What was your first "new PJ" song?

[stip]

Excluding the Ten Bsides, I got a bootleg that had Leash on it. It didn't have a huge effect on me. The track that had a 'holy shit, I've got to talk to someone, call a friend and jump around' was Animal at the 93 VMA's. That was a massive occasion and I ran that VHS tape ragged.

Same here. I remember hearing Leash and Alone on a boot I bought in '92. I also remember hearing snippets of the band playing what I later learned was animal when on a MTV news clip covering them opening for Neil
Young in Toronto. I can't tell you how pumped I was to hear new music at that point.

Also, I remember buying Sweet Relief for Crazy Mary and playing the shit out of that album in '93.

For sure. Crazy Mary was great. All of those tidbits were devoured. Plus all the improvs like The Park Where I Play The Pope.

Maybe it was the collective experience of Animal at the VMAs but that was a fucking moment. A lot more so than hearing a shitty version of Leash by myself.

I had that same exact boot (Park Where I Play the Pope). I also remember Saying No in Den Haag. I paid $50 for those boots.

I think you and I have a lot in common as for when/how we got into this "Pearl Jam" thing.

Saying no was great! I haven't listened to that in years.

[stip]

Remember that improv that had a few lines from brass in pocket?

[Kevin Davis]

Remember that improv that had a few lines from brass in pocket?

Zurich 6/18/92, I think. Great early show!

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

Is a garage rave up really their roots though?

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[bart]

You saved literally one character by typing s'pose instead of suppose.

[BurtReynolds]

bart

[bart]

I would prefer to go by b'rt from now on.

[BurtReynolds]

I was gonna go by b'rt!

[bart]

I can understand why, it has a nice Semitic ring to it.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[bart]

You saved literally one character by typing s'pose instead of suppose.

I wasn't going for economy of typing, but rather for a conversational style that felt more personal.

Well it makes you sound like an old timey New Englander.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

And that small change made me feel like we were sitting on his porch, casually sipping lobsters, instead of just making faceless posts on a message board

[Norah]

I'd have gone with sipping chowder, but that's just me.

[Jorge]

F'sure m'lady

[BurtReynolds]

[BurtReynolds]

i know its not a New England accent, but for some reason i like to read most posts here with that kid's voice.

[matt reeder]

Meaning the first PJ song you experienced as a "new PJ song" as it was released.

I got into PJ in May of 1995, so for me, it was "I Got Shit" (and "Long Road"). I was at Circuit City looking for a CD for a present for my friend, and saw the "Merkinball" EP sitting there in the PJ section. It had just been released that week, with -- to a 7th grader anyway -- zero fanfare. My mind was blown. Instead of buying a full-length CD for my friend I bought us each a copy of "Merkinball." I still adore both of those songs -- and still feel a flicker of that initial excitement of stumbling upon an unknown artifact every time I hear the studio version of "I Got Shit."

This is almost exactly the same as it was for me, but I do remember hearing Ten (and specifically "Even Flow" and "Garden") in late 1991 while hanging out with my very cool cousin. It didn't just register for me, and "I Got Shit" was the first PJ release I ever went out and bought and experienced as it came out.