General Pearl Jam Bitching

[harmless]

"And at some point we'll join forces again for sure, but the marriage is as healthy as ever and I'm sure it's good to get a little break from each other, but it's nice to – we'll be ready to go when we're ready to go."

Look what happens when I change one word.

[verb_to_trust]

It doesn't bother me in the slightest that we're waiting a long time for a new album.

The only thing that bugs me is the expectations the general audience places on an album the longer it takes to make. The length of time between albums doesn't bother me personally, I'd rather any band take their time to conceive something they're genuinely proud of. But I think for a lot of people, the more time that passes, the more they expect an album to be a masterpiece.

My feelings are the exact opposite. Few and far between are those artists who can disengage or compartmentalize their creative process so thoroughly and still produce exemplary or powerful work at a later date. A good many of them can mimic it well enough, usually aided by the extent to which craft is something learned and/or internalized...but this results in albums that do little more than give audiences a safe, less inspired reminder of what they may have liked about the artist in more remarkable times. There might be some surface changes, or a novelty gimmick that's been mistaken for growth of some kind, to imbue it with a sense of having artistic value. And occasionally you do get someone like Tom Waits, who can go long years without swimming to the surface for air. But I think there's a reason that someone like Neil Young has been able to make some of his best albums 25 or 35 years into his career while so many of his contemporaries have not...he's never taken that artistic bent of his and tried to tuck it into his pocket for safe keeping until he feels like rediscovering it, maybe in a few years time when it's a little more convenient.

Live shows are incredibly cool, but they'll never be the spark of what draws me to music. As a musician and as a fan, the thrill of the live experience totally pales in my heart to the rush and awe of creating something out of nothing...of taking blank tape (real or metaphorical) and trying to find that perfect mix of melody, math, color, and words that is needed to capture a thing you don't fully understand, and can't ever understand. It's an amphetamine rush, an equilibrium blend of the desire to achieve something indescribable and the constant sense that the exact moment you're after is within inches of your reach. Nothing about the way this band has functioned the last ten years suggests to me that they feel anything remotely like this pull, anymore, or that they've remotely lamented its absence.

And I'm not drunk, goddamn it.

This

[verb_to_trust]

The only band member who seems to have any sense or urgency is Jeff. Is it a coincidence he released easily the best side project album in the bands history outside of maybe Into the Wild? Didn't he say a friend of his passed and he realized life was short?

[spike]

why does the lead singer look like a cat?

[washing machine]

Is RNDM really that good?

[Birds in Hell]

Is RNDM really that good?

I presume he meant Jeff's recent solo LP.

[washing machine]

That reminds me.. I need to seek that out.

[Birds in Hell]

That reminds me.. I need to seek that out.

I liked it quite a bit, though I haven't spun it in a while.

I really disliked RNDM.

[super nintendo chalmers]

There is no way these dudes don't suck.

[AndySlash]

the rndm album may just be my favorite record of 2012. and they were fantastic live.

[harmless]

I'm viciously anti-PJ side project, and I quite enjoy what I've heard of them. But man, their band name sucks balls.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Is RNDM really that good?

i really like it, one of my favorites from 2012, though i dont think i listened to nearly enough new stuff in 2012

[Chloe]

I'm viciously anti-PJ side project, and I quite enjoy what I've heard of them. But man, their band name sucks balls.

Do you hate their side projects because you know they aren't working on PJ material? If so, THIS!
Every time Ed tours, I cringe a little... just means we have to wait that much longer for an album and a tour.

[EJ]

Well, I wouldn't have minded if Stone was serious about his solo side projects. We got teased a few years ago with his gems Little One and Your Flames. I was really hoping something more would materialize out of that project. But, then he goes back to Brad. I can't be bothered with that band.

[Chloe]

Well, I wouldn't have minded if Stone was serious about his solo side projects. We got teased a few years ago with his gems Little One and Your Flames. I was really hoping something more would materialize out of that project. But, then he goes back to Brad. I can't be bothered with that band.

Ah, no way! That's my favorite out of Stone's side projects. Have you seen Brad live? I couldn't get into them until I saw them in Seattle a few years back.
Their side stuff isn't nearly as good as PJ is as a whole. Even though RNDM is wonderful, or as great as Ed is solo, there's just not enough magic there for me to keep going back to it like I do Pearl Jam.

[EJ]

Well, I wouldn't have minded if Stone was serious about his solo side projects. We got teased a few years ago with his gems Little One and Your Flames. I was really hoping something more would materialize out of that project. But, then he goes back to Brad. I can't be bothered with that band.

Ah, no way! That's my favorite out of Stone's side projects. Have you seen Brad live? I couldn't get into them until I saw them in Seattle a few years back.
Their side stuff isn't nearly as good as PJ is as a whole. Even though RNDM is wonderful, or as great as Ed is solo, there's just not enough magic there for me to keep going back to it like I do Pearl Jam.

I've never seen Brad live. I really don't dig the singer's voice. And, that's enough for me to not invest any more time in their music.

[Chloe]

More than fair

[stip]

I'm viciously anti-PJ side project, and I quite enjoy what I've heard of them. But man, their band name sucks balls.

Do you hate their side projects because you know they aren't working on PJ material? If so, THIS!
Every time Ed tours, I cringe a little... just means we have to wait that much longer for an album and a tour.

that's probably my single biggest issue with all of it.

[harmless]

I'm viciously anti-PJ side project, and I quite enjoy what I've heard of them. But man, their band name sucks balls.

Do you hate their side projects because you know they aren't working on PJ material? If so, THIS!
Every time Ed tours, I cringe a little... just means we have to wait that much longer for an album and a tour.

Yes, and yes. Most of the time PJ puts out the left overs.

[stip]

I'm viciously anti-PJ side project, and I quite enjoy what I've heard of them. But man, their band name sucks balls.

Do you hate their side projects because you know they aren't working on PJ material? If so, THIS!
Every time Ed tours, I cringe a little... just means we have to wait that much longer for an album and a tour.

Yes, and yes. Most of the time PJ puts out the left overs.

that I don't believe.