It’s become increasingly popular for bands with large discographies to have their albums ranked from “best to worst” or “worst to best” by popular music magazines and websites. Pearl Jam is no exception, with Diffuser, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, and other sites contributing their own lists. However, one Pearl Jam fan was unhappy with these rankings, so he took to Twitter to get a different opinion – but this time, directly from fans. “I was irked by Rolling Stone’s readers’ poll that put Ten, Vitalogy, & Vs. at 1, 2, and 3 respectively, as if they [Pearl Jam] never improved after that initial period, when we know that to be far from the truth,” Andrew said.
Over the course of several weeks and 45 rounds of voting, Andrew, known as @theboytemps on Twitter, asked the “#PJFam” (a Twitter hashtag used by many Pearl Jam fans) to rank their favorite Pearl Jam albums. He presented two albums per round and fans voted for their favorites until the top ten emerged based on the number of votes received.
Here are the albums from least to most favorite, as ranked in Andrew’s poll:
*Full disclosure: I participated in the voting.
So those favourite @PearlJam albums then. In reverse order of course:
10. Backspacer http://t.co/nP3qIDQgME
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
9. Lightning Bolt http://t.co/4nr1nKWdxd
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
8. Avocado (or Pearl Jam) http://t.co/CfKxTe5q1I
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
7. Riot Act (sorry Rach) http://t.co/BcNwaNgK2W
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
6. Binaural http://t.co/QMQsgqC4Ih
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
5. Vitalogy (sorry Rolling Stone) http://t.co/BYaC6lrDht
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
4. Vs http://t.co/1KVpFoZWQJ
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
https://twitter.com/theboytemps/status/651430993337929728%5D
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
2. No Code 😢😢😢 http://t.co/Zq02IzynMD
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
#FavouritePearlJamAlbums
Proving I didn't fix the whole thing. Where it all began almost 25 years ago...
1. Ten http://t.co/48WPf2UvLg
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
A massive thank you to everyone who contributed. Bizarrely I've enjoyed this labour of love. Hope to see some of you on the 2016 #PJTour🙏
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Vinyl-loving Hipster (@theboytemps) October 06, 2015
Twitter was an excellent medium to conduct the voting, with fans around the world sharing their opinions about what made each album great and discussing songs that stood out to them. “My favourite thing about Twitter is getting to talk to people who share my passion for music and obviously PJ,” Andrew said. “There are no wrong views in here, just views.”
Next, he plans to enlist help from the #PJFam to rank their ten favorite Pearl Jam songs.
You can follow Andrew on Twitter at @theboytemps.