084: Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (1994)

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“We also don't want to be part of all the marketing tools or whatever, but believe me, we have been. [That happened] on the first album and that's probably why we are where we are now, but it was hell and I feel awful about it and I'm not going to do it anymore.”

—Eddie Vedder

Pearl Jam might have had the most ambiguous relationship with fame of any major rock band. In the early nineties, they were arguably the biggest rock band in the world, but the group gave few interviews, made no music videos, and were difficult to see live due to their ongoing refusal to work with Ticketmaster. 1994’s Vitalogy captures the band in the midst of this era - struggling with the pressures of fame and trying hard to assert their independence from the drudgery of corporate rock. Vitalogy, despite its inconsistency, remains Phil’s favorite Pearl Jam album, and he’s here to tell Dan and Rich exactly why he thinks it’s the most interesting Pearl Jam album - an album well worth listening to even if you never cared for the group’s earlier work.

Miscellany

• For more about the strange Billboard chart math that kept Pearl Jam mostly off the Hot 100 until the late ‘90s, we recommend listening to the episode “The Great War Against the Single” from Chris Molanphy’s excellent chart history podcast Hit Parade.

• Pearl Jam were big fans of unusual album packaging. Vitalogy marks the first Pearl Jam release that didn’t come in a standard jewel case. None of the group’s later studio albums would come in a standard jewel case either, and many of them would feature pretty interesting packaging that you sadly do not get if you just listen to their music on Spotify. Another sad casualty of the digital age. 

Other links 

• Pearl Jam's official website (pearljam.com)

• The official home of Pearl Jam’s extensive collection of live recordings (nugs.net)

• Eddie Vedder sings "The Waiting" with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (YouTube)

• Pearl Jam performs “Whip It” dressed up in Devo radiation suits (YouTube)

• What Is “Yarling?” (endino.com)

• Frontline: A Matter of the Mind (sample source for “Stupid Mop”) (YouTube)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Vitalogy playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

• Phil Maddox (host)

• Rich Bunnell (moderator)

• Dan Watkins

• Mike DeFabio (guest appearance) 

Vitalogy tracklist 

1. Last Exit

2. Spin The Black Circle     

3. Not For You

4. Tremor Christ

5. Nothingman

6. Whipping

7. Pry, To

8. Corduroy

9. Bugs

10. Satan's Bed

11. Better Man

12. Aye Davanita

13. Immortality

14. Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me (aka “Stupid Mop”) 

Other clips used 

Pearl Jam:

• Even Flow

• Black

• Last Kiss

• Hail, Hail

• Jeremy

• Daughter

• Nothingman (live in San Diego, CA, 11/21/13)

• Whip It (live in Philadelphia, PA, 10/31/09)

• Better Man (live in Manchester, TN, 6/14/08)

• I Got Id

• In Hiding

• The Fixer 

Others:

• The Moog Cookbook - Even Flow

• Alice in Chains - Man in the Box

• Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome

• Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song

• Live - Lightning Crashes

• Collective Soul - December

• Godsmack - Voodoo

• I. Ron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

• The Calling - Wherever You Will Go

• Creed - With Arms Wide Open

• Mouse Rat - The Pit

• Dave Matthews Band - Too Much

• Electric Six - Getting into the Jam

• Mother Love Bone - Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns

• Temple Of The Dog - Hunger Strike

• Hüsker Dü - Beyond the Threshold

• The Tweeds - I Need That Record

• Bad Company - Bad Company

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers + Eddie Vedder - The Waiting (live in Denver, CO, 7/3/06)

• The Tragically Hip - Vapour Trails

• Soundgarden - The Day I Tried to Live

• Rush - Limelight

• Talking Heads - Animals

• Tom Waits - Cemetery Polka

• The Fall - Papal Visit

Band/album personnel 

• Dave Abbruzzese – drums

• Jeff Ament – bass guitar, vocals, double bass, black-and-white photography

• Stone Gossard – guitar, vocals, mellotron

• Jack Irons – drums on "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"

• Mike McCready – guitar, slide guitar

• Eddie Vedder – vocals, guitar, accordion on "Bugs"; credited as "e.v." for book concept, theory of Vitalogy, typist

• Barry Ament – layout

• John Burton, Caram Costanzo, Adam Kasper, Kevin Scott, Trina Shoemaker – assistance

• Nick DiDia – engineering

• Brett Eliason – recording/mixing on "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"

• Lance Mercer – 8-Baby photo

• Brendan O'Brien – production, piano, pipe organ, Hammond organ, recording

• Pearl Jam – production

• Jimmy Shoaf – drums on "Satan's Bed"

• Joel Zimmerman – art direction

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Pearl Jam - Not for You (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Vitalogy and other albums by Pearl Jam at pearljam.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to Mike DeFabio for production, our theme song, and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.