The Euphemism

2009-05-01T05:54:00.001-07:00

I believe I'm part vampire, I sleep so much better during the day.

Pearl Jam or Nirvana – Really!

2009-04-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

I have stopped arguing about music. It really makes no sense to me anymore. It was a difficult lesson I learnt in 7th grade when I tried to make a friend understand that Deep Purple was not noise and that if Boyzone created a stirring in your loins, you probably are not wired the same way the majority of the world’s population is. The futility of the argument begins with what people expect out of music and what they look for in a good song. It is important to realize that a good song is a conglomerate of many things including but not limited to songwriting, energy, emotion, rhythm and not the least ‘music’.

Good music extends beyond complexity, technique, delivery, record sales or anything for that matter. Even three-chord-trash is sheer aural ecstasy if it is done the right way. If a person has a better technique with respect to singing or playing an instrument, that doesn’t make his music any superior. To cite an example, I would definitely say that Yngwie Malmstien may have a far superior and more complicated technique compared to Dave Gilmour. But when it comes to making better music, Dave would kick Yngwie’s ass and drag it over a field of thistles and pine cones with ease. Often it is the simplicity itself that provides the scope to fill the music with delight.

Now that we have sequestered the spirit of good music away from, technique delivery and sales statistics, it gives me great pleasure to present to you “The idiot’s guide to understanding Nirvana”

1. It’s all about the music
2. Its only about the music
3. Good music and good technique are different
4. The best of Nirvana songs are never played on TV or the radio
5. Nevermind is good, but there are better things too.
6. If band names were related to the energy of their music, Nirvana would have been called the “Big Bang”
7. Personality and personal life are personally not related to music

Now coming to the futile exercise that I have embarked upon.

1. Pearl Jam created Nirvana

Not my favorite choice of words. But nevertheless, Pearl Jam inspired Nirvana. Usein Bolt is the fastest man on earth, neither his coach nor his inspirational guru are. You may take inspiration and training from whomever, but what you become depends on who you are. Every band in Seattle in the late 80’s and early 90’s looked up to the Jam. Not all of them became Nirvana.

2. The Numbers Game - Sales statistics can kiss a dog's furry behind

No Strings Attached / N Sync ~ 11,109,000

...Baby One More Time / Britney Spears ~ 10,472,878

Millennium / Backstreet Boys ~ 12,030,804

Defense rests….

2.2. Pearl Jam post 94 - Yield, No Code, Binaural, Riot Act.

Each of these albums having progressively poorer sales and the last 2 did not make platinum. But since sales statistics don’t mean anything, lets get right into the music. With respect for good music I would like to say that there are a few good songs among the 4 albums, Love-boat captain and Light year to just mention two. But none of the songs are even a shade close to the legend that was Pearl Jam. The songs are devoid of energy and the passion. If you took a song from Ten and played it in a cassette player in which the batteries are just about to die, I am pretty sure it would resemble a song from Binaural.

If longevity is an index of a band’s caliber, one would expect them to age like fine wine, not turn to vinegar. My stand is not that Nirvana would have gone on to do greater glory if Kurt Cobain was still alive, I just have to say that he would still have managed to give 2 good songs across 5 albums. They would have contributed to music just about the same as what Pearl Jam did.

3. Lyrics, Fame and the Suicide Act.

Emotion has been a corner post of music forever as one can remember. Angst was for grunge what melancholy was for Blues. It is tough to distil emotion from music because emotion at many times is what drives music. Even if I were to concede and admit that Eddie Vedder was a better singer and a better song-writer (which I would not do to begin with) I still think Kurt Cobain is a better musician. Kurt Cobain is capable of packing more energy and passion into a song than Eddie was ever able to.

In an attempt to eliminate songwriting skills from the equation, I take the examples of covers performed by the bands. Of all the songs I know that Pearl Jam has covered, I remember a few from Doors and The Who. All of which are good renditions of good songs. But if you take the covers that Nirvana has done, Man who sold the world (David Bowie), Son of a Gun (Vaselines), Plateau and Lake of fire (Meat Puppets) just to name a few. What Nirvana has done to each of these songs is to simply pack an exciting amount of energy and emotion into all these songs. It is like they took an old Honda and fitted it with twin-turbo and differential steering. That is talent that very few in the world are capable of. Take a song and make it better… No, make it phenomenal!

Millions of rock artists including Hendrix, Layne Staley and Randy Rhoads have died in the prime of their careers. Not all of them became Kurt Cobain, because none of them were Kurt Cobain.

4. The Verdict

If you like Pearl Jam better, it comes down to a matter of taste. It is one thing to say that Pearl Jam was a good band. But if you should dare to say that Kurt Cobain was over-rated and that his music was hyped up and that he became famous only because of MTV and his untimely suicide, you may kiss the same the same dog’s furry behind that the sales statistics kissed just a minute ago.

Pearl Jam or Nirvana !

2009-03-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is a response for an argument with a friend (No, Jamie it is not you) on who is actually better. I'll tackle the facts first.

1. Pearl Jam created Nirvana.
Forget all what everyone has told you, even MTV for that matter. Long before Nirvana were formed Stone Gossard (Rhythm Guitar, Pearl Jam) and Jeff Ament (Bass Guitar, Pearl Jam) were in a Seattle band called Green River. Matt Cameron (Drums, Pearl Jam) was in Soundgarden, Eddie Vedder was in a band called Bad Radio which was based in San Diego. Green River became huge in Seattle, but Gossard and Ament wanted more from Green River, not for money (Yes, I can prove that too), they wanted their music to be heard. Green River broke up and Gossard and Ament went on to form Mother Love Bone and released the album Mother Love Bone, the other members of Green River formed Mudhoney with their album Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles.This was at the time Nirvana released their first album Bleach and this was long after Pearl Jam members were making music. Kurt Cobain admitted Green River were a heavy inspiration for Nirvana (Green River - 50% Pearl Jam), which in turn means if the members of Pearl Jam never existed Nirvana's music would have been a lot different. Even though Nirvana's first album didn't go on to be that big, Mother Love Bone was going to be huge until their frontman Andy Wood died of heroin overdose. This got the Seattle bands in the news and major record labels started chashing in on their popularity.

Eddie Vedder came to Seattle to record an album Ten with members of Mother Love Bone and formed Pearl Jam with was months before Nevermind. Nirvana were signed on by a major label because of all the hype surrounding Seattle bands (All of which had Pearl Jam members). Ten wasn't much noticed as compared to Nevermind because of the music videos. Ten had no music videos while Nevermind had music videos which dominated MTV. Pearl Jam weren't even in a rush to make videos, Pearl Jam members didn't care at all about being real huge anymore, Jeff Ament & Stone Gossard more realized it was about the music after Andy's death, Pearl Jam didn't even care when they heard their album started going platinum. Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson off the charts well Ten knocked Nevermind off the charts.

Nirvana got recognized because of what the Pearl Jam members did... and Nirvana got signed, because of what the Pearl Jam members did... would Pearl Jam's music of been any different whether or not Nirvana existed? NO - would Nirvana's music been any different whether or not the Pearl Jam members existed? YES.
Need I say more.

2. The Numbers Game.
All facts are according to Soundscan (for the ignorant it is the information system that tracks music sales).

Nirvana - Bleach (1990) : 1.7 million copies (some pre-soundscan era)
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991) : 8.5 million copies (it came out one month before soundscan)
Nirvana - in Utero (1993) : 4.0 million copies

Nirvana Total : 14.2 million

Pearl Jam - Ten (1990) : 9.5 million copies (Ten was released three months before soundscan)
Pearl Jam - Vs (1993) : 4.7 million copies
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (1994) : 5.9 million copies

Pearl Jam Total : 19.1 million

Yes, I am limiting it to the part where Nirvana stopped making new music.

3. Lyrics and Fame.
You can see and hear the angst in Vedder as he powers his way through staples Black', Alive', Even Flow', Rearviewmirror' and Jeremy'. Each of his songs are so passionate, so emotive and so heartfelt.

Cobain too was a master at creating an entire novel's worth of story in a four minute song. Smells Like Teen Spirit' became as big an anthem for the generation as Alive did, both songs defined the disenchanted youth of the era.

Both bands quickly generated an army of loyal fans and both lead singers were faced with the realities of stardom, neither were fond of the degree in which their bands found success. Thrust into the spotlight so rapidly the two greatest musical icons of the 90's began to question their own validity as artists.

For Cobain the only way out was in the most dramatic fashion, he committed suicide. Vedder, on the other hand, countered his suicidal thoughts by fighting. There were much publicized battles with both MTV and Ticketek. Neither of these battles was winnable and both took their toll on the bands popularity.

The end result, however, was that Pearl Jam survived and Nirvana were torn apart. In all fairness, Nirvana were probably never really going to last the long run. Cobain was well known for his mood swings and temper. The reality is, as Cobain alluded too in his suicide note, Nirvana had reached their peak. From that point on, had Cobain not taken his own life, the band were staring at a rapid decline and potential break up. Kurt felt it was "better to die out than fade away".

It is sad that we never got to see a mature Kurt Cobain, it would be interesting to see how far he could have gone either as lead singer of Nirvana, or as a solo artist. Vedder has grown out of his angst-riddled early persona and is now a champion of all causes just and true.

While both bands have their rightful place in the history of rock assured, only one has endured. When determining the greatness of a band, one must look at longevity, after all, success is a marathon, not a sprint event. Nirvana came in with a bang and went out just as quickly. Pearl Jam have gone on to attract a new generation of loyal fans.

Pearl Jam, to this day, remains the greatest band to come out of the Seattle alternative scene. Nirvana are a fantastic side note. Nevermind' will go down in history as one of the best rock/alternative albums ever made. Ten' will be right there beside it, the difference is that Pearl Jam will also be remembered for Verses', Vitalogy' and Yield' too, amongst others.

For every Nirvana song we have two equally good Pearl Jam songs, it isn't my fault Nirvana decided to leave the party early. You snooze, you lose buddy.

Nirvana wouldn't have been hailed so much as they are done now if Kurt Cobain had been alive. People stop giving me that Nirvana would have won by a landslide, they so wouldn't. It was all hype, they weren't that great as people say they were. Nirvana were only famous because all the other Pearl Jam imitators were horrible! As soon as I heard Pearl Jam, I forgot Nirvana. It was like having Natalie Portman in bed and then sleeping on the couch.

Pearl Jam would mop floors with Nirvana, and then do it again for good measure.

Yes, people do read this.