Is Pearl Jam the greatest current band in the world?

JG108535

You guys should check out Phish shows.
PJ is on fire right now.
The vibe we have to wait for on a PJ tour is happening yearly on Phish Tour.
Give me a shot, you'll be surprised!

luismota123

JG108535 wrote:

You guys should check out Phish shows.
PJ is on fire right now.
The vibe we have to wait for on a PJ tour is happening yearly on Phish Tour.
Give me a shot, you'll be surprised!

Just can't get into the crunchy groove. Guess cause we get too many jam bands here in CO, kinda played out really.

Rating music is like rating art...it's in the eye (ear) of the beholder. Their definitely my favorite band right now.

luismota123

Big Bank Hank wrote:

PearlJamAdam wrote:

Why is this even a topic. I mean come on....

because Pearl Jam is not treated like they are the greatest current band by the media

Should it matter what the media thinks, as long as they rock to you?

mcgruff10

Pearl jam is a great band, my all time favorite band. I mean i've seen them live over 50 times. are they the greatest current band in the world? no. Are they in the mix of the ten greatest current bands in the world. yeah of course. but to say they are the greats current band in the world is a bit of a stretch.

Driftin'Along

There are lots of arguments to be made for other bands because as has been said music is in the ear of the beholder but I don't think it is too much of a stretch, after this most recent tour, to say that Pearl Jam is the mightiest live band currently. I know some people will say Bruce and I can't argue, as I've never seen him live. I have seen a lot of shows in my lifetime so far and PJ is head and shoulders above anything I've ever seen, especially this 2013 show I saw. They bested themselves.

Wilds

JG108535 wrote:

You guys should check out Phish shows.
PJ is on fire right now.
The vibe we have to wait for on a PJ tour is happening yearly on Phish Tour.
Give me a shot, you'll be surprised!

Love me some Phish, seen well over 30 shows. But I don't think Phish is in Pearl Jam's category.

My twin brother and his wife went to Pearl Jam in Hartford 2013 with me. Her first show, his 3rd.

The next night they both went to their 100 plus Phish show.

They both agreed Pearl Jam was the better show.

Now I say all that as a Phish lover, and it all might be personal opinion, but I think Pearl Jam is the greatest current band in the world, and Phish is somewhere in the top 5.

London Bridge

mcgruff10 wrote:

Pearl jam is a great band, my all time favorite band. I mean i've seen them live over 50 times. are they the greatest current band in the world? no. Are they in the mix of the ten greatest current bands in the world. yeah of course. but to say they are the greats current band in the world is a bit of a stretch.

So, who are the other 9 bands?

mcgruff10

London Bridge wrote:

mcgruff10 wrote:

Pearl jam is a great band, my all time favorite band. I mean i've seen them live over 50 times. are they the greatest current band in the world? no. Are they in the mix of the ten greatest current bands in the world. yeah of course. but to say they are the greats current band in the world is a bit of a stretch.

So, who are the other 9 bands?

ask 10 different people you'll get 10 different answers. some will say country, others rock, some rap....
eminem, jay z, dmb, bruce, sir paul, cold play, radiohead,hate to say but madonna, roger waters, lady gaga (yuck), kenny chesney, tim mcgraw, brad paisley, rhcp, elton john, unfortunately nickleback, pearl jam....

JaneNY

As much as I love them, they are not THE greatest band, but they are ONE OF the greatest bands along with Springsteen, and Nine Inch Nails (who were also touring this fall hitting many of the same venues as PJ).

jumbojet

Yes Way wrote:

Here's another thing: I think Pearl Jam got popular right before it became fun and trendy for douchebags (aka the majority of people) to dislike anything that became popular. As a result, I think Pearl Jam goes right to the top of the list for most underrated bands of all time.

Think about it.

Put together a list of lead singers with a better voice and writing combo.
Stone Gossard could carry a really good band by himself but in Pearl Jam he's a "rhythm guitarist."
Mike McCready is pretty good.
Matt Cameron is a beast.
Jeff Ament is one of the most underrated bass players and songwriters ever.
They changed the game for albums. Before Pearl Jam most bands were content to have 2-3 hits and a ton of fillers. This band has at least 10 songs on every album that I'd be STOKED to see live.

Put it all together and what do you have? An insanely phenomenal band that has somehow managed to stay mostly under the mainstream radar for about 15 years. I remember the Grateful Dead getting REALLY popular again in the mid-90's when they were a shell of themselves. Let's see what shape Pearl Jam is in when their time comes again. My guess is: pretty damn good.

Well said. :clap: :clap: :thumbup: :idea: 8-)

PJ_Soul

JG108535 wrote:

You guys should check out Phish shows.
PJ is on fire right now.
The vibe we have to wait for on a PJ tour is happening yearly on Phish Tour.
Give me a shot, you'll be surprised!

Well, to each their own. Phish isn't for everyone. I have seen them, and while it was fun, I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing any Phish music again and be perfectly content. Fun crowd, but i find the music and the band's stage presence unstirring and forgettable. Doesn't hold a candle to PJ in terms of music or live performance for me.... obviously, whether or not we like the music itself is completely subjective, but i'm not sure if I can fathom anyone thinking Phish even comes close to matching PJ's energy and charisma on stage. Phish mostly just stands around and then throws in some weird gimicky and preplanned action once in a while. I didn't feel a huge connection with the crowd at all like everyone does at a PJ show.

IMO.

PJ_Soul

JaneNY wrote:

As much as I love them, they are not THE greatest band, but they are ONE OF the greatest bands along with Springsteen, and Nine Inch Nails (who were also touring this fall hitting many of the same venues as PJ).

I like NIN a lot, and saw them and PJ at the same venue within two weeks, and wow, was PJ ever a zillion times better. NIN looked and sounded really cool, but there was literally ZERO connection with the fans with NIN. Again, to each their own! But to me, PJ has every other live act beat because of the way they make their shows seem so intimate and how they connect with everyone in the building (on top of the fact that their music is by far the greastest music in existence for me, lol. I love a LOT of different music very much, but PJ stands alone They aren't just the best current band IMO. They are the greatest band in the history of the world ).

All that said, i think that QOTSA put out the best album this year, and it wasn't even a close race in my mind.

DewieCox

Yes Way wrote:

Here's another thing: I think Pearl Jam got popular right before it became fun and trendy for douchebags (aka the majority of people) to dislike anything that became popular. As a result, I think Pearl Jam goes right to the top of the list for most underrated bands of all time.

Think about it.

Put together a list of lead singers with a better voice and writing combo.
Stone Gossard could carry a really good band by himself but in Pearl Jam he's a "rhythm guitarist."
Mike McCready is pretty good.
Matt Cameron is a beast.
Jeff Ament is one of the most underrated bass players and songwriters ever.
They changed the game for albums. Before Pearl Jam most bands were content to have 2-3 hits and a ton of fillers. This band has at least 10 songs on every album that I'd be STOKED to see live.

Put it all together and what do you have? An insanely phenomenal band that has somehow managed to stay mostly under the mainstream radar for about 15 years. I remember the Grateful Dead getting REALLY popular again in the mid-90's when they were a shell of themselves. Let's see what shape Pearl Jam is in when their time comes again. My guess is: pretty damn good.

By calling them the most underrated, you just made them overrated.

There have been plenty of lead singers on EV's level. All from great bands, of course
When they're really good, Stone Gossard does carry them, and he's the best guitarist in the band, by a wide margin
Yes, but he's also pretty samey in his playing
True, but he shows it much more in Soundgarden
Underrated bass player, not as a songwriter
Bands have been making great complete albums for decades. That wasn't something new that PJ came up with.

I really don't think PJ's time is gonna come again. People have been saying this type of stuff with the last 3 albums and they haven't really grown in popularity much at all.


Definitely one of the best bands going today, but I think there are many other bands for which you could make that argument.

SZ303389

no...just kidding...YES!

CharlieP

Yes, without a doubt

Last-12-Exit

brianlux

Last-12-Exit wrote:

YES!

JaneNY

PJ_Soul wrote:

JaneNY wrote:

As much as I love them, they are not THE greatest band, but they are ONE OF the greatest bands along with Springsteen, and Nine Inch Nails (who were also touring this fall hitting many of the same venues as PJ).

I like NIN a lot, and saw them and PJ at the same venue within two weeks, and wow, was PJ ever a zillion times better. NIN looked and sounded really cool, but there was literally ZERO connection with the fans with NIN. Again, to each their own! But to me, PJ has every other live act beat because of the way they make their shows seem so intimate and how they connect with everyone in the building (on top of the fact that their music is by far the greastest music in existence for me, lol. I love a LOT of different music very much, but PJ stands alone They aren't just the best current band IMO. They are the greatest band in the history of the world ).

I enjoyed reading your points and you make good ones. I think what is different for me, is I don't really need the performer to 'connect' with me to enjoy a show. You are right that NIN has never really had a lot of back and forth with the audience, but NIN transports me to another planet. PJ is like a huge block party. Different approaches definitely, and I like both.

Last-12-Exit

for the record, nine inch nails wasn't even one of the top ten bands in the 90's, let alone today.

Big Bank Hank

:thumbup:

Last-12-Exit wrote:

for the record, nine inch nails wasn't even one of the top ten bands in the 90's, let alone today.