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| Photo Credit: Glide Magazine |
25. "Crazy Mary" Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams (compilation album, various artists) - This song captures the feeling of being drunk and sad better than most whiskeys.
24. "Go" Vs. - The song conveys a desperation, but the lyrics may be the least effective way of conveying such, a sign of a great song.
23. "Oceans" Ten - Listening to the swelling build to the end of each verse feels like being overtaken by an aural ocean wave. I'm sensing a trend here.
22. "Given to Fly" Yield - Did they "borrow" the melody for the verses from "Going to California?" I don't know, and I don't care. The latter is Led Zeppelin's worst song in my estimation. This song is one of Pearl Jam's best.
21. "Johnny Guitar" Backspacer - Mike McCready and Stone Gossard bust out some kick-ass riffage on this track, and when Eddie Vedder sings he's disappointed at not nabbing Johnny Guitar's girl at the end, I feel it too.
20. "Corduroy" Vitalogy - "THE WAITING DROVE ME MAD," as the first lyric after the protracted instrumental intro is just one of the many wonderful strokes about this track.
19. "Dissident" Vs. - Everything about this song is big: the riffs, Vedder's vocal crescendos, the melodies. It's an elemental rock song.
18. "Breath" Singles: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (various artists) - Some artists just dump their extra tracks that weren't good enough for studio albums or base apocrypha for soundtracks. "Breath" (and another example later) is anything but apocrypha, or if it is, then Pearl Jam doesn't have an off switch.
17. "I Am Mine" Riot Act - I was underwhelmed by Riot Act on the whole, but the lead single at least had some subtly memorable hooks and strong lyrical base.
16. "Rockin' in the Free World" live standard - I love the original by Neil Young, but even without changing that much with the execution of the song, Pearl Jam was able to make it its own.
15. "Brain of J." Yield - Vedder is able to roar in strong with punk rock intensity after some heavy but understated licks to start the song (and album) off, one of his finest moments as a vocalist.
14. "Amongst the Waves" Backspacer - Pearl Jam loves using the ocean as canvas for songs, don't they? Much like with "Oceans," they're able to create a feeling of swelling and rushing water, although while the former song was more majestic and atmospheric, this track is dynamic like tides.
13. "Life Wasted" Pearl Jam - This track really works as an opener to the highly political, backlashy-against-the-banks "Avocado Album." It has one of their best riffs, and a hard-hitting message.
12. "Glorified G" Vs. - Vs. is my favorite album for many reasons, but the biggest is that the band was able to craft songs that spoke more to their messages through the music and how Vedder sang than just through lyrics. The satire of gun ownership is not only brought out through the words, but through Vedder's loud boisterousness and the sing-songy melody.
11. "Porch" Ten - The song jars from the start with the opening line "What the fuck is this world?" and continues on with punk rock intensity and a kind of economic despair that seemed awfully prescient for its time.
10. "Mind Your Manners" Lightning Bolt - Yeah, I know it's still kind of new, but I've been without my iPod for the last couple of months. That means when a band like Pearl Jam comes out with a new song, it gets the overplay treatment. Thankfully, it's a rock solid track
09. "Light Years" Binaural - I don't know why Pearl Jam ever recorded their cover of "Last Kiss," when "Light Years" conveys the same kind of wistfulness without delving into deep depression. It's also a song that could serve as a number for slow dancing at the prom without feeling cloying or too devoid of emotion.
08. "Do the Evolution" Yield - This song might be their hardest ever. The opening riff starts in fast, and it keeps grinding as the song goes along. Plus, the music video, is infinitely bad-ass.
07. "Smile" No Code - This band is one that covers a Neil Young song (more than one, actually) on the reg, and this is the most they've ever sounded in homage to the Godfather of Grunge. The fact that they recorded Mirror Ball as Young's backing band at the time informed the sound on "Smile," more than likely.
06. "Force of Nature" Backspacer - Tucked away at the end of their most recent release, it can be easy to overlook "Force of Nature" on first listen through the album. However, it's a song that grew on me to the point where now it's my favorite on the set.
05. "Immortality" Vitalogy - This song is gloomy and wistful, which makes sense. It was a tribute to Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide about seven or eight months before the release of the album. I think it was a proper tribute.
04. "Jeremy" Ten - This was my favorite Pearl Jam song for a long time. I still love it to death even though now it's at an arbitrary number below #1. It's a harrowing, haunting tale of a kid offing himself in his classroom, and as is standard for Pearl Jam, the music sets the mood better than the lyrics do.
03. "Rats" Vs. - The bass-driven melody brings forth a seedy atmosphere, which make sense because the subject matter of the song are vermin. But it's tempo is upbeat because it is a song that presents the idea that rats are indeed better than most humans. Brilliance.
02. "State of Love and Trust" Singles: Original Motion Picture Sountrack - "Breath" is an amazing song, but leave it to Pearl Jam to put a song even better track on the same soundtrack. "State of Love and Trust" is dynamic, doused in emotion, and rollicking.
01. "Rearviewmirror" Vs. - Like driving a car, "Rearviewmirror" starts out at a cruising pace before revving up to highway speed at the end. It's a song that speaks to everyone, really. Who hasn't wanted someone they wanted in their dust? Who hasn't wanted to hop in the car and drive away? Some people can't help but sing songs any time they come on the radio/iPod. I can't help but start humming the melody and singing this song randomly.