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Tyler: We continue with “Nothingman,” a meditative beauty of a track. I can’t speak to Vs., but there ain’t nothing like this one on Ten. I really enjoy the change of pace, the clear thoughtfulness of the record.

Peter: I think it’s accessible in a way that much of Ten is, but you’re right that it’s a very different animal than those songs.

Tyler: It’s a highlight for me.

Peter: For me as well. This is the first one on this record that could have been a hit. I think the first four are…challenging.

Tyler: Given the mood of the monster hit that we’ll discuss in a bit, I can see “Nothingman” achieving success.

Peter: For sure. As challenging as this record can be, I still think it could have been as big as Ten if they had released this, “Corduroy,” and “Better Man,” as singles (with videos).

And maybe “Immortality.”

Spoiler alert (I guess).

Tyler: You’ve ruined everything!

Peter: Ha! Maybe I’m just throwing people off before a Sixth Sense-style reframe!

I was dead the whole time!

Tyler: Bantering about ‘90s alt-rock from the great beyond. I appreciate your commitment to the cause.

Peter: It wouldn’t be a terrible afterlife.

Tyler: Yeah, I suppose you could do a lot worse.

Peter: Even a video from M. Night Shyamalan couldn’t have made our next song a hit. “Whipping” is just too rocking for the bourgeoisie.

Tyler: Yeah, this one thrashes. I like it.

Peter: Me too. Great energy. It surges.

Tyler: It sounds like a band hitting record and just letting it loose. No frills, straightforward, driving rock.

Peter: I loved the attitude. Loved the lyrics. “Don’t need a hand, there’s always arms attached.”

As an angry young man, it really spoke to me. “Oh, we all got scars, they should have ’em too.”

Tyler: It’s certainly a heavier effort than our next track, a cover of The Beatles’ “Dig It.” That’s it, right?

Oh. Wait. It’s “Pry, To.” I got so confused!

Peter: Ouch. That stings. You’re not wrong, but still.

Look, you know I love this album.

Tyler: I kid, I kid!

It’s hardly offensive or anything. I just had to make the comparison. Snarkily, clearly.

Peter: No, I agree with you. I do love this album, but I think it’s flawed. I don’t like “Pry, To.”

And, as you know, we’re going to get a couple more bummers before it’s over.

Tyler: Can’t wait!

Not a bummer: “Corduroy.”

Peter: Love it. It’s a fan favorite. They play it live a lot.

Tyler: It’s really really likable.

Peter: Agreed. I think this could have been a hit.

Tyler: Yeah. Kinda surprising it wasn’t a single.

Peter: Instead, the band released “Spin the Black Circle!” Backed with “Tremor Christ!” I mean…

Tyler: Yeah, that’s clanking one off the rim right there.

Peter: “Not for You” was the second single!

Madness.

Tyler: Good gravy, what were they thinking?

Peter: I think they wanted to be less famous. If so, it worked.

I didn’t know this at the time, but Eddie wrote this after seeing a corduroy vest in a store being sold as an “Eddie Vedder corduroy shirt” for the low, low price of $500.

Tyler: God’s sakes. That’d rev me up too.

Peter: “I don’t wanna take what you can give/I would rather starve than eat your bread.”

He was ready to get off the merry-go-round.

Tyler: They should’ve released the next song to radio. “Bugs.”

Peter: This song sucks. Hearing it once or twice is not a big deal, but, this being one of my favorite albums of all time, I’ve had to skip it many, many times. Why would they put this on here? It’s not even funny. It’s just…trying.

At least “Pry, To” is short. This goes on for almost three minutes!

Tyler: It’s even got a “Revolution 9” shoutout, with Eddie channeling Yoko: “I’ll become naked.”

Peter: Yeah, I just hate it so much.

Tyler: “Revolution 9,” I hasten to add, is more interesting than “Bugs.” “Bugs” is a very strange and mostly unpleasant aside.

Let’s move on, then, to “Satan’s Bed.”

Peter: I like it. It’s a minor work, but I like it.

Tyler: My only complaint about this jam is the rough lyric “I’ll never suck Satan’s dick.”

That one is a little much.

Peter: Yeah. I wonder if he wishes he had that one back. It’s not great.

Tyler: Greatness is achieved, on the other hand, with our next song.

Peter: Eddie wrote this when he was in his first band, “Bad Radio.”

Tyler: Oh yeah?

Peter: They actually tried this during the sessions for Vs., but their producer, Brendan O’Brien, told them it was a hit, so they shelved it.

Tyler: Man. They really wanted out of the spotlight.

Peter: They were actually going to give it to somebody else!

Tyler: Sweet Moses. No, fellas!

Peter: Anyway, it’s terrific. Could have been huge!

Tyler: We should establish that we’re referring to the, yes, very big hit “Better Man.”

Peter: It wasn’t released as a single, but it still got played on the radio. A lot.

Tyler: They must not have been too thrilled about that.

Peter: It was kind of the last gasp, though no one knew it at the time.

They’ve had a great career, and enjoyed more success later on, but this was their peak. The tail end of it, but still.

Tyler: Don’t forget the inexplicable monster hit that was “Last Kiss!”

“Better Man” is a song I figured I might still be sick of from all those radio listens so many years ago, but I found myself instead impressed by how affecting it is. It’s a damn fine tune.

Peter: Yeah, it’s great.

Next up is another arty jam! “Aya Davanita.”

Tyler: I like this one!

Good groove.

Peter: It’s not bad. It has a sort of “I Just Want to See His Face” vibe.

Tyler: Hey, good call there.

Peter: I think they could have shortened it a bit. Goes a touch long.

Tyler: Yeah, it’s definitely a serious wind-up before our last, or second-last?, song. “Immortality.”

Peter: I love this one. One of my all time favorite Pearl Jam tracks.

At the time, it seemed like this song was about Kurt. Eddie has said it’s not about Kurt, but I think it’s probably a little about Kurt.

He did say something about it being about people on parallel trains.

Tyler: Cryptic concession.

Peter: I think it makes some sense to see Kurt’s suicide as the “trapdoor in the sun” referenced in the chorus. He also mentions a cigar box on the floor and Kurt had a cigar box next to him when he was found.

Tyler: That’s pretty telling.

Peter: Either way, it’s a great song. Great performance from the band. Eddie sounds great. It feels like you’re in the room with them.

Tyler: Another one that feels like a take they just knocked out of the park, and that was it.

Peter: Totally.

The climax is just terrific. “I cannot stop the thought of runnin’ in the dark.” It never gets old. Love it.

Tyler: Now, is this next song the actual last song? We talking a bonus track? This “Stupidmop” behemoth.

Peter: Oh, “Stupidmop,” is real!

Tyler: It is…not for me.

I listened to it in full. At least three times.

Peter: I’m legit impressed. For real. I also listened to it all the way through (several times) for the first time in almost thirty years. It’s not fun!

Tyler: No. It is not.

So absurd. What is even happening here?

Peter: I have no explanation for “Stupidmop.” It’s just awful.

For the Stones, we ask, “Is it better than Black and Blue?” For arty experimental tracks, I feel like we need to ask, “Is it better than ‘Revolution 9?’” I don’t like “Revolution 9.” I think “Revolution 9” is indulgent horseshit that has no business being on a Beatles record. That being said, I prefer it to “Stupidmop.”

Tyler: It speaks to the quality of the good stuff here that the album holds up and excels despite such nonsense.

Peter: Agreed.

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