Pearl Jam – Vs.

Description

The Skinny: Pearl Jam proved they were no pretenders with their second release following the generation-defining success of Ten. Dave Abbruzzese replaced Dave Krusen on drums and brought more raw intensity and sense of thrash.

Sounds like: The Who, The Doors, Soundgarden

Deeper Thoughts: This is a great guitar record. Mike McCready really stretches out on lead, and is cold strangling that shit with his wah pedal. Stone Gossard has proven throughout PJ’s long run, and across five different drummers, that he is the groove-master for these guys. They come out of the gate raging with “Go,” and only slow down a little bit to break my heart with “Daughter.” This is one of my two favorite PJ records.

The Sonics: Compressed as shit, in the parlance of its time, but still awesome. This is definitely a case in which the sonic experience is far superior on this disc to streaming through my Napster service. Way more presence and balls, especially when pushing air through loudspeakers.

Track list

1.”Go” (Dave Abbruzzese)
2.”Animal” (Stone Gossard)
3.”Daughter” (Gossard)
4.”Glorified G” (Gossard, Mike McCready)
5.”Dissident” (Gossard, McCready, Jeff Ament)
6.”W.M.A.” (Abbruzzese, Ament)
7.”Blood” (Gossard, McCready)
8.”Rearviewmirror” (Vedder)
9.”Rats” (Ament)
10.”Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” (Vedder)
11.”Leash” (Gossard, McCready)
12.”Indifference” (Ament, Gossard)