Pearl Jam: They Still Got It!

Let me take you back...

Freshman year in high school in 1993, I was a 14-year old in
Kennewick, WA just 200 miles away from the center of all music at the
time: the Seattle grunge scene. Nirvana was changing everything on
MTV. Pearl Jam's "Ten" was kicking trash all over. In fact, people
were anxiously awaiting their sophomore album "Vs." more than
Nirvana's album "In Utero."

"Vs." was very well received by the critics, but since it was
following up arguably the greatest rock album of my lifetime, the fans
were expecting so much more. Plus, Pearl Jam decided to stop making
music videos. Basically, Pearl Jam decided to do their own thing and
go against the social norm and Ticketmaster very early on in their
career. They started hanging out with Neil Young, and he pretty much
ruined them in the prime of their rock careers.

Granted, going with the entire mantra of rock n roll, they fought "the
man" and did what they wanted to do: perform awesome live concerts.
They have become a band for the fans, and alienated all the
fair-weather fans (like myself).

They became this generation's Led Zeppelin and will go down as one of
the greatest quintessential rock bands of our time, but with all the
secrecy and doing things their own way, they pretty much lost me by
the wayside.

I respect Pearl Jam as being the best of my time -- with "Ten" being
the best rock album I can think of, but unfortunately I didn't become
one of their hardcore fans that did whatever they could to follow them
through their own methods of communication with the fans.

Eddie, you still rock....HARD. To rock arenas the way you always wanted
to in your 40s is quite the success story. May rock and everything it
stands for still live on through you and your bandmates. Your vocals
were incredible last night!