Victims of their own success
Pearl Jam packs arenas but remains true to grunge roots
Kurt Cobain once described Pearl Jam as "corporate, alternative and cock-rock fusion." Cobain would later soften his comments, yet superficial observations have drawn many people to the same conclusion. For many of Pearl Jam's detractors, something about selling 12 million copies of a debut album and the idea of being "alternative" mix like oil and water. For others, it is simply a misaligned reduction of one of the more phenomenal rock acts of the '90s, led by a former gas-station attendant.
One key to understanding Pearl Jam's massive success is the band's foundation of grunge along with its capacity to persistently deliver convincing arena rock. During the best stage moments, it's as if three decades of massive guitar-driven acts have landed all at once. But even with echoes of Led Zeppelin and The Who, Pearl Jam's classic rock surface has diverse currents underneath. Instrumentally, the band navigates waters previously mapped by '70s metal innovators Van Halen and the urgent punk sound of Black Flag, and shares Neil Young and Crazy Horse's and Dream Syndicate's knack for blending American roots music with powerful hard rock.
Cobain backpedaled a bit when in 1992 he told The Advocate's Kevin Allman, "I don't like Pearl Jam's music at all, but at least they have good attitudes; they're not another Van Halen, who totally refuse to address anything." Along with Cobain, many involved with the West Coast's energetic post-punk scenes worried that Pearl Jam's momentum (which in '93 landed Eddie Vedder's face on the cover of Time magazine) was a threat to the ideals fostered by '80s and '90s DIY creative networks.
Over the years, though, Pearl Jam members have put to rest any fears of diverting grunge's original benevolent promise. In 1994, they mounted a campaign against Ticketmaster's high prices and monopolizing of U.S. concert venues. In 1995, Vedder crawled into a van to tour with punk cultural activist Mike Watt. In the years since, the band has performed benefits for causes ranging from Apache Indian environmental rights to neighborhood concerns like struggling independent record stores and minor league baseball teams.
Although it's doubtful that Pearl Jam consciously mainstreamed grunge, it is a fact that the band brought a strong following under its spell — not only because of their arena prowess, but also because of topical lyrics. Contrary to detractors, Pearl Jam's songs more often confess tales of inner strength in the context of vulnerability rather than riding the testosterone bravado of '60s and '70s hard rock. In 1991, on Pearl Jam's first hit single "Alive," Vedder recounted his experience as a 13-year-old being told who his real father was, after a childhood assuming that his stepfather was his biological parent. In this sense, "Alive" ranks with Sugarcubes' "Birthday," in which Björk describes her early-teen trauma of being raped by a family friend, as being a place where rock meets a realm far more real than reality TV.
"Our band is like an old car, and this is our new engine," Vedder said earlier this summer in an official press release for the band's 2006 eponymous CD on Sony/BMG. Since then, "World Wide Suicide," the CD's single, has hit the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart at No. 3. And the rest of the new material is running on all eight cylinders.
Concertgoers don't have to hang on every word of Vedder's lyrics to enjoy the band. One of Pearl Jam's strengths is a variety of guitar textures, with what sometimes amounts to a three-piece guitar section consisting of Vedder and Stone Gossard on rhythm, topped with Mike McCready's lead guitar work. The sound is driven by the drums of former Soundgarden member Matt Cameron, with Jeff Ament's bass work providing a solid backbeat.
For those unable to check out the upcoming Sazka Arena concert in person, a rumor is circulating that it will be downloadable on local portals as a free "official bootleg" for a limited time after the performance.
But the real deal will be onstage. As the recent Mudhoney concert reminded Prague audiences, grunge has to be experienced live in order to be truly appreciated and understood.
Pearl Jam
When: Sept. 22 at 8
Where: Sazka Arena
Tickets: 990–1,590 Kč through Sazka Ticket; 1,090–1,590 Kč through Ticketpro
...sinon tres chouette quartier et temps ensoleille 
