I recently received an email forward from a friend with a link to an 'incredible' music video. 'I'll bite,' I thought, and followed the link to a music video that holds many memories for this long die-hard Pearl Jam fan. It got me rooting around the E2 database as well, and I'll be damned if I found this node couldn't use a bit more fleshing out.


Pearl Jam vs MTV

Back in the day (which was a Wednesday, by the way) Pearl Jam expounded rock to the grunge music scene with their debut release, Ten. Because of their record contract, they did a couple of videos for MTV but the only original one was Jeremy. A couple others were done at the time but were just film splices from live concerts. Jeremy, however, was played around the clock and Pearl Jam soon became disgusted with the way it cheapened the video and the song. MTV basically told them to go fuck themselves.

After that Pearl Jam stopped making music videos. They release three multi-platinum albums without any support from MTV and were arguably more happy for it. Fast forward to Yield, and the song Do the Evolution. The boys 'yielded' to do a video this time as an animated piece put together by "Spawn" comic-book mastermind Todd McFarlane. The video tells the raw and visceral history of mankind, starting with the very beginning of life, in a manner not unlike Fantasia on acid.

I'm at peace with my lust
I can kill 'cause in God I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby

Pearl Jam vs Ticketmaster

The music video issue was not the band's first scuffle with the man. They also instituted a costly and, in the end, hopeless lawsuit against TicketMaster, which won them few friends and no real allies. Citing the fact that Ticketmaster was unfairly escalating prices beyone what Pearl Jam thought was fair (>$20), the band took the conglomerate to court. In 1995, after a draining battle, the court ruled in favor of Ticketmaster. Subsequently, the band was forced to sell tickets through their rival on following tours because fans complained of poor venues and the unavailability of tickets.

Pearl Jam vs the Drum Kit

Dave Krusen         1990
Dave Abbruzzese     1991
Jack Irons          1994
Matt Cameron        1998

The band has long had trouble with holding on to their drummers whether they leave or are fired, but without one drummer in particular, the band would never have existed. Back when Vedder was just a surfer-punk in the suburbs of San Diego, Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons got a hold of a demo from some boys up in the Seattle music scene. After vocalist Andrew Wood overdosed on heroin in 1990, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament assembled a new band, bringing in Mike McCready on lead guitar. Eddie Vedder seemed like the perfect complement to round out the band's sound, and the name Pearl Jam was chosen to replace the tributary Mookie Blaylock. It would be years until the band found their OG drummer when Jack Irons finally joined the band on percussion, and so it would seem that the story came full circle. That is... until '98 when ex-Soundgarden drummer, Matt Cameron, started to fill in for the then sick Irons during the Live on Two Legs tour. He was soon a permanent member of the PJ family.



Discography

Damn, they've released a lot of music. For the most part, I've only included the studio released albums, except for Live on Two Legs, which is a compilation of live performances. They also released 72 other recordings of live shows, but I thought it a bit excessive to detail those. The singles I've included contain unique songs on them, otherwise there are dozen of other singles and imports.

Ten (1991)

  1. Once
  2. Even Flow
  3. Alive
  4. Why Go
  5. Black
  6. Jeremy
  7. Oceans
  8. Porch
  9. Garden
  10. Deep
  11. Release

Vs. (1993)

  1. Go
  2. Animal
  3. Daughter
  4. Glorified G
  5. Dissident
  6. W.M.A.
  7. Blood
  8. Rearviewmirror
  9. Rats
  10. Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
  11. Leash
  12. Indifference

Vitalogy (1994)

  1. Last Exit
  2. Spin The Black Circle
  3. Not For You
  4. Tremor Christ
  5. Nothingman
  6. Whipping
  7. Pry, To
  8. Corduroy
  9. Bugs
  10. Satan's Bed
  11. Better Man
  12. Aye Davanita
  13. Immortality
  14. Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me

Jeremy (1995)

  1. Jeremy
  2. Footsteps
  3. Yellow Ledbetter

Merkin Ball (1995)

  1. I Got Id
  2. Long Road

No Code (1996)

  1. Sometimes
  2. Hail Hail
  3. Who You Are
  4. In My Tree
  5. Smile
  6. Off He Goes
  7. Habit
  8. Red Mosquito
  9. Lukin
  10. Present Tense
  11. Mankind
  12. I'm Open
  13. Around the Bend

Yield (1998)

  1. Brain of J.
  2. Faithful
  3. No Way
  4. Given to Fly
  5. Wishlist
  6. Pilate
  7. Do the Evolution
  8. Untitled - Red Dot
  9. MFC
  10. Low Light
  11. In Hiding
  12. Push Me Pull Me
  13. All Those Yesterdays

Live on Two Legs (1998)

  1. Corduroy
  2. Given To Fly
  3. Hail, Hail
  4. Daughter
  5. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
  6. Untitled
  7. MFC
  8. Go
  9. Red Mosquito
  10. Even Flow
  11. Off He Goes
  12. Nothingman
  13. Do The Evolution
  14. Better Man
  15. Black
  16. F*ckin' Up

Binaural (2000)

  1. Breakerfall
  2. Gods' Dice
  3. Evacuation
  4. Light Years
  5. Nothing As It Seems
  6. Thin Air
  7. Insignificance
  8. Of The Girl
  9. Grievance
  10. Rival
  11. Sleight Of Hand
  12. Soon Forget
  13. Parting Ways
  14. Typing

Riot Act (2002)

  1. Can't Keep
  2. Save You
  3. Love Boat Captain
  4. Cropduster
  5. Ghost
  6. I Am Mine
  7. Thumbing My Way
  8. You Are
  9. Get Right
  10. Green Disease
  11. Help Help
  12. Bushleaguer
  13. 1/2 Full
  14. Arc
  15. All Or None

Lost Dogs (2003)

disc one
  1. All Night
  2. Sad
  3. Down
  4. Hitchhiker
  5. Don't Gimme no Lip
  6. Alone
  7. In the Moonlight
  8. Education
  9. Black, Red, Yellow
  10. You
  11. Leavin Here
  12. Gremmie Out of Control
  13. Whale Song
  14. Undone
  15. Hold One
  16. Yellow Ledbetter
disc two
  1. Fatal
  2. Otherside
  3. Hard to Imagine
  4. Footsteps
  5. Wash
  6. Dead Man
  7. Strangest Tribe
  8. Drifting
  9. Let Me Sleep
  10. Last Kiss
  11. Sweet Lew
  12. Dirty Frank
  13. Brother
  14. Bee Girl
  15. Angel
  16. 4/20/02