Vitalogy is the third studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on November 22, 1994, through Epic Records. Pearl Jam wrote and recorded Vitalogy while touring in support of their previous album Vs. (1993). Vitalogy is generally considered to be a departure for the band, incorporating a more diverse range of influences than prior releases; the album features a number of experimental tracks, subdued ballads and punk-influenced hard rock songs.
The album was first released on vinyl, followed by a release on CD and cassette two weeks later on December 6, 1994. The LP sold 34,000 copies in its first week of release, and until Jack White's 2014 album Lazaretto it held the record for most vinyl sales in one week since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. Upon its CD release, Vitalogy became the second-fastest selling album in history, behind only the band's previous release Vs., selling 877,000 copies in its first week and quickly going multi-platinum. The album received critical acclaim and has been certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of at least five million copies in the United States. The album was included on Rolling Stones 2003 and 2012 "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" lists at number 485, but was dropped from the 2020 edition. It is Pearl Jam's second and last album to feature drummer Dave Abbruzzese, who was fired from the band before recording was finished. He was initially replaced by session drummers and later officially replaced by former Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Jack Irons, who completed the recording of the album. The rest of the material was written and recorded in 1994 in sessions in Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia, with the band finishing the album at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle after the tour's completion. "Immortality" was written in April 1994 when the band was on tour in Atlanta. Sources state that most of the album was completed by early 1994, but it was not released until November due to either a forced delay by Epic or the band's battle with ticket vendor Ticketmaster.
Tensions within the band had dramatically increased by the time they were working on Vitalogy. Producer Brendan O'Brien said: "Vitalogy was a little strained. I'm being polite—there was some imploding going on." Bassist Jeff Ament said that "communication was at an all-time low". Gossard said the band was having trouble collaborating, so most of the songs were developed out of jam sessions. He added that "80 percent of the songs were written 20 minutes before they were recorded."
In a 1995 interview, Guitar World writer Jeff Gilbert described Vitalogy as "strange" and "very eclectic". McCready agreed, saying: "There is some weird stuff on there." McCready attributed the album's sound to the group recording it on tour. The album has a notable lack of guitar solos compared with the band's first two albums. McCready said: "Vitalogy is not really a 'solo' album. I don't think the songs demanded solos; it was more of a rhythmic album." He added that "in between the straight rock numbers and the searching slow songs, Pearl Jam contribute their strangest music—the mantrafunk of 'Aye Davanita', the sub-Tom Waits accordion romp of 'Bugs', and the chilling sonic collage 'Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me'." "Bugs" features Vedder playing an accordion that he found at a thrift shop, while "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" was created using looped recordings of real patients from a psychiatric hospital. Tim Coffman of WhatCulture considers Vitalogy to be a delve into art rock, commenting that the band "[threw] every outlandish idea into the mix."
Many of the songs on the album address the pressures of fame and dealing with the resulting loss of privacy. These include "Not for You", "Pry, To", "Corduroy", "Bugs", "Satan's Bed" and "Immortality". Vedder said: "I'm just totally vulnerable. I'm way too fucking soft for this whole business, this whole trip. I don't have any shell. There's a contradiction there, because that's probably why I can write songs that mean something to someone and express some of these things that other people can't necessarily express." Vedder wrote the song when he was in high school and performed it with his previous band, Bad Radio. Considered a "blatantly great pop song" by producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam was reluctant to record it and had initially rejected it from Vs. due to its accessibility. was also recorded during the Vitalogy sessions. This version found its way on to the soundtrack for the 1998 film Chicago Cab. "Hard to Imagine" is also included on the 2003 rarities compilation Lost Dogs, though that version is the one from the Vs. sessions. According to Gossard, "Hard to Imagine" was cut from Vitalogy because it did not fit with the other songs the band was writing at the time.
"Out of My Mind", which is featured as a B-side on the "Not for You" single, was premiered on the band's 1994 spring tour of the United States and was played twice. According to Vedder, the song was just a live improv.
Title and packaging
The original title for the album was Life. The first single, "Spin the Black Circle", was released before the album was released, and on the back of the single it states: "From the Epic album Life".
The title Vitalogy, which literally means "the study of life",
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = B+
| rev4 = Los Angeles Times
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| rev5 = Pitchfork
| rev5score = 8.3/10
| rev6 = Q
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| rev7 = Rolling Stone
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| rev9 = USA Today
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| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10score = A−
Vitalogy was released first on vinyl on November 22, 1994, two weeks before its CD and cassette release, and debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The LP sold 34,000 copies in its first week of release, and, until Jack White's Lazaretto in 2014, it held the record for most vinyl sales in one week on Soundscan. When Vitalogy was released on CD and cassette on December 6, 1994, it went to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling more than 877,000 copies in its first week. Vitalogy has been certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and, as of July 2013, has sold 6.9 million<nowiki> </nowiki>copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In July 2013, Rolling Stone ranked Vitalogy second in a reader's poll of Pearl Jam's best albums.
Rolling Stone staff writer Al Weisel gave Vitalogy a positive four out of five stars, describing the album as "a wildly uneven and difficult record, sometimes maddening, sometimes ridiculous, often powerful." While Weisel praised several songs, saying that " Vitalogy has a number of gripping songs that match the soaring anthems of Ten, the extended grooves of Vs. or the poetry of either record", he somewhat criticized some of the more experimental songs as "throwaways and strange experiments that don't always work". Time reviewer Christopher John Farley singled out "Bugs" as one of the album's "share of stinkers", but added "that's one admirably experimental failure on a largely successful album." Despite writing negatively of the album's "shapeless high-energy riff-rockers", Newsday staff writer Ira Robbins lauded Vitalogys sound and called it a "compelling triumph of surface over substance". In a mixed review of the album, Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post perceived a lack of subject matter or lyrical substance as Vitalogys weakness.
Q magazine gave the album four out of five stars, stating: "It speaks volumes for Pearl Jam's continuing creative acumen that they can respond so confidently to a new punk scene that has sprung up." At the 1996 Grammy Awards, "Spin the Black Circle" won the band its first Grammy Award, receiving the award for Best Hard Rock Performance. In 2003, the album was ranked number 492 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine listed the album at number 485 on its revised list in 2012, saying it showed the band's "mastery of rock's past and future". In May 2014, Loudwire placed Vitalogy at number ten on its "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list. In July 2014, Guitar World placed the album on its "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.
In 2011, Pearl Jam released a remastered Vitalogy, along with Vs., in three formats: an Expanded Version, a three-CD Deluxe Edition, and a Limited Edition Collector's Boxed Set. The Expanded Version features three bonus tracks: the previously unreleased guitar/organ-only mix of "Better Man"; a previously unreleased alternate take of "Corduroy" from the Vitalogy sessions (recorded by Brendan O'Brien); and a previously unreleased demo version of "Nothingman", taken from the original DAT (recorded at John and Stu's in Seattle on October 14, 1993, featuring Richard Stuverud on drums). The three-CD Deluxe Edition features both the Legacy Versions of Vitalogy and Vs. with their bonus tracks and a copy of Live at the Orpheum Theater, Boston, April 12, 1994.
Tour
Pearl Jam promoted the album with tours in Asia, Oceania, and the United States in 1995. The band was joined by new drummer Jack Irons. The short tour of the United States focused on the Midwest and the West Coast. The band continued its boycott against Ticketmaster during its tour of the United States, refusing to play in Ticketmaster's venue areas, but was surprised that virtually no other bands joined it in refusing to play at Ticketmaster venues. The band chose to use alternate ticketing companies for the shows.
The tour of the United States faced various troubles. Ament said the band and its crew had to "[build] shows from the ground up, a venue everywhere we went". Neil Young filled in for Vedder for the rest of the show that day. Vedder said: "That whole [Golden Gate Park] thing was a blur based on some bad food. It was really, really bad. Looking back at it, it doesn't seem as intense as it was, but it was horrible. I just felt not human and looking back I should have got through that show somehow, and I think the fact that Neil [Young] was there made me feel like I could get off the hook in some way and I did go out for a few songs." Ament later said: "We were so hardheaded about the 1995 tour. Had to prove we could tour on our own, and it pretty much killed us, killed our career."
| title1 = Last Exit
| length1 = 2:54
| title2 = Spin the Black Circle
| length2 = 2:48
| title3 = Not for You
| length3 = 5:52
| title4 = Tremor Christ
| length4 = 4:12
| title5 = Nothingman
| music5 = Ament
| length5 = 4:35
| title6 = Whipping
| length6 = 2:34
| title7 = Pry, To
| length7 = 1:03
| title8 = Corduroy
| length8 = 4:37
| title9 = Bugs
| length9 = 2:44
| title10 = Satan's Bed
| music10 = Gossard
| length10 = 3:30
| title11 = Better Man
| music11 = Vedder
| length11 = 4:28
| title12 = Aye Davanita
| length12 = 2:57
| title13 = Immortality
| length13 = 5:28
| title14 = Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" a.k.a. "Stupid Mop
| length14 = 7:28
| music14 = Amemt, Gossard, Jack Irons, McCready, Vedder
| total_length = 55:09
Personnel
Pearl Jam
- Eddie Vedder – lead vocals, guitar, accordion on "Bugs"; credited as "e.v." for book concept, theory of Vitalogy, typist
- Jeff Ament – bass guitar, standup bass, backing vocals, black-and-white photography
- Stone Gossard – guitar, Mellotron, backing vocals
- Mike McCready – guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals
- Dave Abbruzzese – drums (except on "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me")
Additional musicians and production
- Jack Irons – drums on "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"
- Barry Ament – layout
- John Burton, Caram Costanzo, Karl Heilbron, Adam Kasper, Kevin Scott, Trina Shoemaker – assistance
- Nick DiDia – engineering
- Brett Eliason – recording/mixing on "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me"
- Lance Mercer – 8-Baby photo
- Brendan O'Brien – production, recording, pump organ, Hammond organ, Crumar bass pedals, piano
- Pearl Jam – production
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Joel Zimmerman – art direction
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Weekly chart performance for Vitalogy
!scope="col"|Chart (1994)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|align="center"|1
|-
!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|align="center"|7
|-
!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
|align="center"|4
|-
!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|align="center"|7
|-
!scope="row"|Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
|align="center"|3
|-
!scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP)
|align="center"|22
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Irish Albums (IRMA)
|align="center"| 1
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|align="center"| 28
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand (RMNZ)
|align="center"| 1
|-
!scope="row"|Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)
|align="center"| 7
|-
!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)
|align="center"|11
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
|align="center"| 1
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|align="center"| 17
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|align="center"| 4
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|align="center"| 1
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+1995 weekly chart performance for Vitalogy
! Chart (1995)
! Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (RPM)
|align="center"| 2
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+1994 year-end chart performance for Vitalogy
!scope="col"|Chart (1994)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|align="center"| 12
|-
!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|align="center"| 64
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|align="center"| 73
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+1995 year-end chart performance for Vitalogy
!scope="col"|Chart (1995)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|align="center"| 31
|-
!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|align="center"| 67
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
|align="center"| 20
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|align="center"| 6
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Decade-end chart performance for Vitalogy
!Chart (1990–1999)
!Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|76
|}
Certifications
References
Further reading
External links
- Vitalogy at Discogs
- Vitalogy information and lyrics at pearljam.com
- 1906 edition of Vitalogy: Encyclopedia of Health and Home at the Internet Archive.