Posts Tagged ‘Pearl Jam’

April 11, 1994 Boston, MA (intense shows during the last couple of dates of this tour due to the death of Kurt Cobain)

So, let’s kick things off with, perhaps, their trademark track “Alive”.

The origins of “Alive” can be traced to 1990 when Stone Gossard recorded a series of demos, while still in Mother Love Bone.

One of the instrumental tracks was “Dollar Short,” which would become “Alive”. After the demise of Mother Love Bone, Gossard, Jeff Ament and their new guitarist Mike McCready, circulated a demo of five tracks in the hopes of finding a singer and drummer.

The demo found it’s way from Seattle to San Diego and into the hands of one Eddie Vedder.

Vedder wrote and recorded the lyrics to three of the tracks, “Alive,” “Once,” and “Footsteps”. These three songs would become famously known as the “Mamasan Trilogy”.

The band liked what they heard from Vedder, so they invited him up to Seattle. With a singer now in place, the group dubbed themselves Mookie Blaylock and began recording demos, with “Alive” obviously being one of them.

The band was forced to change their name, because the basketball player they named themselves after was none too happy about the shout out. So, Pearl Jam was born.

“Alive” was demoed again during the recording of their debut album Ten, and the rest, as they say is history.

To read the complete article visit EVOLVER.COM

Was at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles last night for the third of four local Pearl Jam shows. Intended to just kinda hang out, drink in the atmosphere, take down a set list, compare it to tonight’s show, and then write up a nice and articulate review of both. Then Chris Cornell and Jerry Cantrell showed up. Here is a YouTube video in which the former Soundgarden frontman joins Eddie Vedder for “Hunger Strike,” thus reforming the complete lineup of Andrew Wood/Mother Love Bone tribute band Temple of the Dog:

Skeptics will note that not only did Cornell hit the high notes, he probably could have hit them even harder.

For the complete article visit ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

In Friday’s Daily Noise, brought to you by Fuse and Billboard.com, Pearl Jam is poised to score their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in 13 years when the charts post next Thursday. “Backspacer,” which the band released independently, is on track to sell just under 200,000 copies in its first week.

Meanwhile, UK artists including Blur and Radiohead are pushing for three-strikes laws against illegal downloading, and the Silversun Pickups recently produced a shotgun video on a two-day break for their song “Substitution”. The band is currently on tour with Manchester Orchestra and Cage the Elephant.

To read the complete article visit  BILLBOARD

Conventional wisdom marks 2006’s Pearl Jam as the grunge outfit’s reignition point after years without a spark. If that’s true, then the first three songs on their ninth full-length are the explosion at the end of an extremely long fuse. The band hasn’t put together a trifecta this energized and from-the-gut in a decade, and though the rest of  Backspacer doesn’t match that opening salvo, it has a terrific time trying.

“Gonna See My Friend,” “Got Some,” and “The Fixer” nearly upend each other rushing out the gate, exploiting Pearl Jam’s leanest, punkest tendencies. And those traits carry through the album’s 36 minutes. No time to waste and Obama in the White House mean no political bellyaching, so when Eddie Vedder pulls out that indignant yet inclusive snarl and proclaims, “When something’s gone, I wanna fight to get it back again,” you can probably assume “it” is his band’s mojo.

To read complete review visit SPIN