Afternoon Snack: Pearl Jam, “Breath”

Photos, Tout Songs, Obituaries, Name That Tune? OK, enough.

Let’s get back to what we really do best: uncover/present killer songs, past, present, and even some future.

I know there are those who dismiss Pearl Jam, but I think such critics are elitists.

Pearl Jam cranks, and probably wear the tough mantle–especially with the death of Kurt Cobain and demise of Nirvana–as the band from the grunge/Seattle environ.

There are a bunch of other great bands that did evolve from that scene (I am at least thinking Soundgarden) but when push comes to shove, Pearl Jam kick it, song-wise, songwriting-wise, and musicianship-wise.

I present, then, the following, among my favorite from the band’s catalog.

It does seem Eddie Vedder’s voice is not quite so powerful as it was 20 years ago, but the rest of the band certainly smokes. And, Mike McCready again shows that when push comes to shove, a great guitar player cranking through a Marshall stack via a Telecaster is probably the best sounding “axe” confluence there is.

One thought on “Afternoon Snack: Pearl Jam, “Breath”

  1. Call me elitist. They have always sounded lumbering and unmelodious to me. But I did see them on Saturday Night Live once and they were loose and fun. So I thought, maybe live makes a difference. But this clip feels lumbering and unmelodious. Not my cup of tea.

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