Pearl Jam Then and Now

Today's Pearl Jam is produced by die-hard fans who are half the age of the members. They are ready for another long tour.

AP PHOTO/ALBERTO PEZZALI

From left to right: Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder, and Matt Cameron from Pearl Jam perform at BST Hyde Park event in London, England, on Friday (8/7/2022).

The 12th studio album, Dark Matter, feels like full of self-acceptance for the Pearl Jam personnel, that they are no longer fueled by teenage anger, but have not forgotten their origins as a rock band. It feels like they don't want to be just a nostalgia band. The love of a die-hard fan restored their songwriting spontaneity.

It's hard to write about Pearl Jam without comparing it to Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. These four names are "ambassadors" for the image of music rock with a darker nuance originating from Seattle, Washington, United States. They emerged in the same era, from the same city, and reaped success like a collective work.

That's perhaps a piece of the story that is constantly repeated when talking about the ”grunge” genre; a term created by the mass media for an alternative rock group from Seattle at that time. Because it is generic, the lifespan of this genre is short. Kurt Cobain's death in 1994 was like the flag at half mast for grunge. The bands or albums that appeared after Cobain's death felt like repetitions of the formula of the four big bands.

Three decades later, only two names remain, namely Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. During the same thirty years, Pearl Jam consistently produced new albums. The songs are usually accompanied by long world tours. Pearl Jam seems to refuse to be called a nostalgic band that doesn't need to write new songs anymore.

Fans still yearn for iconic songs performed on stage, such as "Alive", "Jeremy", "Betterman", "Do the Evolution", or "Spin the Black Circle" which once won a Grammy. However, from year to year, these classic numbers are juxtaposed with the latest songs such as "1/2 Full", "Lightning Bolt", or "Dance of the Clairvoyant" from the 2020 album Gigaton.

AP PHOTO/ALBERTO PEZZALI

Pearl Jam performed at the BST Hyde Park event in London, UK on Friday (8/7/2022). From left to right: Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder, Matt Cameron, and Stone Gossard.

The experience of watching Pearl Jam, as depicted in the documentary film Pearl Jam: Let's Play Two (2017), always attracts fans coming back and coming again. In the film, it is told that Pearl Jam fans always come from various parts of the world. Watching once is never enough.

The situation has strengthened the bond between Pearl Jam and their fans. There are few rock bands these days that still attract audiences from Argentina even when their concert is in Portugal, but Pearl Jam is one of them.

"We and the audience seem to have a special bond, like brothers who occasionally meet," said guitarist and vocalist Eddie Vedder (59) when interviewed by The Ringer. The new song is like a souvenir from that "distant relative". Therefore, Pearl Jam is still consistently making albums.

Also read: Pearl Jam's Long Road

The 12th album was launched on April 19 with the title Dark Matter. The first song on air has the same title as the album. That was the initial greeting from Eddie Vedder and his friends to their fans.

The song opened with a continuous thump from Matt Cameron (61). It feels like it's been a long time since the band opened a song with drums after "In My Tree". The song from the 1996 album No Code still features the drumming of Jack Irons, an early member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But the tempo of "Dark Matter" is more passionate.

The drum pattern in the intro is immediately accompanied by shreds of Jeff Ament's (60) bass covered in distortion. Suddenly it felt like the sound in the song sounded expensive. You really feel the maturity of the sound mix in the studio. The sound of Stone Gossard's rhythm guitar (57) and the melody of Mike McCready (57) further strengthen that impression. Separation between instruments is clearly audible.

AP PHOTO/ANDRE PENNER

Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder performs during a concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 3, 2011.

Producer role

The neat sound production is reminiscent of Vedder's solo album Earthling (2022). The album was produced by Andrew Watt. So, Watt is the producer of the album Dark Matter. In several interviews, Watt was praised by band members as important figures who held them together.

"He is a skilled worker. Much younger than us. He is 33 years old. "He's got an amazing ear, and he can play guitar too," McCready told Goldmine magazine. Watt, he said, sometimes gave strict orders. "It doesn't matter as long as he has a clear vision to unite us as a better band," continued McCready.

Watt's connection to the band is interesting. He admitted to being a big fan of Pearl Jam after hearing his brother's Ten album. “Maybe my mother was giving birth to me when they wrote the song 'Release,'” Watt told Rolling Stone. Since hearing the album Ten , around the age of 10, Watt was immediately obsessed with this band.

"I have probably watched their concerts more than anyone else. It's around 40 times. I have every merchandise of theirs. My favorite concert was when they performed in Philadelphia on Halloween night in 2009," he said.

He is 33 years old. He's got an amazing ear, and he can play the guitar too,

Watt, as McCready knows, was previously a producer for pop artists such as Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and 5 Seconds of Summer. He started to enter the rock scene in 2020 when Ozzy Osbourne recruited him for the album Ordinary Man. His name became stronger in the seasoned rock scene by working on Iggy Pop's albums Every Loser and Hackney Diamonds from the Rolling Stones.

In between these big productions, Watt worked on a solo album by Vedder, his idol. Due to luck, Watt was recruited to accompany Vedder's touring band along with drummer Chad Smith, Glen Hansard, and Josh Klinghoffer. That work made McCready nod his head to Watt as Pearl Jam's new producer. And, Watt succeeded in "forcing" McCready to create melodies for all the songs.

Luck as a hardcore fan also had a good impact on the band. Watt seems to know how to direct these uncles in working on songs. Please note, all Dark Matter material was written in the studio simultaneously between the band and producer. Vedder or Gossard did not bring any preparatory material like they did on the last few albums.

Also read: ”Gigaton” Pearl Jam's New Album About How Fragile We Are

Some songs are reminiscent of the past. The number "React, Respond" can bring old fans memories of the song "Whipping" from the album Vitalogy (1994). Also check out the dimmer “Upper Hands” like “Nothing as It Seems” (2000). There are also fun, melodic songs like "Wreckage" which are fun for the guitar like "Nothingman" (1994).

If we can compare, the band's chemical bond with Andrew Watt feels stronger than with Josh Evens on the album Gigaton. Ah, I can already imagine hearing the song "Dark Matter" performed at a concert. As you read this, Pearl Jam is starting a North American tour. Next November, they visit Australia. Interested in going or hoping they will stop by in Indonesia?