I saw Kim play a small club in Boston with Wayne Kramer as part of the MC5's 50th anniversary last year. Brendan Canty of Fugazi fame on drums. Pretty kick ass. Cameron is one of my favorite drummers, but feel his talent is wasted in Pearl Jam. Not a bad band by any stretch, just a tad bland for my tastes. Maybe a lot bland. Cornell was as talented as they come, and was aging gracefully. Higher Truth is a really solid album. I enjoyed it more so than King Animal, which was pretty good in it's own right. Always caught Cornell/SG when they came through Boston. They sure as **** don't make em like that anymore, and he/they are incredibly missed.
Aging gracefully is a perfect way to describe Cornell. I feel like he could have walked away from Soundgarden and done just about anything less taxing on his vocals. That's assuming SG was taxing on his vocals, that's my assumption.
I pretty much like everything Cornell did outside Soundgarden (with the exception of the Timbaland-produced solo album Scream which was a miscalculation). Was listening to Audioslave this week, I never gave their albums after the first one a fair shake, not sure where my head was at when they were coming out. Out Of Exile is quite a solid album, and may have some of Tom Morello's ballsiest guitar work. My friend bought me this compilation on vinyl a few years back. Probably not something I would have bought for myself, but I'm glad I have it. Nice overview of Chris' work overall. Though a few of the Soundgarden tracks they included sound like lossy sources: Chris Cornell - Chris Cornell Can't forget Chris' haunting and outstanding guest vocal on "Right Turn" when he linked up with Alice In Chains for their EP Sap. What a gem of a tune:
I certainly don’t want to dogpile Pearl Jam, but I’ve never liked them. Cameron is friends with all of them, though. He’s quite comfortable playing with them and I’m sure it pays well. Better than Soundgarden I’d bet. Brendan Canty is one of my favorite drummers, btw.
I never really liked Pearl Jam much either. Some of their earlier stuff was ok. They're still going strong and they seem to have a ton of fans though, so more power to them. Not many bands left from that era.
Chris Cornell co-wrote “The Message” on the Flotsam & Jetsam album Cuantro from 1992. Talk about an unlikely collaboration.
I find the in/out dynamic with Pearl Jam interesting. Seems to me a surprising amount of people who dig other 90s bands are indifferent to or outright dislike PJ, whereas those who are in are cultish in their fandom. Sometimes I feel like the only person that loves all of the big alternative 90s bands. Nirvana, PJ, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, STP... give me 'em all. They're all so great. Though, these days STP and Pearl Jam get the most run with me and Nirvana has fallen off quite a bit from where I once held them. As for Alice in Chains I actually listen to Duvall led AiC more than Staley led... heresy I know. Black Gives Way to Blue is such a good album.
I hear ya. Undeniably talented band. Love McCready in Temple of the Dog and Mad Season, and his playing was worth the price of admission when I saw PJ live. Just find their studio output a bit tame/safe for all the talent. Sweet fall back gig though, for sure. Canty’s a favorite of mine as well, so seeing a bit of Soundgarden mixed in with some Fugazi, another band I’m not likely to see again, was a no brainer. Cameron, Canty and Downey from Thin Lizzy are my personal favorite drummers.
Back in like ‘92-94, there was a big Nirvana vs Pearl Jam rivalry. A bit like Beatles & Stones? The jockos listened to Pearl Jam at my High School. The weirdos liked Nirvana. I bought into that bullsh!t at the time. Though I would hear tracks from Vitalogy and No Code that would fascinate me. I lost track of Pearl Jam after like Yield, but I actually bought Binaural on CD when it came out because I heard good things about it. Couldn’t tell you one song off that album now though. Also, not to derail my own thread here but I used to love Smashing Pumpkins, at least in the days of Gish and Siamese Dream. God how they became insufferable after that (I hated their double album—what a disappointment that was when it came out).
I basically got into Nirvana first, then Pearl Jam, then Soundgarden. After that came AIC, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Mad Season. The only ones I regularly spin are Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Huge soft spot for all these bands, though. Since is this an audiophile site, I’ll say this about Pearl Jam: go give the original pressing of Vitalogy a listen. Probably my favorite sounding record of the whole decade. The warmth, punch and atmosphere is transporting for me like no other record. Something about their amp sounds at the time are so gorgeous; there’s all this melancholy feedback throughout. Some hypnotic jams too. Bland it ain’t. But I can see how some read them that way. End rant!
I guess I'm just so separated from high school (both in time and my own headspace) that I tend to forget about such silly things as jocks vs weirdos. Also I was a bit of both so I never fully attached to one side anyway. High school... what a silly time of one's life. And don't bash Mellon Collie like that! Yeah it's bloated but live a little.
Was such a disappointment for me coming after the great psychedelic sounds of their earlier stuff. I remember my friend buying it when it came out and I was like “Is it good?” and he was like “..Ehhhhhhh.” Just saw the “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” video again the other day. What a bunch of cynical BS. That was never what the band was about to me. I thought that then, and still do. Sorry to dump on something you like. End rant!
It's all in good fun, my tone probably didn't come across in writing all that well. I actually agree for the most part but over time I've embraced it's over the top-ness. Siamese Dream really is where it's at though.
Recall that divide . Also, where I lived PJ had a lot more female fans, no doubt helped by Eddie's pin up grunge god looks and "sensitive" image. Admittedly almost of them dropped off after the 2nd album. I was always a Nirvana man, both the music and Kurt's aesthetic is more appealing. Saw PJ open for Neil Young in 1993 and wasn't impressed. But they deserve respect for keeping it together for so long and seem to be decent, adult people who treat each other well.
I like them all, too, but with caveats for a couple. Pearl Jam: I do like Ten but some of the songs have been really overplayed. I saw them on that your in a small club with a band called I Love You (great guitarist - Jeff Nolan). Beyond that, not fan of PJ. I totally get the Duvall thing as it’s newer while still retaining the spirit of the old band. All three Duvall albums are good to great. I’m a big fan of all of AiC, though. They’re friends of mine and a band I was in toured with them and Pantera for about six months. Smashing Pumpkins: I still love Gish but lost interest after that. I realize most fans love Siamese Dream, but it didn’t resonate with me. Nothing else has, either. I was lucky enough to catch them on the Gish tour. A very small club with Paw and Reverend Horton Heat opening. As for the rest, a big fan of almost all of them. The 90’s alt metal scene was kind of my deal. Cheers.
Don't worry, there are plenty of us about!! Re-AIC. Agree on Duvall. I thought Ranier Fog was/is a brilliant record. Saw the tour+they were brilliant. It was a great era for music...
I must add, beyond my bad editing this morning, that when I saw Pearl Jam they had just changed their name from Mookie Blaylock, so it was very early on. Anyway, back to Soundgarden and sorry for the detour.
That’s a good one. “Overfloater” is my favorite from that album. In fact, Screaming Life/FOPP - Nothing to Say Ultramega OK - Flower Louder Than Love - Hands All Over Badmotorfinger - Holy Water Superunknown - Fresh Tendrils Down on the Upside - Overfloater
