Hard question to answer. I wasn't enamored by any of the stuff on the radio at first. But then a friend gave me a cassette of Ten and made me listen to it from front to back. After I few listens I quite liked most of it (and LOVED Black, Oceans & Release).
Then Vs came out and the first thing I heard off of that was Daughter. But I don't know that I was officially a fan yet. I really liked Ten but was afraid they were a one great album band. So I reserved judgement. Then Vs kinda ripped my entire face apart.
So, I guess... Spin the Black Circle was the first "new PJ" I heard after I was officially a fan. Oh wait.... No, I bought an import version of Ten (with bonus tracks!) on CD before that... so I guess Wash was my first "new PJ."
So I guess my first new PJ after my initial introduction was Once. My first new PJ after liking PJ was Daughter. My first new PJ after loving PJ was Wash. And the first new single I heard with maximum anticipation was Spin the Black Circle.
I was thinking more "brand new" tracks rather than rare tracks you went back to find -- more the first time you had that feeling of, "oh man -- a new Pearl Jam song!"
Kind of a flimsy thread premise perhaps but I've enjoyed the stories.
The Alive video is what made me a fan, but I was late to it, it was even after Vs came out, I think. I remember standing in center field as a freshman baseball player literally singing the song because I was bored.
I ended up getting Vs and Ten at roughly the same time, and initially liked Vs more, just sounded more crisp and relevant. Seeing the VMA Animal video replayed on MTV is also an early memory, and that perormance of that song, plus Ed with his head down behind his hair counting 1,2,3,4,5 was my clearest example image of the band.
So, for me, the first "new" song was Spin the Black Circle. I remember hearing a portion of it on MTV during a News segment with that MtV news dude, that was the first time I had heard a new PJ song after already knowing I was a big fan, anticipating it, being excited for finally hearing something new.
Almost bought a record player (didn't) just so I could get my hands on Vitalogy early, since they released it vinyl first. But I waited and got it the day it came out. I went to Myrte Beach in December with my family and literally listened to it on headphones the entire trip. It was fucking cold. Why would we go to a South Carolina beach in December is beyond me....
Kevin Davis wrote:I was thinking more "brand new" tracks rather than rare tracks you went back to find -- more the first time you had that feeling of, "oh man -- a new Pearl Jam song!"
Kind of a flimsy thread premise perhaps but I've enjoyed the stories.
Then my answer is absolutely Spin the Black Circle.
Kevin Davis wrote:I was thinking more "brand new" tracks rather than rare tracks you went back to find -- more the first time you had that feeling of, "oh man -- a new Pearl Jam song!"
Kind of a flimsy thread premise perhaps but I've enjoyed the stories.
Ah, well...I guess the real answer is Evenflow. I remember when MTV debuted the Alive video, so that was the first time I ever heard Pearl Jam and even flow was released before I could buy the record.
Alive - the first pearl jam song I heard
Evenflow - the first "new" song once I knew about the band
However, I remember when I heard Animal for the first time on the MTV Music Awards and that was like "oh, this is new pearl jam and that was like "oh shit...these guys are unbelievable"
example: it's 1992. i listen to alive. i buy ten. i then hear the new crazy mary song on the radio a year later and it's the first new pearl jam song i've heard since ten. crazy mary is the answer.
bada wrote:I guess my answer changes to the MTV VMA Animal. So I'm guessing that's the earliest you could go unless Eddie handed you the three song demo tape?
If you liked Ten before the singles soundtrack was released then there is that option. Or if you heard Footsteps on the radio there's that too. And Crazy Mary as Chris mentioned. But for most Ten fans it was Animal or some bootleg recording.
