Words Seem Out Of Place

This series looks back at the 1990s and its influence on the generation of people who came of age during the decade. Generation X. Alternative Nation. Slackers. Kids in flannels. In the early and mid 1990s, teens and young adults of a certain age were given all of those monikers, and several others too. Full disclosure, I was one of those kids. Every generation goes through a period like that—when they're the up-and-comers trying to break free of the previous generation, A period of endless media and societal fascination leading to unfair stereotyping and marginalization. Pearl Jam's "Not For You," from 1994's seismic blast of an album  Vitalogy , seemed to be directly addressing this divide between the members of Gen X and their elders. Vitalogy was the most anticipated album of the year. Kurt Cobain killed himself that spring, leaving Pearl Jam alone at the top of the rock mountain, whether they wanted to be there or not. They were the biggest band i...

Twenty years ago this week, Pearl Jam performed for the first time on The Late Show with David Letterman . They played the new song, "Hail Hail" that night—the song that asks the question, "Are you woman enough to be my man?" and a personal favorite of mine. As Dave would say, they blew the roof off the dump. I sat gobsmacked at the awesomeness of this performance that night back in 1996, and I still feel the same amazement when viewing it today. Eddie, wearing a killer suit, in dynamic, yet controlled, command of the song; Stone bopping around while dressed like an Orange Creamsicle; Mike and Jeff looking like young pups while rocking; and Jack bashing away on the drums in the background. Definitely one of the best late night performances by a band ever, and truly a special moment during a very special period in the band's career . I swear I'll stop writing about No Code and the band during those years at some point, but this momentous anniversary deserves...

1995 was a creatively fruitful year for Pearl Jam. This blog has existed for over a year now and it occurred to me that I've never mentioned what inspired the name.  Words Seem Out of Place  comes from the lyrics to an improvised Pearl Jam song played exactly once, on March 17, 1995 in Melbourne, Australia.  After writing about Pearl Jam's No Code turning twenty last month , it seems only appropriate to follow up with the story of the blog's title now, which is really the story of the improv that inspired it. "Better Man" has long been a concert highlight, when the band segues into a portion of the English Beat's "Save It For Later" or an improv at the end of the song. At this particular show in Melbourne, the band improvised a delicately beautiful three-plus minute song at the end of "Better Man" that's been dubbed "Words Seem Out of Place." Eddie Vedder's vocals are full of wistful longing, with the song building ...

Twenty years ago this week, Pearl Jam released No Code . This raises two questions in my mind. First, where the hell did those two decades of my life go? Second, has the album held up all these years later? To the first question I can only shake my head in disbelief and mutter to myself. To the second, I can answer unequivocally that yes,  No Code does indeed hold up. In fact, it's an album that's only improved with both age and some distance from the preconceptions of critics and fans back in 1996. Songs like "Sometimes," "Hail Hail," "Off He Goes," and "Present Tense" are near-perfect examples of what the band does best: heartfelt sincerity laced with a strong does of caustic world-wariness. Other tracks like "Smile" and "Red Mosquito" remind us what ramshackle fun their music can be. And the lead single and polyrhythmic tour-de-force "Who You Are" simply baffled listeners—it sounded unlike anything th...