i was having a discussion recently where the question was posed...would you rather go to a PJ concert or STP (not the current version, but the OG one with weiland). part of the discussion also involved going to a counting crows concert vs matchbox 20, but thats for another thread! i was the only one who said STP. i made a few arguments in their favor which were viciously and maliciously shot down, but i stand by them. when STP came out they were regarded as grunge johnny-come-latelys and PJ rip-offs. even at the time i didnt get that comparison. their sound and especially the production on core sounded to me more like alice in chains, nirvana and soundgarden. all of whom i would consider actual grunge bands while i never though of PJ as a grunge band. imo, they only got tagged with that label because of geography and timing. even at the time kurt cobain was talking s*** about PJ and how they were former glam-metal wanna-bes who co-opted the grunge movement (he wasnt wrong). STP could have easily been an early 90's flash-in-the-pan. but instead followed up core with something different, bigger and drawing on a wider range of influences (led zep, bowie, ect) than their debut. some great songs on there that became huge radio hits. then the 3rd album went glammy, psychedelic and weird. i didnt pay as much attention to the 4th album, but the single off of it "sour girl" might be their finest moment. STP had better songs and a more interesting discography than PJ. put the 10 best STP songs up against the 10 best PJ songs and STP wins out easily IMO. weiland is a better frontman, singer and lyricist than eddie. the guitar player does some really interesting stuff with his solos and also incorporating all these jazz chord voicings that you dont typically hear in R&R. bassist was doing these motown style basslines and was often the melodic hook/anchor of the songs. pearl jams biggest album is their first one. i do like the next two more though, due in no small part to the fact that they had that bad-ass drummer from texas on them. but when people talk about the best PJ songs, its almost always the ones off the debut. and nobody mentions anything they did after 1994. they have put out a bunch of albums since then, but they are largely ignored. i will say that this is probably intentional on their part. i know the sudden rise to fame freaked out eddie, especially after cobain killed himself. they had their battle with ticketmaster and refused to put out videos for songs on their 2nd album. they deliberately scaled things back. and they do have a very loyal fanbase even to this day. theres a whole community of people who follow them around almost like the dead. they have built a nice career for themselves. weilands solo album (12 bar blues) was pretty good too. his story is pretty sad. look at pics of him in 93-94 compared to 10 years later. drugs really destroyed him. when he died he was actually in debt. anyway, anyone else with me on this? what you say?
PJ. Both are great and STP was somewhat unexpected in their success as their timing felt more like the grunge coat riders (7mary 3), but their catalogue showed more. Amazing bass player and Weiland was arguably a better singer, but I still think the longevity means something. also - if you take the first three albums from each and stack them up, PJ wins. still love both and don’t hate on grunge like other friends do.
If those are my only 2 options, then yes Once you get into Nirvana/Pearl/Alice/Soundgarden it's kinda like Beatles/Stones/Zep/Who None in no order, the answer is yes
id agree with this one with arms wide open. im pleasantly surprised to see a tie b/c amongst the IRL friends i was the only one who picked STP over PJ. clearly clutchfans has better musical taste than my friends in austin.
Pearl Jam, but the best Eddie Vedder song for me is Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog. Vedder and Cornell on the same song, yes please.
If you asked me back then if people would still be talking about Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Audioslave, STP, in twenty five years, I would've said **** no. I like them all now. A lot. All Hall of Fame material, IMHO.
the kids really love nirvana. i see gen-z'ers wearing their t-shirts all the time. i was in dublin a few years ago and i swear i saw 20-30 nirvana shirts a day when i was there. it was weird. out of all the bands you mentioned i like soundgarden best and i listen to them more than any of their peers. those albums/songs hold up very well.
Yeah, I see more Nirvana shirts today then I ever saw back in the day. I wonder if they're really into the band or it's some kind of fashion statement. I've pretty much always got Soundgarden in the rotation on my phone. Probably have some Chris Cornell solo stuff too. Can't wait to hear their final album.
I may be the only person on earth who hates the song Black Hole Sun and thinks it's the worst one they ever did. They also have a couple of my absolute favorites from that era.
