The Editor’s been, like so many others, a tragic Pearl Jam fan since high school. It all started in grade ten in 1993 with the release of their second album vs.. Ed’s group at school were all into poppy, housey, top 40 shite, and so Ed just went along with it. It’s not that he particularly liked it, it was more that he didn’t know what else was out there. Ed knew about Nirvana and kinda liked them, but couldn’t admit it to his friends.
Weird, innit?
So one day The Editor’s packing Whoppers at his after school job at a deep-suburban Hungry Jack’s, listening to one of Bris Vegas’ finest commercial radio stations on the PA, and Daughter is announced as the new song from Pearl Jam. Ed fell absolutely, instantly, head-over-heals in love. He resolved to go out and buy that album by that band — what were they called? The Pearl Jams — tomorrow. And so he did, and he went home and listened, and he knew that Pearl Jam was going to be his life-long love.
Two days later The Editor went back to the same music store and bought Ten. Besides from Alive sounding sorta familiar, it was like drinking water for the first time. Ed tried to get a couple of his friends into this amazing new discovery, and he succeeded with one of them, but the rest had new East 17 albums to listen to or some shit.
From there it was only a short skip to Soundgarden, Nirvana (properly) and like bands. A whole new world had opened to Ed, and he liked it. In 1995, shortly after the release of Vitalogy at the start of grade 12, Pearl Jam toured Australia and The Editor spent the best night of his life so far listening to the following set list:
Last Exit, Spin the Black Circle, State of Love and Trust, Corduroy, Elderly Woman, Whipping, Animal, Dissident, Blood, Glorified G, Daughter, Why Go, Jeremy, Lukin, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Alive, Porch
Encore: Go, Tremor Christ, Not for You, I Got You, Better Man, Once
Encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
School finished and Pearl Jam released No Code — a dramatic departure in terms of musical style, but unlike most, The Editor was down with that. Ed moved to Sydney and they released Yield, shortly followed by another Australian tour. This time, Ed wasn’t about to do things by halves, so he roped his high school Pearl Jam convert, Wayno, into committing to a three city Pearl Jam fest. Ed and the Wayno drove up the east coast of Australia to watch The Pearl Jams in Melbourne, Sydney and Vegas. For the record, the Vegas show was the standout with an energised band putting their southern performances to shame and pulling out their fantastic B-side Footsteps.
Years pass and The Editor’s starting to grow up and move away from Pearl Jam. Not that he likes them any less, but life moves on, you know. Around this time The Editor started getting right into the band Brad, who feature Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard on guitar. To this day, Ed’s probably more a fan of Brad than Pearl Jam based purely upon music, but The Pearl Jams and Ed share a lot of history, you know.
Just before Ed jets off overseas for a couple of years they release Binaural, which is a solid, but not outstanding, album. Upon returning to Australia, Ed’s practically forgotten about Pearl Jam until, weeks later, they release Riot Act. The announcement of a third Australian tour stir Ed’s feelings. Booking a ticket (solo) for Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, Ed’s not sure what to expect. Is he too old for this shit? Are Pearl Jam, like, soooo ten years ago? The Editor enters the stadium before the concert and is immediately reassured when, sitting in front of him, are a married couple, about Ed’s age, who have brought their freakin’ kids with them. And the boys didn’t disappoint. Eddie Vedder was hammered, drinking bottles of wine and forgetting lyrics throughout the show, but, shit, they still rocked.
And so four years later, it’s 2006. The Editor’s 28 and married. Surely it’s time to move on from that stuff. Pearl Jam release their eighth, self-titled, studio album. Things must be different because back in the day Pearl Jam would never self-title an album (let’s forget about the fact that the working title for vs. was Pearl Jam, okay?). The Editor’s not sure what to expect, given that their last album was a bit of a dud. Should he buy it? Actually, should he download it for nothing? Given that Ed has spent, conservatively, close to $1000 on Pearl Jam records and concert tickets in his time, isn’t it fair that he get this one for free? But the old passion stirred, and yesterday The Editor purchased Pearl Jam at JB Hifi for $18.95.
Holy shit. What an album. It’s like Pearl Jam, but grown up, but young again. Where on Riot Act they sounded jaded and tired, on this one they sound invigorated. The rockin’ songs ROCK, and the ballads make you warm in all the right spots. The guitars are crunchy and angry, and Eddie positively growls into the mic, instead of just warbling lazily like the previous album. In short, it’s an absolute corker that makes The Editor feel like he’s in grade 10 again, but grown up at the same time.
There’s word of an Australian tour later in the year and Ed will certainly be at Rod Laver for his sixth Pearl Jam concert.
As you were.
