The Listening Room

I am not a Pearl Jam fan, but I'm trying. There were two times in my life when I crossed paths with a real Pearl Jam fan. The first was in 5th grade when I became friends with Pete Swanson. This would have been 1994ish, so Ten had been out for a few years. As a not-quite-teenager I was excited about Soundgarden, Cypress Hill, Tool and the like. Looking back, I think I was drawn to sounds and visuals that felt a bit surreal and unexpected – the sort of stuff that was on MTV late at night. I remember sitting on the floor in Pete’s bedroom under his Pearl Jam poster with a discman and headphones listening to Ten and thinking “this is…cool, but I feel bored.” Pete was a cool guy so I chalked it up to me just not getting it and moved on to the Jerky Boys prank call tapes that were laying around. The second attempt was with @kevleemur 14ish years ago. (!!!) Kevin was part of a group of friends, including @harlanworld, @Charles_Brown and others, that inspired Sound Club. We used to meet in my little apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Fridays nights and take turns spinning albums until the wee hours. We all represented pretty distinct tastes in music so it was always fun discussing and debating our selections. Anyways…Kevin was a Pearl Jam head. He showed me that there were artists outside of the jam scene that shared the same ethos towards the live experience. They made community as much of a priority as the music. They varied their setlists to make every show a unique experience. They started to catalogue and release shows as time went on, creating a deep rabbit hole for fans to fall into. I thought to myself “I get it now. I’m ready. This might be my next obsession.” I think it was Vs? (Kevin - maybe you remember?) Look story short…it didn’t click. So here we are. Attempt #3. Pressing play.

An unexpected turn! It’s @kevleemur ’s birthday! Happy birthday my man!

I'm definitely going to be in the minority on this one, but I just can't get into the album. After taking it for another spin I think it comes down to Mike McCready. He's obviously a very talented guitarist. He just has no chill. When you have a frontman like Eddie Vedder, with such dynamic range and emotion to his voice, it starts to feel like a constant shootout between instruments. I'm sure that's a nice cuppa tea for many, but I found it to be a constant barrage. I think that's why my favorites on the album were my favorites. Black, Oceans and Release were the tracks where the group dynamic felt best. A bit more patient. A better compliment for Eddie's vocals. A bit less cliche' with the guitar. The lyrics here feel like some of the most direct anger and angst of the early grunge era. There was very little left to the imagination. Really powerful songwriting. I'll probably take another dip into Pearl Jam in the future, but three concerted efforts with Ten has confirmed things for me. Not a fan.

My father-in-law and I share a big love of music, and he's turned me onto plenty of bands from his "era" which usually includes the 70s (his impressionable high school and college years) as well as the 90s grunge era. For Christmas last year, he got me this album as a "must-have" he noticed was missing. I'll be honest, poor Vedder's voice had become a meme to me at this point, so apart from cheeky impressions while playing "Even Flow" on Guitar Hero, I didn't think much of the album. But of course, if I have it on wax, I gotta at least try it a few times to soak it in. And it's good! Although it doesn't spark a ton of passion in me (grunge usually doesn't), I can at least appreciate that they are one of the greats of the genre, and this album specifically has aged WAY better than many contemporaries.

Always looking for ideas for future club picks! What were the quintessential albums of your youth? Which defined that point in time in music?

I’ve never loved PJ as much as Nirvana or AIC, but I’ve always held this album in such high regard, as PJ’a best in sequencing, biggest hits, etc. Does it hold up as much as other works? Maybe as a “Classic Rock” album (gulp), but I fear it doesn’t scratch the grunge itch as well as the other bands I mentioned.

I feel like Pearl Jam was a bridge band, grunge rock into the modern pop rock culture, with some classic rock influences. They span the horizon on TEN. From a rockin “even flow “ and “alive”, story stelling masterpieces with “black “ and “Jeremy “., then the methodical modern rock vocals of “garden “ and “release me”. The entire album is a masterpiece. Tells a story about life, struggle, death, and afterlife. Amazing vocals and guitar play. One of my favorite albums of all time.