How did you first get into pearl jam?

kcherub · June 2008

It must have been around 1991...late summer? I think the first song I remember hearing was Once, or Alive. I was into all of the "grunge" (God, I hate that terminology), but Pearl Jam really stood out...Eddie didn't actually "hurt" to look at.

I was 19...

When I saw "Singles" and realized they were in it, I bought the video and watched it over and over and over. I still love the bee documentary scene. LOL

Take care,

LongRhode · June 2008

1991.... saw them in Rhode Island with so few people in the venue I pretty much just walked to the front (I was there to see Smashing Pumpkins, middle band of the 3 band set).

Had bought Ten that day and when I heard Release... i knew I was in for something truly special. PJ was simply amazing that night and I remember walking out of the venue during the 4th or 5th song of the Red Hot Chili Peppers set because it frankly seemed comic compared to the intensity of the opening act.

hard_sun · June 2008

watched to Live at the garden dvd:D

carolinabeerguy · June 2008

Always liked their music growing up but never bought any albums when I was in high school. I am one of the few here who really liked Last Kiss when it came out. That song came into heavy rotation on the radio around the time I graduated high school in 1999. I bought the single and quickly decided I needed to get some more stuff of theirs. I quickly bought Live On Two Legs that summer and got hooked and have been ever since.

EddieMyKindredSpirit · June 2008

I'm glad to see others like me who were really moved on a personal level at a young age by Pearl Jam's music. For the longest time I felt like I was the only one!

I was in Junior high in Southern California when Pearl Jam's Ten album hit the stores and the airwaves. All my little girlfriends thought I was crazy when I started showing up to school wearing boots and flannel, as grunge was not popular at the time. After a short while they were all trying it on too.

I had a very troubled childhood and a lot of problems with my Dad. The songs spoke straight to my soul. Watching Eddie's passionate performances on t.v. and hearing his beautiful voice was awe inspiring to me. I got some cds, as they came out (the first 3) and played them over and over again. I have to say that despite Pearl jam's dislike for making videos, seeing them really helped convey the heart and soul that the band put into their music.

That said, I ended up joining the Marine Corps as a musician, got married, had kids, and kind of lost track of Pearl Jam. Just recently, I saw an ad for "Into the Wild" and Eddie Vedder's name. I couldn't avoid my own curiosity and visited the Into the Wild website, eventually renting the dvd. Then I HAD to repurchase my old cds and have been playing them non-stop in the car and singing along, as usual. :-)

The funny thing is, of all my music choices over the years, I lose interest in most. But I keep on coming back to Pearl Jam.

I just got to see Pearl Jam live in D.C. on Sunday. I sang my heart out and couldn't believe how wonderful it was to see the band so close. I just felt like giving Eddie a big giant hug - does that make any sense?! I'm sure that sounds really sappy, and other people probably say the same thing all the time. But I really do feel an Eddie-connection on a spiritual level. Not in a creepy psycho stalker kind of way. Just a "hey, you know just where I'm coming from" kind of way.

I was moved to see young, old, and in-between fans at the concert, all having one hell of a time. It really speaks to the band's staying power.

curmudgeoness · June 2008

I was not keen on Pearl Jam when Ten was released. I liked "Black" well enough, but "Jeremy" and "Even Flow" were on the radio and MTV every freaking time I tuned in, and for me it was just total overkill. I also preferred Nirvana.

I heard "Betterman," was at last with my own better man, and really, really liked the song, but my interest did not go beyond that.

Skip ahead to a move to Seattle, where I was surrounded by grunge, flannel, waterproof shoes and good coffee. I first heard "Spin the Black Circle" there, thought "Wow, that is so much better than 'Jeremy,"" and decided I liked the band. I guess it was good I changed my mind, as the move drastically increased my exposure to their music. We were too poor (in school) and too busy having babies to consider going to concerts.

My stay in Seattle also introduced me to jazz, which heightens my appreciation for the "jam" part of Pearl Jam. :-)

Vs. and Vitalogy helped me stay sane when we moved from beloved Seattle to the middle of nowhere, but still I was not really waaay into them.

I would say that Eddie's voice is what first caught my attention, but watching "Live at the Garden" and seeing Mike play guitar is what really made me need to have all of their music and listen to it every day. Having at last attended my first PJ concert on Friday, what really drove me wild at the show was Matt's drumming.

State of Mind · June 2008

Checked out a bootleg from the library, 2nd night at Camden 2000, and did not like them and couldn't understand many of the lyrics. Then when I found out Eddie likes The Who, I gave them another try because I'm a Who freak! And I f

loved them! Still love The Who, but PJ is beyond words!

CrazyMolly · June 2008

Had heard a song or two back in the middle 90's.... but it wasnt until I met the love of my life...(didnt know it then)... it was our second date... at the end of the night.... he picked up his guitar and played/sang Black for me. Kind of an ironic song to play on a date, but it was beautiful. We bagan to talk about his love and passion for Pearl Jam and what it was that made him a fan. (He had a rough childhood, dealing with divorce, and the song Alive helped him get through hard times.) I fell more in love with him over the course of months and now years... we celebrated my first show together at LA2 in 06. And two years ago, I made him an official 10c member. I know, we're a little cheesy when it comes to Pearl Jam, but Im sure you all understand.

StoneyChix · June 2008

It was 1992 and i was 14 yrs old, a friend of mine had given me her copy of Ten on cassette (how primative!!) because she no longer wanted it and thought i'd get something out of it.

I took it home and listened to it immediatley..what i heard TOTALLY blew my mind...Ed's voice was unlike anything i had EVER heard before and I LOVED IT!!!

Needless to say here I am 17 or so years down the track and I am obsessed with PJ even more..they TOTALLY rule my world!!!

BadFlounder · June 2008

For me it was in the Army in 1992, I was 18 yrs old. I was in a tank battalion and we often spent many weeks out on desert training exercises post Gulf War. I had heard Nirvana, Alice In Chains and the like but hadn't been "into them" per say. I guess no band at that point had really "affected" me.

Just before we deployed on a training rotation I headed over to the tiny PX in our staging area to pick up some shaving needs, toothpaste, etc. I also planned to buy a new cassette (yes, cassette) so I could jam to something during our ridiculously long road marches at 4am every morning. Anyway, after waiting in the blistering hot desert sun for an hour I got in got all my gear and headed to the little music aisle. All they had left was one row of tapes of an album called Ten by Pearl Jam. I mean that was all and there were only about 20 of them. I wasn't real sure about it but I had no choice so I bought the album.

As soon as I heard the first song on the album I was absolutely hooked. Alive, Jeremy, Oceans....the whole thing was simply incredible. Listening to Release while driving a tank through the desert at 4am does help.

I completely wore the tape out over the next 60 days and fell in love with the band.

I eventually left the Army behind but I am just as big a PJ fan as ever. I've loved every album they have done and I go to as many shows as I can. I would even go so far as to credit some of PJ's songs or political stances for helping form some of my political views and other life views. Credit to them for making me a more informed voter and citizen. I'm now a happy liberal living in Boulder, CO. lol

Peace

deek74 · June 2008

In 1993/1994 I was offered a ticket to the PJ show at the Boston Garden. I turned the ticket down because I had know clue who they were. I'm embarrassed to say this but I was big into NWA. After hearing my friend talk about how great the show was, I started listening to them. Now I have dropped NWA and now a huge PJ fan. When people come over to my house they are annoyed when I put Itunes on party shuffle because every other song is PJ due to the 1200 songs I have. I can't wait for the hartford and boston shows!!!

Thank god PJ got me out of rap. By the way i'm still kicking myself for turning down those PJ tickets for the garden.

musicismylife78 · June 2008

in 1991, worshipped my older and cooler cousins. They both were heavily into nirvana and pearl jam and I can remember them going to see Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the chili's on the same bill for thanksgiving or something.

I fugured if my cool cousins were into this music it had to be cool. I remember hearing master slave and thinking this is wierd stuff.

i can remember the red cover of course. I dont remember if I thought "this is revolutionary music" but as I am still a fan 16-17years later it certainly made an impression on me.

I think even at that early age, was 6 or 7 in 1991, that the music spoke to me in a way that music never did either before, or rarely after. It was the whole grunge scene. I remember feeling part of something. And this was when I was 7 years old people!

The Jeremy video, the Alive video, all seemed rather real, and by extension, the smells like teen spirit video all seemed real.

I knew they were singing from a real place, singing about real things.

tybird · June 2008

I saw the video for "Alive" a couple of times on MTV in 02/1992, and bought the album a week or so later with some birthday bucks. I turned 27 on that birthday.

MayDay10 · June 2008

I always heard them and liked them throught the '90's. But it was more of a casual thing and I only heard the radio rotation songs and never really went out of the way to own any albums.

But I saw them in Buffalo in 2003 and I was hooked. Ive been on the bandwagon ever since.

manipulatedliving · June 2008

just hearing them on the radio back in the early 90s and thinking damn i gotta get some of their cds. thank god for the radio, because pj is my one and true love.

velogator · June 2008

I was 25 or 26 yrs old when Ten came out, I liked Nirvana, Sound Garden, etc, and really liked "Alive" when I first heard it, so I followed them casually through Vitology. I dropped off a bit when No Code came out, but then started to follow them again after Yield. All the time buying their studio albums, but was still just a casual fan. Then I saw "A Touring Band 2000" and I became a hard core fan. The music, what the band stands for, what they say, how they are dedicated to helping others, the planet, etc, really hit home with me and I realized that they spoke through music and words what I wanted to say but didnt' have the platform to do so.

So I'm on board :-)

mookie10 · June 2008

I thought this was just a recent post but maybe it was on facebook?

I was 11 years old watching much music (canada's mtv basically) and even flow came on. Saw them jumping around on stage, the hair, the jump off the balcony, that amazing song....instantly hooked and have been for the past 18 yrs

blondieblue227 · June 2008

i lost my Ten cassette. i thought i still had it but i don't. i looked for it today. i had the art fold out and everything. my bro must have swiped it years ago.

Fahka · June 2008

....

blondieblue227 · June 2008

LeatherMandi wrote:

I couldnt have been more than 3 or 4.

Seriously? I know this isn’t very rocker chic of me, but that is so sweet!

How did you first get into pearl jam?

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