate your enemies' while asking 'what is wrong with me?', a guitar solo that is just chaotic noise....it's a pisstake and I love it. Tourette's greets us with the sound of someone saying, "Moderate rock". It's fair to say that that's a GODDAMN LIE, as we get the second sub-two minute punk song, but this one is actually fantastic. It's a slice of furious, burning punk rock that acts as the final proof that Nirvana were more than just that grunge band that wrote Smells Like Teen Spirit; they were also capable of musically aggressive expressions of rage. Their point proven, they close with what is probably the best song on In Utero, All Apologies. Cobain sounds fucking fantastic, and the purity of the vocal recording process again allows him to express himself with raw emotion and energy. The drums boom throughout the song, and there's even a touch of cello in the verses to add an extra dimension to the sound. It's a brilliant song and a tremendous way to finish.

The Verdict

In Utero is a great album, no matter which way you cut it. For people like myself whose only real exposure to Nirvana was through the radio-friendly Nevermind cuts, it can be jarring at times. Those pop hook moments that got the band so much airplay are rarely there. What they are replaced with, however, is something more real and honest. This really is, as the band claimed in its aftermath, the sound of a band making the sort of record they wanted to make, rather than a record that an executive would want them to make. It serves to highlight that Nirvana were also more than just a grunge band, playing dirty and loud guitar rock. While there's plenty of that, there are also a few more subtle touches that show a real skill and awareness of how to craft a song.

It's not perfect; there are still a few songs that are average at best, and apart from the sublime Dave Grohl the musicianship isn't of the OMG GENIUS school, but it's still bloody good. I can think of no higher praise than to say that In Utero will stay in my album collection permanently.

My rating: ****

Standout Tracks

Milk It

All Apologies

Heart Shaped Box/Scentless Apprentice (I can't split these two) 

Tomorrow, I delve into the much loathed (by me) world of hip-hop and review the debut release of one of the most influential and critically lauded rap groups of all time. Will I like it? Will I deride it as LOL PEOPLE TALKING OVER BEATS LOL? Tune in to find out.