Pearl Jam - C or D?

I mean, what kind of fucking egomania would possess a group to pull such a stunt, other than to fleece its fans? It isn't as if Beddie Wedder were Frank Zappa, whose boots from different shows one would want to hear (alright, I confess, I would want to hear). Or that PJ is the Grateful Dead, with an exceedingly loyal and devoted fan-base (any valid criticisms of the band's actual music and the fanbase notwithstanding). I mean, it's as if Foreigner or Foghat decided to dump a shitload of live CDs on the market during their respective heights of popularity. And that's just what Pearl Jam is -- the Foreigner or the Foghat of the Nineties.

OK, honestly? I've never heard them. Twenty ghastly seconds of "Jeremy" and then the whole of that same song on a jukebox and that is knowingly it. I feel rather proud of that. Why did anyone like grunge, can someone remind me?

If I want to listen to Blackfoot, I'll go straight to the source.

Sorry for the pun. I see a lot of folks here sticking to the first impression 'Ten' gave them, which turned them off to the band. I can fully understand that, because I for one can't listen to that record anymore without cringing. But, and I stress this, even as my musical tastes evolved (and I, like many of you I'd bet, must thank the grunge-hype for pointing me in that direction in the first place) I found Pearl Jam to remain interesting, both for their music (evolving from archaic bluesrock - yes, high krustyvalue indeed! - to a more substantial indie-oriented sound that wouldn't look too bad on a GBV or Superchunk) as well as their ethos (quite a popular word here, but you gotta appreciate what they do as a major-label act).

As for the bootleg issue. I think one of the reasons why they did it (apart from making obscene amounts of cash at the cost of about $300 per recording) is that, as Pearl Jam always condoned people taping their shows, there were tons of shit quality recordings going around at high prices. So why the hell not help folks out get a decent recording of a show they were at (or missed, after all these years I still never got to actually see them play live because shows still get sold out within minutes) AND make some cash? Makes sense to me.

In conclusion: classic, classic, classic.

Love them or hate them, this is totally untrue. From their first record on up through the most recent, they've always written lots of highly melodic pop tunes. In terms of music science, you just can't fucking dispute that.

I was actually talking to somebody at the TV On the Radio show this past Friday who was wearing a Pearl Jam t-shirt. He was a big fan and said they still put on a good show (not that I'd ever seen them live anyway).

I guess I'll go with classic.

I'll always have a big soft spot for them, and I revisit them every so often with some fondness.

tvotr and pj are not so far away from each other. except pj have more memorable songs. so far.

xpost - I see little similarity between tvotr and pj. I'm with you on the second sentence, though.

That's for sure.

I suppose you could say that about a lot of "rock" bands, though.

I don't know, I think the guy just likes Pearl Jam, amongst many other types of bands and genres of music. We only discussed Pearl Jam when I noticed his t-shirt. The rest of the time, we talked about any number of other bands.

The Gen-X Bruce Springsteen.

Anyway, Ten has its moments, the best of which, you're right Dan, is "Black." I didn't really follow them much after that.

i mean, who knows if he drinks like that on nights that he's not playing a show. but given how much they tour, that may be kind of an irrelevant distinction.

He didn't seem drunk when he toured here solo last year, but I think he's been working his way through a bottle of red every PJ show for a looooong ass time. I'm guessing it's not "a problem" per se. I mean, they're a Seattle band, if hypodermics aren't involved then it's a bonus.

red wine isn't proper alcohol anyway.

by my count in Oakland he went through at least 2, poss 3 bottles himself and handed out at 2 to share with the audience

back in the day when he and Beth broke up, there were some epic drunk shows, that was when it first started or at least that he was openly swigging from the bottle at the mike. for a while a bottle of wine was a signifier for 'you're in for a crazy show'.

he's a goob without the wine anyway so all the falling over and forgetting lyrics would probably still happen anyway <3

we were looking at the setlist for the Key Arena show on the weekend, they pulled out some great stuff for that show too

but Spokane sounds awesome. lol @ that dude getting his head shaved on stage

we were looking at the setlist for the Key Arena show on the weekend, they pulled out some great stuff for that show too

Yeah, Let Me Sleep!

right?! loved that they finally pulled that out for one of the holiday shows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VLAGhOetAk

This is as much a guitar nerd post as a PJ post, but I was just going over "Born to Run" with my guitar teacher, and that song features the E/G# chord, which is basically the weirdest chord that doesn't sound weird. Maybe because it's a piano-type chord? Anyway, I've only come across it one other time (though I know it pops up here and there) in the tricky bridge to Huey Lewis's "Power of Love," but my guitar teacher recently played a benefit backing Eddie Vedder and noted the intro to "Better Man" (which I think he had to learn) is a bunch of variations of that E/G# chord. Now, Vedder isn't much of a guitarist, but he's solid enough, so our theory is that "Better Man" (which quickly gets really, really simple and repetitive) was written while or sometime after Vedder was trying to figure out "Born to Run." Like, it's a really, really conspicuously awkward chord, especially for beginners/me, so our theory is that he sat around making the chord shape, practicing it, moving it around, and that turned into "Better Man." Anyway, just a fun theory.

I feel like E/G# is somewhat common.

Based on the first sentence I thought this was going to be about how "Unemployable" sounds like "Born In The USA."

It's really not that common, though, not on guitar songs; "Born to Run" was I believe written on piano, which is where I think E/G# pops up more. So, like, Elton John and stuff.

It's just an inversion of a major chord, it's not weird at all. D/F# is basically the same and that pops up in lots of guitar songs.

Well, I find it weird! Or at least super awkward. And have only come across it in two songs. Well, three now: "Power of Love," "Born to Run" and "Better Man." Talking about this one:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJdjxDvQjJs/Uym9P9rothI/AAAAAAAAA7M/AlVD9gIqyik/s1600/E-G%23+Chord.png

It's not that weird in context of the song. It starts off on this version of D/F#:

https://jsmusicschool.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/df.png

And then he just shifts it up two frets on the next line to E/G#.

I'd say he strummed the first chord, thought it sounded good, moved his fingers up a bit and hey presto.

Try it as xx6454

The way I've shown is how Vedder actually plays it, though - with the G# on the low E.

Anyway, I still miss Jack Irons in Pearl Jam.

It hasn't been quite the same since he left.

hey spenno

Hey!

matt cameron's a great drummer though, and a pretty great songwriter too.

Oh, for sure; I miss Jack's contribution to the band's sound a lot but it's no knock on Matt. Evacuation and In the Moonlight are among my favourite late-period Pearl Jam songs.

Well, it's no knock on Matt's ABILITY anyway. I'd have been tempted at one point to say that his talents were being somewhat wasted in Pearl Jam but at least Soundgarden are back together now so I don't think that's true anymore.

He's a great drummer but I think Pearl Jam's previous drummers were arguably a better fit for their core sound.

I'd have been tempted at one point to say that his talents were being somewhat wasted in Pearl Jam but at least Soundgarden are back together now so I don't think that's true anymore.

Yeah. Though I would be bummed to see SG and find it was Matt Chamberlain and not Matt Cameron playing (not sure who drummed at Hyde Park last summer, was p sure in was Cameron)

Yeah, that was Cameron - Hyde Park was one of the only Soundgarden shows he played at in 2014, Chamberlain played the rest for the most part.

I get the impression that was a one-off arrangement for last year though, Cameron's played at every Soundgarden show since.

Funnily enough, I'd be thrilled to see Chamberlain sit in with Pearl Jam (again). He's a GREAT drummer and his style seems a lot more suited to them than Soundgarden.

Chamberlain's a great session drummer. I even liked him back in Edie Brickell's band, and he was an integral part of Tori Amos' band sound, too, and he's great when he plays with Jon Brion. Not sure how well he ultimately fits PJ, though. I mean, he's a session guy and can fit in anywhere, in the end, but I actually like Cameron's contributions.

E/G# is a very common inversion, it's just E major with the 3rd in the bass instead of the root. I've seen inversions like that in countless songs. On guitar, I tend to just play a standard E major chord but use my little finger to fret the G# on the low E string. Using chords like this is great for creating descending basslines, e.g. A E/G# D/F# E, or ascending basslines, e.g.: F D/F# G E/G# A.

oh yeah, chamberlain was in pj between krusen and abbrusseze, wasn't he?

Soundgarden getting a Cameron replacement while he does PJ shows irritated me so much...I get it from a logistical standpoint, because PJ has a bigger repertoire and changes setlists dramatically from night to night, so it's easier for a guy to come in and learn a set that Soundgarden plays every night than to keep up with the demands of a PJ tour. But Cameron is Soundgarden's backbone more fundamentally than any drummer has been for PJ. Totally agree that having Jack Irons back for one tour would've been wonderful.

Jack was beautifully loose, No Code is so great partly bcz of him.

But Cameron is good! He's a great fit, and while maybe he's not someones technical cup of tea, he's a keen collaborator, plus his steadiness & easygoingness has helped glue the band together in a positive way. They are a better band collectively for having him imo

But it would def suck seeing Soundgarden without him, that's some bullshit

Maybe he needs cloning to play both bands at the same time

oh yeah, chamberlain was in pj between krusen and abbrusseze, wasn't he?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM0zINtulhM

It was recorded live, so that's his playing too.

yeah Cameron is good with PJ...I wish more of their work with him had the interesting spark he brought to the best parts of Binaural, but that's more down to the band already being on a creative decline by the time he joined.

I wish more of their work with him had the interesting spark he brought to the best parts of Binaural, but that's more down to the band already being on a creative decline by the time he joined.

That said, Matt does seem like more of a cerebral, 'straight' drummer (in terms of feel) that someone like Irons or Abbruzzese who, despite having very different styles, both seem like looser, groovier players which I think fits right in with the band's expansive 70s rock thing.

If anybody is interested, this bod has a really good YT channel in which they sync the soundboard recordings of full gigs to crowd digicam footage, I know there's a lot of this stuff to be found out there but this guy/girl is especially good at putting them together.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn-WEUogXBFbwfm3nmGN3rw

Getting a little too into the rhythms of even flow at the bar ...will bring it down a notch

Nah, take it up a notch buddy

Looks like I get to see them at Wrigley Field, pretty psyched. I've seen the band a bunch but not for a long while, and even though I never put on their records I've always been impressed by them live.

Unrelated, I heard "Hard to Handle" by the Black Crowes today, and parts of it sort of reminded me of a slower, major key version of "Even Flow."

my friend is going to the Home shows in Seattle & i am crazy jealous

They were fine last night but not their best. A friend in the know told me that Seattle - the planning, the playing, the organization - took a lot out of them.

really? My FB page was full of friends in all. Was that the show at which he used Tom Petty's guitar or some shit?

Yeah, among other stunts. Dennis Rodman was there babbling, Vedder played a Petty guitar, Cubs World Series trophy on stage, they covered "Rebel Rebel," etc. I've seen them before and they've been better. They just never gathered momentum. Bolstering my position, I know they had permission to blow past the curfew, which was 11pm, but they stopped more or less right there.

I mean, it wasn't bad! They're a good live act. But this was not the keeper among the sets I've seen them play.

And indeed, band was significantly better tonight, rain delay and all.

Looks like a great setlist both nights, with some fun songs thrown in. Got the itch to attack the PJ DVD collection tonight.

2020 European tour announced - got my London tickets and hopefully grab Krakow ones on Saturday. Merry Christmas to me.

those london ticket prices though :-(
might do amsterdam and might be able to blag stockholm lollapalooza... definitely want to catch a few if i can anyway

they havent had a US tour in SIX YEARS wtf are they doing a european tour :( why do they hate me

Warming up for a US tour?

^^ My guess. Rumor has it a new album will be out next year, so it makes sense. Still leaves time for an appearance at Lolla in August, otherwise maybe Summer 2021 for their big North American tour?

Damn, I haven't seen them since the Backspacer tour in 2010!

ok kneejerk reaction set aside...
i just talked to a fanclub friend, scuttlebutt is that they will ~hopefully~ also announce US tour as well
so i am crossing fingers & toes