Skip to main content

December 19, 2018: The Riff Zone: All About That Bass

Hi Brad and Brad,

I love this week's topic and look forward to the next installment of "The Riff Zone." It is difficult to hum the "riff" to the beginning of "You Are," but BradB attempting to sound out the beginning of the song will be burned into my memory.  I have to award an "A" for effort on that one.

I made out an exhaustive list of riffs that I've always enjoyed, mainly off of the top of my head and then started going back and listening to the beginning of several songs.  Rather than throw out a few random favorites, I decided to focus in on my favorite Jeff riffs.  It's definitely something much more rare to notice and even define as a riff.  
 
 
I did have fun in listening more attentively to the bass lines deciding on whether or not you would call something a riff.  I think the most obvious and recently discussed a couple of weeks ago is his riff on "Jeremy." That is a staple of the band and may be the most recognizable riff of any song Pearl Jam has.  Here are a few others that I enjoy.

1. Save You

- You guys brought up "Save You" in the inaugural version of The Riff Zone, but didn't specifically touch upon Jeff's riff, especially in the bridge.  I love it when everything else goes quiet except for Jeff and Matt.  One of my favorite bridges of any of their songs.

2. W.M.A.

- Constant riff throughout the song has always gotten stuck in my head from time-to-time.  It's very groovy and I literally could just play W.M.A. on repeat for hours straight. 

3. Faithfull

- I love the main riff of the song, which is one of my all-time favorite riffs, but if you focus in on the bass you'll find something that can stick in your mind for quite a while.  This is probably something that can pass the "BradB Hum Test,"

4. Breakerfall

- Jeff's riff comes in about 2 minutes into the song.  His riff at the beginning of the song is pretty monochromatic, but when he takes it up again later in the track there's more flavor to the bass line. 

5. In My Tree

- Bass is strong throughout, but I love the riff he repeats four different times after the line of each of these lyrics.  That's my favorite part of the song.

I remember when, yeah
I swore I knew everything, oh yeah
Let's say knowledge is a tree, yeah
It's growing up just like me, yeah

I look forward to the next installment of The Riff Zone and hearing more of your favs.  In the meantime, I'll think of the next theme for my chosen riffs.  Have a wonderful Christmas guys!

Forced to endure, what I could not forgive,

Chris

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 17, 2010: RIP Mozart for Guitar

Hi Brad and Brad, I first want to mention that I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did while listening to you two and Clint Wells go on about spoonfuls of flour and uncooked spaghetti.  I almost had to pull my car over as I was driving home during that part of the episode!   Since Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6th, I've been listening to a lot of Van Halen.  I didn't really get into them until 10-15 years ago, but I consider them to be one of my favorite bands of all-time.  Eddie was truly an innovator on shredding guitar solos and may be my favorite lead guitarist ever.  I saw Mike's comment on Pearl Jam's Twitter feed referencing how he began playing guitar shortly after their first record came out.  He goes so far to say "it sounded like Eddie was from another planet" and "Eddie was like Mozart for guitar.  Changed everything and he played with Soul." I know the guys have covered Van Halen here-and-there and I looked
Post a Comment
Read more

December 26, 2020: Someday at Christmas

Hi Brad and Brad, First, I hope you guys have had a Happy Holidays.  Secondly, I really enjoy your solo episodes.  They have a deejay format to them which also feels personable in getting to know each of your lives and what has influenced you to be who you are now. I hadn't taken the time to get to know Someday at Christmas until after listening to BradB's recent episode.  Pearl Jam does a great job in covering the song, and I prefer Stevie Wonder's version over the Jackson 5.  Especially, after reading the lyrics and reading some interpretations of the song.  At the time the song was released, the Vietnam War was still underway.  The lyrics seem to voice opposition to the war itself, but also express the hope for racial and economic equality.  Unfortunately, that message still resonates strongly.   Stevie Wonder was one of the artists that shaped my musical interests when I was a teenager.  I'm very glad the guys chose to cover this song for a Christmas single and have
Post a Comment
Read more

December 31, 2020: Low Light

Hi Jessi and Kate, I have been way behind on my podcasts the last several weeks.  The main reason is because myself and a friend started our own podcast!  It's not Pearl Jam themed , however it's consumed a decent amount of my week preparing for each recording.  So we now have a hit on the Dink-O-Meter for both of you.  First Jessi and now Kate!  I can't remember if I have proposed the Dink-O-Meter to you yet, but I have it as a three-tiered system: Dinky: Just your average dinky, will only skip if streaming Rinky-Dinky: Automatic skipper, even when listening to vinyl Stinky-Dinky: It's like nails on a chalkboard to you Based on Jessi's response to Parachutes, I have that somewhere between Rinky-Dinky and Stinky-Dinky.  I would have to let Jessi be the final judge on that.  For Kate's remarks to Low Light, I have it somewhere between Dinky and Rinky-Dinky, however I'm inclined to believe it's closer to Dinky because I wasn't able to note as many hot
Post a Comment
Read more