Pearl Jam

The second greatest band to come out of the 90's and easily the best band to come out of the alt/grunge phase.

Classicists in their 1970's rock style--Pearl Jam has always been more talented than their also well loved peers like Nirvana, Sound Garden, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins.

Their music didn't stand out as obvious as these acts after Ten---and the kicker is Pearl Jam didn't want to be massively popular!

Nirvana had the cathartic emotional thing. Alice in Chains had the hints at metal. Sound Garden had time signatures and Cornell's voice. Smashing Pumpkins were experimental

Pearl Jam just blue collar rocked like the old days. With great voice, lyrics, guitar, they killed it for years and still are doing it with BackSpacer and Lightning Bolt.

They are one of the best and Eddie Vedder is one of the best lead men

From Brandon8 TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/29/2018 03:07 | #215737

I’ve been a fan from the beginning their debut is one of the best ever. The band arrived fully formed. The first 3 albums are essential. I believe they became more experimental and difficult beginning with No Code through Riot Act which produced a lot of great tracks but made for less cohesive albums. They started to get back to that with their self titled but were a little rusty until Back Spacer when they pulled it all together again. Now the band is enjoying another interesting period in their journey and have cemented their legacy. (Edited)

From LedZep TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/13/2018 10:12 | #205370

Transformed from one of the most influential and best new bands of the 90s to stadium rock band which doesn't even sound like stadium rock. From the outstanding, hair raising Ten, angry VS and experimental Vitalogy, No Code and Yield to fantastic pop rock of Backspacer and Lightning Bolt it's been quite a journey. Everything in between is also great, no question. Not all the albums are perfect of course, but they more than make up for it by delivering fantastic live performances since 1991. One of my absolutely favourite bands ever. (Edited)

From jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/20/2017 13:52 | #196388

Just watched their very deserving induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Like their heroes Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and others, Pearl Jam feels that making rock music is an excellent life pursuit, and the power and beauty of art puts self destruction or self annihilation of any kind out of the question. A great rock and roll story.

So, seriously, fuck all of you haters who do not understand their muscular, thick-skinned, and now well-aged authenticity. (You dismiss them because they're imitated so often??!! They're imitated because so many people wish they were Pearl Jam!!! And they never will be!! No one will ever come close!!)

Their early work will always overshadow their career -- just as it overshadows ALL the rock music made since then! Yield was a great post-superstardom maturation. Backspacer is one of their five best albums and Lightning Bolt was very good. They are still making great music after all the dumbass backlash.

Like so many of the best rock heroes, they believe in (and have indeed succeeded in) creating an enduring musical legacy. At this point, they are a testament to rock's enduring soul and they deserve everything they have.

From hoyquarlow 11/15/2021 17:02 | #276296

Somehow underated on this site... I mean, it's true that for the last 20 years they turned out a slightly boring MOR rock band, but everything they did in the 90's, from Ten to Binaural, was absolutely stellar. No matter how you see things, Pearl Jam are a 90's top-3 worthy band. (Edited)