Pearl Jam-Greatest band in the known universe

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Well, for most of us it's the same generation for the youngins Pink Flowd was before their time. Anyway, I think Pearl Jam will be one of those Rock bands that will last forever because the music is so great it transends ethnic and cultural borders. I started listening to them in 1990 and never turned back. They have yet to make a mediocre album, nevermind a bad one. My all time favorite album is Vs. and then Vitology but I love all of them.



Top 5 songs:



Black

Evenflow

Evolution

Daughter

Immortality



If you're not into Pearl Jam or are not too familiar with their whole collection, go out and pick up some of their albums. You won't regret it (unless you're only into pop/dance/rap music)



[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Outsider ]</p>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 107
    I've owned a few Pearl Jam albums, and I've been mighty unimpressed. It could be just that I don't care for the "grunge" style. Nothing they do really goes beyond the boundaries of everyday rock music. Maybe it's especially good rock music, but there's nothing new there.



    I'll stick with Pink Floyd, as the Pink Floyd of my generation.
  • Reply 2 of 107
    sebseb Posts: 676member
    Not to take anything away from Pearl Jam, but they are not Pink Floyd.



    Love both bands.



    Pink Floyd just has a different set of complexities that made them what they are.



    Their lyrics range from the super simple child like rhymes of a child - especially back in the space rock days of Syd Barrett to the autobiographical rock opera type album that was The Wall. One of the members, Syd Barrett went nuts (schizophrenic) and actually became the inspiration for many of the bands later songs. The band ultimately failed - as a band.



    They're just too different to compare.



    I'd say Pearl Jam is more of a Led Zeppelin or a Rolling Stones than a Pink Floyd. PF was just such an oddity by nature.



    shine on
  • Reply 3 of 107
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    You won't find a bigger Pearl Jam fan than me, but I don't think Pearl Jam enjoys the commercial success of the bands mentioned.



    They will be around for a long time like the Stones, but thankfully will not be "in" again.



    Pearl Jam is a band that was at the absolute pinnacle of fame and decided to take some different directions and lost a great deal of their "fan"base.



    My favorite albums (in order):

    Vitalogy

    Vs.

    No Code

    Binaural

    Ten

    Yield
  • Reply 4 of 107
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    If you're looking for a modern equivalent to Pink Floyd, I'd think looking in radiohead's direction might be more fruitful.
  • Reply 5 of 107
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    Everyone should pay careful attention to what I am about to say:



    There is no Pink Floyd of this, or any other generation...there is only "Mr. Floyd", and he is good.



    <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />





    Pearl Jam and Radio Head are talented musicians to be sure, but no one touches Floyd.



    They, along with The Beatles, The Who and Zeppelin have rarely if ever been successfully immitated, and never have been duplicated. The Stones were good, but even they didn't have the kind of unique sound the others did. "Great Band" doesn't cut it, not when comparing to these four bands IMO.



    Now, you could say Pearl Jam has an equally unique and untouchable sound, and that with another 5 or 6 good albums, may become a pillar of rock themselves. But in no way should you compare them to "Pink"..."he's" the man (or more to the point, he exposed the man for the filthy swine that he is!).







    [ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: Moogs ? ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 107
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Well of course there's not going to be any Pink Floyd 2, but my point in saying that radiohead might serve one looking for a modern equivalent is that their musical styles were innovative for their times and everything the bands touch turns to gold.



    Radiohead != Pink Floyd, of course.
  • Reply 6 of 107
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    I see a similarity, namely that both bands are pretentious, and like to wollow in ponderous, overly grandiose, unweildy, self-importance and easy dark-moods that are fit only for brooding teenagers but pretend to be sophisticated.





    Except when Pink Floyd was Syd Barrett's vehicle, THen they were all GENIUS!!!!!!!!!





  • Reply 8 of 107
    For me the main difference between the two is that Pink Floyd started in the 60s when the 'rock'n'roll rulebook was in the process of being written, and there is much 'experimental' and 'risky' material, and lots of diversity in sonic texture, and songwriting style, and they were one of the first bands to use electronic sounds sources. By the time Pearl Jam came on the scene in 1990 rock'n'roll was a more "mature" (?) medium; they also came out of a local scene in Seattle where many bands adopted the "grunge" sound...PJ happened to be the one which caught on, because they wrote the strongest songs, they are all good players and the lead singer has an unmistakeable and non-generic style. Instrumentally Pearl Jam are much more of a guitar/bass/drums (power trio) format, whereas Pink Floyd relied heavily on synthesizers and orchestrated textures. I really like both bands, but there is very little similarity to my ears!
  • Reply 9 of 107
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    [quote]Originally posted by pfflam:

    <strong>I see a similarity, namely that both bands are pretentious, and like to wollow in ponderous, overly grandiose, unweildy, self-importance and easy dark-moods that are fit only for brooding teenagers but pretend to be sophisticated. </strong><hr></blockquote>





    Blashpemer!!! Brooding teenagers...*lol* that's funny. I will admit the "We Don't Need No Education" thing was for the brooding pubescents...but by an large their material is very adult-centric. Listen to Welcome to the Machine and some cuts from Dark Side of the Moon. No teenage problems there. Clearly they spent most of their verbal venom pishing on the jet-set crowd, greed-mongering agents and the like.
  • Reply 10 of 107
    bogiebogie Posts: 407member
    Pearl Jam = Pink Floyd, please ... not even in the same league.



    I mean I like Nirvana but they were not The Doors [which is an even better comparison than PJ and PF].
  • Reply 11 of 107
    sebseb Posts: 676member
    BTW, did anyone catch the VH1 Pink Floyd marathon last weekend? I watched a bit of it. Taped all the videos.



    It was a lead up to a PF Legends show. Taped that too.



    If you want to see it, they're playing it again on Feb. 1st. Probably around 9 Eastern - that's what time the last one came on. Check VH1 for more info.



    It was a cool show. They talked a lot about the early days w/Syd and some about Dark Side and The Wall but zilch on Meddle and Animals. Seems like it should've been a two hour show. Meddle and Animals are pretty key PF albums. Especially Animals. oink



    oh, and when they interview David Gilmour he has a G4 turned sideways in the background. My girl said it looked like he turned it that way just to show the Apple logo.



    [ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: seb ]</p>
  • Reply 12 of 107
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Wow. Apple and Pearl jam fans,



    Huge Pearl jam. They are my favorite band. They are simply amazing. Each album just gets better than the next. I can listen to every album from beggining to end and enjoy every moment. That's rare.



    Bunch of cool guys too.



    And one of the best live shows money can buy (and it's not a lot of money either)



    I saw them 3 days in a row last summer on their Binaural tour at Jones Beach. Each night was better than the last.



    I have 2 big regrets of missing concerts. 1 is Pearl jam at Randalls Island the night they played for 3 and half hours and played something like 35 songs. I had tickets for the show in my hand outside Yankee Stadium where they were bussing people to Randalls Island. It was either get those tickets or buy world series tickets. I unfortunately bought the world series tickets. the other regret is doing nearly the same thing for U2's PopMart show at Giants Stadium. But I made up for that by seeing U2 3 times this year (2X at MSG and once at Continental Airlines Arena)



    Favorite Pearl Jam Albums in order:

    really hard to do but..

    1.) No Code

    2.) Vitalogy

    3.) Yield

    4.) Vs.

    5.) Ten

    6.) Binaural



    then of course the hundred+ live CDs released from the last tour



    The DVD rocks.



    God, they are good. unfortuantely my fan club membership got screwed up and I renewed to late so I'll have to get the "christmas" 45 off of eBay
  • Reply 13 of 107
    I think Pearl Jam is all right, and I'm not a fan of Pink Floyd, but comparing these two isn't a good idea. Pearl Jam is basically a run-of-the-mill rock band. They sing catchy songs with basic melodies. Pink Floyd is a lot more than this. Pink Floyd songs have much more complex melodies and themes. There's just 1000 times more thought put into Pink Floyd songs than was put into Pearl Jam songs.



    The reason why people still like Pink Floyd is that there aren't a lot of bands that have pulled of what they did so well. Radiohead did a pretty good job with OK Computer. Siguir Ros is an Icelandic band that has some very well crafted songs as well, but neither of those two quite got the formula down the way Pink Floyd did.
  • Reply 14 of 107
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by Splinemodel:

    <strong>I think Pearl Jam is all right, and I'm not a fan of Pink Floyd, but comparing these two isn't a good idea. Pearl Jam is basically a run-of-the-mill rock band. They sing catchy songs with basic melodies. Pink Floyd is a lot more than this. Pink Floyd songs have much more complex melodies and themes. There's just 1000 times more thought put into Pink Floyd songs than was put into Pearl Jam songs..</strong><hr></blockquote>



    suuuurrreee



  • Reply 15 of 107
    [quote]Originally posted by applenut:

    <strong>



    suuuurrreee



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    What are you questioning? That I'm a Pink Floyd fan? I like Pink Floyd, but about as much as I like Pearl Jam. However, I have heard every Pink Floyd song ever made multiple times because my roommate last year was a Pink Floyd addict. Pearl Jam is just not a unique band. Pink Floyd is. People remember uniqueness.



    Some of the recent bands that are going to last forever are ones like Metallica and Nirvana, which were respectively instrumentally gifted and really oddball. Pearl Jam is neither. The other bands that live forever are ones with huge hits, and I don't think Pearl Jam has any huge hits either.



    I'm sorry to seem like I'm bashing, because I enjoy Pearl Jam songs, but they're just not super.
  • Reply 16 of 107
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Pearl Jam is just not a unique band. Pink Floyd is. People remember uniqueness.<hr></blockquote>



    if Pearl jam is anything special its that they ARE unique. perhaps you should actually listen to them before commenting on them. just a thought. I don't see how you can possibly say they are just run of the mill.



    [quote]

    Some of the recent bands that are going to last forever are ones like Metallica and Nirvana, which were respectively instrumentally gifted and really oddball. Pearl Jam is neither.<hr></blockquote>



    uh, Pearl jam instrumentally is better than both metallica and Nirvana. Not sure what you mean by oddball though. The Who, led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The rolling stones are oddball?



    [quote]The other bands that live forever are ones with huge hits, and I don't think Pearl Jam has any huge hits either.<hr></blockquote>



    uh... WHAT?



    Ten possibly has one of the best album sides ever:

    Side A on the vinyl:

    Once

    Even Flow

    Alive

    Why Go

    Black

    Jeremy



    all those songs were and are huge hits. and not to mention Oceans and release on the 2nd half which still see action on rock radio.



    Go to Vs and you have arguably bigger hits

    Daughter

    Dissident

    Review Mirror

    Elderly Woman behind the Counter in a Small Town



    Vitalogy

    Not for you

    Corduroy

    better Man





    must I go on? seriously. make some sense if you are going to insult a band's integrity and talent.
  • Reply 17 of 107
    I hate butting heads with a huge Pearl Jam fan, but as someone who A: likes Pearl Jam and B: listens to the radio, I can't say that any of the songs you mentioned are huge hits. Hits yes, but I don't hear them much anymore, whilst there are dozens of stations across the country that play "mandatory Metallica," and even more that play Nirvana regularly. I really don't think there will ever be "mandatory Pearl Jam." They just don't have it.



    As for instrumental ability, Metallica is much better. I suppose this is an opinion, but if Pearl Jam has better than average instrumental talent, I haven't ever heard it.



    If you could compare Pearl Jam to any older band/performer, I might consider comparing them to Van Morrison.



    I don't care to argue about this anymore, but I just really don't think Pearl Jam "has what it takes." Obviously big fans will disagree, but every band has its groupies & diehards.
  • Reply 18 of 107
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote] A: likes Pearl Jam and B: listens to the radio, I can't say that any of the songs you mentioned are huge hits. Hits yes, but I don't hear them much anymore, whilst there are dozens of stations across the country that play "mandatory Metallica," and even more that play Nirvana regularly. I really don't think there will ever be "mandatory Pearl Jam." They just don't have it.<hr></blockquote>



    there is such a thing as "mandatory metallica"? :eek:



    jeez. that's bad.



    And if you are not hearing any of the pearl jam songs listed above than you have some pretty crappy radio stations man. I mean seriously shitty radio stations. WMMR plays pearl jam nearly every hour. WXRK plays pearl jam frequently. classic rock stations I listen to play pearl jam. of course I can't speak for the whole country's radio stations but any city I have gone to I have never encountered a station that calls themselves a "rock station" that doesn't play Pearl jam. sorry.



    BTW, to say jeremy is not mandatory Pearl Jam is assinine



    [quote]

    As for instrumental ability, Metallica is much better. I suppose this is an opinion, but if Pearl Jam has better than average instrumental talent, I haven't ever heard it.<hr></blockquote>



    it's not opinion. it's basic fact. I reccomend that you catch a rerun of pearl jam's unplugged appearance on MTV2 one day when they show it. or buy one of their live "bootlegs"



    [quote]

    If you could compare Pearl Jam to any older band/performer, I might consider comparing them to Van Morrison.<hr></blockquote>



    Van Morrison?



    I love Van Morrison but I don't see any remote connection between the two at all



    [quote]

    I don't care to argue about this anymore, but I just really don't think Pearl Jam "has what it takes." Obviously big fans will disagree, but every band has its groupies & diehards. <hr></blockquote>



    and I suppose that makes you the self declared voice of reason?

  • Reply 19 of 107
    Actually, my favorite Pearl Jam album is Neil Young's Mirrorball. Fantastic album.



    Perl Jam was actually my favorite band until I started listening to...



    Not Pink Floyd, not The Beatles, Not the Stones, not Radiohead, and certainly not Metallica ( G-'n-R was a much better mainstream metal band), but...



    Bob Dylan.



    I believe Dylan will be one of the few if not the only rock artist that will be remembered in distant future. As Pete Townshend once commented on Dylan's influence, "That's like asking how I was influenced by being born." There is simply no other rock artist with the depth, influence, and output of Dylan. "Love & Theft" is the best new album I've heard this year. What are the Beatles doing?



    [ 01-18-2002: Message edited by: Simple Ranger ]



    [ 01-18-2002: Message edited by: Simple Ranger ]</p>
  • Reply 20 of 107
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Bob Dylan is a demi-God.



    splinemodel:

    Metallica is very talented at making one sound. They make that sound very well and with great success. If you enjoy hearing the same song with different lyrics over and over again, I'm sure Metallica and AC/DC CDs will last you a good long while.



    Pearl Jam is the only grunge band left standing, why do you think that is? (And without the aide of MTV and radio, no less)





    Also, your Nirvana/Doors analogy is severly flawed because Nirvana is much better than The Doors.

    The Doors is the most overrated band of all time perhaps. The boy band that gave birth to all boy bands.
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