Home  Reviews Album Pearl Jam - All albums (Ten to Riot Act)
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Pearl Jam - All albums (Ten to Riot Act) |
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Written by Drew
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Thursday, 21 April 2005 |
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Page 1 of 11 Introduction
<asinine> Pearl Jam is a popular music group. There are five members in Pearl Jam. Some of the members are originally from Seattle. Some of the members came from other places. They play what most people describe as rock music. Typically, Pearl Jam consists of a lead guitarist, one or two rhythm guitarists, a bass guitar player, a drummer, and one singer (he's the other rhythm guitar player). </asinine> ...don't want any pre-conceived notions here.
Anyway, it is worth noting that I've decided not to score these reviews, as I normally do, because Pearl Jam is one of my favorite bands. If I were being honest, I'd probably give each album a between an 8 and a 10. The reviews aren't about scores, they're my impressions of each album. I tried to throw a little objectivity between the opinions. Sure Pearl Jam is a great band, but I realize that they aren't for everybody, and some albums seem to appeal to the unfaithful more than others. Some of my favorite albums are also not what I would consider Pearl Jam's best albums. Everything is relative to perspective I suppose.
Well, here you have it...Pearl Jam by the albums in less than 5,500 words...
Let me know if there are any factual mistakes (not grammar, screw grammar). I wrote this over a few nights between 3 and 5 AM, so go easy.
Pre-Pearl Jam (a little background)
You might have heard of the Gossard demos or the Mamasan trilogy. This will probably bore those who already know the story, but I'm basically going to explain it just to give a little background and to help set up the Ten review. Jeff and Stone had been in several bands together Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard who had been in several early bands eventually found themselves in a reasonably successful band, Green River. Green River broke up after a relatively short time and Stone and Jeff joined Mother Love Bone with Andrew Wood. Mother Love Bone disbanded after Wood died tragically of a heroin overdose. Jeff and Stone eventually met Mike and began working on creating some material...some very very good material. A demo tape, the Gossard demos, eventually found its way to Mr. Vedder through a friend, Jack Irons. Mr. Vedder wrote some lyrics, dubbed his vocals onto the tape and sent it back titled Mamasan. The Mamasan tape (or trilogy as it is often known) was returned with the demos titled "Alive", "Once", and "Footsteps". These songs when played in order tell a twisted and interesting story, Vedder calls it his mini opera. Also around this time, Jeff, Stone, and Mike had collaborated with Chris Cornell (who had been Wood's roommate) and Matt Cameron, both of Soundgarden, to record Temple of the Dog, a tribute to Andrew Wood. Vedder was present for the Temple of the Dog recording and contributed to a few of the tracks. After Temple of the Dog was complete drummer Dave Krusen joined and a new band, Mookie Blaylock, was complete. However, the New Jersey Nets point guard apparently didn't want to have his name used without permission, and the band was forced to change their name. Obviously they eventually settled on the name we know them as now, Pearl Jam. The name is rumored to be in reference to a recipe Vedder's grandmother's had for a preserve that contained Peyote, a hallucinogenic substance used by Native Americans.
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