Full disclosure up front...I have never been a fan of the Seattle music scene that blossomed in the early 90's, and to which the marketing gurus of the record companies have since applied the label "grunge". I found that music in general to be boring, directionless and sloppy, and the lyrics too whiny for my taste. The only bands from that era that I could stand to listen to at all were Stone Temple Pilots and a little bit of early Pearl Jam.
So when I saw that Netflix had the documentary "Pearl Jam 20" available for viewing, I checked it out last night. Watching it just reaffirmed why I never fully got into them or that entire scene in the first place. In fact, I think I like Pearl Jam even less now than I thought I did before I watched the film.
They were a band that became extremely successful but always appeared to be uncomfortable with their success. Whether this unease with success was geniune or something just put on for the benefit of their fans, I don't know. I do know that they shunned whatever accolades were bestowed on them and were proud to do so. I guess my gut reaction to all that is: so why are you continuing doing something that is bringing you all of this success when you're clearly uncomfortable or unhappy with that success? This makes me think they were being a little disingenuous with their shtick, or that it was just to show their fan base that they don't really care about the trappings of fame and success. To me, it comes across as a little too self-centered and petulant.
I don't like to speak ill of the deceased but Curt Kobain was probably the worst case of this. If you can't deal with success...then quit your band and go into some other profession, and please - stop whining so much! If you can't deal with being an overnight millionaire, then I suggest you give your money away to charity (somehow I guess they were never that uncomfortable with success). Pearl Jam's singer, Eddie Vedder, also strikes me as being more than a little whiny about his success. In fact, he comes across in this documentary as being whiny about almost everything, which to some, I guess, comes across as uber-cool and above it all. It made me just want to reach out and slap him.
On the other hand, I have to give them some credit when Pearl Jam went up against Ticketmaster and that company's policy of gouging ticket-buyers in the form of their "convenience fees", and even went so far as to tour in venues where Ticketmaster couldn't do their business. I think that was admirable, as it most likely cost them some income...of course, by that time Pearl Jam had already made their millions and built a huge fan base. So it was easy for them to lose a few large bookings at that point. Would they have been brave enough to buck Ticketmaster early on their career when they were struggling? I wonder about that.
As far as their music - I liked a few of their early songs but thought they were repetetive and bland as their career went on (at least, what I heard on the radio). I thought their playing was sloppy and lifeless, and that applied to just about all of the bands that were getting airplay in the early 90's. Frankly, I couldn't tell one grunge band from the other. It seemed as if they were all trying to sound like Nirvana or Pearl Jam, even down to the mumbling style of singing.
I don't know, but maybe I can point to the early 90's when all of this was happening and could say that this is when I started "getting old", since this was the first movement in popular music that I could point to and say "I don't get it". There have been plenty others since then, too (each year I try to watch the grammy awards show and more and more I find myself saying "who the hell is that"?). I say this because obviously I'm in the minority with these opinions - Pearl Jam has a huge fan base after all these years and the documentary gives camera time to many of those fans saying how much Pearl Jam has changed their lives. Still, I have to say congratulations to any band that has been popular for 20+ years. They're touching some nerve out there, even if it's not one I was born with.
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