There were many repulsive things about Pearl Jam during the short yet beautiful Grunge Years. All of it had to do with their music.
On paper they did everything right -- they were against videos, they took on Ticketmaster, they didn't hang out with model/actresses. But musically they were the worst parts of REM mixed with the worst parts of STP.
Vedder posed like everything he was mumbling was soooo important, he fluttered his eyes, he even stage-dived like a phony. And the band looked and played like they were called up by Central Casting ("we're all out of grunge, will you accept college-y rock?")
They were the least Seattley of any of the groups from Washington... indeed they stank of San Diego.
Because Rolling Stone had to end their short little run of actually being good, this week they put Mr. Vedder on the cover of their perfume-sample-filled mag and let him run his mouth. This is the worstof the endless article, the part where he said that Kurt stopped hating him while in LA.
Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was even more troubled by his sudden fame -- and his retreat was even more final. He spent a lot of time dissing Pearl Jam in the press, once memorably accusing the band of pioneering a "corporate, alternative and cock-rock fusion." "I don't think he ever really figured out the band," Vedder says softly, curling into an armchair late one night. "However, I think that if he had survived, I think he would have gotten it. Now, mind me, those are big words, but I really think it's true."
Vedder looks off into the distance. "I miss him," he says. "There are a lot of times when we're passing around a guitar, around a campfire or something, and I just think like he'd be right there with us. I think about him all the time."
Vedder and Cobain famously reconciled, at least temporarily, on September 10th, 1992, at the MTV Video Music Awards. "We slow-danced underneath the stage when Eric Clapton was playing 'Tears in Heaven,' " Vedder says, furrowing his brow. "We were slow-dancing on a gym floor as though it was a seventh-grade dance."
Did you cop a feel?
No, I respected Kurt.
Who led?
That's a good question.That's the thing, no one led.
Pearl Jam with special guests Sonic Youth come to LA July 9 & 10 to play the Great Western Forum. SY must be short of cash.
