![]() Vitalogy is the last album where Pearl Jam is battling their own stardom and the music machine as a whole, which is why a lot of people love it. While Pearl Jam never came across as suicidal as Kurt Cobain, they did feel like a deer trapped in headlights and were doing all they could to escape the crushing weight of fame. Three days and maybe longer won't even know I've left" Let the ocean swell dissolve 'way my past "Lives opened and trashed."Look ma, watch me crash." As the first track to the album, Last Exit sets the tone perfectly as Eddie sings from the point of view of someone who is at the end of their rope and is ready to give up or give in, depending on the circumstance: Vitalogy was Pearl Jam at their darkest and their most desperate. It's clear that this is another issue that Pearl Jam cares about intensely and it's why this song has the power it has once you realize it's not a love song. When I saw Pearl Jam live in 2006, many of the proceeds from ticket sales were going to a battered women's shelter in Boston. This woman is trying to build up the courage to tell her lover that she is through with them and she will leave this time, but by the time he comes home she simply goes to bed and lies to herself that she can't find a better man. If those people listened to the lyrics though they'd maybe realize that this song is actually about spousal abuse. Better Man is also one of Pearl Jam's most misunderstood songs too, since many thought it was a simple love song and would request the song on radio stations back in the early 90s and dedicate it to their partner. One of the reasons it's so beloved is the structure of the song, which starts very slow and quiet before building up more and more until it becomes a bona fide anthem that can be sung by an arena full of people. ![]() Luckily the rest of the band kept pushing for it and Better Man ended up becoming the biggest song off Pearl Jam's 1994 album Vitalogy. ![]() Eddie didn't want to sing it at first because he thought it was too commercial. With mass shootings now happening on a daily basis across this country, we've now seen where this mixture of guns and toxic masculinity is killing people and destroying lives every single day and it's going to get worse if nothing is done.īetter Man is one of Pearl Jam's most beloved singles and they almost didn't record it. Later on, you can hear Eddie speak on top of the music where he says "It's ok because he's an American." Pearl Jam let their entire audience know they hated guns right from the jump and Glorified G is one of their most damning anti-gun songs they've ever written. The fun bouncy nature of the song though is juxtaposed with Eddie singing from the point of view of a man who likes having a gun so he can feel more powerful and masculine: It reminded me a bit of the Spin Doctors, which probably isn't a coincidence since 1993 was the year of The Spin Doctors thanks to their double smash hits Little Miss Can't Be Wrong and Two Princes. When I first bought Vs in the fall of 2002, Glorified G was one of the first songs to grab me because it had a nice bounce to it that was very catchy. After Vitalogy Pearl Jam continued to have rock radio hits, but once those hits ran their course they would be dropped completely and rock radio would return to the songs off the band's first three albums. Those hits off Vitalogy also mark the last hits by Pearl Jam that stuck around on rock radio long after they were first released. Vitalogy was not as big as Ten or Vs but it still went #1, sold over 5 million copies and had some of Pearl Jam's biggest and best hits such as Betterman and Corduroy. For others Vitalogy is the last truly great Pearl Jam album that saw the band still at full flight when inspiration hit, but by No Code most of those fans would also jump ship. For some fans this is the album where they turned their backs on Pearl Jam and started listening to other more mainstream post-grunge acts such as Live and Bush. Vitalogy marks an important turning point for not only Pearl Jam, but for many of their fans as well. Vitalogy was also Pearl Jam's weirdest album up until that point with 4 experimental tracks that tested the patience of some of their fans.
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