Hi Jessi, Merry Christmas to you and I hope you are enjoying Wyoming!  I finally took the time to listen to your solo episode last night on your top 10 must see live songs.  I hope the guys tour again in 2020 so you can see them live.  It is a life-changing experience, which I can say from my own experience and I'm sure a lot of other fans can say the same.  If they go through Wrigley next year, I hope to make it myself and I hope that I get to see you and Kate there. Once I saw the title of your solo episode, I started thinking about what 10 songs I have not seen live that I would like to.  I also did my best to rank them and am going to include my inspiration for each one.  I'm going to go in reverse order and I apologize in advance for the long email. 10. In My Tree This is a bit of a pipe dream, because i would only want to hear this live with Jack playing (no disrespect to Matt).  I listened to some boots from 1996 and one that stood out was their perfo

Hi Jessi and Kate, Until hearing your discussion on " Sirens ," I hadn't taken the time to really think critically about the lyrics.  My first impression of "Sirens" was lukewarm.  I did initially think "are the guys trying to go adult contemporary?" It took several listens for me to appreciate it.   I had initially interpreted the lyrics to be about trying to convince your loved one to stay and not end the relationship.  I'm sure you can still interpret it in that sense, but as you guys discussed, their can be several other meanings than fear of a break up.  Life is short, and the loss of a loved one can unfortunately be very sudden.  I feared that was going to happen to me a little less than 2 years ago.  After reading back over the lyrics and listening to the song yesterday, this line speaks volumes to me. I pull you close, so much to lose Knowing that nothing lasts forever I've come to appreciate how fortunate I am to

Hi Guys, Here's my Pearl Jam story: My first memorable music experience can be traced back to Wayne’s World.  Remember when McDonalds sold VHS tapes?  That’s how I got my first experience of Bohemian Rhapsody.  While I can’t find a strong link between Queen or Wayne’s World with Pearl Jam (however I can with Temple of the Dog, “All Night Thing” is played through the scene in Benjamin’s loft), I watched and listened to the scene of Wayne, Garth, Terry, Neil and eventually Phil sing and hang bang to an abbreviated version of this song.    I wore it out so much, it drove my mom nuts and prompted her to get me a cassette tape of “Classic Queen.” If you follow this timeline, this would have been after Ten was released.  That’s right I completely missed out on the rise of Pearl Jam.  Not only did I miss out on the days of Ten, but also the rest of the 90’s.  My taste in music was coming to form in middle school and high school.  I did listen to some alternat

Hi Brad and Brad, I thoroughly enjoyed the review of the live performance of Vs.  The song that stuck out to me the most was W.M.A.  It's a song that I have a tough time enjoying as much as the recorded version, because it was apparent that song can only be delivered in its original form with Dave A.  It's not a shot at Matt, but more of a constant reinforcement that each of the drummers have distinct styles and there are songs that best suit each one of them.  I also feel this way about In My Tree, but that may be a different email for a different time. When I logged into Livefootsteps I found that out of the 17 times (not counting tags) it's been played in its entirety, only 5 times was it played by Dave A. live.  They played it 3 times with Jack and then didn't play it again until 2008.  If you listen to one of the 2008 performances, you get something very different than a strong dose of base and drums.  It's mostly rhythm and lead driving the son

Hi Jessi and Kate, I wanted to follow up from the last email I sent regarding Jack White and find some crossover between him and Pearl Jam.     I found a handful of things, ones that you may have already heard of.  I was going around on the Ten Club message boards and found a quote from Mike in 2008 before their show at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee regarding who he would like to jam with: "I'd love to have Jack White up. I just, I think he's just a phenomenal guitar player and I'd love to see him play up close. I've seen The White Stripes in Europe, but it was kind of far away. But I'd love to have him up there and jam because he's got a killer voice and he's a great lead player too. So that would be exciting to me." I'm not sure if there was an instance before this, but Mike got his wish 10 years later in Portugal at the NOS Alive Festival, where Jack joined the guys on stage for "Rockin in the Free World.&q

Hi Brad and Brad, Today is the day that I share something with Vs.  However, I came into this world 12 years before this masterpiece did.  Last year I wrote down my track-by-tack take on what I consider to be their best collection of songs given that I cannot bring myself to skip any track.  My favorite song(s) on this album have changed over time.  Just like you guys say about ranking all 10 of their studio albums, my least-favorite track on Vs. is still a "top 50" song for me.  I wrote out my track ranking this morning, which will probably change if you asked me to give this list a week from now.  1. Rearviewmirror 2. W.M.A. 3. Glorified G 4. Indifference 5. Blood 6. Animal 7. Go 8. Daughter 9. Dissident 10. Leash 11. Elderly Woman 12. Rats For the longest time I considered Glorifed G and Dissident my two favorites, however since listening to your podcast I've discovered so much more about the songs on Vs. that has changed my top 2.  I hate putti

Hi Jessi and Kate, The first time I heard Given to Fly, I immediately thought of Going to California.  I had immersed myself into the catalog of Led Zeppelin before Pearl Jam, so it was hard for me to shake the comparison between the two songs.  Going to California is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs, so it was easy for me to like Given to Fly.  It didn't take long for Given to Fly to become my favorite Pearl Jam song and continues to be to this day. I did a little research a few months back and found an article written in the Rolling Stone from 2005.  In Chicago, at the House of Blues, Pearl Jam played about a 2-hour show .  The set list, however did not include Given to Fly.  It wasn't until the second encore that Given to Fly was played.  Earlier in the show Eddie acknowledged that Robert Plant was in the audience that night.  As the band wrapped up Given to Fly, Robert Plant took the stage and they transitioned directly into Going to California with Plant doi

Hi Brad and Brad, Last year's episode (Episode 72) dropped on Christmas Eve told Bill Castrovince's story.  It was a story that hit home to me, because my mother had been diagnosed with a similar type of cancer to Bill's.  During Bill's story, he mentioned a 50:50 chance of a prognosis that would potentially limit his life to about a year from diagnosis.  I'm grateful that Bill received a prognosis that he would get to live a long and happy life.  It was a success story that I was excited to hear about at that time.  My mother did not receive the same prognosis.  Unfortunately, she came up on the other side of the coin.  As of this morning, her bout with cancer ended just one day short of her 64th birthday.  My love for music is largely inspired by her and I feel that motivation has helped me connect with so many incredible people through music, including both of you.  The constant theme I have enjoyed since listening to Single Podcast Theory, has been reth

Hi Brad and Brad, I would first like to comment on the format of your song-by-song on Yieldwaukee.  I love the discussion over the song playing in the background.  It was really great to hear the entire set of Yield, but not lengthen the episode by talking before-and-after the music.  Hopefully you guys keep doing that as you continue through the other front-to-back album shows.  Also, BradL please keep recapping riffs on the acoustic.  Hearing MFC stripped down like that, makes me appreciate the guitars so much more when I listen to the band.  Loved your comment about how well they can pull off 3 guitars with Ed, Stone and Mike. Episode 104 brought back some nice memories for me, when I saw this show from the upper deck, stage right on Mike's side.  A couple of things I appreciated more after watching this all unfold in person. For quite a while, I used to skip over "No Way" just so I could get to "Given To Fly" faster while listening t

Hi Jessi and Kate, I really enjoyed your episode on " Infallible ." One of the things I have enjoyed most about your podcast is that you make me think differently about a song than I had before hearing you two discuss it.  However, unlike you both, I have always enjoyed this song for its music.  On it's own, it may not be as musically interesting as sandwiching it between "Lightning Bolt" and "Pendulum." The transition out of "Lightning Bolt" into the almost introspective note right before the "ba-da-duh" intro is really magnified if you listen to it in sequence with the rest of the album.  When I first heard this song, the contrast between the "ba-da-duh" part (I honestly can't think of a correct technical term for this section) and the chorus really caught me.  It was as if Eddie is beating himself up during the "ba-da-duh" part, but then convinces himself during the chorus that everything

Hi Brad and Brad, Ever since BradB mentioned that “Present Tense” was his “Desperado,” I’ve had the song stuck in my head.  It’s my favorite track off of No Code and easily in my top 5 of all of their songs.  Just about anytime I have a moment of reflection, the beginning riff of the song by Mike starts playing in the back of my mind.  It’s such an incredibly layered song, having just Eddie and Mike through the first verse and chorus and then it gradually builds up into an incredible jam session.  My favorite part though is the outro where Eddie is strumming and the band continues to play along with the main riff of the song.  Eddie has a few other closing riffs like this and if you guys do another Riff Zone, I’ll probably write in about those.   One thing I am a little surprised about is that “Present Tense” has only been played live 136 times.  I feel if you talked to a lot of PJ fans, they would want to experience this song on the set list at a show.  My favorite perf

Hi Jessi, Great topic for your solo episode!  Before I forget, ever since the Yellow Ledbetter episode, I have been binging Friends on Netflix.  I'm almost to the end of season 4, where Ross just flew to London to try to catch Emily and she did the same flying to New York.  Anyway, I gave some thought to my favorite openers and am going to list them from least favorite to favorite.  5. Sometimes Part of my criteria is how well does the song stand on its own.  I don't think Sometimes stands alone as well as the other openers, but it's hard to ignore how unique it is and the transition into Hail, Hail is so powerful.  There are a lot of other records, by other bands who have done the same, but I always think back to my favorite example on The Who's, " Quadrophenia ." 4. Last Exit I love how eerie sounding the first few seconds are before Dave A begins destroying his snare.  Very strong rocker for an album, in Vitaology, that I

Hi Jessi and Kate, One of the things I've come to appreciate more as I've listened to the Podcast Community is "No Code." It's a record that I didn't really connect to when I first listened to it, but the older I get, the more I love it.  I thought it would be fun to write out my "initial impressions" of "No Code" versus how I feel about them right now.  Just to be honest, these aren't my actual feelings from several years ago, but I wanted to have fun with this. Track Initial Impression Current Impression Sometimes All right, ready for a heavy hitter…Once, Go, Last Exit…I'm ready to have my ear drums blown!   Um, I can barely hear this? Ah yes, the calm before the storm.   A nice slow burn before the roof is blown off! Hail, Hail Yes!   Now THIS is Pearl Jam.   I can’t wait to hear the rest of the record. Yes!   Now THIS is Pearl Jam.   I can’t wait to hear the re

Hi Jessi and Kate, I know you two took off next week, but it feels much longer than that since your last episode!  I look forward to a new dropping this upcoming week as I have been feeling the withdrawals.  Your last song covered, Bu$hleaguer, is a great topic.     Back when I r anked my favorite/least favorite tracks on Riot Act, I had elected this song as my least.  It's not that I don't enjoy this song and the chorus always gets stuck in my head from time-to-time. I remember when you sang That song about today Now it's tomorrow and Everything has changed When this song came out, I had just turned 21 and really didn't have a strong feeling either way on the political landscape.  It took me until my late 20's until I started to feel more strongly the way that I do now, and most of my core values back then were more liberal and progressive.  Talking politics back then, especially after 9/11, was a very uncomfortable thing for me. 

Hi Brad and Brad, Well you guys did it, 100 episodes discussing Pearl Jam (99 technically if you count the Metallica recap, but who's counting).   It's almost been a year since I found you guys and started listening on Episode 53.  I've loved this band for quite a while, but listening to your podcast has taught me several things about Pearl Jam that I did not know.  Here's just to name a few. Christmas Singles : I literally did not know about this.  I've only received one back in 2008 and kept it in good condition.  Now I find myself trying to collect them all.  It will probably take me several years to do so, but it's turned into a good excuse for me to visit any record store I pass by. B-Sides : I grew up collecting cassettes and CDs and honestly did not buy my first vinyl until this year's record store day.  I bought Lost Dogs when it was released, but did not know what a B-Side was until you two.  It seems sad when I typ

Hi Jessi and Kate, I immediately listened to last week's episode on Mankind...I mean, Dead Man when it dropped.  Your guys early discussion that tangentially went into Mankind brought me back to No Code. One of the things I find interesting about you both is that you seem to appreciate No Code pretty early on in your fandom.  This is a record that I really had to grow into.  Early on, I only enjoyed Hail, Hail and Off He Goes, but as I got older, the more I started to enjoy more of the tracks on this album.  I've always coveted the album artwork and the Polaroids they added into the booklet with song lyrics printed on the backs of them.  This record for me has been a puzzle that I have continued to solve more and more of as I get older.  To me it was the most interesting, yet polarizing time for the band.  They put out a record in Vitalogy, constantly telling the public how they have not given into the lifestyle that is 'The Biggest Band in the Wo

Hi Jessi and Kate, I'd first like to acknowledge a comment made by Jessi, that I literally have thought in my head for several years and never muttered the words.  If Tim Burton were to produce a Pearl Jam album, it would have been Riot Act. It's great to hear someone else say that!  This topic has never come up in conversation for me until now and I am so grateful to finally have expressed that opinion.  The music all the way to album art reflects Tim Burton. Right before you guys dropped the episode on "Thumbing My Way," Jessi had posted a question asking which song of theirs do you think is most vulnerable.  I made a list of several songs, here are a few: - Deep: which you guys covered a few weeks ago - Footsteps - Come Back - Inside Job - Black - Hold On However there is one song that I feel the vulnerability more than any other in the lyrics, music and in the tension of Eddie's voice.  That song is "Immortal

Hi Jessi and Kate, Thank you for the kind words on your last episode.  It meant a lot to me to hear you feel my opinions are in-depth, however I don't know if I can find a whole lot of depth to Yellow Ledbetter! The "mystique" around the lyrics to this song lend it to be best reserved for the end of a set-list at one of their shows or even better closing down a bar at 2am and letting whatever lyrics you slur out at the top of your lungs.  I'm pretty sure, I've sung along with friends several times at house parties in college, later into the night, and all of us weren't singing the exact same words. I took the liberty to looking up the lyrics from a few sources, those being Google, Genius Lyrics, AZLyrics and SongMeanings.  All of them list the same words.  Then I decided to write out the interpretations from Misheard Lyrics and I have them listed below with some of my favorite lines highlighted.  I think my favorite part was &q

Hi Jessi and Kate, If you guys consider starting a club to support wearing deodorant, count me in.  I have a hard time standing myself without it, let alone other people.  Yield has been my favorite album of Pearl Jam's for quite some time.  I really gained a personal connection with the music on the record when initially listening to it.  It wasn't until getting to know you guys, the Brads and the rest of the podcast community that I started to go in and understand the lyrics.  SPT actually read an email of mine last October where I discussed my favorite lyric in each track.  If you asked me to rank my top 3 tracks on Yield before the podcast community, it would have looked like this: 1. Given to Fly 2. Faithfull 3. Do the Evolution I've always enjoyed "In Hiding" and one of my favorite things about Yield is the fact that I know it's later in the album and that initially made me want to listen to Yield in it's entirety becau

Hi Brad and Brad, After listening to The Porch Podcast's episode on " Not For You ," featuring the one and only Brad Lyons, I found myself getting back into Vitalogy.  This has been a go-to for me, when I feel like things are starting to slip from my control and I need something more aggressive to vent my frustration.  I feel like I can relate to the message of the record, in terms of the feeling of not wanting to change who you are at your core, just because you've achieved some kind of status or role in life.  When I first got the CD, I would pretty much anticipate getting through every track ahead of "Betterman" skipping a few on the way.  It was one of my favorite songs when I first got into the band.  Now several years later, when I listen to the record from front-to-back, I forget that "Betterman" is even on the track list.  It doesn't hit me until halfway through "Satan's Bed" that "Betterman" is

Hi Brad and Brad, I finished listening to the second installment of BrAD Radio a couple of days ago.  I'm really enjoying the "D.J." type of format and am looking forward to BradB giving it a go in the near future.  One thing that BradL mentioned was how he will purchase vinyl because of the album artwork.  I've always found album artwork fascinating and really enjoy Pearl Jam's.  A little while back, I ranked the studio albums from my favorite to least and this is what I came up with. 1. No Code 2. Yield 3. Binaural 4. Backspacer 5. Lightning Bolt 6. Vitalogy 7. Avocado 8. Riot Act 9. Ten 10. Vs. No Code may very well be my favorite album artwork of any band or musician.  I love the Polaroids and the fact they lined them up to make the "No Code symbol" with an eye inside of a triangle.  Yield is second for me, because I love the fact that a Yield sign is off of a road where it makes no sense to have one.  Pl

Hi Jessi and Kate , Other than “Betterman," the track I listened to the most when I first exposed myself to Vitalogy was “Not For You.” It’s about as raw of a song as it gets with Pearl Jam and the emotion swings throughout give me goosebumps sometimes.  You guys, with Brad Lyons , talked quite a bit about the meaning and lyrics to the song, but I’d like to give my take on the music.  Out of the catalog, this song I find to be the most interesting musically.  It’s a big reason why the last time I took the time to rank my top 10 studio track last year , I had it at #4, but if I had ranked it before “Present Tense” and “Corduroy” grew on me, it would have been #2 behind “Given to Fly.”  The beginning of the song, I make out the sound of someone leaving a tea kettle boiling on a stove top.  It’s like the pressure of the song is building and the roof is about to get blown off.  Then Eddie goes into a very tense tone through the first few lines of the song and t

Hi Jessi and Kate , Great episodes on both " Of the Girl " and " Leash ." I won't go into great detail about "Of the Girl," but it is my favorite song off of Binaural and I've always considered it to be an ideal opener coming out of an encore.  It works great as a show opener as well, but if I were to put together my set list for " my Pearl Jam show " it would have the song coming right after an encore.  The other thing I wanted to mention is whenever I listen to the song with headphones, it sounds like someone is dropping change on the floor throughout the song.  Do you guys ever hear that?  Binaural in general is a great album to listen with headphones because of the subtle sounds you can hear throughout the record. I agree with a lot of what you guys said about "Leash." The song for me really epitomizes the feeling of being held back or micromanaged by an authority figure, whether it be in the family,

Hi Brad and Brad, Life and death has constantly been on my mind lately.  Given how quickly I've seen others lives change, moreover from things completely out of their control, it has me thinking about what music or song I'd like others to remember me by.  I want Pearl Jam sung in remembrance of me, but which song would I feel be the most appropriate and compassionate?  I bought the Benaroya Hall concert from 2002 as one of the first live albums I got of the band.  I love that show, especially given it's more acoustic, which gives it a different feel for me.  The song that always stood out to me was "Man of the Hour."  I hadn't seen Big Fish before hearing the Benaroya Hall show, so it was the first time I heard it.  When I read over the lyrics critically, it reads as many who pay tribute to someone that made an impact in their lives.  And the sky breaks at dawn shedding light upon this town They'll all come around Cause the m

Hi Jessi and Kate, Thank you for the shout out this week!   The opening riff and drums to "Spin the Black Circle" always get stuck in my head more than any other Pearl Jam song.  I've never understood why, because I don't consider it one of my favorites, although I do love the song.  I feel the same way that you both do regarding award shows.  They've never been something I've been able to get into.  It kind of reminds me of growing up and listening to Casey Kasem's weekly Top 40 and wondering why a lot of the music I liked to listen to wasn't high up on the list.  As if I need a ranking system to validate my taste in music.  It is hard to ignore at times and can make me think twice about what I listen to, so I usually stay away from critic opinions, "top 100 lists" and award shows.  Most of the "professionals" seemingly crap on a lot of the traits and songs that I find to be enjoyable.  For instance, I took the

Hi Brad and Brad, Thank you for reading my PJ story and it's an honor to be the last PJ story before the hiatus!  I kept thinking about BradL's comments about how many plays for life it would be cool to go back and look upon.  After hearing this, I was curious just to see which songs were most played on my iPod that I got in late 2010.  Here's my list of the top 30.  11 of the 30 are Pearl Jam and what's fun about this is that a good amount of Lightning Bolt is on here and I had my iPod for at least 3 years before I bought Lightning Bolt!  I haven't really listened to my iPod all that much in the past 3-4 years, especially since getting a Spotify account.  So this is roughly my most listened to from late 2010-2014/2015ish. Song Band Album Plays Of The Girl Pearl Jam Live At Benaroya Hall (22-Oct-2003) 124 Immortality Pearl Jam Live At Benaroya Hall (22-Oct-2003) 119 Banquet Bl