19. Pearl Jam Alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM0zINtulhM The G word of the 90s was Grunge. The real heroes of this particular part of tale will emerge later in the story, but as theyll be donning acoustic guitars for their song, the landmark songs of 90s wouldnt be complete without some heavy guitar music replete with solos, mixed with earnest words and singing. And Pearl Jam excelled at this, but they werent just a straightforward rock band, the machismo of the musicians was balanced by the humility that their singer Eddie Vedder brought to the table. Alive was their first single, and the band was borne through the affliction that would ultimately be both the trigger and the death of grunge; the H word, which stood for Heroin. The musicians were previously in Mother Love Bone, but when their singer died of an overdose, they found the precocious Vedder ready to step up to the plate. The song was a tale based on the Greek tragedy of Oedipus, a fairly meaty theme that put the other hair rockers in the shade. No one in the contemporary metal canon had been so literary and words such as Is something wrong?/she said Well of course there is, you're still alive/she said Oh, and do I deserve to be? Is that the question? werent likely to come out of the mouth of Axl Rose. When they were compared with their supposed rivals Nirvana there were claims that Pearl Jam werent the real deal but a bunch of cynical bunch of opportunists, which was grossly unfair. Alive was their rallying call and would provide a tragic footnote in Kurt Cobains story - staying alive was the new name of the game.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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