Any Pearl Jam fans? (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Moore]

Any more of you out there? I can probably guarantee that Im the biggest fan of them here on the HTF, but I was wondering if there were any other fans out there. I went to 8 concerts in the Summer of 2000 and cant wait for the next tour.

If anyone hasnt seen the dvd's they have out, theyre a must-see. Even if youre not a huge fan, "Single Video Theory" DVD is something to check out. Its the making of "Yield" and has some really cool stuff on it. And of course the "Touring Band 2000" dvd is also extraordinary.

My fave PJ albums, ranked:

6. Binaural

5. Ten

4. No Code

3. Yield

2. Vitalogy

1. Vs

anyone else enjoy ANY of their stuff?

 

[Michael_T]

I am also a big fan, yet I have not caught them live yet. I had the chance of going to see them a few years back at the Continental Arena, but the seats were way up in the upper level by the time I got thru and I passed. I kick myself now for doing so.

Anyway, I think Touring Band 2000 is a great DVD. (I also have Single Video Theory). I have about 2/3 of all the live "bootlegs" they released from the European and US tours of the same year. (Alot of music to listen to and not enough time. I found that I listened to each one once so far and then filed them away).

I really won't rank the albums I like as you did, since I find something great on all of them. The funny thing is I found myself listening to "Live on Two Legs" alot when it came out - probably because that was recorded on the tour I WOULD have gone to if I weren't so "anal" about sitting in the netherreaches of the Continental Arena.

 

[Anthony Moore]

i know what you mean about ranking the albums. I also find great things in each of them. But my friends and i are all big fans and we have friendly arguments about it all the time and thats the list i usually fight for
Thats awesome that you have all those bootlegs. I have the ones I went to plus about 5 or 6 more. I do plan on getting them all, but its kinda hard when I goto school fulltime and work to pay bills. But i guess thats just an excuse. I really should have all 72 albums. One day.

 

[Mike Broadman]

anyone else enjoy ANY of their stuff?

Well, I do enjoy their first two albums, but I'm not a fan. However, I once was.

In high school, they were the end-all and be-all of music for me. And in retrospect, I still think they were the best popular rock band in the early 90s. I practically memorized Ten and can still probably hum the guitar solo at the end of Alive.

I like Versus, but it's a step down from Ten. Songs like WMA, Indifference, and Elderly Woman are just too silly and unsuccessfully pretentious for me. Animal, Daughter, Glorified G and Rearview Mirror are great tunes, and Dissident is still one of my favorites. However, it seems like Eddie Vedder's ego started to get the best of this band.

Vitalogy had a couple of decent tracks, but overall was very dissappointing. Satan's Bed and Corduroy were cool, but Nothingman and Tremor Christ are just weak, and Spin the Black Circle points to the direction of punk noise that they would take on No Code. I No Code twice and did not like it at all. By that time, I was already into a lot more and better music, so I completely dropped Pearljam from my listening rotation.

I haven't heard anything but singles since, and the single are awful, IMO. I wish I was an alien? WTF?

I still love Ten. I think at that time Vedder wasn't the dominant member of the band, he was just a singer. That's when they work best, because there are some talented dudes in that band, and they're great when they play good ol' rock 'n' roll.

 

[KrisM]

Pearl Jam is one of those bands that I really like but I don't like all of their albums. Ten, Vs, Yield, and Vitalogy I listen to alot. Binaural and No Code I really don't like at all. I listen to the Mother Love Bone disc and the one they did with Neil Young a fair bit as well.

KrisM

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Count me as a fan, and a recently-renewed 10 Club member to boot! God help me, I do love that club. I forgot to renew my membership in 1999 and assumed when I did so in early 2000 that I'd be treated as a new member and bumped to the back of the seniority line. Imagine my delight when I realized I still had the spot I claimed in 1994! Since they base ticket quality on length of membership, that plopped me in the front row for the DC-area show!

Others may decry an alleged decline in the quality of their work, but with the notable exception of the semi-clunker No Code, I think all of their albums have been quite solid...

 

[Anthony Moore]

Well, I do enjoy their first two albums, but I'm not a fan. However, I once was

Im gonna have to say that they newer albums show just how much theyve matured from an angry band to one that shows signs of staying around for a long time. No Code is one of the best albums out there, but it took me a loooooong time to finally enjoy it for all its worth. My advice to anyone who liked the early stuff is to sit down and listen to No Code a few times all the way through and who knows, maybe youll see the light as i have.

 

[Jeff_A]

I don't consider myself a fan, but Ten is one of my favorite albums. When I think of the 90's that album easily stands out as the best and most defining. That would include what appears to be everyone elses favorite Nirvana Nevermind.

 

[Rain]

Oooh, oooh, another opportunity to tell my embarrassing PJ anecdote.
A couple of years back, one of the local radio stations here somehow managed to stage a PJ concert at The Commodore Ballroom. For those who don't know it, The Commodore is a legendary club, small enough to make it something very special indeed. The only way to get in was to win passes.
Ok, so Rain gets the speed dial all programmed up and he's ready.
Chance #1: Rain gets on the radio and is asked some trivia question (don't recall now). He doesn't know the answer. No passes.
Chance #2: Rain gets on the radio and is played a snipit of a PJ song to identify. Rain panics and fucks up again. It turns out to be a song (Courderoy) from his favourite PJ album. Once again, nada.
Chance #3: Rain thinks "maybe if I just go down on the night of the show, they will let more people in." Rain does this, but after being outside in the cold for about 30 minutes after the show starts, having already seen Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills from R.E.M. (in town recording an album) go inside to the show, Rain gives up and goes home. Upon arriving home 15 minutes later, Rain finds a message on his machine telling him they started letting people in right after he left. Rain runs back, but it's too late.
Yup, PJ is one of my favourite bands. I know some people have a hate on for them, but I find them one of the most unpretentious and creative bands around. With them, it's all about the music, not about the videos and the bullshit.
I even named one of my kitties Eddie, after Eddie Vedder.
My fave PJ albums, ranked:
6. Binaural
5. Ten
4. Yield
3. Vs.
2. No Code
1. Vitalogy
Yeah, I know, I didn't put Ten and Vs. at the top. So sue me. I agree with Anthony's comments.

 

[Carlo_M]

Huge fan.
I was at the Shoes concert in Indio, CA. I got hit with one, so I know why Eddie was pissed.
The first two are my faves, and I miss the higher energy of their sets in the first few years. But I love Matt Cameron on the drums (this is probably due to being a huge Soundgarden fan).

 

[Peter_A]

Used to be a big fan, but their recent work hasn't really done anything for me though my favorite album of theirs was "Ten".
My favorite band now is Tool. God, the songs when Maynard just lets loose with that voice of his.......yeah!

 

[Mike Broadman]

I find them one of the most unpretentious and creative bands around

I'm not gonna argue about "creative", since that's really more opinion, and ultimately a fruitless argument. But not pretentious? Vedder is one of the most pretentious and preachy characters in rock. He's like Bono on heroin. Don't get me wrong, I like lots of pretentious musicians, so I don't see anything wrong with him being pretentious, god bless him, but he certainly can be called that.

Anthony, I'm glad you like No Code, and I used to share your attitude about listening to stuff a dozen times until I like it. I don't do that anymore. I have learned to trust my instincts: if I don't like it after three close listens, I'm not going to like it after the fourth. I, like anyone else, have tastes and likes and dislikes. I dislike punk. No Code sounds like a punk album. Just not my thing.

Two other popular albums that I bought, listened to carefully a couple of times, and got rid of are Kid A by Radiohead and Heroes by David Bowie. Many people kept telling me how I would love them, how great they are, etc. I just didn't like 'em. Don't hate me, that's just how it is. But I'm not going to force myself to sit through "Idioteque" until I can tolerate it. Music should be fun, and that doesn't sound like fun.

Rain, I also remember trying to win PJ tickets in my PJ fan days. I annoyed my parents my tying up the phone line all day trying to get those things, and I couldn't even get more than a busy signal. I admire them for trying to stand up to ticketmaster, but that was just absurd. And now, when I don't want to see them, they use ticketmaster. Why does the universe hate me?

 

[MikeAW]

Competent, Fan Friendly Band, but unfortunately their sound just hasn't matured beyond the early days. It's just the way it is...one of those "like em or leave em" bands.

If you got their first two albums, you've got it all. Nothing wrong with that, but That Patented Sound just doesn't seem to change. The Fans Love it, so that's not a crime just a shame they didn't do something different after a while.

 

[Jon_B]

I like PJ's album Ten, not a fan of their other work. However, in my experience people who claim to be huge Pearl Jam fans also say that Ten is their least favorite album. What's up with that?

Jon

 

[Anthony Moore]

If you got their first two albums, you've got it all. Nothing wrong with that, but That Patented Sound just doesn't seem to change. The Fans Love it, so that's not a crime just a shame they didn't do something different after a while.

I couldnt disagree more. Theyve done nothing but mature in ten years. Go listen to Ten, then No Code right afterwards.

 

[Mike__D]

I'm a fan of the old Pearl Jam... Ten was without a doubt, their best, followed by Vs. Vitalogy was okay, but after that I lost interest. Although my another fav is On Two Legs, nice mix of old and new (I do like some new ones) songs.

Mike D.

 

[David Ely]

I'm a huge PJ fan! 9th row center at the 2000 Toronto show!!!!!
Here are my rankings for the albums
6. Ten
5. Yield
4. Binaural
3. Vs.
2. No Code
1. Vitalogy
Yup, you read it right, Ten is my LEAST favorite of their albums. I would like to stress that this doesn't mean I don't like it. I love Ten, but I feel it's their weekest album.
Actually ... some of my favorite PJ songs aren't even on their albums! State of Love and Trust, Footsteps, Leatherman and many other great songs are available as b-sides or on compilation disks.

 

[Ryan_C]

Yup, add me to an HUGE fan of the boys, an have been since Jan 92, about 5 months after Ten came out.
I might be a contender for the HTF member who is the biggest PJ fan! I have been to seven shows including Lollapalooza, and been 1st and 2nd row almost dead center for more than 1 show thanks to the Ten Club. I also have alot of rare PJ items, like the 3-track promo CD with Alive (only 1500 copies were printed) as wel as the Basketball 12" picture disc of Ten (also only 1500 copies printed. I have several of the event-specific cartoony posters they print up for the shows I went to. That is just the beginning of my PJ related stuff.
I too think they have matured alot since Ten. I look back at Ten now and think it was way overproduced. I like the raw sound all the other albums have much better. And another thing is I think I like their live music better than their studio stuff. I often find myself putting in one of their studio albums,then running and putting in a bootleg instead b/c they are usually a little faster and more energitic. A friend of mine who was not a big fan went with me on the last tour to the show in Greensboro, and we were first row in front of Mike. After the show, my buddy had a new found respect for them. They are definitely a band that needs to been seen live to be truly appreciated, IMHO. Glad to know I am not the only one big fan around here though!

 

[Alex Shk]

I also was a big fan that lost interest. I thought the first three were dynamic albums, and they tried to stretch on No Code with mixed results. Yield was more of a return to form, but strangely enough - I liked No Code and Yield much more when they FIRST came out. It was repeated listenings that made me realize there wasn't much there (No Code in particular).

No offense to their musicianship or their ability to perform a great concert, but that live album was one useless boring hunk o' junk. Arrangements varried little from the studio versions, and the band doesn't even seem to be happy playing. I don't know - it just sounds .."routine".

Never made it to Binaural, have I missed anything?

 

[Anthony Moore]

Never made it to Binaural, have I missed anything?

Binaural is definately for the true fans in my opinion. Its not one to pick up if youve never heard PJ before or you were trying to get into them. No doubt their most mature album with the song Nothing As It Seems as the standout. I'd pick it up if you liked PJ past TEN.