History of the Downfall of PJ in Popular Culture

foxymophandlemomma

DriftingByTheStorm wrote:

Hey!
This is not the bathroom!

Eh? did i miss something? it's the bar scene in singles...?

foxymophandlemomma

SOLAT319 wrote:

When the gas in my tank
Feels like money in the bank

Just for those two lines alone, that song kicks so much ass and that's exactly how I feel living in Bay Area!!

I dig that song, don't care what anyone says! Avocado maaaaaay be my favorite album. I'll embark on my journey of listening to all their releases in order over the next week & will be able to come to a decision, hopefully, before June 24.

wow...thank god work is slow.

FinsburyParkCarrots

I'll tell you when it happened in the UK, anyway. Spin the Black Circle/Tremor Christ charted well here in the UK (#10 I think). But Not For You barely made the top 40. In between? New Years' 1995 heralded the ascendancy of Britpop, which the media promptly seized upon. Never underestimate the power the media used to have, before the Internet really took off, in dictating public opinion and tastes.

Yellow Ledbelly

eldarion75 wrote:

' History of the Downfall of PJ in Popular Culture'

i can sum that whole thing up in one neat little word.

Avacado.

Perhaps I am stupid, but I would say Avacado actually brought about a renewed spot in pop culture for PJ in some ways....for better or worse you can hardly pick up a issue of Rolling Stone without some mention of PJ/ED in it where there was never a mention before and they were on storytellers. It just seems to me that the band has sort of embraced their standing among the elder statesmen of post-80s music thus making the name more recognizable to folks who did not know or give a rats ass about them before....large numbers of people may not care or buy their albums to this day but all I'm saying is that they definitely still have a place in pop culture. Avacado, in my opinion, is a damn good album and certainly was not the cause of any fall from grace in the pop culture world.

That said, the history as laid forth by the original poster sounds pretty much right to me. I absolutely loved Vitalogy -- its probably my favorite album to date

ajedigecko

i began to think more about this thread, while riding my bike to work. i believe pj actually became a "timeless" band when most thought of them as being done.
with the release of vitalogy.....they were free to create any style of music.

Yellow Ledbelly

I like that line of thinking. They were the biggest band in the world when vitalogy was released, so they were able to shuck that title and do whatever the hell they wanted to after that and step out of the spotlight at the same time. PJ, I believe, could be regarded as highly as U2 at this point, but that wasn't for them and it was largely -- although not totally -- of their own choosing

kh65

Downfall, what downfall? PJ will live FOREVER!!!

Gremmie95

ajedigecko wrote:

i began to think more about this thread, while riding my bike to work. i believe pj actually became a "timeless" band when most thought of them as being done.
with the release of vitalogy.....they were free to create any style of music.

I'd buy that for a dollar

stupidcorporatewhore

Is it really a "downfall" if they did it on purpose?

I think they are right where they want to be.

Niko80

As far as Im concerned, the downfall started on Vitalogy, but got a brutal boost when the band decided to make 'who you are' the first single from No Code.

Im pretty sure most people who bought vitalogy were interested to see where pj was heading. Millions of fans were undoubtly turned off by no code, including me. Luckily, I picked it up a few years later and it grew on me quickly.

ajedigecko

Gremmie95 wrote:

I'd buy that for a dollar

thank you.....right now i could use a dollar or a euro.

simpleman

two words........ Matt Cameron.























just busting balls of course. Grunge was a quick, get it out of your system genre. Pearl Jam never left Pop Culture, most of their fans just moved on.....

Spokes-Man

This is a great discussion.

I think just about everyone on here has a valid point to make.

I think the number of responses proves something… that it probably wasn’t one single thing (an album, the rise of boy bands and/or rap-metal, etc, etc) that caused PJ’s status as the “biggest band on earth” to be diminished.

I have even another theory for everyone… in the form of two more reasons

1 – the actual fans, their growth and change
2 – the internet

I think PJ’s popularity over the years has had a lot to do with the individual evolutions of the fans.

I’m certain there are folks on here who can say they have been a rabid fan since the moment they first heard Ten and have never wavered in their enthusiasm for a second.

But… I believe the majority of people’s “fandom” is more like my own:
I was a freshman in high school when Ten hit. PJ (and to an extent Nirvana, the whole sound) was like nothing me and my friends had ever heard. It changed the game. We were high schoolers… it defined us. We had time and energy to burn on being fans.

As I got into college… I started listening to a lot more bands.

ALSO (and this is really important to remember) this is about the time when everyone got an email account and internet access.

When Ten came out… there really was no widespread internet use. Most people listened to what was on the radio… because that was all there was for the casual listener.

In the late 90’s… everyone had email… everyone had access to the internet and had access to a much wider variety of music. Because of this… I started listening… and being a fan of a LOT more bands.

So… as I grew up and graduated from college… my listening habits expanded and changed.

I still loved PJ… but was not the same rabid fan I was in high school. I bought the albums, etc. I saw them when they came to town a couple of times. But – I wasn’t the same fan I was when it all started for PJ.

Around 2003… I sort of “rediscovered” PJ. My tastes had grown up or changed a little bit and I found songs and albums (no code, yield) that I had liked before… but not necessarily really appreciated. The second time around... they hit me in the right place at the right time.

I guess what I am saying is… Ten was the right music for me at the right time.

Some of the bands other albums were not the exact kind of match for where I was in my life. I couldn’t “get there” with them.

Only a bit later would I discover them.

I think a lot of folks would say they discovered or rediscovered their rabid fan-ness after the fact.

Okay… end of way too long post.

hinks13

I love thinking back to the early PJ years. I was finishing the 1st semester of my freshman year in college when Vitalogy was released. PJ was the most hyped band at that time and it seemed like they could do no wrong. They seemed to be everyone favorite's band and it was cool to listen to them. I actually remember that the local rock radio station played a bunch of songs off of Vitalogy before the album was released and Tremor Christ, of all songs, was the most requested song on that station that week.

From what I recall, the casual PJ fan enjoyed Corduroy, Betterman, Nothingman, Not For You, Whipping, Immortality, etc. However, they just didn't understand Pry to, bugs, aye davanita and, of course, hey foxy. I remember trying to explain that those songs were not meant to be "radio songs" but most people just thought it was wierd and that made them dislike the album. It was the first time I can recall any casual fan actually saying negative things about PJ.

My theory is that with most everything in pop culture, people get tired of what is popular and things become uncool quickly. For instance, tight rolling your jeans was huge when I was in middle/high school but was seriously uncool by the time I went to college. Also, many sports fans hate the Yankees and Duke because success eventually gets tiresome and a backlash ensuses. The same thing happened to PJ. Success breeds contempt.

Moreover, PJ really hurt themselves in that they hardly toured in support of Vitalogy. PJ was the biggest band in the world, yet nobody could see them live. Especially when tix, for the few shows they did play, were so freaking hard to get. With no videos, no shows, no "normal" singles (ie Corduroy, Betterman) and a somewhat wierd album, the PJ backlash was on. Alot of casual fans felt that PJ was no longer about the music.

The final straw came when PJ released "Who You Are" as the first single from No Code. Casual fans had already begun to jump ship and many just didn't like this song b/c it was a departure from standard PJ. They wanted Jeremy Part 2 or another Black, not some eastern tinged slow song. Many radio stations hated "Who You Are" and refused to play it and I remember many DJs saying on air that they didn't understand PJ's shift in sound. I think if PJ had released "Hail, Hail" as the first single, they would've kept more fans, but the damage was done. I would imagine that the casual fan didn't buy No Code because they assumed that the entire album sounded like "Who You Are". Whereas it was once cool to dig PJ, it was now cooler to say PJ sucked.

I love Yield and think its a great album, but by 1998, grunge was dead and it wouldn't have matter if PJ had released Ten 2. The entire landscape of music shifted to the diva, boy bands and manufactured bands/songs. Rock was nearly dead. Eddie imitators were everywhere as was awful music in general. Times change and it would have been impossible for PJ to dominate the music scene forever as they did in 1992-1995.

That being said, PJ is still a hugely popular band, at least in Philly area. They are all over the radio and MMR even has the Ten Spot every week night. They always sell out 2 shows here every tour and many casual fans can't wait to see PJ live. This 17 years after Ten was released. So, although PJ doesn't sell 10 million records anymore, they are still a huge part of rock music. I'm sure the band is beyond thrilled with that. I know I am.

UKpearljammer

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I'll tell you when it happened in the UK, anyway. Spin the Black Circle/Tremor Christ charted well here in the UK (#10 I think). But Not For You barely made the top 40. In between? New Years' 1995 heralded the ascendancy of Britpop, which the media promptly seized upon. Never underestimate the power the media used to have, before the Internet really took off, in dictating public opinion and tastes.

It's a good point about Britpop and the media as far as the UK goes but I'd suggest it was before NYE 95, more like when KC was found on 8/4/94 and the media pronounced Grunge to be dead.

Dan O'

fuck pop culture

why must we trust
these rusted rails