Pearl Jam today vs. the past

[twoheadedboy]

Opinions vary on what the best album is, if they've dropped off, did the drop off start with Lightning Bolt, Backspacer, S/T, Riot Act, Binaural, No Code, or Vitalogy (!). My question for you all is, do you know anyone that is into Pearl Jam now that WASN'T in 2006? And is now into them as a direct result of their post-2006 material? And is at least, say, 22 years old today?

For me personally, I wasn't a big fan until around late 2000/early 2001. I owned No Code AND Yield oddly enough, but bought them only for Hail Hail and Do The Evolution specifically; I didn't give the rest a chance at the time. I think I got into them via 3/17/95 first, State of Love and Trust specifically (maybe mareede remembers more clearly) and then worked my way through the rest of the catalog, peaking in 2003 when I bought a SHIT ton of bootlegs. I was 21 then and I'm newly 32 now, but when I listen to (for instance) Sirens, I can't see a scenario where a person like me in their late teens and early 20's is going to latch on to that and then later get in to stuff like "Go".

I understand that bands don't remain vital and pop culture-relevant forever, I just wonder if the band is not doing themselves any favors with the last 2 albums? To me it seems the only people buying these albums and seeing them live are people who would have done that anyway, and fickle pop fans who aren't going to care next month when they've moved on to something else. I mean, I guess if the goal is "sell some records to justify existence" then mission accomplished, but to me it doesn't seem like they are succeeding on an artistic OR commercial level with the records they are releasing - just putting out a new disc of recordings that sound vaguely like Pearl Jam every 3 years.

[doone]

My question for you all is, do you know anyone that is into Pearl Jam now that WASN'T in 2006? And is now into them as a direct result of their post-2006 material? And is at least, say, 22 years old today?

no

[Heathen]

My question for you all is, do you know anyone that is into Pearl Jam

no

[Sgt. Crackpot]

My question for you all is, do you know anyone

no

[mastaflatch]

My quest

no

[Sgt. Crackpot]

My quest

[southp]

It would probably take a super-fan influence to get new people into PJ post-2006. However once that happens it's very plausible that the person would prefer the recent albums to the earlier ones. The reason being that Ten-through-No Code can be a bit of a slog for the uninitiated grunge-virigin. My girlfriend is a prime example. She knew nothing except Daughter, Betterman, Alive and Last Kiss. Then I came around and dragged her to shows, and played the songs in the car, putting them on mixes for her mp3 player, etc. Now Eddie Vedder is one of her favourite singers (although she's still partial to Bruce) and she cites songs such as Comeback, Parachutes, Just Breathe, The End, Unthought Known, Sirens, Yellow Moon and Future Days as her favourites. I didn't push it, it just happened naturally and you can see that people who passed by grunge the first time may actually catch up to modern PJ once the flannel came off.

[harmless]

My quest

no

[ilpazzo]

I would say the Pearl Jam of today is in the same spot of almost any other band that's managed to have longevity and a strong fan base on their side. I don't see them picking up any new fans necessarily with their new material, just as I don't imagine anyone that's not into Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, U2, etc all of a sudden getting into them because of their new album, especially with the younger folks.

I would think that if anybody is going to be turned onto them based on their new albums, it would more than likely be someone who is in the same age range as the people who haven been listening to them since (nearly) the beginning, and for whatever reason they hadn't gotten into them before.

What I've always enjoyed about Pearl Jam is the fact that I grew-up, so to speak, with the band. When I was in my pre/early teens, of course the harder/angsty stuff appealed to me. Now that I'm older, married, have a kid, etc... I can appreciate the deeper social/political commentary of the earlier stuff, I can appreciate how said commentary can take on different meanings and viewpoints as you grow older, and I don't mind (even if they're not my favorite tracks on an album) when they delve into sappyness about family life and kids, because... hey I can relate... However, I doubt my 11-year-old self that was headbanging to "Once", could give two-shits less about somebody's Future Days.

If anyone from the younger generation is going to catch onto these guys, I have a feeling it'll be the same way our generation got hooked onto the stuff from the 60's and 70's and it'll be because Pearl Jam has influenced some newer band, or their parents get them into it...and the cycle will continue.

[surfndestroy]

My son has a few friends who are big Pearl Jam fans but primarily due to the first three albums. Their introduction to Pearl Jam may have been from the last few albums though.

[twoheadedboy]

I don't know about that. I could see people getting into U2 from their 2000's output, or Metallica from Death Magnetic. If you like anything recent from the Foo Fighters, you're going to love the 1997 stuff (and maybe even the 1995 stuff). Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are artists who have definitely won new fans from modern era recorded output as well.

[ilpazzo]

I don't know about that. I could see people getting into U2 from their 2000's output, or Metallica from Death Magnetic. If you like anything recent from the Foo Fighters, you're going to love the 1997 stuff (and maybe even the 1995 stuff). Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are artists who have definitely won new fans from modern era recorded output as well.

Fair enough, and good points.

Perhaps I will slightly modify my response by saying if people were to get into Pearl Jam from this or future eras, they would possibly need to make an album very much in the same vein as Ten or Vs.

Using your Metallica scenario, I could totally see someone hearing some DM tracks and then going back to listen to their earlier stuff. However, I don't think anyone listened to St. Anger and said "Wow, this is AMAZING, maybe I should go find that Master of Puppets album I've ignored all these years"

I also wonder how much Cash's modern era success as far as gaining "younger" fans was due to the material he was covering.

[harmless]

I don't know about that. I could see people getting into U2 from their 2000's output, or Metallica from Death Magnetic. If you like anything recent from the Foo Fighters, you're going to love the 1997 stuff (and maybe even the 1995 stuff). Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are artists who have definitely won new fans from modern era recorded output as well.

Fair enough, and good points.

Perhaps I will slightly modify my response by saying if people were to get into Pearl Jam from this or future eras, they would possibly need to make an album very much in the same vein as Ten or Vs.

Not really. They would need to make a quality album that is quality from beginning to end. I reckon that's all there is to it.

[BurtReynolds]

They used to be good but they suck now.

[ilpazzo]

I don't know about that. I could see people getting into U2 from their 2000's output, or Metallica from Death Magnetic. If you like anything recent from the Foo Fighters, you're going to love the 1997 stuff (and maybe even the 1995 stuff). Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are artists who have definitely won new fans from modern era recorded output as well.

Fair enough, and good points.

Perhaps I will slightly modify my response by saying if people were to get into Pearl Jam from this or future eras, they would possibly need to make an album very much in the same vein as Ten or Vs.

Not really. They would need to make a quality album that is quality from beginning to end. I reckon that's all there is to it.

I see you have more faith in humanity than I do.

[LetMeSleep]

Maybe if they heard MYM first but not Sirens.

But all PJ albums are essentially the same to a casual listener. It's not like they've done an Achtung Baby, a Reflektor or an AM.

[harmless]

I don't know about that. I could see people getting into U2 from their 2000's output, or Metallica from Death Magnetic. If you like anything recent from the Foo Fighters, you're going to love the 1997 stuff (and maybe even the 1995 stuff). Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are artists who have definitely won new fans from modern era recorded output as well.

Fair enough, and good points.

Perhaps I will slightly modify my response by saying if people were to get into Pearl Jam from this or future eras, they would possibly need to make an album very much in the same vein as Ten or Vs.

Not really. They would need to make a quality album that is quality from beginning to end. I reckon that's all there is to it.

I see you have more faith in humanity than I do.

How much faith do you need in humanity to say that if PJ were still making great albums, new fans might be gained? Let's not be delusional and say it's all the people's fault for not realising that their post-2006 output is rarified genius. Maybe they're just not making great albums now.

[twoheadedboy]

Man, I would think even a casual listener could discern between Ten, Vitalogy, No Code, Binaural, and Backspacer. I could see the casual listener feeling the others are kind of "samey" compared to the ones listed.

[harmless]

The only casual fans I know think that Backspacer and Lightning Bolt sound nothing like Pearl Jam at all.

[ilpazzo]

I don't know about that. I could see people getting into U2 from their 2000's output, or Metallica from Death Magnetic. If you like anything recent from the Foo Fighters, you're going to love the 1997 stuff (and maybe even the 1995 stuff). Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are artists who have definitely won new fans from modern era recorded output as well.

Fair enough, and good points.

Perhaps I will slightly modify my response by saying if people were to get into Pearl Jam from this or future eras, they would possibly need to make an album very much in the same vein as Ten or Vs.

Not really. They would need to make a quality album that is quality from beginning to end. I reckon that's all there is to it.

I see you have more faith in humanity than I do.

How much faith do you need in humanity to say that if PJ were still making great albums, new fans might be gained? Let's not be delusional and say it's all the people's fault for not realising that their post-2006 output is rarified genius. Maybe they're just not making great albums now.

Ok. They're not making great albums now...
But I'm not gaining my faith in humanity back either

I honestly think they could release an album on the same level as No Code and it's impact towards gaining new fans would be minimal at best.

Then again, I don't even know if they'd LET themselves do that.
It seems they're quite content in slowly chugging out what the've been putting out the last few albums.