Pearl Jam's Backspacer Streaming at MySpace (Awesome of the Day)

By Josh Jackson at 4:15 PM on September 18, 2009

You don't have to wait for that Sunday trip to Target to hear Pearl Jam's ninth studio album Backspacer—even if you're not one of the band's 72,191 friends MySpace friends. Just stop by the band's TenClub page on MySpace and decide if we got it right in our review. Just make sure that before you sing along, you follow our illustrated how-to guide....  read more

Found in: Blogs, Awesome of the Day

An Expert Fan's Guide to Pearl Jam's Bootlegs

By Paste Staff at 10:30 AM on September 18, 2009

Patrick Tang is about as big of a Pearl Jam fan as you’ll find, which is saying a lot, given the band’s rabid following...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

Why So Serious?: One Writer's Mostly-Failed Attempt to Find Humor in the History of Pearl Jam

By Rachael Maddux at 10:15 AM on September 18, 2009

Through a rather tedious yet glaringly unscientific process, I've come to the conclusion that Pearl Jam is the least funny band working in the music business today. I don't mean that, as individuals, the band members personally lack senses of humor. They might. Or they might not. I don't know. But as a band, as a public entity in an entertainment industry increasingly defined by a certain ironic smirk and snark, Pearl Jam is largely impenetrable, un-make-fun-able. They just exist. They are what they are. And they don't need any cute quips or clever charms to convince anyone of their...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

The Super-Impossible Brain-Busting Pearl Jam Trivia Quiz

By Patrick Tang and Michael Saba at 10:00 AM on September 18, 2009

Know the difference between Dave Abbruzzese and Matt Cameron? Can you name all the songs on Yield? Do you think of people with less than 25 Pearl Jam bootlegs as less-than-dedicated to the cause? Well, that's a start, but you'll need even more obscure PJ knowledge to conquer Paste's Super Impossible Brain-Busting Pearl Jam Trivia Quiz! Take it if you dare:...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

All Those Yesterdays: Brendan O'Brien Reminisces on the Evolution of Pearl Jam and the Making of Backspacer

By Austin L. Ray at 9:30 AM on September 18, 2009

Brendan O'Brien is a record producer. He's actually kind of a big deal, as far as record producers go. If you've listened to alternative rock in the last 20 years, chances are you've heard his work. His credits including a veritable laundry list of monster acts, from Stone Temple Pilots to Bruce Springsteen, Mastodon to AC/DC, Incubus to Rage Against the Machine. But a band he's worked with as much as any is Pearl Jam. Returning to the studio with Eddie Vedder and Co. for the first time in 11 years, O'Brien produced the band's latest, Backspacer. And when...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

Wailers and Wannabes: A Lexicon of Eddie Vedder Sound-Alikes

By Michael Saba at 9:15 AM on September 18, 2009

Eddie Vedder's back-of-the-throat singing voice is something like a hybrid between a goat-man, Jim Morrison and a Wookie. In other words, it's really hard to find the right words to do justice to his oh-so-masculine tremolo. It's one of those things that's easier to just sing (or draw) than describe. And if you turned a radio on at any point during the '90s, you're probably well aware of the fact that many artists staked their livelihood on imitating Vedder's style. For your consideration, then, a collection of vocalists who try to sound like Eddie Vedder, rated on a one-to-four scale of...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

Plaid Jam: Channel Vedder & Co. Through Their Signature Print

By Rachael Maddux at 9:00 AM on September 18, 2009

When you think of Led Zeppelin, you don't think of polka dots. When AC/DC comes to mind, your first association is hardly "Ooh, houndstooth!" But if there's one inextricable association between a modern rock band and a specific pattern of fabric, it's definitely Pearl Jam and plaid. From their earliest days, the band swathed themselves in flannel shirts paired with those now-classic Doc Martens and raggedy, cutoff shorts. Part punk, part lumberjack, it became the definitive look of many groundbreaking grunge acts of the early '90s, but—musically and fashion-wise—Eddie Vedder and his boys from Seattle that have remained the...  read more

Found in: Blogs, Form&Function

Backspacer Cover Artist Releasing a Children's Book

By Michael Saba at 8:45 AM on September 18, 2009

Liberally-minded readers of alt-weeklies have probably seen the work of Tom Tomorrow, the nom-de-plume of political cartoonist Dan Perkins. Perkins pens This Modern World, a series that riffs on ripped-from-the-headlines topics, usually offering laughs and insight in the same serving....  read more

Found in: Books, News

Watch a Grainy Highlight Reel From Former Point Guard and Pearl Jam Namesake Mookie Blaylock!

By Nick Marino at 8:30 AM on September 18, 2009

Any serious Pearl Jam fan knows that the band originally named itself after second-tier NBA star Mookie Blaylock. But when was the last time you watched Blaylock himself play? We bet it's been awhile, since he's been retired for the better part of a decade. But now you can revisit his glory days in this lovingly assembled highlight reel:...  read more

Found in: Culture, Features

Pearl Jamband: Is Pearl Jam a Modern Grateful Dead?

By Justin Jacobs at 8:15 AM on September 18, 2009

Pearl Jam has long been linked to flannel, but what about tie-dye? As the band closes in on its second decade making music, Pearl Jam and its follow-them-anywhere fans have slowly become one of the tightest communities in rock ’n’ roll, complete with a vibrant bootleg trade centered around the band’s ever-changing, much-lauded live show that many claim transcends the pomp and circumstance of normal rock shows for something more human. Sound like a mouthful? Sure. Sound like the Grateful Dead? Absolutely....  read more

Found in: Music, Features