Ten Pearl Jam Full Album
Cris Luczak
Pearl is the second and final solo studio album (and fourth album overall) by American singer Janis Joplin, released on January 11, 1971, by Columbia Records. The album was released three months after Joplin's death on October 4, 1970. It was the final album with Joplin's direct participation, and her only album recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring unit. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, holding that spot for nine weeks.
Pearl has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[1] It was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[2]
The album has a more polished feel than those Joplin recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band, due to the expertise of producer Paul A. Rothchild and new backing musicians. Rothchild was best-known as the recording studio producer of The Doors and worked well with Joplin, calling her a "producer's dream". Together they were able to craft an album showcasing her extraordinary vocal talents; they used Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles.
The Full Tilt Boogie Band were the musicians who accompanied her on the Festival Express, a concert tour of Canada by train, in the summer of 1970. Many of the songs on this album were recorded on the concert stage in Canada two months before Joplin and the band started their LA recording sessions. The band also appeared twice on The Dick Cavett Show and played many American cities before and after Festival Express, though no recordings of those concerts were officially released.
All nine tracks Joplin sings on were personally approved and arranged by Joplin. Pearl features the #1 hit "Me and Bobby McGee", written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster (Joplin played acoustic guitar on this track); "Trust Me", by Bobby Womack, written for Joplin; Howard Tate's "Get It While You Can", showcasing her vocal range; and the original songs "Move Over" and "Mercedes Benz", the latter co-written by Joplin, Bobby Neuwirth, and Michael McClure.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 122 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[11] moving to 125 in a 2012 revised listing.[12] It was moved to a 259 ranking in the 2020 list. In 2010, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[13]
In 1993 Columbia reissued the album on 24kt gold CD as part of their MasterSound series, this edition was remastered by Vic Anesini using the Super Bit Mapping process.[14] In 1999 it was remastered again for the Box Of Pearls box set, this version was also mastered by Vic Anesini, it included four previously unreleased live recordings from the Festival Express Tour, recorded on July 4, 1970, as bonus tracks; it was also released as a standalone release.[15] A two-disc Legacy Edition was released on June 14, 2005, with six bonus tracks including a birthday message to John Lennon of "Happy Trails," and a reunion of the Full Tilt Boogie Band in an instrumental tribute to Joplin. The second disc included an expanded set from the Festival Express Tour, recorded between June 28 and July 4, 1970. The album was again reissued again in 2012 as The Pearl Sessions. It contains the original album, six mono mixes, two live tracks and alternate takes of the songs that constituted the Pearl vinyl album when Columbia Records released it in 1971. Recordings of Joplin and Paul Rothchild talking between takes give the listener insight into their creative musical process. In 2016 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released the album on SACD and double 45 RPM vinyl, the SACD was mastered by Rob LoVerde while the vinyl was cut by Kreig Wunderlich assisted by LoVerde.[16][17]
Love, Chaos is the second album from London based duo The Pearl Harts and what a corker of an album it is! I had not had the pleasure of hearing The Pearl Harts previous album from 2018, but on the first listen of Love, Chaos I fell in love with this band and their music immediately.
Dark Matter is without question, a celebration and merging of the history of rock music so far, its sub-genres and many of its figureheads. As well as all the artists noted so far, the album boasts the influence of or tribute to many others including, The Doors, Stone Temple Pilots, Glen Hansard and The Frames, and as another long-time fan pointed out, Faith No More. It is also a celebration and merging of the Pearl Jam catalogue to date; the sum of all parts. It has made me fall in love with Pearl Jam again and has made me want to go back and re-listen to their entire back catalogue, it has made me fall in love with music all over again and want to go back and listen to the entire soundtrack of my life, and it has made me fall in love with my life again, because feeling so connected to music this good makes everything enjoyable.
Pearl Jam released Binaural on May 16, 2000. Although it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, it was the first Pearl Jam album that would fail to achieve platinum status in the United States.
My only memories of this record stem from looking at the cover and getting it slightly confused with other albums that featured shitty eyeball art at the time. This is also the period of time when PJ started releasing a ridiculous number of official bootlegs of their live shows. I worked at a record store during this period, and having to keep track of all of the different PJ live albums that we had in stock made me hate these guys for a brand new reason.
Pearl Jam released its 12th studio album Friday, and those who know me, know I like Pearl Jam. My 350-plus Pearl Jam CDs and the fact my first dog was named after one of the band's songs, Lukin, can attest to that. As I write this at 9:30 a.m. the morning of the release date, I've already listened to the new album, Dark Matter, three times. After a run of three straight OK albums, Dark Matter is Pearl Jam's top release in nearly two decades dating back to 2006's self-titled album, also known as Avacado. Where does it rank among my favorite band's dozen studio efforts? Here is my ranking of Pearl Jam albums, which I publish after every release.
In short: A close second, Vs. is a powerhouse. Pearl Jam is a band on a mission. It scaled back all commercial efforts (limited interviews, no music videos) and delivered its heaviest album that's offset with some great acoustic work ("Daughter," "Small Town"). It was less arena rock than its debut Ten but more raw and powerful. It was lyrically outstanding and was the first full-band effort with four of the band's five members getting full writing credit on individual songs. Pearl Jam is at its best when everybody pitches in during the writing process. This album shows why.
In short: This is the dividing point. The first five albums on the list are all-time greats. They're Tier I. This is the start of Tier II, although Pearl Jam's self-titled album (nicknamed Avocado) is the band's most underrated effort. This might not be Tier I, but it is legitimately excellent. There isn't a bad song on this 13-track offering, which can't even be said about Yield ("Pilate"), Vs. ("Glorified G") or Vitalogy ("Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"). It's appropriately self-titled because it's almost as if Pearl Jam wanted to prove it still had the goods. And, yes, it did.
In short: With new producer and Pearl Jam superfan Andrew Watt working with the band, Pearl Jam is free and easy in this recording. Unlike previous albums, band members didn't come in with nearly finished demos. It was more collaborative, and Pearl Jam is at its best when everybody has a say. I tend to like Pearl Jam rockers, and those are available on four tracks ("Scared of Fear," "React, Respond," "Dark Matter," "Running"), but the mid-tempo songs are much improved from Gigaton, Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. "Waiting for Stevie" feels like it was written by the band in the early 1990s, and "Something Special" lives up to its name. Eddie Vedder's lyrics are quite dark, adding to the power this album has the previous three lacked.
In short: Fans waited seven years for this release, the longest between Pearl Jam offerings. It was a better effort than the previous two releases (Backspacer and Lightning Bolt). The first seven songs are elite before things tail off after that, which has been a trend in recent albums. That gives this recording the feeling of a half-album. But after the seven-year wait, I remember thinking it was damn impressive that a bunch of rockers in their mid-50s could still crank out songs this good. It was a nice blend of personal and political messages wrapped up in hard-rock exploration.
In short: I got this album by digging through boxes at Walmart at midnight of the release date since they hadn't been put on the shelves yet. And the first time I heard the album, I thought, "Does Eddie Vedder even care anymore?" He mumbled his way through this effort, holding back the album as the band tried to move forward after nine fans were crushed and killed and 26 more injured during a rain-soaked show at Denmark's Roskilde Festival. The incident almost led to the band retiring. The album has some great songs, but it feels as if the band's hearts were not completely in this one after the incident in Europe, which is understandable.
In short: There was a lot of "Pearl Jam is back!" talk after this release, but I thought it was so-so. The first seven songs are dynamic before a sleepy back half. Ultimately, Pearl Jam should be proud it is the last of the grunge-era bands still around and putting out meaningful music considering how many great 1990s Seattle bands had an abrupt ended due to the deaths of their lead singers (Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone). Was Lightning Bolt great? No. But Pearl Jam has been pumping out excellent music for more than three decades, and I'm thankful for that.
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