{"id":173471,"date":"2025-10-01T19:12:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/173471\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T19:12:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:12:24","slug":"the-song-matt-cameron-said-was-quintessential-pearl-jam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/173471\/","title":{"rendered":"The song Matt Cameron said was “quintessential Pearl Jam”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matt<\/p>\n

(Credits: Zildijan)<\/p>\n

Wed 1 October 2025 14:00, UK <\/p>\n

When Bono<\/a> was talking about grunge music, he spoke of the 1990s as if it was representative of a new era of punk rock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that at that very moment in the early \u201990s, there were a lot of people making kind of a new punk-rock music<\/a> in short pants and plaid shirts,\u201d he said, \u201cThe grunge movement was just getting off the ground. Nirvana had just released \u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019. Pearl Jam were coming through with Ten [1991]. Primal Scream had done something similar with Screamadelica [1991].\u201d<\/p>\n

While Bono\u2019s comments come from a good place, and he\u2019s referring to the fact that grunge music pierced the mainstream but was originally an alternative genre, the truth is, there is a massive difference between grunge and punk. Sure, punk was an incredibly necessary genre, and it gave voice to people who previously couldn\u2019t speak up for themselves, but it was a lot more one-dimensional.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you listen to bands like Sex Pistols and The Clash, there is no escaping that they were able to tap into something within the public consciousness that generally leaned towards anger and frustration. Societal imbalances were often addressed with punk, and while it made for an exciting listen, the genre didn\u2019t extend outside of these parameters.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Grunge, on the other hand, had range and could still certainly be used in a bid to deliver a political message, as we saw frequently with bands such as Nirvana. Kurt Cobain\u2019s controversial \u2018Rape Me\u2019 took aim at sexual assaults with an unforgiving confrontation of the crime and anyone who would consider committing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a young girl who was abducted, the guy drove her around in his van. Tortured her. Raped her,\u201d explained Krist Novoselic when discussing the song, \u201cThe only chance she had of getting away was to come on to him and persuade him to untie her. That\u2019s what she did, and she got away. Can you imagine how much strength that took<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Different tracks are brought up for different reasons, because the genre isn\u2019t one-dimensional, and therefore, the bands who make it aren\u2019t either. Some Pearl Jam songs were political, but others were a lot more heartfelt and emotional, and the band have managed great longevity by injecting versatility, both in terms of being unafraid of tense lyrical topics and iconic instrumentation. <\/p>\n

When discussing their music, Matt Cameron recalled hearing their classic track \u2018Even Flow\u2019 for the first time. Despite the fact that he has played that song more times than he can count, he still recalls hearing it for the first time, and attests that it\u2019s their classic cut in every structural way, believing the public is right in their admiration of this track.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in Soundgarden and we were making Badmotorfinger, Eddie brought up the mixes to Ten and I distinctly remember hearing the chorus for \u2018Even Flow\u2019 and thinking that\u2019s HUGE,\u201d he said, \u201cSo hooky, it\u2019s got a really rad Zeppelin huge rock feel to it. Although we\u2019ve played it a couple of thousand times since I\u2019ve been in the group, I think that\u2019s the quintessential Pearl Jam song. Even though it gets played out, the nuts and bolts of that song are just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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