Emotional Listening #6

I have decided that I am going to start including streaming audio of my favorite track from each album on these Emotional Listening posts, thanks to LaLa.


Vitalogy - Pearl Jam (Epic, 1994)
In early elementary school, I was listening pretty exclusively to Christian music. Then sometime around fourth or fifth grade, my brother Jason helped me get into the whole grunge craze. Embarrassingly enough (though probably not nearly as embarrassing as having once been a fan of Christian pop music), Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots were my personal favorites. I wasn't huge into Pearl Jam, but I liked a few of their hits. My memory may be foggy, but I think I remember my brother getting Vitalogy for Christmas one year from either my sister or an extended family member, and my parents were not happy about this. Regardless, somehow I semi-recently acquired that particular record, and forced myself to give it a shot. I was shocked to find that it actually rules quite a bit. There weren't really any obnoxious hits, and most of the songs were actually quite good. "Last Exit" was the perfect way to open the record up, as it is quite bad ass, and is in a 5/4 time signature, which is unheard of in popular music. It is easily the best song on the album. "Corduroy" is a great pop tune, and "Whipping" and "Satan's Bed" join "Last Exit" in the bad ass category. And, that's not all. Most of the songs here are solid. Color me extremely surprised.
Top jams: "Last Exit," "Not for You," "Nothingman," "Whipping," "Corduroy," "Satan's Bed"

Last Exit - Pearl Jam

Black Phantom Crusades - Red Animal War (Deep Elm, 2002)
Red Animal War started out as a mathy, pop-punky emo band, like maybe a cross between Braid and old Alkaline Trio, or something like that. However, on their second record, Black Phantom Crusades, they already started to really switch things up and make things more interesting. Sure, there are still some brilliant and actually tough sounding emo jams, namely in "When Fat Pigs Fly," "When I Get the Feelin' (Back in My Hands)," "And So It Begins With Bombs," "Jambalaya," and "Right Now, Today, I Don't Believe in Hell." And, those are the best tracks, but beyond all that, Black Phantom Crusades is a fascinating and surprisingly mature (mostly) record. Most notable is "Straight Lines for Construction Workers," which is a Springsteen-ish number with swanky, blaring horns. During the verses, "And So It Begins With Bombs" has a funkier Fugazi feel to it, and then the choruses feature a standard rock 'n' roll ascending guitar line over a single, dirty Braid emo chord (those are my favorite parts on the album). The only low point on the whole record is "Gattaca," which is a really shitty pop punk song. I have no idea why it was even included. Otherwise, Black Phantom Crusades is totally solid.
Top jams: "When Fat Pigs Fly," "When I Get the Feelin' (Back in My Hands)," "The Day After Yesterday," "And So It Begins With Bombs," "Jambalaya," "Right Now, Today, I Don't Believe in Hell"

When I Get The Feelin' (Back I...

Murmur - R.E.M. (I.R.S., 1983)
It took long enough, but about a year ago, I finally got into R.E.M.. I started with their debut full length, Murmer, and to this day, it is still by far my favorite, and quickly has become one of my favorite albums of all time. Their sound here is not too far off from what The Smiths were doing in the mid and late 80s, and R.E.M. do that even better (sorry, Matt Rickle). The guitars are chorusy and jangly, the bass and drums are locked in and driving and Michael Stipe's voice is actually sort of buried in the mix (which I personally like). There are two things that The Smiths have over Murmer, and those are that (1) Morrissey's melodies are definitely more memorable (though he is much more obnoxious, so I guess that balances out) and (2) Johnny Marr's guitar lines are usually quite a bit cooler than Peter Buck's (Buck's are still cool, don't get me wrong). Those things being said, I still prefer Murmer, as, unlike any Smiths record I've ever heard, it is pretty much perfect. "Laughing," "Moral Kiosk" and "Catapult" are ULTIMATE jams.
Top jams: "Radio Free Europe," "Pilgrimage," "Laughing," "Moral Kiosk," "Catapult," "We Walk," "West of the Fields"

Catapult - R.E.M.

In Reverie - Saves the Day (Dreamworks/Vagrant, 2003)
I know it's not cool to like anything after Saves the Day's 1999 breakthrough album, Through Being Cool (and actually I don't think it's considered cool to have ever liked Saves the Day at all in any hipster circles), but FUCK THAT SHIT. Their third record, and first for Vagrant, 2001's Stay What You Are, is a fantastic power pop record with some slightly emo and pop-punk tendencies along with some incredible songs (and also full, awesome guitar chords as opposed to power chords and octaves). But, I think their fourth, In Reverie, might take the cake. By this point, these youngsters had completely shed themselves of anything emo and pop-punk, and instead decided to write really wussy, peculiarly original guitar pop songs. They still use those beautiful, full chords from Stay What You Are, but expound upon them into jazz chord territory, which is weird, and really nice sounding. A number of the songs, opener "Anywhere With You," in particular, even have a Pinkerton-era Weezer sense to them. Most of the songs are a little light and airy in really good ways that make for a very pleasant listen, but the especially jazzy moments, as well as the Pinkerton ones, are by far the highlights of the record. It also helps that Chris Conley's melodies are masterful throughout, ESPECIALLY on the chorus of the title track. Stop making fun of me. This album totally rules!
Top jams: "Anywhere With You," "What Went Wrong," "Driving in the Dark," "Rise," "In Reverie," "Morning in the Moonlight"

Anywhere With You - Saves The ...