How do you follow up one of the greatest debuts in the history of rock? Put a sheep on the cover to start.
Pearl Jam – Vs. – 1993 (iTunes)
“Suppose I abuse you?”
Ouch.
On Vs. Pearl Jam sounds like they’ve got something to prove and, I guess they do. In an effort to make sure the world knew that Ten wasn’t a fluke, Vedder & Co. pull out all the stops.
Vs. is sometimes a little too concise for it’s own good (Glorified G) but at least it’s focused. And the elliptical poetry of Ten (the butterflies in Even Flow) they don’t make much of an appearance here. Instead, what Vedder does is inhabit characters that he might have disdain for (W.M.A) or abused girls (Daughter), emulating one of his idols, Bruce Springsteen to great effect.
Vs. (Which i always took to mean either “verses” or that it was, in some way, a concept album about that abused girl and her father. Daughter, Glorified G, W.M.A, Rearviewmirror, all suggest a story about a girl, her father, she eventually gets away, the mother leaves the father and the daughter meets up with her later in Elderly Woman behind the counter. But, I think I’ve been wrong all this time.) is a perfect follow up to Ten.
The aforementioned Daughter & Rearviewmirror are worth the cost of admission but it’s the southern rock-i-ness of “Dissident” that brings the album to that next place for me. There is earth in the untied boots of these flannel wearing rockers.
And they are strong rockers at that. When they bring that 70s funk sound to “Blood” I wanna either punch a wall or slide across the hood of a cop car.
Vs. is an excellent follow-up. A 5 star stand alone.
Grade A+
A Side: Daughter, Rearviewmirror, Blood, Animal
BlindSide: Go, Dissident, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter, Indifference
