When/How did you discover Pearl Jam?

MR242791

I had known about PJ in HS when Jeremy came out and I remember listening to betterman on the radio and loving it. But it wasn’t until probably 2003 or 2004 when I went into a tower records looking for something new.  I stumbled upon PJ live in Tokyo 2003 and I remember being intrigued that PJ was still making music, they were selling live albums, they played In Tokyo and the album was being sold in a cardboard CD case Vs. a plastic one. The album was on sale for like $5 so I bought it on a whim.  I fell in love with that album and a Pearl Jam fan was born.   I like to think it was divine intervention lol. Plus I still have my Tokyo CDs

Horse2345

1992 at Lolla

Peasant Tents

About February 1992.... Ten was on my headphones late every night as I got through being dumped at the age of 22 - seriously emotional times!!!

DM282158

Freshman year of high school (2004). I remember cranking Even Flow, Alive, Release, Spin the Black Circle, etc. while doing homework. My Dad took my buddies and I to my first show in 2006 (we didn’t have our licenses yet). 

Been “riding the wave” ever since. 

hihobibo

I'm 38, so since I first heard Jeremy and Alive back when it came out on MTV.  But my interest waned during the Riot Act, Avocado years, where I knew they were still making music and putting on shows, but I wasn't interested in the slower music. What got me back into being a fanatic was the first time I heard Sirens. I thought that song was amazing, and I listened to that album on repeat. So count me in as one fan who likes Sirens, as it got me back into the band and more so into those older albums I didn't like the first time. 

False_Belief

It would've been right around the release of No Code.  I was 15 at the time and only just starting to really get into music.  I bought a copy of Vox (a popular monthly music magazine in the UK at the time) and can remember seeing the words 'Pearl Jam' on the cover and thinking, man, that name sucks.  In my head I immediately decided that they probably sound like INXS or something and, being heavily into Nirvana and Oasis at the time, didn't investigate further. 

A couple of weeks later I saw the Jeremy video on MTV and was immediately hooked. 

MonkeyDan72

Late 91 via vinyl
lolla 92 Dallas, Tx first live show
never stopped since 
My first 2 live PJ shows 92,95 they played Sonic Reducer.
I have now seen Sonic Reducer six times, and I’d appreciate if I could finish off Riot Act during Wrigley.

Get Right & Ghost night one
Can’t Keep & Thumbing My Way to open the second set night two. 

KV4053

Working at a record store. Grabbed the Ten promo CD before it was released. "Once" hooked me.

Got to see them open for Soundgarden on 4/30/92 in a grocery store turned rock venue. And later that year at Lollapalooza

KICK7071

Wont deny it was after watching SINGLES, bought the soundtrack and after a few listens had to double back to grab Ten, PJ has never been far from the stereo since then!  

Nathan Logan

After seeing the video for Alive in 92 when I was 17. Bought the cassette for Ten as fast as I could. Hooked and loyal from then on. 

Dissidentman

Horse2345 said:

1992 at Lolla

This!

MR242791

hihobibo said:

I'm 38, so since I first heard Jeremy and Alive back when it came out on MTV.  But my interest waned during the Riot Act, Avocado years, where I knew they were still making music and putting on shows, but I wasn't interested in the slower music. What got me back into being a fanatic was the first time I heard Sirens. I thought that song was amazing, and I listened to that album on repeat. So count me in as one fan who likes Sirens, as it got me back into the band and more so into those older albums I didn't like the first time. 

Sirens is a great song!  

MR242791

MonkeyDan72 said:

Late 91 via vinyl
lolla 92 Dallas, Tx first live show
never stopped since 
My first 2 live PJ shows 92,95 they played Sonic Reducer.
I have now seen Sonic Reducer six times, and I’d appreciate if I could finish off Riot Act during Wrigley.

Get Right & Ghost night one
Can’t Keep & Thumbing My Way to open the second set night two. 

that's so cool you got to see PJ in the 90's.  In the 90's i was a teenager and broke.  My first PJ concert was years later when I had a job and realized I could see them in a concert lol.  It was 6/17/08 Virginia Beach.  I drove from NYC to Virginia beach the day of the concert and arrived minutes before PJ took the stage. I had great seats courtesy of Ten Club section 101 row H.  missed Kings of Leon though 

wall232

I was a senior in high school, so probably late 91 or early 92. I remember a friend asking me to go see them play at the Limelight, I didn't and i kick myself whenever I think about it.

Gern Blansten

I was just out of college and was a gnr fan. I liked the sound but they were on MTV so that wasn't cool. Back then if you didn't have the album you only heard the singles which I believe was Daughter when vs came out  

I remember hearing Corduroy at work... Must have been on the radio but not sure if it was a single or why it was playing on radio. I was hooked then. 

I bought vitalogy , bought no code next and didn't dig it right away  then fell deep into yield  

MonkeyDan72

MR242791 said:

MonkeyDan72 said:

Late 91 via vinyl
lolla 92 Dallas, Tx first live show
never stopped since 
My first 2 live PJ shows 92,95 they played Sonic Reducer.
I have now seen Sonic Reducer six times, and I’d appreciate if I could finish off Riot Act during Wrigley.

Get Right & Ghost night one
Can’t Keep & Thumbing My Way to open the second set night two. 

that's so cool you got to see PJ in the 90's.  In the 90's i was a teenager and broke.  My first PJ concert was years later when I had a job and realized I could see them in a concert lol.  It was 6/17/08 Virginia Beach.  I drove from NYC to Virginia beach the day of the concert and arrived minutes before PJ took the stage. I had great seats courtesy of Ten Club section 101 row H.  missed Kings of Leon though 

I had just turned 20!

JP218404

intern at Epic Records in 91

MakingWaves

Nathan Logan said:

After seeing the video for Alive in 92 when I was 17. Bought the cassette for Ten as fast as I could. Hooked and loyal from then on. 

Same for me.  I was 16 and saw Alive on the MTV show 120 minutes..at least that what I think it was called.  Went out and bought Ten the next day.  Never stopped since that day.

HesCalledDyer

"Alive" MTV Buzz Clip. Freshman year of high school.

jacquelynca

The year, 1992.  I was in 5th grade, I was at my friend Felicia's house sitting on her bed and she popped in the 10 cassette tape.  It was the song Porch that got me.  Crazy but that is a moment in time I will never forget.  I grew up listening to all my parents music (genesis, pink floyd, led zeppelin, fleetwood mac etc) and my dad would always say his generations music was the best and nothing will ever top it.  But, when I heard PJ for the first time I thought...I need to get this tape and I can't wait to show my dad this music...MY music, MY generation.  A couple years later he took me to the 1994 Bridge School Benefit Concert.  This band and this music means so much to me.  

tup30

I'm an oldie, was into mother love bone but not a fanatic. 

I was a college dj when Ten was released and i was blown away.  I'd never heard vocals like Ed's before and immediately Pearl Jam became "my band". 

Chrisilein

1992...always bought CDs based on excellent ratings in a music magazine. They rated TEN...5/5 stars

MR242791

jacquelynca said:

The year, 1992.  I was in 5th grade, I was at my friend Felicia's house sitting on her bed and she popped in the 10 cassette tape.  It was the song Porch that got me.  Crazy but that is a moment in time I will never forget.  I grew up listening to all my parents music (genesis, pink floyd, led zeppelin, fleetwood mac etc) and my dad would always say his generations music was the best and nothing will ever top it.  But, when I heard PJ for the first time I thought...I need to get this tape and I can't wait to show my dad this music...MY music, MY generation.  A couple years later he took me to the 1994 Bridge School Benefit Concert.  This band and this music means so much to me.  

wow nice! you got hooked really young. it's so cool you got to see PJ in the 90's.   i think all generations think their music is the best.  I think it's cause we relate our youth and the music of our youth to all the hopes and dreams we have while we're young.  I think the 80's and 90's have the best music cause those were the years i was kid/teenager.  PJ is my favorite though. 

MR242791

I love reading all the comments. 

andyfarrimond

2006 - one of my friends from the old U2 Zootopia fan club convinced me to give them a listen - never been the same since.

Eddieredder

Heard Alive on KISW (Seattle) in the summer of 91 . Bought the tape the next day.........and every album after that, the day it came out. 

tschav

MTV > Jeremy video > jaw dropped > second album I ever owned and surprisingly haven't destroyed that CD from overplaying it throughout the 90's. Didn't see them until I was 18 at Alpine valley in '98. Still kept following them but didn't see them again until '03, and try to see them at least once a year if they stop in the midwest.

helplessdancer

i discovered nothing. pj were hard to ignore when they first came out on the radio everywhere

smithnic

We were on a trip to an amusement park with a youth group from a church and the van broke down.  I think I was 15 so this had to be 1995.  The van breaks and I'm desperate for something to listen to and my friend had Ten.  I remember listening to Once literally like 25 times in a row.  We finally get home around 1-2 AM and I kept the CD and wore it out.  Desperate to find anything by the band I was hooked.  I was still too young to go to any 96 show but I skipped two days of senior year in 1998 (one day to get the wristband and the next to get the tickets) drove 80 miles each way and saw them in August of 1998 and remember my first thought was that I couldn't believe that they were real!  Been hooked ever since and just got home in Richmond, VA from Missoula. 

MR242791

smithnic said:

We were on a trip to an amusement park with a youth group from a church and the van broke down.  I think I was 15 so this had to be 1995.  The van breaks and I'm desperate for something to listen to and my friend had Ten.  I remember listening to Once literally like 25 times in a row.  We finally get home around 1-2 AM and I kept the CD and wore it out.  Desperate to find anything by the band I was hooked.  I was still too young to go to any 96 show but I skipped two days of senior year in 1998 (one day to get the wristband and the next to get the tickets) drove 80 miles each way and saw them in August of 1998 and remember my first thought was that I couldn't believe that they were real!  Been hooked ever since and just got home in Richmond, VA from Missoula. 

wow great story! Once, another great PJ song.

MR242791

helplessdancer said:

i discovered nothing. pj were hard to ignore when they first came out on the radio everywhere

true.  I remember the Jeremy video was controversial.  I remember watching the video with my High school friends and not understanding the end and my friends had to explain it to me.  lol.  that was probably 92 or 93.