The band's biggest mistake

[Jorge]

The Jay Z collab is one of the greatest things Pearl Jam's done in recent memory.

[Norah]

it really is

[Birds in Hell]

Nah.

[stip]

I don't think I'm the only who feels as though they've become an entirely different band in the last five years or so.

I'm sure you are not, but the statement 'an entirely different band' sounds a bit melodramatic doesn't it?

[bodysnatcher]

I'm a different person than I was 5 years ago. Not entirely, but still different.

[stip]

I'm a different person than I was 5 years ago. Not entirely, but still different.

oh sure, and the band that made Ten was different than the band that made vitalogy which was different from the band that made yield and so on. But you know what speeno's statement was implying.

[VinylGuy]

doing a Jay Z song was the coolest thing this bad has done in probably a decade

I thought it was terrible.

I was genuinely pretty okay with everything Pearl Jam up to and including everything in 2006. Though Riot Act and S/T were a step down in consistency from their best work, each record still had a handful of good-to-great songs and the live shows remained outstanding. It's really only been since 2007 that I've changed that opinion; to be honest, it's hard thinking of things they've done since then that I don't have some issue with.

I don't think I'm the only who feels as though they've become an entirely different band in the last five years or so.

It was a cool moment, not cooler than seeing them with Perry Farrel doing Mountain song, or with Chris Cornell doing stardog champion.

It was not terrible at all.

[Birds in Hell]

I don't think I'm the only who feels as though they've become an entirely different band in the last five years or so.

I'm sure you are not, but the statement 'an entirely different band' sounds a bit melodramatic doesn't it?

Not really? I'm not sure what your intention was, but that sounds a little condescending.

They seem to have changed their approach towards the band a great deal in the last five or so years; things they're doing now, I can't imagine them having done even ten years ago. Of course they've changed as a band many times before, but I always still felt there was still a strong level of quality control over what came out under the "Pearl Jam" banner and a protectiveness over what they do that I don't see anymore. While there's plenty of obvious examples like the Oracle show and the TV ad for Target, I think it's things like the 2008-2010 bootlegs, the disappointing reissues, the entire PJ20 project and (probably more than anything else) the undisciplined approach to live shows that really turned the tide for me.

Obviously, plenty of fans will disagree that those things evidence any change in band ethos and even more might disagree that those things were poor decisions or releases, but I don't agree.

[Jorge]

Obviously, plenty of fans will disagree with me, but I don't agree with them.

[nyquillyn]

So, people didn't like PJ20? I kinda loved it.

[Birds in Hell]

Obviously, plenty of fans will disagree with me, but I don't agree with them.

Well, yes, to be blunt.

These are all matters of subjective opinion, yeah?

Should've stuck with the original ending, "but those people are wrong."

[stip]

it's hard for me to look past the conspiracy theorizing (intentional or not) that tends to dominate these discussions, but that's my issue, I suppose.

[Birds in Hell]

it's hard for me to look past the conspiracy theorizing (intentional or not) that tends to dominate these discussions, but that's my issue, I suppose.

[Birds in Hell]

yes and as a matter of fact he has a picture with mick jagger in the new pearl jam 20 book using the lions claw and the left triangle. but do you really need look farther than the no code album?

[stip]

So, people didn't like PJ20? I kinda loved it.

I did too. I kinda loved it. the whole year was a love letter to the band, and that was a nice way to spend the year. It was not a hard hitting look at 20 years of pearl jam controversies but that's okay. I'm sure that will surface someday and if not, I still enjoyed my rose colored retrospective because sometimes it is just nice to put on those glasses.

[stip]

it's hard for me to look past the conspiracy theorizing (intentional or not) that tends to dominate these discussions, but that's my issue, I suppose.

man, they've really let themselves go

[bodysnatcher]

I see both sides of the argument coming from stip and spenno. so just call me spip.

[bada]

I don't know. None of it really bothers me. I'm still a pretty starry-eyed, super-excitable, forward looking fan. They haven't really disappointed me or let me down yet. Maybe I'm being willfully naive.

I don't think so. People who are still happy with the music probably tend to feel like this. People who aren't start to look for the place where, in their mind, it all went wrong.

They can do whatever they want as far as the music. I like their songs 90% of the time. The only thing that really bothers me is the amount of time between albums. A band with five songwriters shouldn't have any problem coming up with 2 or 3 songs every year and a half. It's not like they don't have a guy in the band with his own studio. They have nothing to do all day long but write songs.

By your math, they should come out with an album every 6-9 years, assuming a 12-song album, right? It seems they exceeded your expectations then.

Ten (1991)
Vs. (1993)
Vitalogy (1994)
No Code (1996)
Yield (1998)
Binaural (2000)
Riot Act (2002)
Pearl Jam (2006)
Backspacer (2009)

i think he was meaning 2 or 3 songs from each member every year and a half which would be 10 to 15 songs for a new album

Yes that's what I meant. Not sure what Stompbox thought I was saying.

[Angus]

I remember reading an interview after the 05 tour in which Eddie said they hung out a bunch of nights with the guys from U2 (Bono joined PJ in Toronto, remember), talking about how they could get their message, whatever that is, out to a wider audience again. If that's correct, that's their biggest mistake.

[WtOB?]

Nah.

I'm with you, big boy.