Pearl Jam Twenty Review: Still Alive
September 23, 2011 by Keith Kuramoto
Filed under feature overlay, Movies
Backstage at the 1992 MTV Music Video awards was a dramatic representation of the epic sea-change happening in music and pop culture. Wilson Phillips dallied around with Boyz II Men while a few feet away Axl Rose paced anxiously in circles, strategizing how his band-of-excess Guns N’ Roses could recover from the behemoth of…the two guys slow dancing together in the corner? It’s widely known that Nirvana and Pearl Jam were at odds with each other in the early 90s; Kurt Cobain calling out Pearl Jam for being too 
commercial-sounding to be truly “Alternative,” leaving Eddie Vedder, too reverential and humble to snap back, to simply take the criticism. What is little known is that, at the height of their so-called “feud,” Kurt grabbed Eddie backstage at the VMAs and the two slow danced together, laughing their asses off. They later embraced, in a warm significant hug. Kurt smiled, mischievously putting his finger to his lips in a “tell no one” expression, Eddie applauding in humorous approval. It’s only seen for a few fleeting seconds, but it is the single most touching moment in PJ20 (Pearl Jam Twenty), a new feature-length documentary that deftly captures a band that literally had the entire world in the palm of their hand, walked away from it, and continued to endure like no other rock band in recent history.
It began out of inconceivable loss. Andrew Wood, the brightest singing light of love and joy in the Seattle music scene, tragically died of a drug overdose in 1989, reducing his band Mother Love Bone, once on the verge of success, to stare down into the deep abyss of the unknown. In a nascent-Nirvana 1989 Seattle, Mother Love Bone was tapped to be the breakout success of the scene, due in no small part to Andy Wood. Recalling Wood’s death, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is brought to tears thinking about his best friend’s last painful days. “For all of us, it was the end of innocence,” he pushes out through a shaky, distraught voice. “It’s just so hard to articulate.” Wood’s absence left a deep hole in the Seattle scene and for a band that was destined to become the second coming of Queen, they could only assume that this was the end. Mother Love Bone’s second coming, however, ended up appearing fresh off a fifteen foot swell of prime San Diego surf, from the deep baritone of a California boy named Eddie.
This is the way in which Pearl Jam was conceived. An instrumental demo tape hot-potatoed from musician to musician until it ended up in the capable hands of Eddie Vedder. A stroke of creative genius, a flight to Seattle, lightning in a bottle. Their ensuing success is well documented and well known; turning their backs to infinitely rising success, fighting Ticketmaster, stepping away from their record label. But it has never been told from the perspective of the band. This is the rocket fuel behind PJ20, piloted with finesse by Cameron Crowe, longtime friend and creative confidant of the band. Crowe’s ties to Pearl Jam date back to late 1991 when he was in Seattle shooting his second film, the under-appreciated Singles and asked them if they wanted to cameo in the movie. The impetus for the film was his unyielding love for the music coming out of Seattle at the time and wanting to incorporate that scene into a narrative. The band at the time were still on the verge and as such, their skills outside acting were used to carry cable, clean sets, and roadie out equipment. It would be a bonding experience between band and director that would stand the test of time, Cameron returning to the band over the years to interview them for various news outlets and building a personal relationship with all of them outside of work. Off the back of his long time friendship with Pearl Jam, the band went to him to assemble a documentary that would tell their twenty year story in their own words.
The movie, in short, is a revelation for fan and non-fan alike. Thousands upon thousands of hours of footage has been discovered, pored over, filtered, assembled, and shot to create the narrative of one of the most private bands of their or any other generation. The film at its core is broken down into two parts: The first ten years, and the second ten years. Inherently, the first section is more exciting and fascinating than the latter, but isn’t the infant years of a really great band always the most interesting? Isn’t it better to remember Elvis all lean and swagger and pompadour and not fat, old, and balding? Not that the second ten years is any of that. Earmarked by the horrific disaster of Roskilde, in which nine people died from being crushed during Pearl Jam’s performance, the second cycle of the band sees them more reflective, conscious, and dogged about every decision they make, critical of not just how it will affect them, but their fans as well. The fans, who end up being an important component to the band’s second cycle; who, when the boy band and Pop onslaught of the early oughts ravaged popular music (and still does in many ways), stuck with Pearl Jam and continue to stick with the band by the millions. Their enduring support keeps the band alive and kicking as much as the band themselves do. It’s a fluid relationship that, twenty years on, shows no signs of slowing.
The most significant contribution that Crowe offers with PJ20 is his humanization of the band. He works hard to dispel the myth that the band are a bunch of angry, too-serious-for-their-own-good guys, a key facet of the film, but one that is not without its share of baggage. Using this method, Crowe also avoids the inner-dramas that plagued the band during its heady heyday years. The firing of drummer Dave Abbruzzese and his tepid relationship with the band, the reversal of creative power 
from Stone Gossard to Eddie Vedder, Guitarist Mike McCready’s substance abuse; all of these things are either touched lightly with a ten foot pole or not at all and the film does suffer from a bit of rose-colored-glasses because of it. That said, knowing how private the band is, the mere fact that this documentary exists at all is a minor miracle. It wouldn’t have hurt to also let the film breathe, but in the end this is probably one of the positives of the movie- leave them wanting more. And want more I did. The minutiae of recording each album, the hazards of the early tours, the reception from other Seattle bands of the time, particularly the Sub Pop contingent. All questions fascinate, but would have ended up as a seven-hour feature and no one wants so sit through one of those. Maybe in another twenty years we’ll get a Beatles Anthology-esque mini-series that puts a microscopic lens over every moment of the band, but until then there is Pearl Jam Twenty and as it exists, it will no doubt go down as one of the great music documentaries of all time, holding its own with Gimmie Shelter, The Last Waltz, and The Kids Are Alright. 1991 was the last important era for rock music and twenty years on, we can remember and acknowledge that four guys from Seattle (and a surfer dude from San Diego) helped to redefine and change the landscape of music forever.
Images courtesy of IMDBPro
Pearl Jam!
Estamos esperando vcs aqui no Brasil!!! sejam benvindos..
You’re not a weirdo for liking both bands. People should like who they like. And I’m not claiming to know everything or read people’s minds, but these are just the straight up facts of the matter if you wanted to take the time to read up. There are plenty of books that accurately recount this whole period with quotes and stories from both camps.
Yes, Kurt did spit on what he thought was Axl’s piano, but this was only AFTER Axl bad-mouthed them in the press and at live shows (the latter of which you can find on YouTube) and after members of GnR were stalking the VMAs looking to beat the shit out of all three band members (also true, also documented. I didn’t read any minds to make that statement). Music feuds are aways childish, but I would be dollars to donuts that GnR have way, way more douche-strikes against them than Nirvana.
plenty of kids in seattle with nirvana hats did not perform in front of audiences of thousands of people or got aired on MTV! and since you know alot i’m sure you also know that at the MTV video music awards Kurt spat on what he thought was axl’s piano, but it was in fact Elton John’s who was about to perform November rain with Axl. So who’s being childish?
i am not taking anyone’s side here i saw both bands live on stage back in their heydays and i liked them both very much. Am I a weirdo for this? and i know alot about this stuff too…i just get irritated with people who pretend to know everything, when they don’t, in your case even to know what goes on in people’s minds!
Anyway this is an article about Pearl Jam (another band I saw live) and i am looking forward to seeing the documentary.
I “know all this stuff” because I’ve done research on the subject and have been thorough with my digging, but honesty, whether or not Axl was a fan of Nirvana is moot. Think of it this way- do you think a current Alternative artist like Arcade Fire or TV On The Radio would ever tour with a band like, say, Daughtry if they were asked? The short answer is “fuck no”. It’s no different. This kind of thing happens EVERY DAY in the music industry but it goes unnoticed because no one pays it any mind. In the case of GnR and Nirvana, it got blown out of proportion because someone couldn’t keep their big gums from flapping.
And who cares if Axl wore a Nirvana hat once? There were plenty of kids in Seattle wearing Nirvana shirts years before that. Same goes for NWA.
Keith
i agree that axl’s ego is huge, but how do you know all that? you sound more like axl’s psychoanalyst! As far as i’m concerned axl had spottend a new talent. he was wearing a Nirvana hat before anybody knew who they were! As he was wearing a NWA hat when the band was still selling records from the back of their car (this is a Dr.Dre quote)
Dammit: That is not really the case at all. Axl/GNR DID ask Nirvana to play with them on tour, true, but so did every other rock band in existence at the height of Nevermind’s popularity including Metallica and Van Halen. Guns N’ Roses went against everything that Nirvana stood for when it came to music ethics, so they POLITELY declined behind-closed-doors, at which point Axl felt it necessary to start trash-talking the band in the press because his ego was (and still is) so huge that he refused to take “no” for an answer and elected to be a big baby about it rather than keep it behind the scenes. THAT is how the feud started.
Axl only “liked” Nirvana because they were the hottest thing at the moment and he wanted a piece of the action and, worried that the spotlight would shift away from his band (as it ended up doing anyway) opted for the strategy of keeping his enemies close. It didn’t work. Nirvana were smart and saw right through it.
So, sorry Dammit- I’m not wrong. But I appreciate your input.
Keith you got it wrong!
Axl liked Nirvana very much and asked them several times to tour with GNR. But Kurt, instead of offering a polite refusal, decided that it was better to offend, and that’s how the feud started.
Yeah, let’s not talk about Slash, who has a pacemaker right now because he’s done so much drugs that his heart can no longer function on its own. Or Axl’s own heroin use. Because that has nothing to do with excess. Or if you want to talk musical excess, the gross over elaborate production of the Illusion records compared to Appetite. You say that 1 and 2 sold 34 million copies together, but Nevermind has sold THIRTY MILLION COPIES ALONE, about double the total of one Illusion record, so now you tell me what band is more relevant in today’s climate.
To claim that Nirvana is not considered one of the most impactful bands of all time is foolish and sounds like you’re in denial of the real facts. The fact that you call Cobain a selfish coward proves that you don’t know all the facts and are making claims based on your opinion and not what really happened. You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion, but get the facts right before you make statements that aren’t valid or even partially correct.
Also where is the excess of GNR? Up until 95 slash drove a Honda civic, and lived in a dump apartment, same for duff, guy was sleepin in someone’s frontroom.
Was their music about partying and excess? Um no. It’s just a figment of a junkie who didn’t want anyone to like his music, and had to show he was “different”. In reality GNR and Nirvana are very similar. But Kurt was no Axl rose. Maybe he was jealous of Axl voice I dunno. Why else hate people you never met.
The whole junkie musician who hates the world and acts like he’s different from you and I, and blows his brains out because he can’t embrace fame is played out and been done before. The guy was a selfish asshole coward to kill himself. Oh poor Kurt with his millions and 500 a day heroin habit! What a tortured soul! Phony
Keith, GNR didn’t have to be relevant. GNR was and is considered in a league of their own. Musicianship, talent, songwriting abilities light years over Nirvana. And a cult following that’s unswayed by “what’s cool “. They are considered to be one of the top Rock bands of all time – Nirvana is not.
GNR turned down hundred of millions to reunite and tour many times. If they were to put out a new album, it would crush anything put out in the last 20 years easily. Democracy was a laughing stock because the fans didn’t want to hear the Axl rose album. They wanted to hear Slash, Izzy and Duff. If Democracy was made by Axl, Izzy, Slash and Duff, and it was good, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Again, for you grunge living know it alls, Use Your Illusions 1/2 was released a month before Nevermind, and it sold 34 million worldwide. More than Nevermind. And most of those numbers were sold between 93 and 2000. Right in the heart if the grunge era. So how do you explain that??? I’ll yell ya. GNR transcended “what’s cool”
Yeah, Eddie Vedder spent quite a lot of time in San Diego, but you can’t forget that he’s a Chicago boy at heart.
All The Way (Cubs Tribute) by Eddie Vedder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEa03bBNYFw
Petey, it’s because all of those bands felt threatened by the new wave of music and acted like dickheads because of it. It’s no secret that Axl and Duff of GNR stalked Nirvana that year at the VMAs and tried to beat the shit out of them, unprovoked. GNR weren’t a hair band and did have a good record, but they represent the excess of rock music prior to the much more down-to-Earth appeal of the alternative movement.
The fact is that GNR stopped being relevant after 1991 and if they released a record in 1996, they would have been as laughed at and scoffed as they were when Chinese Democracy finally released a few years back simply because Alternative was still going strong. Rock sucks now, but it isn’t because GNR couldn’t get their shit together. It’s because we’ve been living in the shadow of the last truly great music movement for so long, the one that started with Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Why does every article regarding “alternative” music from the 90′s tie in and claim it was the downfall of Axl rose and GNR why toured until 2003 – the longest rock tour ever.
GNR was not the hair rock party music you people claim it to be. If GNR stood together, took time off and realeased an album in say 1996, it would have sold 30 million worldwide (illusions 1/2 sold 34 million worldwide), and maybe Rock would still be relevant and not garbage like Ax7 or nickelback or kings if Leon garbage.
Elvis was not balding his later yrs show the price of excess
NYJ, I could go on and on about the ways you don’t know what you are talking about and end up coming off dumb and uneducated (probably because you are), but I will stick with the points you oh-so-delicately brought up:
The BAND approved of the Weird Al song because they thought it was funny and it would take their own song down a rung or two BECAUSE IT BECAME COMMERCIALIZED.
And their stint on Unplugged was a way in which they could re-define their sound to the widest audience possible BECAUSE IT BECAME TOO COMMERCIALIZED.
Next time, to the entirety of the internet a huge favor and think before you open that slack-jaw of yours, Ok? Thanks, Bye.
“…Kurt Cobain calling out Pearl Jam for being too commercial-sounding to be truly ‘Alternative’ ”
Gee, was that before or after Kurt approved a Weird Al parody and played “Unplugged?” To say nothing of the VMAs themselves…what an insecure, hypocritical, overrated twit
I really love the soundtrack to this film, and this PJ20 Playlist on Spotify. http://open.spotify.com/user/myplay.com/playlist/2RrwYnpe54sfwJUV57YfFL