Pearl Jam is a group I really liked for a time in the 90s, then just never kept following them. Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense by Ronen Givony really struck a sweet spot for me. Maybe that is the case, and maybe I wish there were, but this is not the one I wish I had spent my time with. The author says they wrote it because there weren't other/better Pearl Jam books out there. It goes back to my frustration with his very strong opinions (I always react too strongly to someone else's strong opinions). If I was reading a book and it was putting me to sleep, switching to this one woke me up too much. I had really strong reactions to reading this book. I also reconfirmed that I very much like some albums that the author dismisses. Yes, I still miss Dave Abbruzzese, but it is possible that Matt Cameron is actually my least favorite Pearl Jam drummer. The author is right, Jack wrote some really good parts.
#REDDIT BEST PEARL JAM BOOTLEGS CODE#
I found that I like No Code and Yield more than I had in the past, and that I'm not sure why I always hated Jack Irons as a drummer before.
Some good things that came out of reading this book: I re-listened to all of Pearl Jam's albums with fresh ears. He almost never discusses the music itself (which is odd, since I seem to recall him mentioning that he is a classical musician in the intro). The author, in their strong opinions, is very focused on a song being good or horrible/cheesy almost solely based on the lyrics. Reading this book took me back to that teenage world of fighting over preferences, and I didn't like returning to it. I don't need to argue with people what is right and wrong in an area that is completely opinion based. I hope that is less true now: I like music that I like and I try to listen to stuff that maybe I didn't know that I like, but I really don't care at all if people like the music they like. I used to be a person who had extremely strong opinions about what music was good and bad that I needed to be made known and argue about and defend. He at least admits to this during the intro to the book, but I found it aggravating. I read this book because it was recommended by JamBase. It is also about the history of politics in the last 30 years as much as the other two topics. It is as much about the author as it is about Pearl Jam. Partly social history, partly autobiography, and entirely outspoken, discursive, and droll, Not for You is the first full-length treatment of Pearl Jam's odyssey and importance in the culture, from the '90s to the present. It's an old-fashioned – if, at times, ambivalent – appreciation a reflection on pleasure, fandom, and guilt and an essay on the nature of adolescence, nostalgia, and adulthood. More than the first critical study, Not for You is a tribute to a famously obsessive fan base, in the spirit of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. Along the way, it considers the band's activism, idealism, and impact, from “W.M.A.” to the Battle of Seattle and Body of War. It starts with their founding, and the eruption of grunge, in 1991 continues through their golden age ( Vs., Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield) their middle period ( Binaural, Riot Act) and the more divisive recent catalog. A study of their role in history – from Operation Desert Storm to the Dixie Chicks "Jeremy" to Columbine Kurt Cobain to Chris Cornell Ticketmaster to Trump – Not for You explores the band's origins and evolution over thirty years of American culture. Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense is the first full-length biography of America's preeminent band, from Ten to Gigaton. Through resilience, integrity, and sheer force of will, they transcended several eras, and shaped the way a whole generation thought about art, entertainment, and commerce. But Pearl Jam's story is about much more than music. The Seattle quintet has recorded eleven studio albums sold some 85 million records played over a thousand shows, in fifty countries and had five different albums reach number one. There has never been a band like Pearl Jam.
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