So I watched Hype! again last night...

HA30208 · February 2011

You can stream Hype! on netflix so I decided to give it a whirl yesterday. It was the third time I watched the whole thing through.

The first time I saw it was around the spring of '97. My college roommate bought the VHS tape and we watched it in our dorm room. No Code was still fresh in our minds and Yield was just below the horizon. It was a great time to be a PJ fan. And I mean REAL fan. One who obsesses over all the music. I grew up in the Midwest. A 1500 miles from Seattle, so I was one of the people the bands made fun of for buying flannel and tying it around the waste.

The 2nd time was probably around the early '00's. "Grunge" was completely murdered and buried by nu-metal. I had visited a friend who was now living in Seattle. I wanted so much to be a part of that place that Hype! was about. But there was just no way I could move out there from the Midwest.

So last night was the 3rd time. Fitting that this is the 20th anniversary of my favorite band of all time. Obviously the director meant for Hype! to be a lot more than just Pearl Jam, and more of a statement on the whole time/place in general. But PJ does hang over the whole movie, and Eddie's statements towards the end really sum up the meaning of the film.

Watching the movie last night I'm surprised by how much all the other band's songs (besides Pearl Jam and Soundgarden) just don't hold up. Most songs were just loud and obnoxious. And that's great, if at the time that's what each band was striving for. But as a document 15 years old there aren't really any songs that I want to re-listen to.

I don’t know really what I’m trying to say in this post, other than that Pearl Jam’s music REALLY does hold up, and I think that is the defining characteristic of this band. You can take all the politics, popularity, social awareness that this band strives for and throw it out the window if their music sucked. And it just DOES NOT SUCK.

I love this band. I’m glad I was born at a time where I got to experience their whole 20 years (even if I didn’t live near them).

Zidane · February 2011

I totally disagree with you. Yes, you're right, you get to see Pearl Jam in the movie but it takes a while before you actually get to hear about them! The movie basically shows you that there was more than the big 4 (AIC, Sound, Nirvana and PJ) and that there was music going way before 1990.

As for your comment on how the other bands sound shitty, once again you're wrong. With that movie (that I watched for the first time around 99), it made me want to get more music from bands I didn't know. I knew about Mudhoney, Melvins and other Screaming Trees but I surely didn't know much about the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and others like Coffin Break.

And that's what Eddie says at the end; if nothing comes out of it, that would be the tragedy. I guess he was talking about you...?! Am I wrong?!

djjazzy276 · February 2011

Zidane wrote:

As for your comment on how the other bands sound shitty, once again you're wrong.

The original poster had their opinions, you have yours. Neither one is right or wrong. I happen to agree for the most part with the original poster on this subject. The entire reason I even watched Hype! when I was 13 was because PJ was in it. Was I disappointed when I found they were not the main focus? Yes. That probably skewed my perception of the other music in the film. I too found a lot of it to be loud and obnoxious, but there were a few acts that I thought were downright great (My Hometown has always been an addictive song for me.)

Now I'm 28 and I streamed it on Netflix about a week and a half ago and was more interested in seeing it for what it was (a complete look at the whole music scene at that particular time) and not what it wasn't (a Pearl Jam documentary, which I'll be getting later this year anyways). After doing so, I can completely and confidently say that the music I didn't like then, I still don't like today. Pearl Jam was then and still is my favorite band and I think their music has held up incredibly well. And as far as what Eddie had to say about tragedy, isn't he referring to the fact that nobody hearing about all of this music that was there all along being the tragedy? If so, then someone watching Hype! three times seems like the exact opposite of not knowing about some of the other bands that were part of the scene since the inception. I don't think he's saying that it's a tragedy that you tried to give the smaller, lesser known bands a fair listen and didn't like them.

PJBuckeye · February 2011

Zidane wrote:

I totally disagree with you. Yes, you're right, you get to see Pearl Jam in the movie but it takes a while before you actually get to hear about them! The movie basically shows you that there was more than the big 4 (AIC, Sound, Nirvana and PJ) and that there was music going way before 1990.

As for your comment on how the other bands sound shitty, once again you're wrong. With that movie (that I watched for the first time around 99), it made me want to get more music from bands I didn't know. I knew about Mudhoney, Melvins and other Screaming Trees but I surely didn't know much about the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and others like Coffin Break.

And that's what Eddie says at the end; if nothing comes out of it, that would be the tragedy. I guess he was talking about you...?! Am I wrong?!

^^^ This. The obscure music on Hype is f'n great. Between the Eyes by Love Battery is one of my all time favorite songs.

BinauralJam · February 2011

HA30208 wrote:

You can stream Hype! on netflix so I decided to give it a whirl yesterday. It was the third time I watched the whole thing through.

The first time I saw it was around the spring of '97. My college roommate bought the VHS tape and we watched it in our dorm room. No Code was still fresh in our minds and Yield was just below the horizon. It was a great time to be a PJ fan. And I mean REAL fan. One who obsesses over all the music. I grew up in the Midwest. A 1500 miles from Seattle, so I was one of the people the bands made fun of for buying flannel and tying it around the waste.

The 2nd time was probably around the early '00's. "Grunge" was completely murdered and buried by nu-metal. I had visited a friend who was now living in Seattle. I wanted so much to be a part of that place that Hype! was about. But there was just no way I could move out there from the Midwest.

So last night was the 3rd time. Fitting that this is the 20th anniversary of my favorite band of all time. Obviously the director meant for Hype! to be a lot more than just Pearl Jam, and more of a statement on the whole time/place in general. But PJ does hang over the whole movie, and Eddie's statements towards the end really sum up the meaning of the film.

Watching the movie last night I'm surprised by how much all the other band's songs (besides Pearl Jam and Soundgarden) just don't hold up. Most songs were just loud and obnoxious. And that's great, if at the time that's what each band was striving for. But as a document 15 years old there aren't really any songs that I want to re-listen to.

I don’t know really what I’m trying to say in this post, other than that Pearl Jam’s music REALLY does hold up, and I think that is the defining characteristic of this band. You can take all the politics, popularity, social awareness that this band strives for and throw it out the window if their music sucked. And it just DOES NOT SUCK.

I love this band. I’m glad I was born at a time where I got to experience their whole 20 years (even if I didn’t live near them).

Cool, thats going on the Instant Que tonight!

Zidane · February 2011

^^^ This. The obscure music on Hype is f'n great. Between the Eyes by Love Battery is one of my all time favorite songs.[/quote]

Hahaha!!! It's that song that made me buy their first album and the others after!!! It was also cool to see that Bruce Fairweather played with them and also... Jason Finn... future member of PUSA!!!

pjradio · February 2011

Love the GITS on there!

OGT92 · February 2011

I have never watched this. I will have to check it out. Thanks.

HA30208 · February 2011

As for your comment on how the other bands sound shitty, once again you're wrong. With that movie (that I watched for the first time around 99), it made me want to get more music from bands I didn't know. I knew about Mudhoney, Melvins and other Screaming Trees but I surely didn't know much about the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and others like Coffin Break.

So Zidane...seriously how often do you break out the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break albums?

uninnocent- · February 2011

wow, i watched hype for the first time last week, (after years of enjoying the soundtrack). i found it really enjoyable and the music was well-suited to my tastes. i can't believe it took me so long to track down a copy.

Santos L. Halper · February 2011

HA30208 wrote:

As for your comment on how the other bands sound shitty, once again you're wrong. With that movie (that I watched for the first time around 99), it made me want to get more music from bands I didn't know. I knew about Mudhoney, Melvins and other Screaming Trees but I surely didn't know much about the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and others like Coffin Break.

So Zidane...seriously how often do you break out the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break albums?

I do all the time

slh

Zidane · February 2011

HA30208 wrote:

As for your comment on how the other bands sound shitty, once again you're wrong. With that movie (that I watched for the first time around 99), it made me want to get more music from bands I didn't know. I knew about Mudhoney, Melvins and other Screaming Trees but I surely didn't know much about the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and others like Coffin Break.

So Zidane...seriously how often do you break out the Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break albums?

Well, let's see... I certainly wasn't going to watch that movie without trying to have a listening session of those bands. First of all, I got the Hype Soundtrack that you could get on SubPop at the time on their website (it was around spring 2000) and I was also able to get the vinyl on Ebay. Had the pleasure to discover some really cool bands on that cd like Dead Moon, The Gits, The posies, etc. Already knew Mudhoney, Soundgarden and others but the soundtrack also didn't have Love Battery or Seaweed on it; I went and bought their album. An old roommate of mine in Ottawa had almost everything from Epitaph and he had something from Coffin Break. I went and got some Supersuckers and 7 Year Bitch too... Yeah, maybe I don't listen to those cds every day but when my ipod is on shuffle, I certainly won't skip the songs from those bands.

I mean, I see your point which is to love Pearl Jam. But at the same time, it's too bad not trying to get into other bands. I thank PJ every day for getting me into those bands and others like Fugazi. Anyway, my first comment was maybe a bit harsh and I apologize. Give those bands a chance, you might change your mind.

drummerboy_73 · February 2011

I just downloaded it the other night...my son is doing a research paper for his English class on the music scene of the 90's, mostly the Seattle scene, so we're gonna watch it this week. Haven't watched it in over 10 years...wonder how watching it now will compare to then. :?:

Zidane · February 2011

drummerboy_73 wrote:

I just downloaded it the other night...my son is doing a research paper for his English class on the music scene of the 90's, mostly the Seattle scene, so we're gonna watch it this week. Haven't watched it in over 10 years...wonder how watching it now will compare to then. :?:

Cool!

PJ88 · February 2011

Really check out Seaweed. They are awesome. Saw them at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. They were amazing live. I believe they really are an underrated band and should have been a lot bigger than they got.

ChampagneBrkfst · February 2011

Completely agree with Zidane. These bands are diamonds in the proverbial rough. Not only that Zidane, but you got a post AND an agreement from the hu(man) himself...................Santos!

HA30208 · February 2011

Look, my original post was just my own personal musings about how I felt watching the movie at 3 different stages of my Pearl Jam Fan life. The movie DID make me seek out and listen to other bands besides PJ and SG that were featured. Heck, I think I have a Tad CD around here somewhere and I know I have a couple Supersuckers. But the point of it all is I, personally, don't go back now, 15 years later, and listen to those Screaming Trees CD's. I just don't. Maybe you do, and if you do, that's cool. But, I almost always have a PJ CD or .mp3 queued up and playing. The point of that is that PJ's music does stand the test of time, for the most part ("Bugs", maybe not so much). And as for the other bands, I just don't have the same feeling now for them as I did when I first watched the movie in '97.

JonnyPistachio · February 2011

anyone suggest what albums to check out for Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break??

Jeremys Spoken · February 2011

PJBuckeye wrote:

^^^ This. The obscure music on Hype is f'n great. Between the Eyes by Love Battery is one of my all time favorite songs.

I posted a love battery song in the other music section 3 days ago, and it got no love :( :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6LB0MQI4V4

amazing song..

Hype was great. Never got why the kid has earplugs in his nose lol..

Santos L. Halper · February 2011

JonnyPistachio wrote:

anyone suggest what albums to check out for Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break??

frosting on the beater-posies, between the eyes-love battery, bill-seaweed, and crawl-coffin break

JonnyPistachio · February 2011

Santos L. Halper wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

anyone suggest what albums to check out for Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break??

frosting on the beater-posies, between the eyes-love battery, bill-seaweed, and crawl-coffin break

Thanks Santos, I'm on the hunt for those now!

Zidane · February 2011

Santos L. Halper wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

anyone suggest what albums to check out for Posies, Love Battery, Seaweed and Coffin Break??

frosting on the beater-posies, between the eyes-love battery, bill-seaweed, and crawl-coffin break

I also enjoyed "Actions and Indications" from Seaweed.

Hub. · February 2011

I purchased the Hype! DVD one or two years ago and even though I was a little disappointed since I was hoping for more Pearl Jam, I was aware that it wasn't focused on them.

I don't think I would buy some of the music I've heard, nevertheless, as djjazzy276 wrote: it's more about an era and I really found the DVD interesting and full of information.

High Fidelity 2000 · February 2011

HA30208 wrote:

You can stream Hype! on netflix so I decided to give it a whirl yesterday. It was the third time I watched the whole thing through.

The first time I saw it was around the spring of '97. My college roommate bought the VHS tape and we watched it in our dorm room. No Code was still fresh in our minds and Yield was just below the horizon. It was a great time to be a PJ fan. And I mean REAL fan. One who obsesses over all the music. I grew up in the Midwest. A 1500 miles from Seattle, so I was one of the people the bands made fun of for buying flannel and tying it around the waste.

The 2nd time was probably around the early '00's. "Grunge" was completely murdered and buried by nu-metal. I had visited a friend who was now living in Seattle. I wanted so much to be a part of that place that Hype! was about. But there was just no way I could move out there from the Midwest.

So last night was the 3rd time. Fitting that this is the 20th anniversary of my favorite band of all time. Obviously the director meant for Hype! to be a lot more than just Pearl Jam, and more of a statement on the whole time/place in general. But PJ does hang over the whole movie, and Eddie's statements towards the end really sum up the meaning of the film.

Watching the movie last night I'm surprised by how much all the other band's songs (besides Pearl Jam and Soundgarden) just don't hold up. Most songs were just loud and obnoxious. And that's great, if at the time that's what each band was striving for. But as a document 15 years old there aren't really any songs that I want to re-listen to.

I don’t know really what I’m trying to say in this post, other than that Pearl Jam’s music REALLY does hold up, and I think that is the defining characteristic of this band. You can take all the politics, popularity, social awareness that this band strives for and throw it out the window if their music sucked. And it just DOES NOT SUCK.

I love this band. I’m glad I was born at a time where I got to experience their whole 20 years (even if I didn’t live near them).

I saw the movie when it was making the rounds in movie theaters, and one more time on video a couple years later. It's been over a decade. But I do remember watching some of the bands and thinking "Wow, this is pretty awful." So I gotta kind of agree with you. Watching Not for You from that movie or the Corduroy video from Self Pollution radio that was posted here last week... it does NOT suck. It has aged well.
There are many bands I used to listen to or played certain CDs over and over years ago, and now I can't even imagine listening to a whole CD (i.e. Queensryche.... hey another Seattle band! ha ha... used to love them when I was younger and now I think they just sound totally silly). But every time I put on a PJ album, it's still good and I like it.

mdgsolo · February 2011

I still listen to Flop all the time. That Rusty Willoughby can write one hell of a song! I haven't really heard much of his work since then, but this post makes me want to go on a hunt...

Zidane · February 2011

mdgsolo wrote:

I still listen to Flop all the time. That Rusty Willoughby can write one hell of a song! I haven't really heard much of his work since then, but this post makes me want to go on a hunt...

Hahaha!!! With all this talk about Hype! got me to listen to the soundtrack last night and when Flop kicked in, I just couldn't believe how an awesome song "Julie Francavilla" is!!! A great pop song that should've been playing on any alternative radio stations!! It has a Pixies feel to it...!

So I watched Hype! again last night...

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