For me, Pearl Jam was one of those coming of age bands. I previously mentioned that I really began to get into music just as grunge was taking hold. One of my all-time favorite albums is Pearl Jam's debut, Ten. It's one of my desert island albums. I'm still working on getting that one on vinyl, but I have several other PJ records, one of which is Vitalogy. This album was originally released on vinyl with the CD coming two weeks later. Keep in mind, it was released in 1994. Vinyl was pretty much a dead format by then and CD was king. Perhaps Pearl Jam knew something - that vinyl might fade away but it would never truly die, and in fact has staged a remarkable comeback and is now once again the most popular physical format for music.
I've previously mentioned the digging component of collecting records; the anticipation of not knowing what you might find; the disappointment when you come away with nothing; and the thrill of finding something amazing. This falls into that latter category. This is an original pressing, from 1994. Albums on vinyl from the 1990s can be hard to find (particularly mid to late 90s - if they were even pressed at all), although there are more copies of this one floating around out there than a lot of other albums. I think another fun aspect of collecting records is remembering where you found certain albums. I often hear people talk about where they bought their first record, and what it is. Or they have stories connected to other albums. That's just not something you often hear about CDs. I honestly can't tell you where I bought my first CD. But I do remember buying the 45 to Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine" at Musicland in the Grand Teton Mall in Idaho Falls. That was probably the only record I had as a kid that strictly belonged to me. So back to Vitalogy - I found this at a Salvation Army in Las Cruces, New Mexico for 50 cents. 50 cents! It was one of those moments when my first thought was "what's wrong with it?" Checked to see if the record was in the sleeve. Yep, it's there. Is it scratched beyond recognition? Nope, it's flawless. Why is this here? There has to be something wrong with it. Nope. Perfectly good condition, just sitting there. A big smile comes across my face, I pay my 50 cents and walk out feeling like I'd stolen it. Like someone is going to run out and tell me the cops are on their way. It's still by far the best find I've had in a thrift store. Probably always will be.
As for the album itself, it's certainly not one of my favorite PJ albums. They were a bit more experimental on this one than on their previous two, Ten and Vs. But it does have some great songs on it, my favorite being "Better Man" and one of the great odes to music on vinyl, "Spin the Black Circle." "Not for You" is another one of my favorite PJ songs. It's certainly fitting that "Spin the Black Circle" is on this album, and cheers to Pearl Jam for their attempt at keeping vinyl alive. It seems to have worked.
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