Pearl Jam

[The Critic]

Like it or not, whenever an artist or public figure tragically dies young, suddenly their work becomes more and more acclaimed than while they were living.

 

Didn't happen for Thin Lizzy, who, in my humble opinion, were better than any other band mentioned in this thread.

 

As for Pearl Jam, I like a few of their songs, but probably not enough to compile a very long playlist on my iPod.

State of Love and Trust is a great song, though.

 

[iamshack]

Didn't happen for Thin Lizzy, who, in my humble opinion, were better than any other band mentioned in this thread.

 

As for Pearl Jam, I like a few of their songs, but probably not enough to compile a very long playlist on my iPod.

State of Love and Trust is a great song, though.

Sorry, I guess I should have stated a "popular" artist.

[The Critic]

Sorry, I guess I should have stated a "popular" artist.

Yeah, popular and good are often two very different things.

[JPN366]

After their first three albums, I lost interest.

[farmteam]

In Utero is, and always will be, one of my top five favorite albums of all time (

is one of my favorite alt rock songs of all time), and while Nevermind was very important at the time, it really doesn't even come close to the quality that In Utero was. In Utero was a much more raw, untamed sound while Nevermind felt too almost polished (especially in relation to modern music now).

 

I'm a much bigger Nirvana fan than Pearl Jam, but some of that is for sentimental reasons. I'm pretty lukewarm on Pearl Jam aside from Ten (which is excellent), but admittedly I haven't fully delved into their work. I've never had much motivation to do so, for one reason or another.

 

edit: Going back and reading through some of this thread, In Utero is a superior album to both Nevermind AND Ten. Just saying

 

In Utero is indeed a much better album in terms of quality (I find this odd, I never agree with you on music!), but when taking importance into account, Nevermind just blows passed it. Nevermind was still an awesome album, but even Cobain said he hated how polished it sounded. That's why I like In Utero -- takes a lot of the raw energy from Bleach, yet still somehow refines it and adds the band's pop sensibilities.

 

I'm surprised more people don't love Nirvana's Unplugged album. Probably my favorite acoustic album of any artist, it's phenomenal. Nothing can give me chills like Cobain yelling/howling/rasping "shiver the whole night through" on the last refrain of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."

 

edit2:

I never thought I'd say this to a Badger fan, but holy s*** yes. Foo Fighters f***ing suck these days. I was never a huge fan in the first place, but they're borderline unlistenable and have been for a little while. Self-titled was very good, but it's been a steady downhill since.

 

And I'm saying this as someone that loves Dave Grohl (especially as a drummer). Foo Fighters are just incredibly boring to listen to.

 

I really love the Foo Fighters (and really really REALLY love Grohl). Even what you're probably referring to as their sucky stuff I probably like, but not as much as The Colour and the Shape (and to a just slightly lesser extent) There Is Nothing Left to Lose. Both are f***ing fantastic albums. However, I did think Wasting Light (their most recent album, came out in April 2011) was their best since There Is Nothing Left to Lose. Still not close to their first two albums, but I thought it was pretty good.

 

I saw them this past September in St. Paul...man can they put on a show.

 

Also, Grohl's opening to "Aneurysm" from the Paramount show was mind-blowing.

[Balta1701]

Was 2nd row at the Riv and the Foos played the first :30 or so of Alive.

 

And Unplugged nirvana is great.

[iamshack]

In Utero is indeed a much better album in terms of quality (I find this odd, I never agree with you on music!), but when taking importance into account, Nevermind just blows passed it. Nevermind was still an awesome album, but even Cobain said he hated how polished it sounded. That's why I like In Utero -- takes a lot of the raw energy from Bleach, yet still somehow refines it and adds the band's pop sensibilities.

 

I'm surprised more people don't love Nirvana's Unplugged album. Probably my favorite acoustic album of any artist, it's phenomenal. Nothing can give me chills like Cobain yelling/howling/rasping "shiver the whole night through" on the last refrain of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."

I loved that album...I can still see him wearing that thick wool cardigan sweater and ripped jeans...that is always how I remember him...

 

My girl...mah girl...don't liiiieeeee to me...tell me WHERE did you sleep, LAST niiiighhhtt?

 

Great, now I'm going to have that damn song in my head all week.

[Felix]

In Utero is indeed a much better album in terms of quality (I find this odd, I never agree with you on music!), but when taking importance into account, Nevermind just blows passed it. Nevermind was still an awesome album, but even Cobain said he hated how polished it sounded. That's why I like In Utero -- takes a lot of the raw energy from Bleach, yet still somehow refines it and adds the band's pop sensibilities.

Oh, undoubtedly. Nevermind was a monumental album when it comes to importance. It really helped open the door for a lot of the alt rock bands that became popular afterward. I tend to believe that In Utero is the sound that they wanted Nevermind to have (which you alluded to), which is yet another reason why I love In Utero so much.

 

I'm surprised more people don't love Nirvana's Unplugged album. Probably my favorite acoustic album of any artist, it's phenomenal. Nothing can give me chills like Cobain yelling/howling/rasping "shiver the whole night through" on the last refrain of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."

I seriously LOVE that Unplugged album, especially the covers that they perform. The trio of Meat Puppets songs they play (Plateau, Oh Me, Lake of Fire) blew my mind in high school and continues to do the same whenever I listen to it these days. Plus "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" and "The Man Who Sold the World"... all seriously fantastic stuff.

 

I really love the Foo Fighters (and really really REALLY love Grohl). Even what you're probably referring to as their sucky stuff I probably like, but not as much as The Colour and the Shape (and to a just slightly lesser extent) There Is Nothing Left to Lose. Both are f***ing fantastic albums. However, I did think Wasting Light (their most recent album, came out in April 2011) was their best since There Is Nothing Left to Lose. Still not close to their first two albums, but I thought it was pretty good.

I'm sure I've said this before, but my main gripe with Foo Fighters is that they sound exactly like I would expect a rock band to sound like. I love me some Dave Grohl, but I tend to like music that makes me more of an active listener, which isn't something that ever happens during 95% of Foo Fighters songs. I still respect the s*** out of Grohl, and Foo Fighters are better than almost anything that's on the radio these days, but I'm just not going to go out of my way to listen them.

 

That being said, someone linked me to

the other day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has more of a Songs for the Deaf era QotSA sound to it, which owns. I don't really like a lot of the stuff I've heard from that album on the radio, but that's pretty standard for most bands. Maybe I'll have to check it out, but I have a sneaking suspicion that nothing else on that album has a similar sound.

 

On an unrelated note, since we've successfully threadjacked this from talking about just Pearl Jam to now talking about alt rock in general, anyone fans of the Melvins? Houdini is a fantastic album.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Felix

[farmteam]

On an unrelated note, since we've successfully threadjacked this from talking about just Pearl Jam to now talking about alt rock in general, anyone fans of the Melvins? Houdini is a fantastic album.

 

I tried to get into the Melvins once, and couldn't do. They're the kind of band I'd be willing to give a second try to, though.

 

And as for Wasting Light, I think White Limo is far away the most QotSA-like track. You might like "I Should Have Known" if only because it's about Cobain; I'm also a fan of "Dear Rosemary" because Bob Mould plays guitar and sings backing vocals on it.

 

On a different note, have you heard any Howler? Local Minneapolis band I've grown fond of. Sort of like a garage surf rock. Pretty young too, I think the singer/guitarist/songwriter is only 19.

[JPN366]

Nirvana Unplugged is phenomenal.

[Capn12]

I tried to get into the Melvins once, and couldn't do. They're the kind of band I'd be willing to give a second try to, though.

 

And as for Wasting Light, I think White Limo is far away the most QotSA-like track. You might like "I Should Have Known" if only because it's about Cobain; I'm also a fan of "Dear Rosemary" because Bob Mould plays guitar and sings backing vocals on it.

 

On a different note, have you heard any Howler? Local Minneapolis band I've grown fond of. Sort of like a garage surf rock. Pretty young too, I think the singer/guitarist/songwriter is only 19.

 

 

Not mentioning Arlandria, as pretty much the song with the most awesome around, makes me sad.

[Felix]

I tried to get into the Melvins once, and couldn't do. They're the kind of band I'd be willing to give a second try to, though.

I'd check out "Houdini" if you're looking to give them a second shot. The first five or six tracks are pretty great, with Lizzy, Honey Bucket, Goin' Blind and Night Goat. They sound as if they're running through some heavy mud half the time, but I'm a fan.

 

And as for Wasting Light, I think White Limo is far away the most QotSA-like track. You might like "I Should Have Known" if only because it's about Cobain; I'm also a fan of "Dear Rosemary" because Bob Mould plays guitar and sings backing vocals on it.

I'll check out "I Should Have Known." The last Cobain song of theirs that I actively heard was "Let it Die," which I really disliked.

 

On a different note, have you heard any Howler? Local Minneapolis band I've grown fond of. Sort of like a garage surf rock. Pretty young too, I think the singer/guitarist/songwriter is only 19.

Never heard of Howler, just YouTube'd a song of theirs though and it was solid. I'll have to give the album a listen. I really ought to be more in touch with the local Minneapolis music scene, but I'm much too lazy to weed through all the crap to find the stuff that I actually like, especially since I tend to have very specific tastes

[farmteam]

Not mentioning Arlandria, as pretty much the song with the most awesome around, makes me sad.

 

Oh Arlandria was my favorite track on the album, but I was trying to find songs where there'd be a specific reason for Felix to like them, so I just said the ones with the Nirvana/Husker Du ties.

 

Oh, and Felix, I forgot to mention that Krist Novoselic plays bass on I Should Have Known (I think it's that track; definitely one of the tracks on the album), so it's sort of cool that it was the first time in 20 years that Novoselic, Grohl and Butch Vig recorded a song together.

[Capn12]

Novoselic actually played the accordion on "I Should Have Known" as well.