Eddie Vedder/Northwest Airlines World Traveler Article

KosmicJelli · January 2008

I recently took Northwest Flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia and in the company magazine there was an article by Elizabeth Oliver which totally sucked about Eddie Vedder and the newest song for "Into The Wild." Here is the article... tell me what you think?

Issue Date: January 2008, Posted On: 1/1/2008

Wild One
Elizabeth Oliver

Sounds

Alongside Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder became a reluctant figurehead of Seattle's grunge movement in the early '90s. Today, as then, Vedder sings the songs of angst and disillusionment that so characterize the Gen-X zeitgeist. In his latest project, Vedder scored the soundtrack for "Into the Wild," a film that tells the true story of an ill-fated young man who, in 1990 - around the time Pearl Jam debuted - abandoned what he saw as the stifling materialism of conventional life and hit the road.

After director Sean Penn asked Vedder to compose the movie's sound-track, Vedder read the bestselling Jon Krakauer book on which the film is based to learn more about the story's protagonist. "It wasn't hard for me to understand the kid," he says in the film's production notes. "I still feel so connected and have such strong memories of being at that age ...".

Vedder himself had a tough childhood growing up in Evanston, Ill., but found some solace in rock music. By age 25 he was in Seattle, fronting the newly formed Pearl Jam. In 1991, the band hit the mainstream with their first album, "Ten," which has gone on to become certified twelve times platinum.

Stylistically, the "Into the Wild" soundtrack is a departure for Vedder: Leaving behind hard rock and his band mates, he ventures solo into the realm of folk. Vedder says he looked for sounds and instruments - acoustic guitars, ukuleles and mandolins - that "fit the emotion" of the film. The track, "Hard Sun," is a cover but nonetheless captures the themes of escape - and ultimately, sorrow - that haunt the story. Listen to "Hard Sun" on select Northwest flights.

- Elizabeth Oliver

Pearl Jam
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KosmicJelli · January 2008

Think what gave me bad attitude FIRST was the Kurt Cobaine name drop at the beginning of the article.

Drop The Leash 10 · January 2008

KosmicJelli wrote:

I recently took Northwest Flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia and in the company magazine there was an article by Elizabeth Oliver which totally sucked about Eddie Vedder and the newest song for "Into The Wild." Here is the article... tell me what you think?

Issue Date: January 2008, Posted On: 1/1/2008

Wild One
Elizabeth Oliver

Sounds

Alongside Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder became a reluctant figurehead of Seattle's grunge movement in the early '90s. Today, as then, Vedder sings the songs of angst and disillusionment that so characterize the Gen-X zeitgeist. In his latest project, Vedder scored the soundtrack for "Into the Wild," a film that tells the true story of an ill-fated young man who, in 1990 - around the time Pearl Jam debuted - abandoned what he saw as the stifling materialism of conventional life and hit the road.

After director Sean Penn asked Vedder to compose the movie's sound-track, Vedder read the bestselling Jon Krakauer book on which the film is based to learn more about the story's protagonist. "It wasn't hard for me to understand the kid," he says in the film's production notes. "I still feel so connected and have such strong memories of being at that age ...".

Vedder himself had a tough childhood growing up in Evanston, Ill., but found some solace in rock music. By age 25 he was in Seattle, fronting the newly formed Pearl Jam. In 1991, the band hit the mainstream with their first album, "Ten," which has gone on to become certified twelve times platinum.

Stylistically, the "Into the Wild" soundtrack is a departure for Vedder: Leaving behind hard rock and his band mates, he ventures solo into the realm of folk. Vedder says he looked for sounds and instruments - acoustic guitars, ukuleles and mandolins - that "fit the emotion" of the film. The track, "Hard Sun," is a cover but nonetheless captures the themes of escape - and ultimately, sorrow - that haunt the story. Listen to "Hard Sun" on select Northwest flights.

- Elizabeth Oliver

Pearl Jam
Search the Web

Search News

departure my ass!

fuck that!

tylerpjtx · January 2008

she's just a lady that never really listens to pearl jam. everyone in that position always makes those comparisons.

rockpants · January 2008

She's not really wrong. The band has never released an album that is entirely made up of Driftin's, Around the Bend's, Elderly Woman's, Who You Are's, etc., which are the type of PJ songs that would be the closest to what Ed did for ItW.
I really don't see the issue with the article. This is obviously an introductory piece aimed at a broad audience (say, the variety of folk who travel airlines, perhaps?) - not Pearl Jam fans. The inclusion of Kurt Cobain isn't anything to get upset about.

An inch is not a mile, a molehill is not a mountain, and so on. Perspective is in order.

PJGARDEN · January 2008

I wasn't offended by the Cobain reference but it does seem like every article about Pearl Jam or anything Pearl Jam related has to throw in the Nirvana comparison. It gets a little old. Overall I agree, the article wasn't very good.

writersu · January 2008

I don't think she was negative which was at least a good thing.

she probably just knows nothing about PJ and wanted to sound accurate which she was in the beginning about the band and Eddie.......etc.........

as for the rest, she probably just doesn't listen much to them........dork......

chadwick · January 2008

i read it as she hasn't a very good idea what PJ is.
the whole departing and leaving his band mates is a shitty
writers way of saying it even tho it was stated as a solo venture.
to my notion she's an office chic all rigid who has no clue what
grunge actually is.
she's using words she hasn't lived/experienced.
this is merely my opinion.
i could be way off base.

writersu · January 2008

chadwick wrote:

i read it as she hasn't a very good idea what PJ is.
the whole departing and leaving his band mates is a shitty
writers way of saying it even tho it was stated as a solo venture.
to my notion she's an office chic all rigid who has no clue what
grunge actually is.
she's using words she hasn't lived/experienced.
this is merely my opinion.
i could be way off base.

agreed, chaddy........

redrock · January 2008

I don't really see a problem with this article. Why all this negativity about it?

Slip Kid · January 2008

You guys bitch about anythng

SENROCK · January 2008

redrock wrote:

I don't really see a problem with this article. Why all this negativity about it?

i guess the board has gotten sort of.....boring lately from what i hear. This stirs things up!!!

CHANGEinWAVES · January 2008

I was gonna post the same thing! I was shocked to see that on my last flight.

Heineken Helen · January 2008

redrock wrote:

I don't really see a problem with this article. Why all this negativity about it?

I don't get it either... it's pretty much plagiarised every OTHER article written about the album

They ALL say the same thing unless the writer is apparently a fan who knows their stuff... but otherwise, yeh, I've gotten bored reading reviews.

MattCameronKicksButt · January 2008

Slip Kid wrote:

You guys bitch about anythng

So what if she doesn't know much about Pearl Jam. Just because we love them, doesn't mean everyone should.

intodeep · January 2008

redrock wrote:

I don't really see a problem with this article. Why all this negativity about it?

I am right there with you. I don't get what the fuss is about i did not read anything negative.

Slip Kid · January 2008

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

So what if she doesn't know much about Pearl Jam. Just because we love them, doesn't mean everyone should.

and yet, it continues

MattCameronKicksButt · January 2008

Slip Kid wrote:

and yet, it continues

yup.

Slip Kid · January 2008

you should come to the Porch forum during tour time... oh what fun.

TrixieCat · January 2008

This is a piece commissioned by the airline to introduce people to his music that is being featured on their inflight station.
To read anything negative into what she said is taking the obsession a bit too far.
The departure she is speaking of is his departure from what the "radio fan" would know of Ed and Pearl Jam.

Motown322 · January 2008

intodeep wrote:

I am right there with you. I don't get what the fuss is about i did not read anything negative.

Neither did I... the lady writes for a fuckin' Northwest Airlines in-flight magazine. Did you actually think she was going to be commissioned to write a 25,000-word piece on the history of the band, complete with full background on each band member and THEN get into the solo Vedder stuff??? Think about the target audience for this magazine... people that don't know/care about Pearl Jam that are just thumbing through a magazine to kill some time or trying to find the crossword puzzle.

Not everything is a big conspiracy to keep PJ down... some of you folks gotta relax.

Eddie Vedder/Northwest Airlines World Traveler Article

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