Music Jar – week 39

Each week, I get to listen to one artist I haven’t previously taken the time with. This week was the turn of Seattle’s very own, Pearl Jam.

What I Knew Before
It goes without saying that I knew of Pearl Jam. It’s impossible to make it through thirty-three years without knowing Alive and Jeremy (thanks Kerrang TV) or Even Flow (thanks Guitar Hero 3). I also recognised a lot of album covers from my days of trawling through the 4 for £20 section of Fives in Rayleigh in search of new/old music in my ferocious youth.

What I Know Now
Pearl Jam are a different beast. They offer thirty years of incredible music with pointed and painted guitar riffs and the pained and beautiful vocals of Eddie Vedder. What I didn’t know is that almost all of the current band are the founding members, something that for the time they were coming up is increasingly rare. They cite a number of 60s rock bands as influences which explains why it felt so wonderful and familiar to delve into their back catalog.
My understanding is that they shaped the way for a lot of bands who followed, and set the scene for Seattle to be heralded in the way that it is.

Favourite songs
Yellow Ledbetter, Just Breathe, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Once, Even Flow, Alive.

Favourite album
I really enjoyed Vs. amd Vitalogy, but Ten is without doubt one of the greatest rock albums of all time and takes the lead.

Spotify my favourite songs from this project.