The most embarrassing thing from PJ’s career - RESULTS

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[warehouse]

and none of this is about making money, it's specifically partnering with a big box store.

It's related. The reason they did that Target deal is Target paid them a guaranteed amount of money that exceeded the amount they would have earned by not having the exclusive. Target paid them upfront for 1 million albums without PJ actually needing to sell a single unit. They hadn't sold 1 million copies of an album since Yield. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some other exclusivity fee involved too. So, basically, in an era where album sales were declining across the board, they were able to secure a deal that mitigated that.

That's probably the definition of "selling out" to some people but it doesn't bother me at all. As other have noted, they also did it on their own terms. They had the carve-out for 800+ indie stores to be able to sell the record. This deal was probably a boon for those stores since they now faced less competition (e.g. Best Buy) for who was selling it. So, yeah, they had to make a quick commercial promoting the album as part of the deal. Fwiw, that commercial barely even aired. It was like 1 or 2 times total. I wouldn't be surprised if few people here ever even saw it live.

Part of the backdrop on this too was it was on the relative heals of the Sony record deal being done. The band felt like they got screwed on that deal, as most musicians always do on their first contract. They saw an opportunity to be in a position of strength and took it. I think they also looked at Target and felt the values of the company aligned with their own values, for whatever that's worth.

i wouldn't even call it "selling out", it's just a weird business decision. the changing environment with record sales as a whole def played a part. and part of the embarrassment is also b/c they play 'the fixer', which is maybe the most embarrassing song in their catalouge. i just wish none of it ever happened lol.

[warehouse]

so, sweeper works for Target, right?

for what it's worth, the store is great. this isn't personal lol

[sweeper]

I think I've been to a Target maybe 4 or 5 times in my life and one of the times was to purchase Backspacer.

I do my work for them remotely.

[96583UP]

the charity thing was the most embarrassing thing

makes using ticketmaster look like they recorded Dark Matter at Inner Ear studios

the scale of inappropriateness of suing the charity is impossible to quantify with numbers

only throughs acts of burnt effigy may we begin to unpack its inappropriateness

[sweeper]

I don't think it can be the charity thing because we don't have the full story on that. It's actually a little scary that everyone just automatically rolls with the 1 side of the story that was told. From what we know of Ed, it doesn't really add up. Ed and Jill's EB Research charity put out a pretty lengthy statement that denied what the guy was saying: https://ebresearch.org.au/statement-of- ... australia/

I saw someone from Australia wrote this on the PJ Reddit about it. I don't know what is true and what isn't but there's probably more to the story than the 1-sided version everyone is going off of. I guess it is embarrassing either way, though.

The Australian man they are fighting with in the lawsuit is Scott Didier, a billionaire CEO who is the biggest snake in the history of snakes. Scott Didier idolises Trump and has all of his bullying, bulldozing tactics. I side with Jill Vedder on this because you cannot trust Scott's side of the story. Scott is INCREDIBLY LETIGIOUS so it is so ironic to see him say "we dont want to engage lawyers" Scott is currently involved in multiple lawsuits on various issues, all on Google.

He is incredibly aggressive so I don't doubt that Jill Vedder thinks this is the only way to deal with him. Scott is abusive, he has probably told Jill to "go fuck yourself" just like he has to many Australians I've read about. A truly awful person who only has a charity to attempt to offset his absolutely deplorable behaviour. If you read the article it says they were told to stop using the charity name and logo but they didn't agree..... So they just went ahead and used it anyway! I know of multiple occasions when Scott Didier has been told NO by the courts and he has done it anyway.

[Strat]

[sweeper]

It sure beats the days when he had to force himself / pretend to like bands such as Fugazi, etc just help build credibility.

I like Ed but there isn't a lot about Pearl Jam that is anti-establishment. At their core, they're a mainstream, popular arena rock band. Ed's influences pre-Pearl Jam are about as mainstream as it could possibly get (The Who, The Beatles, Springsteen, U2, etc).

It wasn't until he got shamed about PJ being too corporate that he started championing bands like Fugazi, The Frogs, etc that had no connection to his musical style or influences.

It's actually refreshing now that he doesn't have to pretend to dislike Taylor Swift because he's afraid of what some douchewagon like Kurt Cobain is going to think. And ironically, Cobain was only annoyed because PJ was surpassing Nirvana's popularity. Ed, albeit with good intentions, exhibited some major follower behavior by caving in to the criticism vs. just being who he is (or was).

I think it's Ed being pressured into pretending he loves bands like Fugazi, The Frogs, etc due to the criticism of people like Cobain about PJ's music being too corporate. The extent to which Ed had to actually sell how much he liked those bands and then giving into letting it affect PJ's music was pretty embarrassing (to me). I wish he would have just rolled more with who he/PJ actually were, especially since most of Cobain's criticism came from a spot of jealousy.

Turns out this guy really, really hates Fugazi and The Frogs.

I don't hate those bands but I do dislike that Ed tried to make PJ more like those bands. It's just not who they are. I think he was facing so much pressure from Cobain and others to be "authentic" that it influenced his actions. The early 90s were probably the peak era for snobbery around authenticity. I just don't like that Ed gave into that so heavily, especially when a big part of it was BS for how their credibility was in question.

I don't think this is some hot take that Ed tried to make PJ into something they weren't. Mike directly says the following in the PJ20 doc:

"He was trying to maintain something that was more Fugazi or do it yourself. We love them but we weren't that band. We needed to sit down with him and go like...are you embarrassed by us? We thought we were going to break up."

So, again I don't get embarrassed by PJ doing mainstream stuff because they are a mainstream band. And most of us probably found out about them in a mainstream way (MTV, radio, etc).

[spike]

So some Aussie billionaire took his top off at a PJ show and stip body shamed him?

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

I am sure I deserved it, but what?

[Bammer]

I am sure I deserved it, but what?

You ruined this whole thread / poll / process / concept.

When I run it back next year don’t get all jealous/intimidated and fuck it up again.

[stip]

you can keep it to one thread.

[Bammer]

you can keep it to one thread.

Don’t fuck it up again

[igotworms]

Sorry to have missed the poll in this. FWIW I would have voted Oracle show. I've been to a lot of corporate events over the years as part of my job. The music shows are so cringe. I could possibly have understood it more if it was for a brand like Salesforce which is involved in a bunch of philanthropy. But Oracle are like the evil empire of the software world. Larry Ellison is basically a Bond villain in real life. I'm honestly still shocked that PJ agreed to that show.

[96583UP]

Ed loves cash

[Bammer]

Sorry to have missed the poll in this. FWIW I would have voted Oracle show. I've been to a lot of corporate events over the years as part of my job. The music shows are so cringe. I could possibly have understood it more if it was for a brand like Salesforce which is involved in a bunch of philanthropy. But Oracle are like the evil empire of the software world. Larry Ellison is basically a Bond villain in real life. I'm honestly still shocked that PJ agreed to that show.

Mark your calendar for next May.

I’ll do this again with multiple threads and multiple polls. The sheer dominance of this tournament across the RM board will make March Madness seem small and forgettable.

[Ledbetterman10]

The Fixer music video is the most embarrassing thing they've ever done.

Well, that and cancelling that North Carolina concert over that bathroom bill.

[Bammer]

New entry for next year is gonna be this half full European stadium cancellations debacle

[lvc]

New entry for next year is gonna be this half full European stadium cancellations debacle

Price elasticity, man. It comes for us all.