Speaking as a child of the 90's.....

Mikee J · February 2012

.....I'm curious to know how new PJ fans first got into this great band of ours. It's pretty clear that new fans discover the delights of the boys all the time and I'd love to hear how it happened. Being a part of the Seattle explosion (albeit from Blighty), it was kind of a given that I am still a fan after all these years. Perhaps some new fans discovered PJ when Backspacer came out? or a show on a recent tour with a friend or family member? The moment you discover this band must be a special one, then to start listening to all the back catalogue for the first time must be mindblowing!!

I got talking to someone about this recently and it dawned on me that people are still discovering the power and emotion of this great musical institution all the time.. I'd love to hear about it

The thought of listening to No Code or Yield now and for the first time kinda makes me jealous to be honest!!

Yield98 · February 2012

Lived in a rural area growing up. Radio didn't really play any of their stuff. Heard Daughter on the radio...loved it!!! Visited family in Arizona and asked a friend from Phoenix if he heard of Daughter. Takes me to his room and his walls are covered in PJ pictures and articles. We spent the rest of the trip listening to PJ and I have been hooked ever since!! Great memories

conman · February 2012

2003, i was 17. my older sister had an extra ticket to the first MSG show, she asked if i wanted to go, i said yes.... the rest is history

Jamminonthe1 · February 2012

conman wrote:

2003, i was 17. my older sister had an extra ticket to the first MSG show, she asked if i wanted to go, i said yes.... the rest is history

That's one hell of an introduction to the band...

Mikee J · February 2012

conman wrote:

2003, i was 17. my older sister had an extra ticket to the first MSG show, she asked if i wanted to go, i said yes.... the rest is history

Bet you are still buzzing now!! What was the first album you heard after that show?

conman · February 2012

Jamminonthe1 wrote:

conman wrote:

2003, i was 17. my older sister had an extra ticket to the first MSG show, she asked if i wanted to go, i said yes.... the rest is history

That's one hell of an introduction to the band...

yes it was

nothing_man_92 · February 2012

I only discovered pearl jam in early 2009. My two favourite bands at the time were nirvana and alice in chains and I was obsessed with the whole Seattle thing but had never listened to pearl jam. When the ten redux came out one of my friends told me that I had to buy it so I went out and got it and fell in love from the first time I watched the unpugged DVD

after seeing my first show in late 2009 i was absolutly hooked and can't remener the last time I've gone a day without listnening to at least one pearl jam somg

Mikee J · February 2012

nothing_man_92 wrote:

I only discovered pearl jam in early 2009. My two favourite bands at the time were nirvana and alice in chains and I was obsessed with the whole Seattle thing but had never listened to pearl jam. When the ten redux came out one of my friends told me that I had to buy it so I went out and got it and fell in love from the first time I watched the unpugged DVD after seeing my first show in late 2009 i was absolutly hooked and can't remener the last time I've gone a day without listnening to at least one pearl jam somg

Wow, thats amazing. To be a fan of Nirvana and AIC and not have listened to PJ. Better late than never! Love it that it was Ten that you listened to first..... its only right really

RedMosquito22 · February 2012

I know I go back to the beginning but seeing "Alive" on MTV got me right away. It's been one hell of a ride ever since.

uninnocent- · February 2012

Met a girl in high school who loved Pearl Jam. Saw the Do the Evolution video. Bought Yield. Loved Yield. Bought Ten, realized I knew Alive, Evenflow and Jeremy. Completed the collection, and started downloading live tracks at the request of said girl and burning them onto CD for her (I was the only one she knew with a CD burner). Missed their '98 show in Barrie. Joined the Pearl Jam BBS, realized I wasn't obsessed enough. Learned more about the band and their music, and became known as the guy that was obsessed with PJ amongst my friends. Saw them live for the first time on October 5 2000, and never looked back.

I should add that I was an AIC and Soundgarden fan prior, so I would have naturally gotten into them at some point, even without crushing on that girl.

penny lane2 · February 2012

I was on vacation with my parents in Florida and bought the cassette Ten while I was there since I liked Even Flow that had just came out and needed something new to listen to. I was blown away by how awesome the whole album was. Needless to say, Ten was on constant repeat on my sony walkman as I looked out onto the ocean that whole vacation. Loved them ever since.

NothingBetterThanLeatherman · February 2012

Outside of alive and black they didnt play much of them in the NY area when I listened to the radio. I read in 08 in the newspaper how they broke the rules at the garden and played for 3 hrs and that made me interested that a band had the courage to do that so it made me want to see them. And that I heard they didnt just play hits. My dad won tickets on the radio to see them at the first night in philly and I went even though I had swine flu. that night is still played in my head from time to time. I was blown away and hooked since

uninnocent- · February 2012

NothingBetterThanLeatherman wrote:

Outside of alive and black they didnt play much of them in the NY area when I listened to the radio. I read in 08 in the newspaper how they broke the rules at the garden and played for 3 hrs and that made me interested that a band had the courage to do that so it made me want to see them. And that I heard they didnt just play hits. My dad won tickets on the radio to see them at the first night in philly and I went even though I had swine flu. that night is still played in my head from time to time. I was blown away and hooked since

Love it. Full immersion right away.

JonnyPistachio · February 2012

Then there's the new crop of born-again-pearljamists.
I have a few friends/acquaintances that said they lost track of PJ after Vitalogy (common, i suppose).
So I burned them Yield and made them watch SVT...born-again!

PNuttyJam · February 2012

14 years old - 8th grade - 1992 - Even Flow video - MTV

I can still vividly remember standing in front of my friend's "big screen" tv completely slack-jawed at what I was hearing and seeing.

MaxGoldenrod · February 2012

Like many, I heard Alive/Jeremy/Black on the radio back in the beginning and liked it, but didn't really get into them until some friends and I were on a road trip to a playoff basketball game and listened to Vs the whole way there and back. I went out the next weekend and bought 10 and Vs.

I'm like some others who kinda lost track of them after Vitalogy, and when they came to Indy in 2000 and I had the opportunity to see them live for the 1st time, I was hooked again. Have been ever since.

curly · February 2012

way cool stories...makes me want to ask my cousin exactly how he became such a big fan...
wanna say he's been hooked for about 4 years now but...

we've actually met up a show a few years ago...

he knows i've been hooked since 92' (sorry cant claim any earlier)...

but,..way way cool stories

Mikee J · February 2012

Just imagine you heard PJ for the first time last week! ALL THAT AMAZING MUSIC.

countonbothhands · February 2012

I moved to Seattle from Oreagon in 1989. Was really into music. Was out alot, going to see shows by the posies, hammerbox, inflatable soule, alice n chains, etc. However, my favorite music was that of Pearl Jam. I liked Ten, but I loved Vs. I have been a devoted fan ever since. Sadly, I have never had the opportunity to see Pearl Jam live. I buy alot of bootlegs and live performance dvd's, but it just can't be the same. Someday, the planets will alighn and God will part the crowds and I will be waiting with a ticket in hand to see my favorite band live. Pray for me all you lucky fans who have been fortunate enough to see them live. Someday my friends, someday.

Berasapj · February 2012

2010-18 years old

I listened to corduroy years before I discovered Corduroy through WWE magazine, forget a little bit about it, then fall in love with Nirvana, the next natural step was PJ, I loved Once and Ten at the same time hard times came to my life and they rescued me and ever since I've been obsessed.

They have been my stone on the middle of the storm

javis el errante · February 2012

I didn't listen to the at the time, I started in the late 90's, never been a radio fan, I stopped listening to the radio in 2001, the showed I liked had been cancelled, my source of new info was MTV, remember MTV when they aire videos? The local cable company was just starting, they have the MTV Brazil signal, dunno when it started, it was late 91, of course Nevermind was a major success, but not Ten at that time, at least not in Argentina, I liked the video for Even Flow, I recognized them from the Temple of the Dog video, which was pretty cool as well, that was the only way to see the bands, or listen to their songs, I wasn't into radio, juts my tapes, vinyls and CDs, at the time I liked SG and AIC better, but Ten had such huge success that they kept playing all four PJ videos from TEN, so I got into it, but I purchased Ten in early 93, but by that time I had all the AIC, SG, TOTD, RHCP, and Nirvana CD's in existence, which weren't that many...

I'd like to read about the first time Rehab Doll listened to PJ...

kramer73 · February 2012

I was in college from 1991-95, the best time to hear new music. Saw the videos on MTV, went to the record shop in the fall of 93 with a friend and bought Vs. on tape, since I didn't have a cd player.

As with everyone else, the rest is history...although I didn't see them live until October of 2000.

lawguy · February 2012

I was born in 1980, so about 11 or 12 when Ten came out....and I totally ignored it. I just did not care about music at that time in my life. I remember one of my sisters thinking Eddie was hot so I clearly remember watching the Jeremy video multiple times.

Fast forward a couple years, I still am not that into music. Much preferred sports, movies, other pop culture, etc. But my sister has Vitology and plays it a lot when it came out. My room was right next to hers and I remember hearing Better Man and hoping she would play that song again. I stole a mix tape of hers (yes, this was at the tail end of mix tapes, just before the recordable CD's made their mark) that had Daughter on it and I loved that too. Despite liking 2 of their bigger, radio-friendly hits, I still didn't think much about it.

Then comes my freshman year of college in 1998. I bought my first CD player for my dorm room and I think I bought a DMB and U2 cd just to have some kind of entertainment (and I figured girls would like it if I found myself entertaining some in my room. Sadly, I pretty much did not). A guy moved in to the room next door to me and he had a pretty big CD collection and let me borrow some from time to time. I remember listening to the first Creed album at the time and thinking it had a couple of good songs....uggghhh. Soon after, I borrowed Ten. To this day, I have yet to return the CD back to my buddy. Later that year I bought Yield, my first official PJ album that I owned, and loved that too. Then I went and grabbed Vs, Vitology and No Code from my sister because she did not really listen to them any more...her loss.

That summer of 1999 (I think it was), I go see my first show at Alpine Valley. I remember being surprised they didnt close with, or even play, Jeremy because I thought that was their biggest hit and all bands play their biggest hit in concert. I think it my 20 or so shows, I have heard Jeremy played all of one time.

12 years later I get to see them at PJ20 in the place where I first saw them live. Lots of fun.

Its funny, I am still not a music lover. Pretty much the only music I buy is PJ. But for whatever reason, I love it.

mfc2006 · February 2012

my oldest sister was in art school in Kansas City, while I was in jr. high in Houston. she knew that i liked Soundgarden & knew they were from Seattle. she heard PJ's Ten cassette at a party & immediately thought of me. she asked the host to make her a copy & they did. 3 days later, my mind was blown. i still have that tape.

Mamasan23 · February 2012

I was into much heavier music like Pantera and COC when PJ came out and pretty much shunned the entire 'alternative' movement that was going on. Thought it was pansy crap and I despised PJ just on sole principle...even though I never gave them a good listen :oops:

My sister was totally into them and forced me to watch their performance on the Mtv music awards ('92 maybe) when they played Jeremy. Their performance honestly blew me away and I've been obsessed ever since!

78FLH · February 2012

dmpoints wrote:

I moved to Seattle from Oreagon in 1989. Was really into music. Was out alot, going to see shows by the posies, hammerbox, inflatable soule, alice n chains, etc. However, my favorite music was that of Pearl Jam. I liked Ten, but I loved Vs. I have been a devoted fan ever since. Sadly, I have never had the opportunity to see Pearl Jam live. I buy alot of bootlegs and live performance dvd's, but it just can't be the same. Someday, the planets will alighn and God will part the crowds and I will be waiting with a ticket in hand to see my favorite band live. Pray for me all you lucky fans who have been fortunate enough to see them live. Someday my friends, someday.

Just hang in there and it will happen.

iammine16 · February 2012

Watching them perform "Alive" and "Porch" on SNL in 1992 did it for me. I was 11 at the time, and when I saw that I was instantly obsessed! After that I never missed buying an album on the day it was released!

aennil · February 2012

It is very interesting to read all of your different first-time-PJ-experiences

I'm one of the new kids around here - and yes, it is mindblowing to hear a Pearl Jam-album for the first time!

Nearly a year ago, I was working late at my school, listening to the Into the Wild soundtrack, loving it and really loving the voice of the singer... Made me wonder who he was. So I searched on Wikipedia, and what do you know: this Eddie Vedder-fellow is the singer of the American rock band called Pearl Jam. I knew the band by name, but I did not know that when Eddies voice is combined with the music of Jeff, Stone, Mike and Matt, magic appears!
...I must admit I probably wasn't very efficient on that particular schoolday...But instead I have been given a musical rollercoasterride I wouldn't trade for anything in the world

The first album I listened to was Ten, and I couldn't explain why, but beside from being fantastic and quickly put on repeat, it also seemed oddly familiar...I have two older brothers, who were in their teens/late teens in the beginning of the 90's. I was only a little girl at the time, not caring much about music. But I have later found out that they both had a Ten-cd, and were playing it non-stop in my childhood-home - which is probably why Ten seemed so familiar to me

capthowdy1027 · February 2012

I was hooked from the time they started playing Alive on MTV and the radio. I was about 10 years old at the time :shock:

I bought Ten right away and I've bought every album on the day of release since then. I still have my Ten and Five Against One cassettes somewhere in a box in the basement and Vitalogy was the first one that I bought on CD.

Other than my mom and a couple of friends, nothing has been apart of my life as long as Pearl Jam has. 2/3 of my life I've been listening to this band.

pj0705 · February 2012

Ironically i was 10 wen Ten came out. I was an MTV junkie already and the Alive/Evenflow videos got me. I remember going to summer camp and only listening to my Ten and Nevermind tapes exclusively. I still have both tapes! Fortunately for me neither tape had a parental advisory sticker otherwise I wouldnt have been able to get them haha

RiotZact · February 2012

Long but great story, I was born in 1992 and my parents were only 18 at the time so my dad and uncle were big fans and played it all the time, they both still lived with my grandma and slept in the same room where my crib was, if I would wake up before them in the morning I would smack my crib off of the wall over and over screaming "Po Jam Po Jam" and I wouldn't shut up until they either woke up for the day or turned on the stereo

My uncle also has a video of me still in diapers in the front seat of his car holding on the steering wheel jumping up and down to Why Go..........

Then I quit liking them, actually I can't recollect liking them until 2009 when I bought rock band 2 and within a few days Alive was one of my favorite songs to play, my stepdad noticed (he used to be a fan) so he started showing me youtube clips and such and I liked it, so I bought the greatest hits album and within the month I had all the albums ordered from eBay, since then me and my uncle have went and saw PJ twice and EV twice and I can't wait for more! Out of my dad, uncle, and stepdad my uncle is the only one that really stayed a hardcore fan, he's now seen them 6 times plus the 2 EV solo

Speaking as a child of the 90's.....

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