I have never understood how Pearl Jam has had such a devoted following. I think I’m a little on the young side to really be in their sweet spot but regardless.
I have never understood how Pearl Jam has had such a devoted following. I think I’m a little on the young side to really be in their sweet spot but regardless.
I'm so old, I remember when they were brand new, and I thought they blew chunks even then. It doesn't help that there's something about Eddie Vedder's entire, I don't know, being?, that just doesn't work for me.
I remember Eddie pulling his Garbo act of "I don't want to be famous" in every interview he did after they made it big. It was very annoying, and yet people took him seriously. Layne Staley was great. Chris Cornell was great. Hell, Andrew Wood was great. They're all gone, but Eddie Vedder is still with us, though perhaps not as famous as he once was.
Garbo act? He was worried about inauthenticity (i.e., selling out). Cobain was similarly afflicted and, so far as I can tell, much of Gen X cultural commentary was, too.
Because when gunge hit, and its hard to explain just what a culture bomb that was at the time (radio stations across the country changed formats overnight), Pearl Jam was the one band that sounded most like classic rock. Soundgarden was metal, Nirvana was punk, Alice was this weird combo... but PJ just cranked out really god rock songs. Ten's an album full of anthemic rock n roll. So Pearl Jam was the choice to be down with the sweeping cultural change, but not really.
And now, they are basically the new Grateful Dead. A legacy touring act with a devoted fanbase operating completing outside the regular pressures of the industry.
Pretty much this. Grunge was such a different sound to what the commercial channels used to play. In the days when there was such a thing as a communally shared media experience.
There were always a number of people that thought Eddie Vedder was either to be admired or was hot, although I couldn't tell you if that counted for the majority of their fans.
I have never understood how Pearl Jam has had such a devoted following. I think I’m a little on the young side to really be in their sweet spot but regardless.
They're the Gen X Grateful Dead. Most people don't care, but their core fans really care.
I'm so old, I remember when they were brand new, and I thought they blew chunks even then. It doesn't help that there's something about Eddie Vedder's entire, I don't know, being?, that just doesn't work for me.
I remember Eddie pulling his Garbo act of "I don't want to be famous" in every interview he did after they made it big. It was very annoying, and yet people took him seriously. Layne Staley was great. Chris Cornell was great. Hell, Andrew Wood was great. They're all gone, but Eddie Vedder is still with us, though perhaps not as famous as he once was.
Garbo act? He was worried about inauthenticity (i.e., selling out). Cobain was similarly afflicted and, so far as I can tell, much of Gen X cultural commentary was, too.
I'm so old I remembered when the GD were brand new.
Because when gunge hit, and its hard to explain just what a culture bomb that was at the time (radio stations across the country changed formats overnight), Pearl Jam was the one band that sounded most like classic rock. Soundgarden was metal, Nirvana was punk, Alice was this weird combo... but PJ just cranked out really god rock songs. Ten's an album full of anthemic rock n roll. So Pearl Jam was the choice to be down with the sweeping cultural change, but not really.
And now, they are basically the new Grateful Dead. A legacy touring act with a devoted fanbase operating completing outside the regular pressures of the industry.
The first time I heard "Outshined" on the radio, I was like, "holy crap, Black Sabbath has ANOTHER new singer?!"
PJ was post-grunge, even before grunge was post?
Pretty much this. Grunge was such a different sound to what the commercial channels used to play. In the days when there was such a thing as a communally shared media experience.
There were always a number of people that thought Eddie Vedder was either to be admired or was hot, although I couldn't tell you if that counted for the majority of their fans.
For a lot of us who were 18-22 yo at the time they came out umm (coughs embarrassedly) he was....