If you listen to Backspacer, Pearl Jam’s latest release, there are very few parallels that can be drawn to their 1991 debut Ten. And with a legion of hardcore fans and a back catalog that can keep stadium-sized crowds enthralled for over two hours without even being able to get through all of the fan favorites, it hardly matters which album or which version of Pearl Jam is the better.
They’ve become the Rolling Stones of their generation- the band that puts out solid, listenable albums that no longer turn heads but sell relatively well and which are followed by tours through the largest music venues in the world.
Pearl Jam, Then and Now
Pearl Jam burst out of the ‘90s Seattle grunge scene in 1991 with the multi-platinum Ten. Formed partially from the remains of Seattle favorites Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam offered their own unique sound to early ‘90s rock music. That sound was based largely around the dual guitar attack of Mike McCready and Stone Gossard and the oft imitated vocals of Eddie Vedder.
Vedder’s vocals have mellowed a bit over the years but have nevertheless been the one constant throughout Pearl Jam’s nearly two decade long career. Though their have been a handful of changes behind the drum kit (former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron currently holding drumming duties and having do so longer than any other Pearl Jam drummer), the remaining lineup has held constant. Yet their sound has not.
McCready and Gossard began Pearl Jam’s career with their massive guitar sounds. With their extended solo breaks, songs on Ten were an average of five minutes long and were built more around McCready and Gossard’s Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn influenced playing than any pop influenced song aesthetic or craft.
This gradually changed from album to album, each album offering something new as the sound of the band continued to evolve. The band experimented with a variety of sounds and even gambled with tracks based around accordion and ukulele on various albums.
As of the September 22nd release of their ninth studio album, Backspacer, Pearl Jam has transitioned to yet another stage- the three minute pop, new wave and punk influenced song format.
Backspacer
Backspacer finds Pearl Jam writing short, succinct songs. Where the eleven songs comprising Ten clocked in at 53 minutes, the eleven songs on Backspacer add up to 36 minutes of music. The heavy guitar sounds and solos of early Pearl Jam releases are gone, as are the experimental sounds of Pearl Jam’s mid to late 90s albums (Vitalogy, No Code).
What is left is a collection of songs that come in short bursts and, while often catchy, will likely never gain the place in the hearts of Pearl Jam fans as those of previous albums. The leadoff single ‘The Fixer’ is a catchy pop and punk influenced song but it is less likely to be played at a Pearl Jam concert a decade from now that a catchy three minutes song from Vs., such as ‘Go.’
And ‘Just Breath’ adds a nice standout soft moment but seems to mirror ‘Man of the Hour’ a little too closely. But maybe none of that matters.
Pearl Jam Become the Rolling Stones
Few bands can say that they’ve reached anywhere near the heights that the Rolling Stones have reached. Pearl Jam is not yet at that pinnacle either but they are well on their way.
Now over 45 years into their career, the Rolling Stones continue to record and tour with the heart of their classic 70s lineup still intact. They play sold-out stadiums while on tour for their new albums. And though these new albums are solid rock albums that sell well, few people really want to hear this new material. Very few people will cite to a song on Voodoo Lounge or A Bigger Bang as their favorite Stones song. And very few fans at their concerts now want to hear anything recorded after their stadium-rock hits of the early 1980s.
Thus, close to twenty years into their career and still playing stadiums, Pearl Jam seem to be following this same track. They will continue to put out solid, if often forgettable, albums and their fans will continue to buy them. They will tour and play two or three hour sets to cheering fans- who will mainly want to hear songs from their first four or five albums when they were considered to be in their prime.
And just as fans will tolerate Mick starting into a number from the new album and will roar when the opening notes of ‘Satisfaction’ or ‘Start Me Up’ are played, so will fans listen quietly as Eddie and the boys play ‘Amongst the Waves’ or ‘Unthought Known' off of Backspacer and cheer as they launch into ‘Alive’ or ‘Animal.’
But to be the Rolling Stones of the 1990s still isn’t a bad place to be.
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