Learning PJ

Cahoots · December 2008

I am glad to say I was lucky enough to get in on the early days of Pearl Jam's career when I was 18. I evolved with the band over time. The No Code and Yeild days remain my favorite times as a fan. (jack irons maybe?)

I often wonder about new fans? Whats the process? Where did you get in? Was it your older brother? Did you buy the last record and go backwards? Did you catch on from the classic rock stuff and work your way up?

not for me? · December 2008

Nice I get to tell my music story!

When I was about 8 years old I would say, I was only exposed to pop-music, like N-sync...

I had never been satisfied with any of the music I had heard up to this point, and thought i just didn't like music. One day my brother and I were watching T.V., and I heard some great voice with guitar like I have never heard before. My brother only stayed on that channel for a few seconds before changing it, and refused to change it back. I am almost 99% sure now, this was Nirvana. So now I knew that I liked some music, but I didn't know what it was.

Fast Forward 3 years. I start liking Blink-182, and Offspring somewhat but not a lot. I would listen to these bands just so I could say I listened to music ans not bean outcast. For a brief period after that I think I like Linkin Park...ewww.

Then in 8th grade I feel really unsatisfied with life, and sitting at my computer one day I decide that I need good music. I go on limewire and download all the songs by all the rock bands I can think of (Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, Metallica). Just like all the biggest names in rock that I could think of. At this point in time I still didn't really know Pearl jam existed except for I had heard the name.

My friend then introduced me to grunge. I went my first semester in 9th grade with only listening to Nirvana. This is when I got my first Pearl Jam, AIC, and Soundgarden too. I soon got tired of only Nirvana and started listening more to other bands. I got into Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and The Who a lot. By this time I was actually buyng CDs of a lot of bands. Then I started listening to pearl Jam a lot in the beginning of 10th grade.

Now I love Pearl Jam, with also loving Screaming Trees, CCR and the Who, but with PJ being way on top!:D

That's my story

McCreadyFan · December 2008

for me it was listening to Jeremy, Alive, Even Flow and Black on the radio that made me decide to buy Rearviewmirror. Greatest decision ever. From there I downloaded all their stuff, which led me to buying the rest of the discography.

landstreicher · December 2008

McCreadyFan wrote:

From there I downloaded all their stuff, which led me to buying the rest of the discography.

nice to read, that you were bying the albums later...
I can´t stand people downloading music even from there favourite bands and don´t want to give away money for the musicians work!!!
Cause it is still work, creative work, but in the end their profession!!

washedinblack91 · December 2008

i dunno if i belong here or not, i'm kind of in the middle...
see, ten came out when i was 3 (well technically 2, my birthday was in sept) and so i didn't really care that much, i was more into aerosmith and the police (my mom's doing. my favorite song at that time was janie's got a gun). my mom would leave the radio on when we would drive places so i listened to what was on that year, which was pj, nirvana, soundgarden, things like that. i remember at an early age i always liked pj, though i didnt know who they were at the time. it wasn't until i was 12 that i declared pearl jam my favorite band. i would always listen to the radio and tried figuring out who my favorite band was cuz hey, shouldn't everyone have a favorite band? so i thought to myself and realized that i knew more pearl jam songs than any other band. so basically, because my mother refused to listen to more children oriented music and put on rock radio stations, i got into pearl jam. i chose them from the other bands that i could have gotten into, like godsmack, my first choice for favorite band (which got quickly turned down when my dad saw the parental advisor sticker on the cd. hey, those really do serve some sort of purpose

). i've liked them for years, ever since ten, but i didn't actually get into them until middle school, so i had a lot of backtracking to do, since that was when binaural came out so i had a lot of albums that i've missed in between. it's almost like i loved the band, then went on hiatus for like 10 years, and had to go back and discover everything i missed.

oh, and like not for me? i was also into "crappy" bands like n*sync, backstreet boys, every other boy band, and of course the spice girls! gotta love em

Thoughts_Arrive · December 2008

4 or 5 years ago I think, downloaded Ten & Vs.
Then I bought these albums.
Then after a while downloaded No Code & Yield.
Fell in love at that point, and purchased everything they got almost.

pjamaholic · December 2008

I got in after Yield, which was my first album of theirs, and have never looked back. Wish I'd discovered them sooner.

not for me? · December 2008

washedinblack91 wrote:

oh, and like not for me? i was also into "crappy" bands like n*sync, backstreet boys, every other boy band, and of course the spice girls! gotta love em

Haha! I remember singing "If You Wanna Be My Lover".

The Spice Girls were hot! And the fastest way to a girl's heart was through the Spice Girls back in 1st grade. That's how I got my first girlfriend.

TheDecline13 · December 2008

My god this thread is making me feel fucking old!

giventofly0812 · December 2008

saw the jeremy vma performance on vh1 and got hooked, then the live shows began for me, and i was addicted

Anon · December 2008

i got into PJ in May of this year... in short, (cause i could probably make this very long & boring...), i've always kinda-sorta known of 'jeremy',and every time it would occaisionally come on, i'd say to myself 'hey-- i really like this!!' after hearing it one random time, i decided to check out what else the band did. i went on this website, browsed around sites, checked out their albums, and a month later, i joined the pit and was HOOKED on everything and anything PJ!!! i really love loving this band. they really are unlike any band out there. i'm proud to be keeping PJ alive (if you will....) and well in the younger generation!
LONG LIVE PEARL JAM!!

youngster · December 2008

I remeber in late 91 my friend telling me about a new band from Seattle called Pearl Jam. I remember seeing the Jeremy video on MTV a couple days later and was in awe of how great it was. I was on a field trip in school in 92 and remember drawing a comic strip to the song Jeremy on the school bus which I think I still have somewhere. Also, when I bought Vs, I paid cash and one of the $1 bills had the Evenflow lyrics written EXACTLY as they were on the Ten liner notes. I remember my attention to detail as a 11 year old was keen and the thought of defacing money for the sake of PJ was worth it. Still waiting to see if I get that dollar bill back someday.

kara5419 · December 2008

Let's see...I am 20 so for me it started when i was about 13 (2002ish). my dad has Alive on a CD he made and would always play it when we we're driving somewhere. I kept asking him who sings that song and he said Pearl Jam. The funny thing is my dad is not a huge PJ fan at all he just liked the song. Then i heard Small Town and was like " i didn't know PJ sang this song too!" Same thing with betterman. So i stole my dads Ten album and listened to that for a while. When i bought Rearview Mirrior is when i started to really "get" PJ. Songs like dissident, Light Years, I am Mine..etc just got me hooked. I saw them in 2006 and when they ended with YLB with the lights on and the place was still packed i was just speechless....

What i love so much about the band is i am always finding something new with them. They never satisfy me as my love for them keeps growing. I always find a new way to fall in love with them. I never get tired of them as a new song or new bootleg sparks my interest. Riot Act grew on me big time and it might be my favorite album

what does suck is that no one i have ever come across except maybe 3 people listen to PJ. I always go on and on about them to my friends but they don't care. I just want to vent and talk about Pearl Jam for hours with someone who gets it. I guess that's the beauty of it because it's like my secret obsession.........

kara5419 · December 2008

ha ha i know right...I really think the best kind of people are PJ fans

GrungeRock1991 · December 2008

Cahoots wrote:

I am glad to say I was lucky enough to get in on the early days of Pearl Jam's career when I was 18. I evolved with the band over time. The No Code and Yeild days remain my favorite times as a fan. (jack irons maybe?)

I often wonder about new fans? Whats the process? Where did you get in? Was it your older brother? Did you buy the last record and go backwards? Did you catch on from the classic rock stuff and work your way up?

Haha, I wish my older bro liked them, but he reallys dislikes them. My father got me into them like he did a bunch of other Great bands. He gave me Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy, and I was hooked. I bought the rest over a span of a few months. Love those ones too. I was born 12/28/91, so I'm sad to say I have not been able to grow up with them like you. But I would have been right there with you man!

canadajammer · December 2008

I was bout 15 or 16 years old at the time, when I first heard about Pearl Jam from my brother. I really liked some of the songs, so I went out and bought the Toronto 2000 boot from the music store. Sometimes, Insignificance, Black, Baba O'reilly were all great from that show...

Anyway, I was hooked on that one album and I haven't looked back since.

slightlystoned · December 2008

I do remember in 96 or 97 when i was 8 or 9 listening to the radio( mainly 99x here in Atlanta) and hearing EvenFlow, Jeremy, and Black. I did not know who sang these songs at the time. I can remember when Last Kiss was all over the radio, even though I wasnt a fan of it that much. In 2001, my uncle, a PJ fan from the beginning, came to visit from Seattle where he lives. He brought me all of the 2000 boots because I had expressed an interest in PJ in a phone conversation. I was hooked from the time I put the first one in the cd player. I actually didnt purchase an album until 2003 when my uncle again gave me the boots from 03'. Even though Im not proud of it now, I downloaded all their albums but have actually purchased all of them since. They will always be my number one.

Brez · December 2008

Cahoots wrote:

I am glad to say I was lucky enough to get in on the early days of Pearl Jam's career when I was 18. I evolved with the band over time. The No Code and Yeild days remain my favorite times as a fan. (jack irons maybe?)

I often wonder about new fans? Whats the process? Where did you get in? Was it your older brother? Did you buy the last record and go backwards? Did you catch on from the classic rock stuff and work your way up?

I got into them in like '04 when I found Ten (I'm only 17). From there I just bought everything I could by them, and at first I wasn't into the newer stuff. As my taste for music grew I got into it, really into it.

But I would KILL to have seen PJ in '98, definitely my favorite period of the band's history as well.

I hate to say it, but Ed's voice ain't what it used to be.

greaticedtea · December 2008

i knew of them since i was really young, my brothers were into them. i think my middle bro had a stickman shirt back in the day. i really had no interest in the band for a long time though.

fast forward to my middle school/high school years and i'm listening to heavy stuff but start to expand my taste a little more. my buddy is playing some PJ in his car and i decide to give them a chance. picked up rearviewmirror a few months later after borrowing some of my bros cds and the rest is history.

thecory · December 2008

I always liked them but I became a huge fan when they played a concert on the radio. it was at jones beach in 2000. i was 14. after that they were tops.

edit: does anyone else remember that? my cousin was there but I rememer sitting on my bed with the radio. it was so exciting. the dj , maybe booker, coming on and talkin about what they were wearing and stuff as they came on. the whole thing was so cool.

Stu42 · December 2008

January of 2006 i heard word that Pearl Jam was releasing a new album, and despite the fact that i hardly listened to pearl jam, i was excited about it. I had bought ten years ago, but i was too young to really get it.
Anyway, I got pretty excited about this album, even though at the time i wasn't really into music beyond the occasional album. Got the avocado, and was obsessed with it. It was exactly what i wanted in music and i started searching out more.
Talked to one of my friends about it, and it turned out he was a huge pearl jam fan, so he burned me copies of vitalogy and vs, and from that point on theyve been my favorite band, eventually buying all the studio albums (and now my first vinyl). Since then been able to convert a couple other into hardcore fans, and made plenty of other people recognize the greatness. PJ made me a fan and music lover for life.

Learning PJ

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