![]() ![]() In doing so, the music resonates deeply with fans, from the top-40 crowd to classic-rock diehards to serious hip-hop fans. There is a lot of pain and, famously, angst at the heart of grunge, but the music is also inspiring in that it often directly addressed that darkness in a raw and authentic manner. Grunge was rooted in traditional rock, but also brought serious punk and metal influences to the mainstream. But there is a reason that people loved, and still love, grunge, and there is a reason that those groups blew up the pop charts and MTV’s video rotations in the ’90s. In fact, of the four most well-known grunge bands, three of their front men would die prematurely either of heroin addiction, with the 2002 death of Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, or suicide, both Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, in 1994, and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, in 2017. While today the genre is well-regarded as an important part of the history of popular music, it is also generally associated with a lot of pain and, famously, angst. To briefly recap, grunge was the last major, American-born, rock ‘n’ roll movement (coming right before Britpop took off). “Black” provides a blueprint of sorts for navigating the challenges that so many are facing today. This is especially true with the live MTV Unplugged performance of this heavy and, yes, quite dark song. Saying that a song can change your life is often a cliché, but Pearl Jam’s “Black” can probably help change some lives. This may be a perfect time to look back to one particularly remarkable song from the early 1990s and a time when the so-called Seattle grunge scene ruled popular music. What to do with our feelings of intense disappointment, existential crisis, and rage? Do we ignore them, suck it up, and move on as best we can? Do we turn inward, and punish ourselves for not handling things better? Do we lash out at our transgressors, real or perceived? Or are there other options? Given the realities of life in 2022, many have had to address some tough questions. Anxiety levels have shot up and depression rates tripled during the first year of COVID, alone. See Pearl Jam rock “Alive” from their Unplugged set below, and relive this awesome moment in rock history.Issues of mental health have perhaps never been more at the forefront of American life than during these bizarro-world, COVID/lockdown/BLM/MAGA-years of 2020 to the present. McCready delivered, albeit acoustically, during Unplugged, cementing himself as one of the guitar players of a generation, and Pearl Jam as a force to be reckoned with. The song is Pearl Jam’s “guitar” song, with guitarist Mike McCready typically playing the song out with several wild solos. However, it was the band’s passionate performance of “Alive” that stands out from this performance. ![]() The typical loudness of Pearl Jam wasn’t present on this night, and it allowed for Vedder to shine as a true vocal master. Eddie Vedder became a huge star on this night, with his unique vocals and his interesting, introspective lyrics front and center. The band worked through “State of Love and Trust”, “Black”, “Jeremy”, “Porch”, and “Even Flow”, while also delivering an awesome cover of Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World”, which remains a staple of their live shows to this day. Pearl Jam’s performance on Unplugged was no different, as they delivered the biggest hits off their debut album Ten in impressive fashion. It was a great way to learn more about the bands and their members, bringing their personalities directly into your living room. ![]() ![]() Bands would deliver stripped down versions of their biggest hits, and mix in a few interesting covers along the way. Bands tended to play on Unplugged to showcase a different side of themselves, taking the rock star out of the arena and into a coffeehouse-type setting. One of the early highlights of their career was their appearance on MTV‘s Unplugged series. It’s amazing to look back at their early years to see where they came from, bursting out of the gates with a passionate energy that still flows through them today. Their hard-hitting style and socially conscious lyrics provided the perfect musical concoction, and they’ve been standing at the top of the rock pyramid for almost three decades. Pearl Jam have been a powerful champion of rock and roll ever since their emergence in the early 1990s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |