How did you first get into pearl jam?

Anon · June 2008

when was the first time you heard pearl jam? how'd ya get into them??

me, being the youngster that i am (Ten came out when i was a baby) got into them just about 9 months ago or so. i wasn't a big fan at the time, but i knew the song jeremy. one day i was listening to it, and was thinking, 'wow, this band kicks major butt'. looked up some of there other songs and have been hooked ever since

eddie's voice, the lyrics & the guitar just draws you in.i was hooked. aint nobody like pearl jam!

pj forever!!

blondieblue227 · June 2008

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.

LukinFan · June 2008

2 words-

NO CODE

JordyWordy · June 2008

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

dbh · June 2008

One day, one of my students was at the computer with me, and she showed me the 'Jeremy' video. Needless to say, I was blown away! I'm now up to 11 Pearl Jam songs that I bought on iTunes! Awesome stuff!

SweetAndLow · June 2008

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.

SweetAndLow · June 2008

oops

battan1120 · June 2008

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.

Staceb10 · June 2008

At my first show in WPB 1998. A girl I worked with had won tickets from a radio station and couldn't use them. I like concerts in general so when she offered them to me for 15 bucks each my friend and I took them. It was at the time one of the best shows I had ever seen and I started to listen to more of their stuff and it just went from there. I was a late bloomer. I didn't really listen to that type of music in the early 90's.

blondieblue227 · June 2008

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!

jeffwmartin · June 2008

I heard "Even Flow" in 1992 and bought the album a few days later. At the time, I actually was a bigger Soundgarden fan, but PJ eventually won me over.

Indifference71 · June 2008

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....

DeLukin · June 2008

jeffwmartin wrote:

I heard "Even Flow" in 1992 and bought the album a few days later. At the time, I actually was a bigger Soundgarden fan, but PJ eventually won me over.

Same (almost) with me. Although, I transitioned from metal to Alice in Chains, but when I saw the Evenflow video on MTV circa '92 ish I was hooked...

armsraisedinavee · June 2008

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.......

RockMama · June 2008

http://www.kyte.tv/ch/71729-on-the-road-with-pearl-jam/153052-debra

secondhandsmoke · June 2008

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...

halszka123 · June 2008

'91. Alive on MTV. I had to get this video. Between Guns'n'Roses clips, over 3 hours video tape, I recorded Alive.
Two years later. With my first boyfriend I bought illegal (then were only illegal tapes in Poland) Temple of the Dog in Katowice on a railway station's shop. I tried to get it from 2 years, and finally I did. But, besides "Hunger strike" I didn't like it. I was too immature for this music.
A few months later. Spring.I borrowed Ten from my classmate (funny, she was ex girlfriend to this boy, with who I bought TOTD). And I fell in love with the music.
I can clearly remember the moment I took the tape from her hands. It was sunny day, we stayed in front of the main door of our school, between blossoming magnolias. Strange thing - usually I haven't got good memory.

LikeAnOcean · June 2008

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

Eisi · June 2008

My brother turned me on to them...

He did vocals in a band back in the day, when PJ were really getting big and he blatantly copied Mr. Vedder

Was sooooo cool back then but sounds horrible today hehe.

Anywhoooo i liked PJ but didn't start to obsess about them until about '99.

Was listening to RVM of Vs. when it dawned upon me that this band was just awesome. Started reading everything i could find on them and listening to everything they had recorded.

Today, nine years later, iv'e spent a fortune on shows, LP's, Cd's and merchandise and i just can't seem to get enough

eduardo · June 2008

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

LeilaMoonTurtle · June 2008

at my bf's apt watching tv, alive video came on mtv and I thought, hmm he kinda looks like Frank (bf), I put the volume up heard the guitar then ED and poof I was hooked.

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

adam42381 · 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

How did you first get into pearl jam?

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