How did you first get into pearl jam?

Ok, it was 92, and I was 13. The pop station back then played little of everything. When Jeremy came on, I was blown away by the story, voice and the guitar. If I listen just right, the first few notes of that song take me back to being a kid. I had just gotten my first CD player and picked a few albums in the cd store one weekend. I didn’t think pj was my type of music, so the fool that I was got Ten on cassette. BIG mistake, wore the damn thing out, and luckily before the tape literally snapped I had dubbed it over to another tape. I still remember what I was looking at when first heard “black”. The melody hit me hard, and I drifted off to space…this calm came over me. I was looking at my cd tower, at the two measly cds I owned, and how long it would take me to fill it up. Now, that’s not a problem, own over 150 cds, 14 of which are Pearl Jams. Ten single handedly helped me thru adolescences, and believe me, it wasn’t easy. My parents were going thru a divorce and I was struggling to find my place with having a disability. Not fun. I played Ten to escape, and there were many afternoons after school were I feel asleep listening to side two. Trying to belt out the lyrics in a way only Eddie can was it’s own twisted therapy too; loved his deep voice and how long he could hold a note. I had a blast trying to measure up. There’s nothing like throwing in your fav album, when there’s nobody around, and wailing out the lyrics.



I remember when Kurt died, I wasn’t surprised, his music seemed so unhappy. It was so obvious to me; this guy wasn’t just angry like Eddie, he was extremely depressed. I was worried about Eddie accepting fame, but I knew in my heart pj would make it. Damn right, they made it. I can’t imagine my world without them.

friends gave me tons of free copies of bootlegs in 2000....good times. summer bbqs to the sound of pearl jam.

welcome to the fold

I actually hated Pearl Jam when they blew up nationally. Cuz radio killed Jeremy and Alive and cuz I found the whole grunge fashion at school to be contrived - open flannel shirts over tee shirts, dingy jeans, etc. ... At the time, of the "alternative" scene, I liked Soundgarden and Alice in Chains way more.

But my freshman year college in 93, a guy across the hall had what was at the time a hard to find Pearl Jam bootleg - back when boots cost $60/up - that had covers of Fuckin Up, ROTFW and Baba O'Riley, and he'd blast that on his speakers, and I instantly fell in love with those versions. ... A few months later, we were in my dorm watching SNL for Pearl Jam (April of 94) - at his insistence, cuz he was a diehard fan - and they played "Not For You" off that album release. It was like a week after Cobain's death, and the lyrics, the simple but rockin' music and Ed's intensity sucked me in. Asked for Vitalogy for Xmas of 1995 and got it, and the rest is history. I listened to it a gazillion times, especially "NOthingman" and "Better Man", during a time when those lyrics directly related to my homelife situation.

For the record, I still like "Ten" the least of all their albums, although "Why Go" and "Release" are two of my favorite songs.

I'm not much into studio releases.I was at a friends about 7 years ago checking out his 5000+ cd library.I happened to see "Live on 2 Legs" & Seattle 11-6-2000,borrowed them and made me a believer.Next week will be my first show.

battan1120 wrote:

I'm not much into studio releases.I was at a friends about 7 years ago checking out his 5000+ cd library.I happened to see "Live on 2 Legs" & Seattle 11-6-2000,borrowed them and made me a believer.Next week will be my first show.

have an awesome time!

Considering I was only 8 years old when Ten came out, I haven't been there sicne the beginning. I was a casual fan during early teen years and after my first show with my older cousin in 2000, I was hooked. Started buying the bootlegs and began to realize just how fucking great this band is. The rest is history....

I knew them from the radio - probably not so much when Ten was released because i was only 8 - but mid to late 90s i knew about them and started to like them (more the radio hits and a couple of deeper tracks from cds that my brother had) - me and a group of my friends got tickets to see them at what was then the E Center in Camden (i also got tickets to night 2 with another group of people), so we had lawn seats, and the night before the show i get a knock on my back door, at the time my neighbor was one of the managers of the E Center, he said that two of his friends bailed on tickets that he got them and asked if i would want them............they turned out to be dead center, 20th row..............they opened with "sometimes" and as they say, the rest is history.......

I always liked PJ since Ten came out, but was never really a big fan. Then, a friend randomly took me to the 8-29-98 Camden show and the rest is history...

1993.. my friend forced them down my throat. I thought they sucked.

91 even flow, mike guitar and that strong strange voice never heard in music before.

some little divorce with yield, then totally inmerse with binaural and still