Red Mosquito

The guy only heard one song, remember.

Pj have never ever once repeated or followed on with 'extensions' of a previous record. I severely doubt they're about to start now.
Just hope the guy simply didn't have any other frame of reference and its all 'new direction' for them.

I disagree. I think they have made extensions.

I always thought vs was an extension of ten.

Ten was like them venting everything that was fucked . Vs is them actually doing something about it.

Kind of like alive/once journey.

You could say Vitalogy is the footsteps of the trilogy.

each album thus far has responded to the other. But musically (within the broad parameters of what pearl jam does) they've been different.

Like Spenno said, you can't judge anything on the basis of hearing one song. And the first four songs on backspacer are short, crackly songs, so that comparison would make some sense.


I have to do some soul searching about what I want. If this does actually pick up where backspacer left off will my love of the record be enough to offset the bitching that's gonna happen here?

gardenparty wrote: I guess the question is what do they consider a Pearl Jam fan.

well many of the people who post regularly here don't actually seem to like pearl jam very much anymore. They just like to gossip about their ex.

Short cracky doesn't get me excited.

Who you are and nothing as it seems got me
Excited. That is pearl jam challenging their audience. Obviously I have not heard the song but here I am in a speculation thread so....

My initial instinct says " well they certainly have given up trying and now pj is status quo" due to the choice of a - what is most likely - pj by the numbers single release.

stip wrote:

gardenparty wrote: I guess the question is what do they consider a Pearl Jam fan.

well many of the people who post regularly here don't actually seem to like pearl jam very much anymore. They just like to gossip about their ex.

I'm guessing they consider pj fans are from Boston and Philly. So take that stereotype an turbo charge it and you get an idea of what pj considers the jamily.

Strat wrote:Short cracky doesn't get me excited.

Who you are and nothing as it seems got me
Excited. That is pearl jam challenging their audience. Obviously I have not heard the song but here I am in a speculation thread so....

My initial instinct says " well they certainly have given up trying and now pj is status quo" due to the choice of a - what is most likely - pj by the numbers single release.

I'm not sure it makes sense to release a difficult song anymore, given how things have changed. your established fanbase doesn't need to be challenged by a single. They're going to get the album regardless. So if you want new people to check out your music (which is a pretty reasonable desire) and you have a limited window to grab their attention you'll want something that is immediately sticky enough to make people look again. When Who You Are or NAIS were released as singles (besides the alleged underlying desire to release difficult songs to be ornery) Pearl Jam could count on the songs being played enough to give a casual listener enough opportunities to allow a more difficult song to digest. That's not the case anymore. Pearl Jam is still enough of a musical institution that a new album will get press, and will get some initial coverage, but it is only going to get lingering coverage if the initial song catches on.

Maybe he means its anthemic

at least we know mind your manners IS a pearl jam song.

Strat wrote:Short cracky doesn't get me excited.

Who you are and nothing as it seems got me
Excited. That is pearl jam challenging their audience. Obviously I have not heard the song but here I am in a speculation thread so....

My initial instinct says " well they certainly have given up trying and now pj is status quo" due to the choice of a - what is most likely - pj by the numbers single release.

I'd say Backspacer was a challenging record for the fans . I kind of see it as the antithesis of what No Code was; a record that is polished , poppy and mainstream friendly. The quality of musicianship in Backspacer is great and under appreciated. I don't feel like they weren't trying.

I don't know. They still need to be artists first and foremost. Stop writing music to keep them current or to try and grab attention of new fans. The % of people who hear a new pearl jam song that actually stick around long enough to become a fan that dives into their music is probably not substantial enough for that route of making music worthwhile. You are either a fan or not. So follow your muse. Challenge yourself as an artist. Stop trying to do everything possible to stay relevant. Or maybe they do feel that's what they are doing and their muse is status quo 3 minute punk rock songs now.


Coffee speculation

Thejambi wrote:

Strat wrote:Short cracky doesn't get me excited.

Who you are and nothing as it seems got me
Excited. That is pearl jam challenging their audience. Obviously I have not heard the song but here I am in a speculation thread so....

My initial instinct says " well they certainly have given up trying and now pj is status quo" due to the choice of a - what is most likely - pj by the numbers single release.

I'd say Backspacer was a challenging record for the fans . I kind of see it as the antithesis of what No Code was; a record that is polished , poppy and mainstream friendly. The quality of musicianship in Backspacer is great and under appreciated. I don't feel like they weren't trying.

I agree. I like backspacer. But now it's time to move on

Strat wrote:I don't know. They still need to be artists first and foremost. Stop writing music to keep them current or to try and grab attention of new fans. The % of people who hear a new pearl jam song that actually stick around long enough to become a fan that dives into their music is probably not substantial enough for that route of making music worthwhile. You are either a fan or not. So follow your muse. Challenge yourself as an artist. Stop trying to do everything possible to stay relevant. Or maybe they do feel that's what they are doing and their muse is status quo 3 minute punk rock songs now.


Coffee speculation

you may end up being correct, Strat. But one song doesn't tell you anything and this type of song is a sensible choice for a single.

If Habit was the first song you heard from No Code, or if Small Town was the first song you heard from vs. I'm not sure you'd really be able to say what those albums were about.

stip wrote:

Strat wrote:I don't know. They still need to be artists first and foremost. Stop writing music to keep them current or to try and grab attention of new fans. The % of people who hear a new pearl jam song that actually stick around long enough to become a fan that dives into their music is probably not substantial enough for that route of making music worthwhile. You are either a fan or not. So follow your muse. Challenge yourself as an artist. Stop trying to do everything possible to stay relevant. Or maybe they do feel that's what they are doing and their muse is status quo 3 minute punk rock songs now.


Coffee speculation

you may end up being correct, Strat. But one song doesn't tell you anything and this type of song is a sensible choice for a single.

If Habit was the first song you heard from No Code, or if Small Town was the first song you heard from vs. I'm not sure you'd really be able to say what those albums were about.

Of course but this thread would be not worthy of morning coffee read without the speculation part!

stip wrote:

Strat wrote:I don't know. They still need to be artists first and foremost. Stop writing music to keep them current or to try and grab attention of new fans. The % of people who hear a new pearl jam song that actually stick around long enough to become a fan that dives into their music is probably not substantial enough for that route of making music worthwhile. You are either a fan or not. So follow your muse. Challenge yourself as an artist. Stop trying to do everything possible to stay relevant. Or maybe they do feel that's what they are doing and their muse is status quo 3 minute punk rock songs now.


Coffee speculation

you may end up being correct, Strat. But one song doesn't tell you anything and this type of song is a sensible choice for a single.

If Habit was the first song you heard from No Code, or if Small Town was the first song you heard from vs. I'm not sure you'd really be able to say what those albums were about.

Exactly. One song does not make a record. I don't think NAIS, Who You Are or even The Fixer give a good window into those albums.

I'm thinking Manners will be a close sibling of Ole. Logically extended with a touch of:

Strat wrote:I don't know. They still need to be artists first and foremost. Stop writing music to keep them current or to try and grab attention of new fans. The % of people who hear a new pearl jam song that actually stick around long enough to become a fan that dives into their music is probably not substantial enough for that route of making music worthwhile.

Spot on here, chief. The "album" culture of the old music industry died with Tower Records and for studio music to be a commercial success, you need a catchy clear channel friendly lead single. That just isn't 50 year old white guys still rocking the Chucks and occasional flannels, and the will.I.am-based mainstream audiences will not connect with them, even if they have modest success like with Just Breathe. The style of writing just frustrates their hardcore fans precisely because they did the opposite for so long and we end up with 200 pages of cynicism and sarcasm disguised as 'rumors and speculation'.

jdopj wrote:Exactly. One song does not make a record. I don't think NAIS, Who You Are or even The Fixer give a good window into those albums.

Maybe not lyrically or thematically, but certainly those three give an idea of the sound each album has.

Actually now that I think about it I think that the singles they have released are good representations of the albums. Who you are and nothing as it seems are pretty good indications of what the album is about; same with the fixer and world wide suicide.

Sure - the songs stip pointed out that, if released as singles, would
Not be good representations of the album but the songs that were released provide a pretty good indication of the overall vibe of the records.

stip wrote:

gardenparty wrote: I guess the question is what do they consider a Pearl Jam fan.

well many of the people who post regularly here don't actually seem to like pearl jam very much anymore.

I guess I would fall into this camp - I really don't like the last two albums. However that doesn't diminish my love for the previous 7 albums or take away from what Pearl Jam's music means to me. I still consider myself a Pearl Jam fan.