I'm ambivalent at best about the past 8 years of Pearl Jam, but this review seemed to serve only one purpose: piss off PJ fans. I mean, is this really the kind of thing that would make you happy if you were a record reviewer? "Woah, a bunch of folks who don't have much in common with me are full of shit?"

Argh.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-re ... rror.shtml

I mean, the guy actually goes so far as to blame PJ for the watered down versions of the band that came around after 1995. ???

KPH

I've never liked Pearl Jam

mmm...jujy fruits

no code = highly under A. Ted

Mark me down as one who has always thought Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Bad Religion and Killing Joke have all gotten a raw deal in Respectland. I like 'em.

i was too bored by the thrid paragraph to read on.

I don't think the reviewer has actually listened to any Pearl Jam album in its entirety since Ten. He goes on and on about classic rock earnestness and "lemming lighters held aloft." A good deal of Pearl Jam's songs the past decade have gone off on tangents that have little to do with what he describes in this review.

"Ham-fisted rock mode" is a thoroughly subjective concept and I'd argue that Pearl Jam have been one of the least ham-fisted arena rock bands of this past generation.

And some of the songs he ridicules I like. A lot.

Me too.

i like them but really can't get into their new stuff anymore. i could live without listening to ten again, but i'll pretty much always love vitalogy.

Me, too. 'cept you'd have to remove Killing Joke.

Me three.

PJ are allright. Not really my 'thing', but not ham-fisted hacks or whatever the dude is trying to say.

extremely meh on pearl jam. extremely.

I was a big Pearl Jam fan in high school (and even a little bit into college), but I still agree with the reviewer's assessment of some of the songs. At least that's how I fell about them now. Making fun of PJ is entirely too timely now, though, and it's totally a cheap shot.

I mean, I have a really hard time listening to Ten and Vs. now, but I try to keep things in perspective.

- i've always liked vedder's voice.
- never really, really got into Ten, but quite liked parts of Vs. and Vitalogy in high school.
- i think their attempts at change and experimentation aren't solely reserved for Eastern music infatuations.
- i always thought "spin the black circle" was plenty punk and full of indie record collector spirit, rather than 70s arena rock revivalism or does the reviewer discount the lyrics simply for being PJ lyrics?

anyhow, as with a lot of PFM things, i thought the review was needlessly hostile, betraying more anger and pissiness on the part of the reviewer than an honest "telling it how it is" review that he was clearly trying to capture.

so.

KPH

I like some Pearl Jam, but some of the songs I do like were left off Rearviewmirror while others that suck were added. Same with The Verve's best of.

To the point where I'm hoping for a solo album someday (the solo track "The Long Road" from the Dead Man Walking soundtrack being my favorite all-time PJ-related song). I have a feeling Vedder alone would come up with a much more diverse album than anything PJ's going to put out.

When is the last time anyone quoted here or on the board got all the way through one of the reviews at PFM? I visit the site about once a week and try and just like everyone else, clicked somewhere else by the third paragraph. I swear people just go there, look at the rating, and split.

have any of you guys who dont like Pearl Jam ever LISTENED to No Code or Yield? Live on Two Legs? Any of the Live albums they have been released? Not indie enough?

If you dont like them fine, but give them their due--they put out any song they want to, don't give a fuck about record sales, and sell out the houseand play their asses off EVERY night on the road.

Not that thats a reason to like them but im just curious if you are burying them without the full knowledge of their material and importance...

i read most pfm reviews all the way through. it's a disease i have, in part, like how i will happily be found reading my way through soldier of fortune at my grandpa's, or seventeen off of my sister's bedroom floor, or the fine print on the back of the air freshener can in the bathroom. shampoo bottles, for cripes sake!

on the other hand, i like pearl jam in theory but rarely in practice.