Pearl Jam is an American rock band. The group enjoyed huge popularity in the early 1990s. Pearl Jam is one of the few groups in the grunge musical movement.
Thanks to the debut album, which the group released in the early 1990s, the musicians gained their first significant popularity. This is a collection of Ten. And now about the Pearl Jam team in numbers. During their career of over 20 years, the band has released:
- 11 full length studio albums;
- 2 mini-plates;
- 8 concert collections;
- 4 DVDs;
- 32 singles;
- 263 official bootlegs.
At the moment, over 3 million albums have been sold across the United States of America and about 60 million in the world.
Pearl Jam is rightfully considered one of the most influential bands of the last decade. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music called the band "the most popular American rock and roll band of the 1990s". On April 7, 2017, Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The history of the creation and composition of the Pearl Jam group
It all started with musicians Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. In the late 1980s, they created their first brainchild, which was called Mother Love Bone.
Everything was going pretty well. Music lovers were interested in the new team. The guys even got their first fans. However, everything turned upside down after the death of 24-year-old vocalist Andrew Wood in 1990. The musicians disbanded the group, and soon stopped communicating altogether.
In late 1990, Gossard met with guitarist Mike McCready. He managed to convince him to start working again with Ament. The musicians recorded a demo. The collection includes 5 tracks. The band members needed a drummer and a soloist. Eddie Vedder (vocals) and Dave Krusen (drums) soon joined the band.
In an interview, Vedder said that the name Pearl Jam is a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl. According to the musician, the grandmother knew how to cook the most delicious and exquisite jam from peyote (a cactus containing mescaline).
However, in the mid-2000s, another version appeared in Rolling Stone. Ament and McCready suggested taking the name Pearl (from the English "pearl").
After Neil Young's performance, in which each track was lengthened to 20 minutes due to improvisation, the participants decided to add the word Jam. In music, the word "jam" should be understood as a joint or independent improvisation.
Debut of Pearl Jam
In the early 1990s, the musicians began collecting material for recording their debut album. Pearl Jam expanded their discography with Ten (1991). The music was mainly worked on by Gossard and Ament. McCready said that he and Vedder came "for company." But Vedder wrote the lyrics to all the musical compositions.
Krusen left the band at the time of the recording of the album. Blame drug addiction. Soon the musician was replaced by Matt Chamberlain. But he did not last long in the team. His place was taken by Dave Abruzizes.
The debut album consisted of 11 songs. The musicians sang about murder, suicide, loneliness and depression. Musically, the collection was close to classic rock, combined with harmonious lyrics and an anthem-like sound.
It is noteworthy that initially the album was accepted by the public rather coolly. But already in 1992, the album Ten received the status of "gold". It peaked at number 2 on Billboard. The record stayed on the music chart for more than two years. As a result, she became 13 times platinum.
Music critics agreed that the members of Pearl Jam "got on the grunge train at the right time." However, the musicians themselves were a "grunge train". Their album Ten hit four weeks earlier than Nirvana's Nevermind. In 2020, Ten sold over 13 million copies in the United States alone.
Presentation of new albums
In 1993, Pearl Jam's discography was replenished with a second studio album. It's about the collection Vs. The release of the new album was like a bomb. In the first week of sales alone, about 1 million copies of the record were sold out. Rockers managed to break all sorts of records.
The next compilation, Vitalogy, became the second fastest selling album in history. For a week, fans sold out 877 thousand copies. It was a success.
In 1998, music lovers heard Yield. The release of the collection was marked by the presentation of the clip. To do this, the musicians of Pearl Jam hired comic book artist Todd McFarlane. Soon fans were enjoying the video for the track Do the Evolution.
A little later, the documentary film Single Video Theory was released. He told interesting stories about the making of the Do the Evolution video.
From the record Binaural, which was released in the early 2000s, Pearl Jam's "fans" began to get acquainted with the new drummer Matt Cameron. Interestingly, the musician is still considered a member of the group.
Decreased popularity of the group
The beginning of the 2000s cannot be called successful for the American rock band. After the presentation of the Binaural album, the musicians drooped a little. The presented collection became the first album in the discography of Pearl Jam, which failed to go platinum.
It was nothing compared to what happened during the performance at Roskilde in Denmark. The fact is that during the concert of the band 9 people died. They were trampled. Members of Pearl Jam were shocked by this event. They canceled a number of concerts and announced to fans that they were temporarily halting touring.
The events of Roskilde literally made the band members think about what kind of musical product they are creating. The new album Riot Act (2002) turned out to be more lyrical, softer and less aggressive. The musical composition Arc is dedicated to the fans who died under the feet of the crowd.
In 2006, the group's discography was replenished with the Pearl Jam album of the same name. The compilation marked the band's return to their familiar grunge sound. For the first time in the past 15 years, Backspacer took the lead on the Billboard 200 chart. The success of the record was ensured by the track Just Breathe.
In 2011, the musicians presented their first live album, Live on Ten Legs. The collection was warmly received by fans and music critics.
2011 was rich not only in musical novelties. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the group, the musicians presented the film "We are twenty". The film consisted of live footage and interviews with members of Pearl Jam.
A few years later, the group's discography was replenished with the tenth studio album. The collection was called Lightning Bolt. In 2015, the album was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Visual Design.
Style and influence of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam's musical style was more aggressive and heavy compared to other grunge bands. It is close to the classic rock of the early 1970s.
The group's work was influenced by: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Kiss, Dead Boys and Ramones. The popularity and acceptance of Pearl Jam's tracks can be attributed to their distinct sound, which combines "1970s arena rock riffs with the spunk and anger of 1980s post-punk, without any disdain for hooks and choruses."
Each album of the band is experiments, freshness and development. Vedder talked about the fact that the band members wanted to make the sound of the tracks less catchy, without hooks.
Pearl Jam: interesting facts
- Gossard and Jeff Ament were members of the pioneering grunge band Green River in the mid-1980s.
- Ten was included in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Rock Albums" list.
- Musical composition Brother, which was included on the re-release of the album Ten. In 2009, it topped the American alternative and rock charts as a single. Interestingly, the track was recorded and released in 1991.
- The album Ten is named after National Basketball Association player Mookie Blaylock (he wore number 10).
- The guitar riff (which was the basis of the song In Hiding, from the Yield album) was recorded by Gossard on a microcassette recorder.
Pearl Jam today
Since 2013, Pearl Jam has not added new albums to its discography. This is a record for musicians of this magnitude. All this time, the team traveled around with their concerts in different parts of the world. At the same time, there were rumors that the musicians would soon release 11 studio albums.
The Pearl Jam group did not disappoint the fans, in 2020 the musicians released the studio album Gigaton. It was preceded by the tracks Dance of the Clairvoyantsruen, Superblood Wolfmoonruen and Quick Escaperuen. The album received good reviews from critics.
In 2021, the team will celebrate its 30th anniversary. According to journalists, Pearl Jam will prepare a record of the best compositions or a documentary film for a significant event.
