Post by Cupcake Avenger on Dec 27, 2004 3:56:51 GMT -5
Some may be reluctant to get this Pearl Jam album just because the only tracks they've heard from Pearl Jam are their singles off of their debut album, Ten. Now, I certainly enjoyed that album, but I have to say that Versus is far superior to it, with a completely different sound. It's way more rough, emotional, ragged, and true.
For example, while Eddie Vedder most certainly displays his vocal talents in this album, he had a very different style on Ten. Ten featured Vedder's blues-esque howls and cries in his tenor voice, this one sounds more like a Nirvana album. Vedder screams himself hoarse on some of the tracks, so much so that you can actually hear his voice sound slightly weaker in the lyrics directly after his anguished wails.
Versus is a landmark achievement in rock music. It manages to convey so many emotions in its twelve tracks that they are impossible to list. The album covers as many subjects as child abuse ("Rear View Mirror", "Daughter"), gun control ("Glorified G"), and racism ("W.M.A.") in its 46 minute run time.
Oh, and what a 46 minutes it is. I was personally hooked on this album like a drug for a week or so. Every day I got home from school I'd listen to Pearl Jam's masterwork for awhile before I did some homework (or before I decided not to do homework.) Mike McCready's excellent guitar solos, David Abbureze's pounding drums, and Jeff Ament's rumbling bass combined with Eddie Vedder's melodic, angry vocals make for one hell of a ride.
Though it is very hard to say what my favorite tracks are, since the album is near-perfect, I would have to say that "Animal", a ravaging, near-punk song about how the media fucked them over, and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town", a melodic, pretty tune about memories and old age are the best of the bunch. The lyrics on all of these songs are superbly written by Vedder, who in "Rats" says "they don't scram, don't fight, don't supress an equals given right, starve the poor so they can be well-fed, die in their homes with the dead one's bread." Its just one example of his lyrical genius, as he compares human civilization to rats.
If you do not own this album, I suggest you purchase it right away, because even if you are a Pearl Jam skeptic, you will be in shock and awe by the end of it.
***** out of *****
For example, while Eddie Vedder most certainly displays his vocal talents in this album, he had a very different style on Ten. Ten featured Vedder's blues-esque howls and cries in his tenor voice, this one sounds more like a Nirvana album. Vedder screams himself hoarse on some of the tracks, so much so that you can actually hear his voice sound slightly weaker in the lyrics directly after his anguished wails.
Versus is a landmark achievement in rock music. It manages to convey so many emotions in its twelve tracks that they are impossible to list. The album covers as many subjects as child abuse ("Rear View Mirror", "Daughter"), gun control ("Glorified G"), and racism ("W.M.A.") in its 46 minute run time.
Oh, and what a 46 minutes it is. I was personally hooked on this album like a drug for a week or so. Every day I got home from school I'd listen to Pearl Jam's masterwork for awhile before I did some homework (or before I decided not to do homework.) Mike McCready's excellent guitar solos, David Abbureze's pounding drums, and Jeff Ament's rumbling bass combined with Eddie Vedder's melodic, angry vocals make for one hell of a ride.
Though it is very hard to say what my favorite tracks are, since the album is near-perfect, I would have to say that "Animal", a ravaging, near-punk song about how the media fucked them over, and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town", a melodic, pretty tune about memories and old age are the best of the bunch. The lyrics on all of these songs are superbly written by Vedder, who in "Rats" says "they don't scram, don't fight, don't supress an equals given right, starve the poor so they can be well-fed, die in their homes with the dead one's bread." Its just one example of his lyrical genius, as he compares human civilization to rats.
If you do not own this album, I suggest you purchase it right away, because even if you are a Pearl Jam skeptic, you will be in shock and awe by the end of it.
***** out of *****
