rEd mozziE: PEARL JAM - "VITALOGY" ALBUM

".. oh, to live and die, let it be done .. i figure i'll be dammed, all alone like i began .. it's your move now"
CORDUROY
VITALOGY

TEN .. VS .. NO CODE .. YIELD .. LIVE ON TWO LEGS .. BINAURAL .. RIOT ACT .. LOST DOGS ..
BENAROYA HALL .. REARVIEWMIRROR .. PEARL JAM
BACK

ALBUM: Vitalogy
RELEASED: 6^th December 1994
VINYL RELEASE: 22^nd November 1994
LENGTH: 55:32
SINGLES: Spin the Black Circle, Not For You and Immortality
TRACK LISTING
Last Exit [2:54]
Spin The Black Circle [2:47]
Not For You [5:52]
Tremor Christ [4:12]
Nothingman [4:35]
Whipping [2:34]
Pry To [1:03]
Corduroy [4:37]
Bugs [2:44]
Satan's Bed [3:30]
Betterman [4:28]
Aye Davanita [2:57]
Immortality [5:28]
Hey foxymophandlemama, that's me [7:44]

EDDIE VEDDER - vocals, guitar, accordian .. JEFF AMENT - bass, standup, vocals .. STONE GOSSARD - guitar, mallotron, vocals .. MIKE McCREADY - guitar, slide, vocals .. DAVE ABBRUZZESE - drumkit

NOTES: PRODUCED BY BRENDAN O'BRIEN AND PEARL JAM RECORDED BY: Brendan O'Brien .. "mophandlemama" Recorded/Mixed by Brett Eliason .. drums - Jack Irons .. ENGINEERED BY: Nick Didia .. ASSISTED BY: Caram Costanzo, Adam Kasper, Trins Shoemaker, John Burton, Kevin Scott .. RECORDED IN: Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans .. BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY ETC BY: Jeff Ament .. 8-BABY PHOTO BY: Lance Mercer .. ART DIRECTION BY: Joel Zimmerman .. "mophandlemama" RECORDED/MIXED BY: Brett Eliason with Jack Irons on drums

Alongside YIELD .. VITALOGY is one of my FAVOURITE albums¡ It kinda sees the band coming of age sorta .. definately a progression from VS .. you get the feelin' that maybe the band is slowly shedding their skin and outgrowing their past .. ie, all the crAp from the media, the pressures, their raging war with ticketmaster and the music industry. While the angst maybe a littl' in decline the tracks on VITALOGY are still slamming and hard hitting .. rOckin' hard enough to keep in line with the soaring anthems on TEN to the funky grooves in VS. But it dOes have its tender moments, with added weirdness thrOwn in amOngst some of the trAcks .. grOOvy or what¿ and yes weird bein' the wOrd .. and thats perty much what i lurv 'bout VITALOGY¡ 'cause unlike their previous two, this album is a strange one with an unbalanced mix, curiously titled "Vitalogy" .. 'the study of life'. Their littl' book concept makes for some damn interestin' readin' as well¡ =)
So its no real suprise that their 3rd album was released on vinyl two weeks before the cds and tapes hit the stores .. we all know how opposed these guys are towards technology. The opening track "Spin the Black Circle" .. a revved up hard hitting tribute to their love of vinyl pretty much says it all¡ It's said that that the record contains two bonus/hidden tracks on it, so who knows .. maybe its just Pearl Jams way of gettin their listeners to buy the records¡ Speakin' of the track "Spin the Black Circle", howz about Eddie's thanx when he accepted it as the award for 'Best Hard Rock Performance' in the '96 Grammy Awards .. alls he had to say was "This doesn't mean anything" .. maybe it's just whAt he felt .. check out the line "As privilaged as a whore .. victims in demand for public show" on "Immortality" and "I'm already cut up and half dead .. I'll end up alone like I began" before summin it all up with "All the things that others want from me .. Can't buy what i want because it's free" in "Corduroy". Who knows¿ .. it probably DOESN'T mean anythin OR much to him anymore .. i dunno.
Anyways while the mood swings from lashing out at the music industry with tracks like "Not For You" [the grAnd .. FUCK YOU!! kinda thing] and "Bugs" to the more tender and autobiographical[¿] moments in "Betterman" and "Nothingman" .. it was those weird littl' experiments that got me! They were totally unexpected *lOl* .. definately enough to throw the average listener just a littl' off track. There was "Pry To" .. a one minute stint where Eddie spells out the word privacy .. but if you check it out .. play that track backwards, you'll hear a littl' somethin' like .. "Pete Townsend you saved my life" and so it just kinda gets you to thinkin' all over again ..
In "Bugs" Eddie opted to deliver it poetry style backed with an accordian and other unidentified instruments. "Aye Davanita" is just what it was .. a three minute long groove .. and a song without words¡ lurv the littl' pOem thAt wAs with it thOugh. ThOugh gOtta say it was "Heyfoxymophandlemama, That’s Me" that got me¡ What the HELL was that¿ Just plain weird is all i have to say .. and so VITALOGY closes with the following dialogue when a bloke asks a woman..."Do you ever think that you actually would kill yourself?" in which she replies "Well, if i thought about it real deep, I believe that I would" hmmmmmm .. leAves alOt to be sAid .. mAybe ..
.. whAtevA the gO .. y'can say that VITALOGY is the bAnd at their mOst chAllenging .. Even with the odd strange experiments it has to offer .. mixed amongst it are a coupla gripping tracks which are right up there alOng with the soaring anthems you find on TEN .. through to the extended grOOves on VS [erh..i've a said tHis beFore eH¿ *loL*]. Yeah VITALOGY may be rough .. edgy .. and a littl' uneven mAybe .. hEll the whOle thang mite be soUndin' like an artist in crisis .. bUt this is one pOwerfUl album. Eddie's vocals on the trAcks .. brilliAnt as alwAys and with mEaning .. PeaRl jAm are prOgressing alOng and they're dOin' just fiNe ..