I’ve always been a huge music fan, but despite this I’ve been to
relatively few concerts in my life. My
music tastes always seem to differ from friends and especially my wife (who
would most likely never attend a concert with me). So the concerts I end up at are rarely bands
I love. I’m embarrassed to say that my
first concert was The Presidents of the United States of America (you know, of
“Lump” fame). In fact of the bands/artists
that I would consider my top 10, the only one I’ve seen in concert is The
Smashing Pumpkins. But assuming all
things go as planned (and with me that’s no guarantee) that will change this
coming Friday, when my brother-in-law and I dust off the flannel shirts and
wallet chains and attend the Pearl Jam concert.
I’ve often been accused of being stuck in the 90s when it comes to music. And like many children of the 90s, Pearl Jam has been a favorite for years. My favorite albums throughout my high school years (the holy trinity of albums for me) were Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins, Nevermind by Nirvana, and Ten by Pearl Jam. And I've continued to be a Pearl Jam fan, from their spectacular follow up Vs. to my anticipation of the Vitalogy release (which might now be my favorite Pearl Jam album while still being maddening for all the experimental filler). And No Code, Yield, and even Binaural (my vote for most underrated Pearl Jam album) were part of the regular rotation in my CD player (this was years before i-Tunes remember). But like I said I'm stuck in the 90s at times, and I guess that goes for Pearl Jam too because despite being a fan I really haven’t listened to much of the last three albums (so maybe I lose die-hard fan status here). Hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear more of the recent stuff at the concert and it will kick start my interest in checking these albums out.
This was all just a long setup for me to share my Top 10 Pearl Jam songs. With a band that’s produced so many great songs, it was no surprise how difficult it was to narrow this list down to ten. It’s pretty much impossible not to leave off some of my favorites. I considered moving to eleven (after all that’s the number of songs on the album Ten), and then even to twelve (a Top Dozen sounds good, right?), but in the end I was able to reluctantly make the final cuts, even though it was really difficult to leave off “Given to Fly” and “Immortality”. And even though I can’t believe I couldn’t find room for a Binaural song (see – underrated) like "Thin Air" or "God’s Dice". And boy were "Hail Hail" and "Man of the Hour" tough cuts . . . ok, ok . . . enough trying to stealthily add more songs to the list, without further ado:
My Top 10 Pearl Jam songs
10) "Smile" – possibly an unusual choice, but it’s the harmonica I think that does it for me
9) "Alive" – my favorite PJ song for years (I’m probably not alone there), but it’s slid down the list a bit
8) "Not For You" – I still remember them performing this on Saturday Night Live, which was just awesome
7) "Corduroy" – back to back Vitalogy
6) "State of Love and Trust" – both of PJ’s contributions to the Singles soundtrack are great, but this one could have fit nicely on any of their studio albums
5) "Black"
4) "In Hiding" – maybe higher for me than other PJ fans, but I love it
3) "Daughter"
2) "Off He Goes" – I love it when PJ goes mellow
1) "Release"– I've long claimed this as my favorite PJ song, and I'll continue here
I’ve often been accused of being stuck in the 90s when it comes to music. And like many children of the 90s, Pearl Jam has been a favorite for years. My favorite albums throughout my high school years (the holy trinity of albums for me) were Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins, Nevermind by Nirvana, and Ten by Pearl Jam. And I've continued to be a Pearl Jam fan, from their spectacular follow up Vs. to my anticipation of the Vitalogy release (which might now be my favorite Pearl Jam album while still being maddening for all the experimental filler). And No Code, Yield, and even Binaural (my vote for most underrated Pearl Jam album) were part of the regular rotation in my CD player (this was years before i-Tunes remember). But like I said I'm stuck in the 90s at times, and I guess that goes for Pearl Jam too because despite being a fan I really haven’t listened to much of the last three albums (so maybe I lose die-hard fan status here). Hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear more of the recent stuff at the concert and it will kick start my interest in checking these albums out.
This was all just a long setup for me to share my Top 10 Pearl Jam songs. With a band that’s produced so many great songs, it was no surprise how difficult it was to narrow this list down to ten. It’s pretty much impossible not to leave off some of my favorites. I considered moving to eleven (after all that’s the number of songs on the album Ten), and then even to twelve (a Top Dozen sounds good, right?), but in the end I was able to reluctantly make the final cuts, even though it was really difficult to leave off “Given to Fly” and “Immortality”. And even though I can’t believe I couldn’t find room for a Binaural song (see – underrated) like "Thin Air" or "God’s Dice". And boy were "Hail Hail" and "Man of the Hour" tough cuts . . . ok, ok . . . enough trying to stealthily add more songs to the list, without further ado:
My Top 10 Pearl Jam songs
10) "Smile" – possibly an unusual choice, but it’s the harmonica I think that does it for me
9) "Alive" – my favorite PJ song for years (I’m probably not alone there), but it’s slid down the list a bit
8) "Not For You" – I still remember them performing this on Saturday Night Live, which was just awesome
7) "Corduroy" – back to back Vitalogy
6) "State of Love and Trust" – both of PJ’s contributions to the Singles soundtrack are great, but this one could have fit nicely on any of their studio albums
5) "Black"
4) "In Hiding" – maybe higher for me than other PJ fans, but I love it
3) "Daughter"
2) "Off He Goes" – I love it when PJ goes mellow
1) "Release"– I've long claimed this as my favorite PJ song, and I'll continue here
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