Vitalogy

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Vitalogy
Vitalogy cover
Studio album by Pearl Jam
Released November 22, 1994 (Vinyl)
December 6, 1994 (CD and Cassette)
Recorded November 1993–October 1994 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington; Southern Tracks Recording and Doppler, Atlanta, Georgia; and Kingsway Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre Grunge
Length 55:30
Label Epic
Producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam
Professional reviews
Pearl Jam chronology
Vs.
(1993)		 Vitalogy
(1994)		 No Code
(1996)
Singles from Vitalogy
  1. "Spin the Black Circle"
    Released: November 8, 1994
  2. "Not for You"
    Released: March 21, 1995
  3. "Immortality"
    Released: June 6, 1995

Vitalogy is the third album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on December 6, 1994 through Epic Records. Pearl Jam wrote and recorded while touring behind its previous album Vs. (1993). The music on the record was more diverse than previous releases, and consists of aggressive rock songs, ballads, and several experimental tracks.

Vitalogy was packaged in a booklet that replicated material from a 1920s medical book. The album was first released on vinyl record, followed by a release in other formats two weeks later. Upon its CD release, Vitalogy became the second-fastest-selling album in history, behind only Vs. The album has been certified five times Platinum in the United States.

Contents

[edit] Recording

For its third album, Pearl Jam again worked with producer Brendan O'Brien. The band wrote many of the songs during soundchecks during its Vs. Tour and the majority of the album's tracks were recorded during breaks on the tour. The first session took place late in 1993 in New Orleans, where the band produced "Tremor Christ" and "Nothingman".[1] The rest of the material was written and recorded in 1994 in sessions in Seattle and Atlanta, with the band finishing the album at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle after the tour's completion.[2] "Immortality" was written in April 1994 when the band was on tour in Atlanta.[3] Sources state that most of the album was completed by early 1994, but that either a forced delay by Epic, or that the band's battle with ticket vendor Ticketmaster, were to blame for the delay.[4]

Tensions within the band had dramatically increased by this time. Producer Brendan O'Brien said, "Vitalogy was a little strained. I'm being polite—there was some imploding going on."[5] Bassist Jeff Ament said that "communication was at an all-time low."[5] Drummer Dave Abbruzzese stated that the communication problems started once guitarist Stone Gossard stopped acting as the band's mediator.[5] According to Gossard, Vitalogy was the first album in which Eddie Vedder made the final decisions.[5] At the time, Gossard thought of quitting the band.[6] Gossard said that the band was having trouble collaborating, so most of the songs came out of jamming sessions. He added that "eighty percent of the songs were written 20 minutes before they were recorded."[1] During the production of Vitalogy, guitarist Mike McCready went into rehab to receive treatment for alcohol and cocaine abuse.[2][5]

Drums on "Satan's Bed" were performed by Dave Abbruzzese's drum tech Jimmy Shoaf. On the day it was recorded, Abbruzzese was in the hospital having his tonsils removed. Vedder and Gossard asked for Shoaf's help to get a drum machine working, and after setting it up, the pair asked Shoaf to perform the same beat on the drums. He is credited on the lyric sheet as "Jimmy".[7] Months after finishing the initial recording sessions for Vitalogy, drummer Dave Abbruzzese was fired in August 1994 due to personality conflicts with the band members.[5] Jack Irons, the original drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Abbruzzese's successor, plays drums on "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me".

[edit] Music and lyrics

Audio samples of Vitalogy
  • "Better Man"
    Sample of "Better Man", from Vitalogy. Considered a "blatantly great pop song" by producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam was reluctant to record it and rejected it from Vs. due to its accessibility. The lyrics of the song are about an abusive relationship.
    "Immortality"
    Sample of "Immortality", the third single released from Vitalogy. The song has been claimed by some to be about Kurt Cobain, however Vedder has denied this, suggesting instead that it's about "someone who is on a parallel train."
  • Problems playing the files? See media help.

In a 1995 interview, Guitar World writer Jeff Gilbert described Vitalogy as "strange" and "very eclectic". Lead guitarist Mike McCready agreed, saying, "There is some weird stuff on there". McCready attributed the album's sound to the group recording it on tour.[2] During this period singer Vedder began to contribute in a large capacity as a guitarist. Guitarist Stone Gossard said, "Vitalogy is the first one where Ed plays guitar and he wrote three to four songs. I remember thinking, 'This is so different. Is anyone going to like this?'…It had a more punk feel to it. Simple songs recorded really quickly."[8] The album has a notable lack of guitar solos compared with the band's first two albums. Guitarist Mike McCready said, "Vitalogy is not really a 'solo' album. I don't think the songs demanded solos; it was more of a rhythmic album."[2]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide said that "thanks to its stripped-down, lean production, Vitalogy stands as Pearl Jam's most original and uncompromising album."[9] He added that "in between the straight rock numbers and the searching slow songs, Pearl Jam contribute their strangest music — the mantrafunk of 'Aye Davanita', the sub-Tom Waits accordion romp of 'Bugs', and the chilling sonic collage 'Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me'." "Bugs" features Vedder playing an accordion that he found at a thrift shop,[10] while "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" was created using looped recordings of real patients from a psychiatric hospital.[11]

Many of the songs on the album seem to be based on the pressures of fame and dealing with the resulting loss of privacy.[12] These include "Not for You", "Pry, To", "Corduroy", "Bugs", "Satan's Bed", and "Immortality". The lyrics of "Not for You" express anger at the bureaucracy of the music industry,[3] while Vedder said "Corduroy" is about "one person's relationship with a million people."[3] In "Pry, To" the phrase "P-r-i-v-a-c-y is priceless to me" is repeated. Many think that the lyrics of "Immortality" may be about Kurt Cobain's suicide, although Vedder has denied this.[3] The lyrics that appeared in the first live version of "Immortality" were altered before the song was released as part of the album. "Better Man" is a song about an abusive relationship.[13] Vedder wrote "Better Man" when he was in high school and performed it with his previous band, Bad Radio. Considered a "blatantly great pop song" by producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam was reluctant to record it and had initially rejected it from Vs. due to its accessibility.[5]

[edit] Release and reception

Vitalogy was released first on vinyl on November 22, 1994, two weeks before the CD release. It debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[14] The album sold 35,000 copies in its first week of release. It was the first vinyl album to appear on the chart due to vinyl sales since the proliferation of compact discs.[15] When Vitalogy was released on CD and cassette on December 6, 1994, it reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album sold more than 877,000 copies in its first week of release on CD and became the second-fastest-selling CD in history, behind only the band's previous release Vs.[16] The album eventually achieved quintuple Platinum status.[17]

Rolling Stone gave Vitalogy four out of five stars. Reviewer Al Weisel described the album as "a wildly uneven and difficult record, sometimes maddening, sometimes ridiculous, often powerful." While Weisel praised several songs as "[matching] the soaring anthems of Ten", he criticized some of the more experimental songs as "throwaways and strange experiments that don't always work."[12] Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised the album's diversity compared to the band's previous records. He commented that the band incorporated "fast but brutal punk, fuzz-toned psychedelia and judicious folk-rock, all of it sounding more spontaneous than before." Pareles felt that the band continued to be "unremittingly glum", and described the majority of the songs as "tortured first-person proclamations." Pareles concluded, "Vedder sounds more alone than ever."[18] Time reviewer Christopher John Farley singled out "Bugs" as one of the album's "share of stinkers". Farley added, "But that's one admirably experimental failure on a largely successful album."[19]

Three singles were released from Vitalogy. The lead single "Spin the Black Circle", (backed with "Tremor Christ", also from the album) was the band's first to enter the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 18.[20] The song won the band its first Grammy Award at the 1996 Grammy Awards, for Best Hard Rock Performance.[21] Neither of the album's other commercially released singles, "Not for You" and "Immortality", charted on the Hot 100, but both placed on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts. Album tracks "Better Man" and "Corduroy" also charted. "Better Man" was the most successful song from Vitalogy on the rock charts, reaching number one on the Mainstream Rock charts and number two on the Modern Rock charts.[20]

The album received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album in 1996.[21] In 2003, the album was ranked number 492 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[22]

[edit] Imagery and design

The Vitalogy album booklet and disc.
The Vitalogy album booklet and disc.

The album is packaged in a booklet based on a book from the 1920s Vedder found at a garage sale. Ament explained that from Vs. onwards the band tried to take different approaches to packaging its records. Ament said, "We tried really hard, to make it like a book, kind of tipped it so it opened horizontally, which pissed off record stores: they had to put it in sideways."[5] The packaging cost an extra 50 cents per copy. Problems arose when the band discovered that later versions of the book were still under copyright. The band had to confer with its lawyers in order to work out a final version utilizing the material it wanted to include with the album.[5]

The booklet contains outdated discussions of health and well-being. Other notes in the booklet, dealing with life and death reflections, seem to be more personal, like a message typed on one of the last pages, supposedly referring to the loss of a loved one ("I waited all day. you waited all day.. but you left before sunset.. and I just wanted to tell you the moment was beautiful. Just wanted to dance to bad music drive bad cars.. watch bad TV.. should have stayed for the sunset… if not for me."). The booklet also displays some poems or original sayings not belonging to the songs' lyrics, but to be interpreted as a commentary to the songs and, again, as a reflection on how life should or shouldn't be lived. An example is the poem typed on the "Aye Davanita" page. The song's subtitle is "The song without words", as it is an instrumental track. But the page displays a sort of poem about the wasted life of a young girl. Another episode of "intruder words" is on the "Not for You" lyrics page. After the second refrain, instead of the actual lyrics, the typed words give a hint about the Sisyphus myth ("Yeah, you call me Sisyphus love. Yeah, I move the rock. I just don't want to talk about moving the rock. Anything that distracts me from moving the rock"). The lyrics to "Whipping" are written on a copy of a petition to Bill Clinton against Pro-Life killings of abortionists. An X-ray of Eddie Vedder's teeth was pictured instead of lyrics on the page for "Corduroy".[3]

The original title for the album was Life. The first single, "Spin the Black Circle", was released before the album was released, and on the back of the single it states "From the Epic album Life." The album title Vitalogy comes from the early 20th Century medical book from which the cover art and liner notes are based. Vitalogy literally means "the study of life."[12]

[edit] Vitalogy tour

Main article: Vitalogy Tour

Pearl Jam promoted the album with tours of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States in 1995.[23] The band was joined by new drummer Jack Irons. The short tour of the United States focused on the Midwestern United States and the West Coast of the United States. The band continued its boycott against Ticketmaster during its tour of the United States, refusing to play in Ticketmaster's venue areas, but was surprised that virtually no other bands joined it in refusing to play at Ticketmaster venues.[24]

The tour of the United States faced various troubles. Jeff Ament said that the band and its crew had to "[build] shows from the ground up, a venue everywhere we went."[5] In June 1995 the band was scheduled to play at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in front of 50,000 people. Before the concert Eddie Vedder was forced to stay at a hospital after suffering from the effects of food poisoning. Vedder left the hospital to play the show, however he was not able to finish and ended up performing just seven out of twenty-one songs with the band.[25] Neil Young filled in for Vedder for the rest of the show that day. Because of Vedder's health the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates of its tour of the United States.[6] Some dates were reinstated while the rest were rescheduled for the fall. Ament said, "We were so hardheaded about the 1995 tour. Had to prove we could tour on our own, and it pretty much killed us, killed our career."[5]

[edit] Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to Vitalogy is adapted in part from AcclaimedMusic.net.[26]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Rolling Stone United States "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"[27] 2003 492
Juice Australia "The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s"[28] 1999 101
Juice Australia "The 50 Best Albums of All Time"[29] 1997 35

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, except where noted:

  1. "Last Exit" – 2:54
  2. "Spin the Black Circle" – 2:48
  3. "Not for You" – 5:52
  4. "Tremor Christ" – 4:12
  5. "Nothingman" (Vedder, Ament) – 4:35
  6. "Whipping" – 2:35
  7. "Pry, To" – 1:03
  8. "Corduroy" – 4:37
  9. "Bugs" – 2:45
  10. "Satan's Bed" (Vedder, Gossard) – 3:31
  11. "Better Man" (Vedder) – 4:28
  12. "Aye Davanita" – 2:58
  13. "Immortality" – 5:28
  14. "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" (Ament, Gossard, Jack Irons, McCready, Vedder) – 7:44
    • Also known as "Stupid Mop"

[edit] Outtakes

"Hard to Imagine", a song previously rejected from Vs., was also recorded during the Vitalogy sessions. This version found its way on to the Chicago Cab soundtrack. "Hard to Imagine" is also included on the rarities compilation Lost Dogs, however this version is the one from the Vs. sessions.[30] According to Gossard, "Hard to Imagine" was cut from Vitalogy because it didn't fit with the other songs the band was writing at the time.[31] "Out of My Mind", which is featured as a B-side on the "Not for You" single, was premiered on the band's 1994 spring tour of the United States and was played twice.[32] According to Vedder, the song was just a live improv.[33]

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Chart positions

Information taken from various sources.[34][35][36][20][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]

Album
Year Chart Position
1994 US Billboard 200 1
Australian Albums Chart 1
New Zealand Albums Chart 1
Swedish Albums Chart 1
UK Albums Chart 4
Austrian Albums Chart 7
Dutch Albums Chart 7
Norwegian Albums Chart 7
German Albums Chart 8
Swiss Albums Chart 17
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1994 "Spin the Black Circle" New Zealand Singles Chart 2
Australian Singles Chart 3
Norwegian Singles Chart 5
Irish Singles Chart 6
UK Singles Chart 10
US Modern Rock Tracks 11
Swedish Singles Chart 16
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 16
US Billboard Hot 100 18
Dutch Singles Chart 21
German Singles Chart 92
"Tremor Christ" US Mainstream Rock Tracks 16
US Modern Rock Tracks 16
1995 "Better Man" US Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
US Modern Rock Tracks 2
"Corduroy" US Modern Rock Tracks 13
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 22
"Not for You" New Zealand Singles Chart 10
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 12
Irish Singles Chart 26
Australian Singles Chart 29
UK Singles Chart 34
US Modern Rock Tracks 38
"Immortality" US Mainstream Rock Tracks 10
New Zealand Singles Chart 29
US Modern Rock Tracks 31

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Garbarini, Vic. "Mother of Pearl". Musician. May 1995.
  2. ^ a b c d Gilbert, Jeff. "Alive". Guitar World. April 1995.
  3. ^ a b c d e Hilburn, Robert. "All Revved Up (As Usual)". Los Angeles Times. November 20, 1994.
  4. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, pg. 60
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Weisbard, Eric, et al. "Ten Past Ten". Spin. August 2001.
  6. ^ a b Hilburn, Robert. "Working Their Way Out of a Jam". Los Angeles Times. December 22, 1996.
  7. ^ Reynolds, John, et al. "Who is the drummer on "Satan's Bed"?". TwoFeetThick.com. May 12, 2005.
  8. ^ "Interview with Stone Gossard and Mike McCready". Total Guitar. November 2002.
  9. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Vitalogy review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on April 29, 2007
  10. ^ Marks, Craig. "Let's Get Lost". Spin. December 1994.
  11. ^ Vedder, Eddie. "Pearl Jam's First Online Chat at Lycos". Lycos.com. May 15, 2000. Retrieved on March 16, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Weisel, Al. Vitalogy review. Rolling Stone. December 15, 1994. Retrieved on March 1, 2008.
  13. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Pearl Jam Tells Its 'Story' At VH1 Taping". Billboard.com. June 2, 2006. Retrieved on March 16, 2008.
  14. ^ Basham, David. "Got Charts? Creed Vs. Pearl Jam, Shakira's Machisma, Kid Rock's Curse". MTV.com. November 29, 2001.
  15. ^ Strauss, Neil. "Music Lovers Are Voting for Vinyl". The New York Times. December 8, 1994. Retrieved on March 9, 2008.
  16. ^ "Pearl Jam: Timeline". pearljam.com.
  17. ^ Gold and Platinum Database Search. RIAA.com. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
  18. ^ Pareles, Jon. "RECORDINGS VIEW; Pearl Jam Gives Voice To Sisyphus". The New York Times. December 4, 1994. Retrieved on December 13, 2007.
  19. ^ Farley, Christopher John. "Scathing Guitars, Pretty Tunes" (Vitalogy review). Time. December 19, 1994. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  20. ^ a b c Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on June 11, 2007.
  21. ^ a b 38th Grammy Awards. Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
  22. ^ 492) Vitalogy. Rolling Stone. November 2003. Retrieved on April 27, 2007
  23. ^ Pearl Jam: Set Lists. pearljam.com.
  24. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, pg. 64
  25. ^ "1995 Concert Chronology". fivehorizons.com.
  26. ^ Vitalogy accolades. Acclaimed Music. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  27. ^ The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  28. ^ Greatest Albums The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s. Juice. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  29. ^ 100 Rock Albums. Juice. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  30. ^ (2003) Album notes for Lost Dogs by Pearl Jam, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  31. ^ Letkemann, Jessica. "Interview with Stone Gossard". Tickle My Nausea Pearl Jam Fanzine. 1998.
  32. ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Out of My Mind"". pearljam.com.
  33. ^ "2000 Concert Chronology part 3". fivehorizons.com.
  34. ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Albums. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
  35. ^ EveryHit.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
  36. ^ Chartverfolgung / Pearl Jam / Longplay. musicline.de. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
  37. ^ The Irish Charts - All there is to know. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
  38. ^ Chartverfolgung / Pearl Jam / Single. musicline.de. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
  39. ^ Schweizer Hitparade. hitparade.ch. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  40. ^ Swedish Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  41. ^ Norwegian Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  42. ^ Dutch Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  43. ^ Austrian Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. austriancharts.at. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  44. ^ Swedish Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  45. ^ Norwegian Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  46. ^ Dutch Single/Album Chart / Pearl Jam / Longplay. dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  47. ^ Pearl Jam in Australian Charts. Australian-Charts.com. Retrieved on May 28, 2008.
  48. ^ Pearl Jam in New Zealand Charts. Charts.Org.NZ. Retrieved on May 28, 2008.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack by Various Artists		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
December 18, 1994 - December 24, 1994		 Succeeded by
Wired World of Sports II by The Twelfth Man
Preceded by
Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack by Various Artists		 RIANZ number-one album
December 18, 1994 - December 24, 1994		 Succeeded by
Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack by Various Artists
Preceded by
Miracles: The Holiday Album by Kenny G		 Billboard 200 number-one album
December 24, 1994 - December 30, 1994		 Succeeded by
Miracles: The Holiday Album by Kenny G
v • d • e
Pearl Jam
Jeff Ament · Stone Gossard · Mike McCready · Eddie Vedder · Matt Cameron
Additional personnel: Boom Gaspar
Former members: Dave Krusen · Matt Chamberlain · Dave Abbruzzese · Jack Irons
Studio albums
Ten · Vs. · Vitalogy · No Code · Yield · Binaural · Riot Act · Pearl Jam
Live albums
Compilations
Videos
Singles
Tours
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