i thought binaural was the headline photo in the article because you ranked it #1!

I think it’s in the top 5 at least.

My theory is that listeners don’t link Riot Act+Binaural because they neither sound like classic pearl jam nor like they’re trying to sound like classic pearl jam

Actually, that’s totally untrue. The strokes performed hundreds of shows around new york city in 1999 and 2000 and got rejected from labels like Matador before the media frenzy in 2001.