who are pearl jam's artistic peers?

[warehouse]

I'd also drop in System of a Down (1994 - present) and Korn (1993 to present) - they were huge Grammy winning bands that inevitably petered out but still have dedicated fanbases. They both had hiatuses but I'd say PJ has had its fair share of unofficial hiati.

Also Dave Matthews Band. Big first albums then became a touring band with a bizarre fanbase whilst releasing sub-standard albums. Time period is similar as well - Metallica, U2 and Aerosmith started way before PJ. DMB are the only other to come close in terms of US sales.

dmb is probably the closest.

[Lament]

Extreme?

Ed is gonna front Van Halen's next album.

Actually, Lightning Bolt would be a great name for a VH record.

No I mean the band called Extreme.

Wasn't the dude from Extreme the lead singer for Van Halen for a brief period?

[Tass Man]

311 has been around for over 20 years and have probably 10 albums or so...

they were never as popular as pearl jam (in terms of sales or size of venue), but there are similarities in the fact that they have a very loyal base of fans who will see them multiple times on a tour (i think they change up their setlists every night as well) and travel to see them.

[harmless]

Extreme?

Ed is gonna front Van Halen's next album.

Actually, Lightning Bolt would be a great name for a VH record.

No I mean the band called Extreme.

Wasn't the dude from Extreme the lead singer for Van Halen for a brief period?

Ah. Possibly, I'm not sure.

[stip]

He was

[Oh, Jimmy]

What rock bands today could even headline a festival they have to be together.
this is my list
The Stones
U2
Metalica
Pearl Jam
Fleetwood Mac
The Eagles
second tier but not big enough
Foo Fighters
Greenday
Chili Peppers
Soundgarden
Bon jovi
Def Leppard
Tool
Tom Petty I forgot some I am sure and the Eaglrs and Fleetwoonmack are a sretch

About every band there, besides SG, can headline festivals and are a bigger concert draw than PJ. If you're gonna put FF and Tool in the second tier, then PJ definitely can't be in the top tier. Besides that PJ doesn't come close to belonging in the top tier.

Not totally sure about RHCP without Frusciante or Greenday since the American Idiot wave has settled, but I think they still do really good numbers.



I'd say DMB has had the most similar career trajectory.

Black Crowes have a pretty similar path, but definitely haven't maintained the popularity they enjoyed in the early 90s. I think they've aged more gracefully far as their studio output goes.

[dsb1218]

Is there another band who's commercial pinnacle was their debut album yet managed to still stay an arena/festival headline-sized act for a solid decade after they appeared despite declining sales? I can't think of any besides Pearl Jam and The Killers. Just about every other act mentioned in this thread had an ascent in terms of commercial appeal.

I think Counting Crows makes for an interesting analogy.

They hit it huge with their debut (August and Everything After) in 1993-94 and were everywhere, touring for about two years solid. Their follow-up (Recovering The Satellites, 1996) moved in a much more aggressive (and electric) direction musically, with much of the album covering Adam Duritz's un-easy response to overnight fame. Every review of the album had the obligatory reference to Adam having dated Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox. Another few years of touring, with the release of a two-disc live set from their 1997 VH-1 Storyteller's concert on one disc and the tour closer from a month later on the other disc. Their third studio album (This Desert Life, 1999) continued a trend in exploring different areas musically, while also having declining sales. A fourth studio album (Hard Candy) came in 2002 and a fifth wouldn't emerge until 2008.

Obviously it's not a perfect comparison, especially in regard to the # of studio albums released. But you have a band that broke through overnight in the pre-widespread internet days of the early 1990s. A singer that struggled to deal with the ensuing fame and actively shut down additional singles being released to radio at the height of the album's popularity. I think the overall arc of the two bands are somewhat similar, though I would note that PJ's obviously started sooner, reached higher and maintained that high point longer / released more records during that high point.

[harmless]

Counting Crows, yes.

[BurtReynolds]

narcissistic rears.

that's it. that's the best I could do.

[Jorge]

Thread is oddly named, as it appears to be more of a discussion about PJ's commercial peers.

[EJ]

Thread is oddly named, as it appears to be more of a discussion about PJ's commercial peers.

Who are their altruistic peers?

[Lament]

Agnostic steers.

[Jorge]

Thread is oddly named, as it appears to be more of a discussion about PJ's commercial peers.

Who are their altruistic peers?

[stip]

a picture to go with lament would have been even more impressive

[Alex]

gallagher

[harmless]

Thread is oddly named, as it appears to be more of a discussion about PJ's commercial peers.

This is a fair point but I would have no idea how to rectify it.