The Spotlight
Few bands can last five or ten years together. Egos get in the way; the creative spark that was there at the beginning of a career can burn out after a few short months or years. Yet, every so often a band comes along that defies the odds, crafts hit-filled after hit-filled albums and continues to soldier on, even when some fans turn their back. Pearl Jam is one such band.
Over a career that has spanned almost 15 years, eight studio albums and over 70 official live releases, Pearl Jam has continued to define itself as an influential rock band. From the early days of grunge to the dawn of a new millennium, Pearl Jam has continued to defy odds and make album after album full of great music.
The History
Rising from the ashes of notable Seattle bands Green River and Mother Love Bone, the nucleus of what would become Pearl Jam took shape in 1990: guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament hooked up with guitarist Mike McCready a then Soundgarden (and future Pearl Jam) drummer Matt Cameron to record a demo. This demo eventually found its way to Eddie Vedder (via another future Pearl Jam drummer, Jack Irons), who put his own vocals on the tape and sent it back to the band. Drummer Dave Krusen was added to the mix and Mookie Blaylock was born.
The band set out on its first tour in the beginning of 1991, opening for fellow Seattle band Alice in Chains. Following the tour, Mookie Blaylock held up in a studio for a month to record its Epic Records debut, “Ten.” During this time, the band also changed it’s name to Pearl Jam.
When recording was completed, most of the band (Gossard, Ament, Vedder and McCready) took part in the Chris Cornell-led tribute to the late front man of Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood. The project, released in April of ’91, was called Temple of the Dog.
Though “Ten” was released in August of 1991, it didn’t start to pick up steam until the following year. Fellow Seattle act Nirvana had paved the way for alternative rock in the mainstream, but Pearl Jam was eventually outselling the band. During this time, the group lost drummer Krusen (who was replaced with Dave Abbruzzese), but success was still very much forthcoming. Pearl Jam found hit after hit with its singles “Evenflow,” “Alive” and “Jeremy.” The band was a hit on radio and MTV, it had a successful stint on the second Lollapalooza tour and was even making a splash in Hollywood, so to speak — Pearl Jam contributed two tracks (“State of Love and Trust” and “Breath”) to Cameron Crowe’s movie “Singles” (the band also had cameos in the movie).
Perhaps apprehensive to the success, Pearl Jam toned down its exposure following the release of its second album, “Vs.,” in 1993. Though the group refused to release any videos or singles off the album, “Vs.” was a hit, debuting at number one and selling almost a million copies in its first week of release.
In the spring of ’94, Pearl Jam embarked on a small tour foregoing huge venues and choosing instead to perform in smaller arenas and colleges. That year, the group altogether cancelled its summer tour after complaining about rising ticket prices. Pearl Jam and took Ticketmaster to the Justice Department citing unfair business practices (the Justice Department would eventually side with Ticketmaster in the dispute).
During the “fight,” Pearl Jam still found time to record what would become “Vitalogy,” though the revolving door of drummers continued as Abbruzzese was fired following the recording and replaced by former Red Hot Chili Pepper Jack Irons.
The band released “Vitalogy” — towards the end of 1994 — initially on vinyl, but once it hit shelves two weeks later via more accessible means, it was a hit, entering the Billboard Top 200 albums chart at number one and staying there for five weeks.
In 1995 the band re-entered the studio, this time with Neil Young, to record Young’s “Mirrorball” album. Though legal disputes prevented Pearl Jam from being referred to on the album, the individual members were credited. Two songs from the sessions, “I Got ID” and “Long Road,” were released by Pearl Jam as a single.
In August of ’96, Pearl Jam released its fourth album, “No Code.” It was the third consecutive album from the band to hit number one on the Billboard charts. However, hints in the experimentation the band toyed with on “Vitalogy” were more dispersed on this album. A combination of fan alienation and dissatisfaction (justified or not) and touring difficulties (the band would only play venues not associated with Ticketmaster) led to “No Code” tumbling down the charts quickly, and the band spent most of 1997 out of the spotlight (though band members had a number of side-projects to work on).
While “No Code” was a more “mellow” offering (the somber lead-off single “Who You Are” was what made fans apprehensive to begin with), the follow-up, “Yield,” in 1998 was a more rocking’ affair. It only managed to make it to number two on the charts, but the band was able to support the release with a return to full-scale touring. The band released “Alive on Two Legs,” a live show, at the end of the year, but Irons wasn’t able to contribute (citing health concerns). Matt Cameron was welcomed to the fold. The following year the band scored another hit with a cover of J. Frank Wilson’s “Last Kiss.”
In 2000 the band celebrated it’s tenth anniversary. At a show in Las Vegas, Vedder related stories about the origins of the band again, before launching into “Crown of Thorns,” a Mother Love Bone track, as a nod to the band’s history. That same year, Pearl Jam released “Binaural,” its eighth album. During the subsequent tours of Europe and America, every show was recorded in its entirety and released as CD sets … 72 in all!
That wave of CD releases in 2001 was capped off in 2002 with the release of “Riot Act,” an uncompromising rock album that features the band wearing its influences on its sleeve.
In 2003, Pearl Jam finally got all the excess material recorded throughout the years — from the fan-club only CD releases, to the many B-sides and tracks that appeared on compilations — and put together a collection called “Lost Dogs,” a nice gift back to the band’s fans. What makes this release even more amazing is the fact the band had two albums’ worth of material, strong material at that, with which to put such a collection together.
The following year (2004), the band finally released a collection of greatest hits: “Rearviewmirror” is a solid reminder that the band’s legacy cannot be ignored, an exclamation point to a career that is still far from over.
The Legacy
Ten [1991]
The literal “album that started it all,” “Ten” was released just before the wave of grunge was set to sweep over North America. The album was chock-full of hits: “Once,” “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Jeremy,” “Black,” “Porch.” This was a simple, in-you-face, rocking album. At the time of its release, “Ten” was overshadowed by Nirvana’s mega-hit “Nevermind,” but the album picked up steam over the following year, and was still going strong when Pearl Jam was ready to offer up its sophomore effort.
Vs. [1993]
The album of many titles, “Vs.” was actually initially released as a self-titled album; the band wanted to call the album “Five Against One” (a refrain in the band’s single “Animal”), but held off at the last moment, finally settling on “Vs.” on subsequent pressings. Much like “Ten,” the band was juxtaposing straight-forward rock tracks (“Go,” “Animal”) against more subtle, retrospective numbers (“Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” “Daughter”). The album has a killer sleeper track, the blistering “Leash,” as well as what has become a huge fan-favorite over the years, so much so that the band’s greatest hit collection took its name from it: the frenzied “Rearviewmirror.”
Vitalogy [1994]
And the hits keep coming. Anticipation was high for Pearl Jam’s next offering after two hit albums, and the band delivered … somewhat. “Vitalogy” had the basic elements of Pearl Jam’s earlier material, but also saw the band move towards a more experimental sound. Fans again had the solid, rocking songs (“Spin the Black Circle,” “Last Exit,” “Whipping”) along with the introspective, melancholic tracks (“Immortality,” “Nothingman”) and a combination of the two (the extremely popular “Better Man”). But the band also offered up a couple of experimental, almost-spoken word pieces (“Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me” and “Bugs”) that fans had difficulty digesting.
No Code [1996]
From anticipation to apprehension: after the release of the first single off “No Code,” “Who You Are,” fans weren’t sure this “new” Pearl Jam was the band they came to know and love. “No Code” sort of marks the turning point for Pearl Jam, where the simple fans, who really didn’t like this album, and the die-hards, who loved everything the band did, started to separate out. “Who We Are” was a very laid back song, a stark contrast to previous singles from the band (though the rocking songs were still here in songs like “Hail Hail” and “Habit”). Still, “No Code” shows the band continuing its trek towards maturation and modifying its sound towards a more subtle-yet-still-rocking, politically-charged outfit.
Yield [1998]
On the band’s fifth album, Pearl Jam seemed more adept at putting together more quiet, haunting songs, than at getting together to rock. Songs like “Do The Evolution” or “Brain of J” were welcomed into the Pearl Jam catalogue, but don’t stand up against older rock songs offered up by the band. But the band continued to grow with its melodic compositions, especially with “Wishlist.” As People magazine pointed out in a review of the album, “The band seems to have discovered both humor and harmony…. ‘Yield’ sounds at moments like a bunch of musicians having fun… .”
Binaural [2000]
As Pearl Jam entered a new millennium, the group seemed content to put together solid albums that, while not being the hit-filled monsters from earlier in the band’s career, were still great albums from end to end. “Binaural,” the band’s first studio album to feature former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, kicked off with some fast-paced, rocking songs (“Breakerfall,” “God’s Dice”) before settling into a nice groove of simple rock and melancholy.
Riot Act [2002]
By the time “Riot Act” was released, Pearl Jam had a solid core of fans to cater to. In many ways this album was a return to form for the band: it wasn’t “Ten” or “Vs.,” but it was what the band had to offer in the vein of those albums. There’s no stand-out tracks, but the album as a whole is a great offering. From the rocking “Save You” to the politically-charged “Bushleaguer” or acoustic “Thumbing My Way,” Pearl Jam continue to re-invent themselves while maintaining a strong “sound” and putting together solid albums, good from end to end.
Lost Dogs [2003]
This two-disc collection is pretty much a gift to the fans, making most of the band’s hard-to-find material (b-sides, compilation tracks, fan club exclusives, etc.) available in one place. While some of the tracks are hit-or-miss, there are some true gems here: the largely successful cover of “Last Kiss,” the huge “Yellow Ledbetter,” the up-tempo “Leavin’ Here” and the comical “Dirty Frank.” While some bands struggle to put together a greatest hits collection, Pearl Jam shows just how good a band it really is but releasing a double-album filled with cast- offs — yet the material was better than anything most bands could hope to come up with.
The Top 10
It’s impossible to fully encapsulate Pearl Jam’s contribution to the music scene with any one song or album, but here’s my attempt. (The band does have a greatest hits compilation, “Rearviewmirror,” in stores now. This may be one of the strongest “hits” collections to come out, so I highly recommend picking it up.) As “Rearviewmirror” really does truly encapsulate Pearl Jam’s legacy, think of this “Top 10” as a companion to said collection: songs that didn’t make the cut (including a couple of my favorites), but are still worthy of checking out.
In order:
“Release”
– I really can’t believe this song wasn’t included on the band’s greatest hits collection. Probably one of Pearl Jam’s best songs, this closing track off “Ten” oozes more emotion than all the previous songs combined (which is saying a lot when you take into account I’m talking about songs like “Jeremy” and “Once”). Terribly melancholic, I have yet to hear any band reach the mood and tone this song puts forth.
“Leavin’ Here”
– Originally recorded for the “Home Alive” benefit album, this The Who cover is a nice counterpoint to the previous track: fast-paced, rocking and full of life. Pearl Jam offer up a great rendition of this song.
“Smile”
– One of my favorite Pearl Jam songs, “Smile” is a rock song with a somber undertone. The band put together a solid track here, featuring great, down-tuned guitars, nice bass work and even an harmonica. This belongs on any Pearl Jam collection.
“Push Me Pull Me”
– At least one of the band’s “experimental” spoken-word pieces should be included here, so I choose this one off “Yield” as it is probably the most accessible of the bunch.
“Love Boat Captain”
– Most fans point to this as their favorite track off “Riot Act,” “Love Boat Captain” is a perfect example of Pearl Jam’s ability nowadays to write a good, rock song, period (and the lyrics are strong too, with a nice nod to The Beatles: “All you need is love”).
“Breakerfall”
– Just a straight up, balls-out, rocking track. If there’s one thing Pearl Jam have always been good at, it’s exploding out of the gate and opening an album (in this case, “Binaural”) with a great song.
“Rats”
– One of the more less-appreciated tracks off “Vs.,” “Rats” featured some great bass work, and had a great, murky tone. This is also one of those tracks that are nice to sit and dissect, looking for the meaning below the lyrics.
“Leash”
– Probably one of the better “anthems” Pearl Jam ever crafted, as Vedder seethes at the end of the “Leash,” “drop the leash,” you can’t help but jump up to scream along.
“Crazy Mary”
– Recorded for the “Sweet Relief” benefit album for Victoria Williams, the album was recorded to raise money for musicians without insurance for health care. The band’s cover of Williams’ song was a moderate hit on radio. For some reason, this song has never been included on a Pearl Jam collection.
“Let Me Sleep”
– Finally included on the “Lost Dogs” collection, this was Pearl Jam’s offering for a Christmas song. I had been looking for the song for a couple of years, unaware of what it was called. “Let Me Sleep” really seems to capture the subtle emotion of being too excited to fall asleep on Christmas eve. It’s also a nice, mellow song and a great way to end this list.
The Inside Pulse .::. Pearl Jam have been going strong for 13 years. It’s still amazing that the band is able to put together a two-disc set of songs that never made it onto an album, and still have material that blows most bands away on it. As the band’s two-disc retrospective of greatest hits proved, its songs are timeless. “Once” and “Jeremy” sound as good today as they did back in 1991, whereas many other songs from that time sound like they’re from a bygone era (Soundgarden or some of Nirvana’s music). While many of the band’s contemporaries burnt out and faded away, Pearl Jam soldiered on, modifying its sound from record to record while still “holding true” to the Pearl Jam sound. Sure, they lost some fans along the way, but it’s hard to find anyone that doesn’t like at least one of the band’s albums. Even after all this time, it looks like we still have much to look forward to from this little band out of Seattle.
