Pearl Jam or Soundgarden? Go!

[Lee B.]

PJ. Eddie Vedder jumping off the camera boom to catch a crowd wave was so rock and roll. I can’t think of a single similar moment for SG. Chris Cornell had one heck of a set of pipes, though.

 

[BMiller]

When you say that, I'm finding it hard to believe you have listened to the entire Ten album. Ten is probably one of the best albums of all time. Ten was an album of great musicianship, complex harmonies and layering, great arrangements, etc. Nirvana was simpleton caveman rock that rebellious simple minded teenagers could relate to. It was Nirvana that was the watered down music. I think people listen to songs like Jeremy and dismiss Pearl Jam for being just radio friendly pop rock, but the true gems of that album are the ones that are later on in the order.... songs like Porch, Garden, Black, etc.

As for the Pearl Jam versus Soundgarden discussion, Pearl Jam has the better single album by far but those 3 Soundgarden albums from Badmotorfinger through Down on the Upside trample over Pearl Jams complete body of work. Pearl Jam kinda shot all their bullets with the first album and subsequently tapered off, but Soundgarden improved with each album up until Down on the Upside which is brilliant. So, my vote is Soundgarden.

Drew - I've listened to the album, in it's entirety, many times. I still have the CD that I bought when it came out (complete with the poster insert). Yes, Porch and Black are great songs. And "Jeremy" became annoying much like "Rooster" from AIC did. I just don't find the album to be much more than pablum for the time. To me, being in high school when all of these bands hit the radio, Pearl Jam was a "cross over" type line of music for the people that wanted to be hip (I want to look like I rock, but not my Dad's rock, but nothing too heavy either). Pretty much when grunge became a fashion statement.

As for Nirvana, I liked Bleach and Incesticide. I wouldn't consider either of those to be caveman rock albums.Simple in form yes, but solid. A lot of the other stuff was fluff.

 

[RaySachs]

Who said I didn't like them???? I actually do like Nirvana and I respect Cobain as a songwriter. He was brilliant. To say they wrote simpleton music that was watered down wasn't insulting them, nor was anything to be read from it. It's just what they were. They weren't my fav but I've always had Nevermind and Unplugged in my collection. Their Unplugged performance of the Man Who Sold the World ranks very highly on my list of must listens.

Forgive me. I guess there was just something about calling their music "simpleton caveman rock" and "watered down music" that must have thrown me off. I know, I know, it was a real reach on my part, but I have long arms!

-Ray

 

[bodia]

The real question would be where does that era Janes Addiction fit into all of this? What could they have been had they not flamed out? Or, did PJ pick up their baton and run with it? I will admit, PJ has had some head scratching releases since their "heyday", but you could say the same of Zep, if you were a fan at the time. Their releases were pretty diverse, on to the next.

 

[Bret Trammell]

Pearl Jam! I’ve bought every album of theirs on release day since Vs came out in 1993. I think I felt more of an immediacy in their music than in Soundgarden’s (who I love too). And they’ve grown, deepening lyrically and having experimental phases over the years. I’ve stayed interested in their work. And they still put on one hell of a live show!

 

[Clashcityrocker]

In the early 90's Pearl Jam was the biggest band at the time. They got all the classic rock fans to like them which kind of annoyed alternative fans. By the way Nirvana was the first alternative band to be played on mainstream radio. I know because I listened to alternative music all throughout the 80's so it was a surprise to hear them on the radio. I resisted Nevermind because Smells like Teen Spirit was played constantly. Then I finally got the album and realized it was punk rock but with good production and a great drummer. Cobain could really rip it as a singer too. Soundgarden however is one of the great heavy rock groups of all time. More influenced by Zeppelin and Black Sabbath (without the stupid parts) Odd time signatures, great riffs and Cornell's great voice made them major. They finally hit it big with the album Superunknown and the single Black Hole Sun. Had the opportunity to see Lollapalooza with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Red Hot Chili Peppers plus Jesus and Mary Chain. Not a bad lineup! My vote is Soundgarden.

 

[Herr Squid]

The real question would be where does that era Janes Addiction fit into all of this? What could they have been had they not flamed out? Or, did PJ pick up their baton and run with it? I will admit, PJ has had some head scratching releases since their "heyday", but you could say the same of Zep, if you were a fan at the time. Their releases were pretty diverse, on to the next.

Jane's didn't fit into that picture at all in my estimation, they just happened at about the same time. They were spectacular for about 2 albums but too volatile to hold it together. Two of the best, most blissed-out live shows I've ever seen were JA gigs.

 

[Herr Squid]

In my book Soundgarden wins hands down. I got on that bus when Louder Than Love came out, and it blew my world apart! It helped that I saw them live in Seattle right after their (first?) Grammy win on a bill with Prong and Voivod (what a show!) and they just crushed it. Loud, hard-hitting, driving (I love Matt Cameron's drumming) RAWK with lots of weird washy noise for spice, and a superhuman vocalist. I think they ended the set by throwing their guitars down on stage and walking off, just leaving the feedback howling at us for few minutes. Very rock and roll.

After Louder Than Love I dug back to the Ultramega OK album, which was much lower-fi but cool in its own right. Then Badmotorfinger and Superunknown came along and each was amazing in its own way. I thought Superunknown had a major Pink Floyd influence to it, I don't know if others heard that in it. But by the time Down on The Upside came out, I thought they'd softened and maybe grown up a little too much to captivate me in the same way. I didn't love all Soundgarden, but some of their best songs are among my very favorites.

I bought Ten when it was new. Listened to it a handful of times, played "Alive" in a cover band for a little while. That was Pearl Jam for me.

All this reminds me I've been meaning to relearn "Say Hello to Heaven..."

 

[jxe]

firehose or listening to jazz in 1991?

 

[Deleted member 5962]

And "Jeremy" became annoying much like "Rooster" from AIC did.

Ooops, you lost me there. Jeremy was annoying and got played to death in my area. AIC never got old, especially Rooster and Them Bones!

I will admit, PJ has had some head scratching releases since their "heyday", but you could say the same of Zep, if you were a fan at the time. Their releases were pretty diverse, on to the next.

I have to admit, I was a HUGE Zep fan until In Through The Out Door came out my senior year. For me, it seemed every other song was a WTF song. Then "All of my love" sealed the deal. Definitely and by far my least favorite Zep album.

I will say, it's always interesting to hear other peoples perspective on music and bands. All my friends from years ago would know that PJ and Nirvana are right up there with disco in my book. Simply couldn't stand either. But these threads always fascinate me. There is one at TGP right now about "Was hair metal ever cool" or something like that. The thread has gone on for weeks. The term hair metal started as a derogatory term, despite XM having a hair metal channel (which I listen to often). BUT, there is SUCH a difference from the glam metal and bubble gum metal acts, than Ratt and Motley Crew and some others who really rocked, and all the shredders that came along with bands that kicked 9 kinds of butt. In the course of this thread, I've seen many bands lumped into the "hair metal" category that are not hair metal. Van Halen???? Hair metal? ha, Van Halen is the very definition of "hard rock." Not hair metal or metal of any kind! Yngwie? You can call Yngwie "Shred" or "Shred Metal" or "Bach Rock" or many things but "hair metal? Nah.

Many bands had big hair at the time. Heck some new wave bands at the time had big hair. But everyone has very different opinions about what is this and what is that. Guess it doesn't matter. They're all just made up terms anyway, right? Heck, years ago "music" was defined in part by being "played by musicians on musical instruments and or people singing." Last time I stated that at TGP I got bashed out of the thread. Last time I stated it here I got some crap about it as well.

I don't think AIC IS grunge. I think "stoner rock" or "stoner metal" is probably more accurate. But they were from the grunge place so I think they got more lumped in. I don't think AIC is anything like PJ or Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins. And, I obviously feel that strongly, because I don't own one CD by any of those bands and won't even listen to a whole song on the radio by any of them, and I own every album Alice In Chains has ever put out and listen to them regularly.

 

[Sir Stinkalot]

I would vote for PJ as they were more influential for me in my formative years 16-18. The first two albums were at a time of friends, fun, growing, underage drinking and independence. At the time music was not as accessible as it is today. The only track I can remember listening to of around that time of SJ was Black Hole Sun. I remember PJ's third album and saw them live a couple of times when they visited Australia. I think I purchased Yeild and No Code but was loosing interest at this point. I didn't realize until a quick Google that they released so many more studio albums.

As for SJ I was a late convert. With music so much more accessible now I have often gone back and searched for other bands that were around during my formative years. SJ was one of these and of recent years I have enjoyed exploring their music many years later. As an answer to the question however PJ wins for me based on memories but enjoy them both now.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The real question would be where does that era Janes Addiction fit into all of this? What could they have been had they not flamed out? Or, did PJ pick up their baton and run with it? I will admit, PJ has had some head scratching releases since their "heyday", but you could say the same of Zep, if you were a fan at the time. Their releases were pretty diverse, on to the next.

They were the real cool band. At the time Jane’s was the band that all the art House dudes and hot chicks worshiped.

 

[jfb]

Soundgarden. They were darker. They were weirder. They had records out earlier so I was already into them by the time I heard Pearl Jam. I love the first two Pearl Jam records, but if I had to pick one band, it's Soundgarden.

 

[vchizzle]

Not trying to stir the pot here, but where ARE these "Winger threads?" I think most of us have made many remarks about Winger, more to have fun, and of course there are serious comments because you can't laugh much at any band that has a former Dregs member and/or Reb in it. Well, you can laugh all you want, of course, but lets be real here. If you have Reb and Rod in your band, your band is badazz no matter what they wear, or how much hair they have!

But I haven't seen a "What's your favorite Winger song" or "Winger vs. White Lion" or "What's the hairiest picture you've ever seen of Kip Winger" thread?

One specific thread and about a million mentions throughout others. That wasn't really my point though. I have no issue with constructive debates on things. That can be plenty of fun. Saying something sucks or similarly slanted comments about music(or anything for that matter) with no reasoning is one of my pet peeves. Especially in a thread that's about said band(s) that people are actually discussing the merits of one or the other. The Elephants thread, the majority of the forum comes to PRS's defense because most people here are PRS fans. The rare occasion that some music that's pretty important to me comes up, I'll defend the same way I would PRS because it's important to me and made an imprint on me. So sue me.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

One specific thread and about a million mentions throughout others. That wasn't really my point though. I have no issue with constructive debates on things. That can be plenty of fun. Saying something sucks or similarly slanted comments about music(or anything for that matter) with no reasoning is one of my pet peeves. Especially in a thread that's about said band(s) that people are actually discussing the merits of one or the other. The Elephants thread, the majority of the forum comes to PRS's defense because most people here are PRS fans. The rare occasion that some music that's pretty important to me comes up, I'll defend the same way I would PRS because it's important to me and made an imprint on me. So sue me.

Sorry. my post was pretty light hearted. I was trying to joke with you. So... no law suit.

And, I thought that once I said I didn't like them, adding any reasoning afterwards was probably worse than just leaving it at "I don't care for them." I tried to just say why I liked one and not so much why I didn't like the other. I think adding more comments there on why I don't like them WOULD have been a detriment to the thread, so I didn't.

 

[vchizzle]

Sorry. my post was pretty light hearted. I was trying to joke with you. So... no law suit.

And, I thought that once I said I didn't like them, adding any reasoning afterwards was probably worse than just leaving it at "I don't care for them." I tried to just say why I liked one and not so much why I didn't like the other. I think adding more comments there on why I don't like them WOULD have been a detriment to the thread, so I didn't.

I never had an issue with your original post. You stated your reasoning. I only replied to your post because you quoted me. My answer to you was explaining why I called out @sergiodeblanc for the 2nd comment-“You’re not missing out”. I wouldn’t have said anything if he just left it with his first answer. I love Serg and respect his opinion.

Problem is you keep quoting me for something that didn’t have anything to do with what YOU said. I took issue with the “you’re not missing out”, that’s it. I quoted ONLY that comment for a reason. For whatever reason I continue to try and explain it and I guess I’m not making myself clear. I like you Howie, but you’re confusing the situation for something that was never directed at you or anyone else besides the one snide remark.

 

[vchizzle]

That’s true. I’m sorry, I have no defense for my actions.

Apology accepted btw. I figured you got that when I liked your apology post, but since confusion is abound, figured I should just directly say it.

 

[jxe]

 

[flux]

Soundgarden!

 

[BMiller]

Ooops, you lost me there. Jeremy was annoying and got played to death in my area. AIC never got old, especially Rooster and Them Bones!

I liked "Rooster", but it has been massively over played in Rock radio (from when it was new until now when you hear it on the classic rock stations). I will never forget when my dad several years ago, after 30+ years in radio, said "Alice In Chains has so many good songs.....why do we have to keep hearing "Rooster"?" I had to agree then and I agree now. So many good songs in their catalog.