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Pearl Jam “Ten”

sfilzen — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 18:03:35 +0000

Pearl Jam “Ten” released 30 years ago today, August 27th, 1991. In ‘91 I had no cash for records having just moved into my first college apartment so a friend of mine made me this tape; I’m not sure what year I got the CD but probably sometime in the later 90′s when vinyl wasn’t widely available. My roommate and I listened to a lot of Pearl Jam – she was a bigger fan than I was and even saw them before they were really huge at a relatively small club, the R and R Station in Madison, WI in March ‘92. I can’t remember why I didn’t go with her. Anyway, it’s been a long time since I’ve listened to Ten because I got pretty sick of it in the 90′s and I’m not sure I’ve fully recovered. It’s over the top with anthemic grungy sounds and angst and I’m guessing for those reasons it made it to the big time. Pearl Jam’s debut album hit #2 on the US charts in ‘92 and is considered one of the best releases of the 90′s. Three of the singles released from Ten became hits, still played today on classic rock radio stations: “Alive” (#16 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and also #16 in the UK), “Even Flow” (#3 US Mainstream Rock chart, #27 UK) and “Jeremy.” “Jeremy” went to #79 on the main US chart, #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart and to #15 in the UK and its video won four MTV Video Music Awards in 1993, including Best Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Metal/Hard Rock Video, and Best Direction. The final single from Ten, “Oceans,” was only released overseas in ‘92 and then in the US in ‘95 but it didn’t chart here. As I listen to the whole album in its entirety for the first time in at least 25 years, I realize I still know all the songs and still like a lot of them: the big hit anthems “Alive” and “Even Flow” plus “Black,” “Why Go” and “Porch.” I still have a hard time listening to “Jeremy” though – it’s a super-painful song.

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Pearl Jam “Angel”

sfilzen — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 17:18:42 +0000

Pearl Jam “Angel” 1994, limited edition 7″ single. Today, July 20th, is Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard’s 55th birthday (b. 1966). “Angel” was a promo-only Christmas single release for Pearl Jam’s TenClub fan club members. “Angel” is a sweet song, more strummy acoustic than grungy and I guess holiday-appropriate. Side B has “Ramblings” recorded live at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, CA on November 5th, 1993. It’s quite the opposite of “Angel” starting off with Eddie Vedder screaming “FUCK ME IN MY BRAIN!” repeatedly as the band starts to wail and shred, with plenty of distortion, ending the song with a threat to “beat the shit out of every barefoot person here.” Merry fucking Christmas (in July).

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Pearl Jam “Who Killed Rudolph?”

sfilzen — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 18:07:41 +0000

Pearl Jam “Who Killed Rudolph?” 1992. It’s Festivus and also Eddie Vedder’s 55th birthday (b. Edward Louis Severson III, 1964) so I’m spinning Pearl Jam’s limited edition promo ‘Christmas’ single – but it’s not really a holiday song at all. Rather, Side A is a fairly faithful cover, Vedder’d up, of Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer” (from the 1977 LP Young, Loud and Snotty though originally written during the Rocket From the Tombs days). Side B is “Ramblings Continued” (the first “Ramblings” from which these are “continued” appears as the flip side to their 1991 limited edition promo single “Let Me Sleep,” also a Christmas release), about 4 minutes of sound clips that include stuff from TV and movies snippets of Christmas carols, and badly recorded conversations.

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Green River “Come On Down”

sfilzen — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 19:43:16 +0000

Green River “Come On Down” 1985. Homestead Records. Today, July 20th, is Green River guitarist Stone Gossard’s 50th birthday (b. 1966). Come on Down is Green River’s first release and is often considered the first grunge recording release. Members of Green River went on to form Mother Love Bone (Gossard, Jeff Ament), Mudhoney (Mark Arm, Steve Turner) and then Pearl Jam (Gossard, Ament).

The EP is very riff-orientated, many nods to metal (Jeff Ament and Gossard both Iron Maiden fans) and early punk (the Stooges). The title track “Come on Down” is heavy, sludgy, and, well, grungy. In the 1996 grunge documentary Hype!, Leighton Beezer of the Thrown Ups plays the main riff of the title track “Come on Down” to illustrate the minor differences between punk and early grunge. (It’s at the 1:40 mark here) “Swallow My Pride” has a bit more upbeat punk swagger accenting the riffs – you can really hear the roots of Mudhoney on this track. “New God” is thick and sticky while “Ride of Your Life” has a weird tension between breakneck speed and a deep slow drag that is disconcerting; I picture the flannel-clad pit confused in their mosh: first slow head-banging, then frenzied fist pumping, wait now slow down and sway a bit…guitar solo!

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