Post Random Pearl Jam-Related Thoughts You Have

[Matters]

pearl jam sucks now

This is a post from 2016, edited in January 2026. There’s no way he did this one post at a time. In case I ever need to know, how do you do a mass edit like this?

[96583UP]

pearl jam sucks now

This is a post from 2016, edited in January 2026. There’s no way he did this one post at a time. In case I ever need to know, how do you do a mass edit like this?

PM the platypus

[lvc]

If Matt Cameron had done what the other drummers had done what jack irons did (jump in for a tour and stay long enough to record two records), we’d have the same amount of Pearl Jam’s best music as we have now. And maybe some of the magic was adapting to a new drummer/personality in the creative process. So if the revolving door had continued to revolve, maybe it could have been really good for the band. Cycling in fresh air.

[Bammer]

If Matt Cameron had done what the other drummers had done what jack irons did (jump in for a tour and stay long enough to record two records), we’d have the same amount of Pearl Jam’s best music as we have now. And maybe some of the magic was adapting to a new drummer/personality in the creative process. So if the revolving door had continued to revolve, maybe it could have been really good for the band. Cycling in fresh air.

This disrespect for 7 O’clock will not stand

[96583UP]

your local regional Ford dealer could not have survived the pandemic without Never Destination as the soundtrack to their record-sales-generating battle cry

[oasisfan35]

If Matt Cameron had done what the other drummers had done what jack irons did (jump in for a tour and stay long enough to record two records), we’d have the same amount of Pearl Jam’s best music as we have now. And maybe some of the magic was adapting to a new drummer/personality in the creative process. So if the revolving door had continued to revolve, maybe it could have been really good for the band. Cycling in fresh air.

pearl jam sucks now

[CCKaraoke]

I've got a friend who thinks that Ten is the last great album Pearl Jam made, and he hates No Code. He specifically rags on 'Off He Goes', which is one of my fav PJ tracks.

I think maybe the sentiment is that they did not continue to put out the maximum energy stuff from that first album, and while valid arguments can be made that they did go full on with any number of tracks later on, I will agree that Dave Krusen delivered a generational level performance on that album. There are albums I may like better personally, but they'll probably never duplicate that performance. ..

and frankly, I was never a normie fan. I don't think most anyone here really is. I'm not the super fan that many others here are, but I have spent a lot of time with their music over the years. When I saw them in Vancouver back in the fall of 2024, I noticed that the seated stadium of fans all rose to their feet the moment songs from Ten started playing. It actually bummed me out because in that moment I realized that's what the stadium was really there for.

My own frustration stems from knowing the missed opportunities. Of course, I've been in bands in my life, and frankly, like any partnership, you can only go as far as the group can agree. .. But Dark Matter has some of the worst production I've heard from any 21st Century rock album, and the last PJ album I really enjoyed was Backspacer. Dance Of The Clairvoyants and Whoever Said are the only two songs I can name off the top of my head from Gigaton, and Pendulum is the only song I can name off Lightning Bolt. I couldn't even have named you the song Pendulum either until I heard the far far superior version of it last year.. and knowing what Gigaton might have been but wasn't makes me understand what a missed opportunity that was.

I'll always love the band, but in all honesty, I don't know if I've listened to any of their songs in the last ~11 months or so. I spend my whole day working on music, so I tend to not have time to listen to anything I'm not working on. I wanted to make the world's best Karaoke of every PJ track right down to Lost Dogs, but that ship seems to have sailed. In fairness, it's not a PJ thing. I haven't listened to any Nirvana either, or Soundgarden, or Jimmy Eat World, or Rush, or the Tragically Hip etc. I've disconnected with that entire 35% of music owned by that organization .. and while I thought I'd miss it at first,
I don't.

[Matters]

Ten was a high water mark not only for the band but for all rock music. Part of me wishes they had made another album like that but then I remember, with all the b sides, they did. Krusen wasn’t their most talented drummer but the sound of his stick hitting the skin is to this day unmatched. Because of Ten I have a soft spot for songs where Eddie soars: Dissident, GtF, In Hiding, YM, WfS.
Off He Goes has regrown on me over the last year. It’s beautiful.
Dark Matter has better songs than Gigaton but Gigaton sounds better than Dark Matter. Comes Then Goes, React, Respond and Waiting for Stevie are the most recent songs that I place on the top shelf.

[liebzz]

There’s a certain big swing to Ten that they never tried to replicate and I know a bunch of folks spent the 90s wishing they’d take another swing at a Ten, but I always respected that they made the music that felt right for them in their present moment. Those other folks may have forgotten them, but I to this day find Ten to be my LEAST favorite album they created in the 90s.

As for present day, I think they got back to making music that was thoughtful and inspiring with Gigaton and Dark Matter, but agree Dark Matter’s production is horrific. Basically a ton of well written tracks that the studio botched that frankly the bad should have caught and demanded a better product.

[CCKaraoke]

Honestly, the band broke my heart a bit last year,
but they also inadvertently may have saved my life by their actions,
but damn did I come to the razors edge.
The universe is a myserious and wonderful thing (with a sometimes sick sense of humor).

[Jorge]

Can you elaborate

[taffer]

Back in the day, this place used to crack silly jokes. Now everyone’s afraid to joke about anything.

[taffer]

tranny outta control

[CCKaraoke]

Can you elaborate

Eh. When I say I wanted to make top notch Karaoke vids of all the PJ, I'm not sure there was any band I was more excited to do that for.

Given their general history with Lost Dogs and recording every live show and the broader wealth of unreleased content out there,
I really misjudged the reaction to the thing which must not be named.

Now all those plans are bust, and no one else has really taken up the mantle. .. which means those songs are not being sung anymore (or won't be to begin with).
But it's not just PJ. In forcing me to break up with "redacted" it cut so many other bands. Nirvana, Soundgarden, Rush, Jimmy Eat World .. 3 Doors Down, frankly everything under it.
...but breaking from all that is something I never would have done for myself .. like being stuck in an abusive relationship but not having the courage to leave.

I've known for years it was not safe to be under that particular umbrella, and boy did last year signal it.
Just look at what people like Rick Beato and Ren talked about on their channels. Things got messy last year for lots of people.
...but I was already out, and by the grace of someone who decided to be kind in a moment when they didn't have to be, I got out.

Now I am out, which I needed to be, and maybe I can better provide for my loved ones going forward because of it.
Sorry if that's all a bit vague.

[Jorge]

Yeah it's pretty vague haha. Weren't you just posting karaoke videos on YouTube? You're making it sound like you were involved in a human trafficking ring or something

[CCKaraoke]

Yeah it's pretty vague haha. Weren't you just posting karaoke videos on YouTube? You're making it sound like you were involved in a human trafficking ring or something

Just a bummer that the guys who tried to take down ticketmaster sold their rights to big tobacco.

[Ms Harmless]

Yeah it's pretty vague haha. Weren't you just posting karaoke videos on YouTube? You're making it sound like you were involved in a human trafficking ring or something

Just a bummer that the guys who tried to take down ticketmaster sold their rights to big tobacco.

I accepted many many centuries ago that Pearl Jam are opportunist liberals not Leftists; sometimes you have to take "better than nothing"

[CCKaraoke]

Yeah it's pretty vague haha. Weren't you just posting karaoke videos on YouTube? You're making it sound like you were involved in a human trafficking ring or something

Just a bummer that the guys who tried to take down ticketmaster sold their rights to big tobacco.

I accepted many many centuries ago that Pearl Jam are opportunist liberals not Leftists; sometimes you have to take "better than nothing"

I was thinking last night I might be more left than PJ
Eh.

[Ms Harmless]

Yeah it's pretty vague haha. Weren't you just posting karaoke videos on YouTube? You're making it sound like you were involved in a human trafficking ring or something

Just a bummer that the guys who tried to take down ticketmaster sold their rights to big tobacco.

I accepted many many centuries ago that Pearl Jam are opportunist liberals not Leftists; sometimes you have to take "better than nothing"

I was thinking last night I might be more left than PJ
Eh.

join the club

[96583UP]

Ed loves cash