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September 17, 2018: Dave A

Hi Brad and Brad,

This week I wanted to write about how much I have come to notice Dave A more on the studio records, especially since you guys went over the Vitalogy and Vs. albums.  I can now understand why Brad B. has officially called him his favorite of the drummers.  Lately, I have been listening to Vs. a lot lately, hence why I adopted Rearviewmirror as my current track that I have gotten to know more intimately.  I have considered Vs. to be their highest quality album out of the catalog, more than Ten because the sound is more developed, a bit more raw and there isn’t one track I would consider skipping (I wouldn’t skip anything on Ten either).  If I were to make a list of top 50 studio tracks, there’s a good chance every track off of Vs. would have a chance to make that list.  When I listen to Vs. I fixate on Dave A now.  I can officially say that W.M.A. Is probably the best performance by any drummer on any of the studio albums.  He just flat out beast modes it for almost 6 straight minutes.  Another track that he changes the dynamic is Daughter.  I believe you both had called this song more of a ballad, but when I listen to the studio version this song rocks for me.  The drums are still intense to me and the overall sound of this track is so well-rounded that it’s not chill enough for me to be a ballad because of Dave.  I love his work on Vitaology as well, but I really feel like it stands out more on Vs.  My last comment is in regards to what I’ve considered to be my favorite track where the drums really carry me away and that is Jack’s performance on Brain of J.  I’m pretty sure that if Dave A performed Brain of J, my ear drums would probably explode.  Maybe that goes back to a comment said many times (and I paraphrase), “My favorite drummer was whomever it was at the time and each album was perfect for that person.”  The universe could not simply handle Dave A on Brain of J, it would be an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.


One last thing about Dave A that I learned was on another podcast called “The Ongoing History of New Music” who goes over “10 Unusual Things About Pearl Jam.”  Outside of the story regarding Bile Beer, which is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard about involving Eddie and Chris Cornell, Alan Cross discusses the the internal pressure the band was under during the recording of Vs.  So much that at the end of Rearviewmirror, you can hear Dave A throw his drum sticks against the wall.  That dude is pure energy and I love it.

Forced to endure, what I could not forgive,

Chris

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