Pearl Jam never called themselves “grunge”, but soon had that tag thrust upon them. Ten sold slowly until the breakthrough of Nirvana, whose Nevermind, released only a couple of weeks after, went on to become a surprise smash hit. And while the dark backstory of Vedder’s lyrics lends the track a frisson of complexity, Alive’s true charm lies in its uplifting power, Vedder’s impassioned delivery (within a year countless rock frontmen would be mimicking his hearty burr) and that solo, which could move a corpse to play along on air guitar.
However, delivered in Vedder’s heroic baritone over Gossard’s incandescent riff, and gifted one of the most unabashedly classic-rock guitar solos in recent memory (courtesy of Mike McCready), Alive was interpreted as an inspirational message by the thousands of fans who sent Pearl Jam’s debut single into the US top 20.
Its lyric suggests an incestuous affair between the hero and his mother, while its hookline, “I’m still alive”, was intended as a rueful statement of fact from the homicidal/suicidal teen. Alive is the first chapter in this trilogy ( Once, off Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten, and the early B-side Footsteps tell the rest of the story). A lifelong fan of Pete Townshend, he concocted a song-cycle, Mamasan, telling the story of a troubled young man whose traumatic discovery that his supposed birth father was actually his stepfather (a Tommy-esque drama drawn from Vedder’s own life) sends him on a killing spree, for which he is ultimately executed. One of the band’s masterpieces receiving gold certifications from Australia’s ARIA, Italy’s FIMI, and silver certified from UK’s BPI.A serious-minded, humble surfer dude – in many ways Wood’s antithesis – Vedder’s first contribution to this new project was to write lyrics for a demo tape of Gossard riffs. One of the band’s biggest hits and a fan favorite. This song made its way across renowned music charts internationally, fans loved its portrayal of the struggles of a father looking after his daughter, making this song sentimental and heartfelt.ĭespite the lack of commercial release, this song reached the top of the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and stayed at the spot for 8 weeks. The song’s deep meaning and poignant feel made this loved by fans across the world earning the number 21 spot on the US Billboard of Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.įans call this the highlight of the band’s album Vitalogy despite the lack of advertisements of the song it reached the number 13 spot on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. This song topped both the US and Canadian charts and number two on the UK Rock Chart and top 10 in other countries which single-handedly became the band’s highest-charting single. Touching vulnerable topics made fans jam to this hit.įeatured in the band’s album Vitalogy back in 1994, this song was a massive hit globally and it was also included on the band’s 2004 greatest-hits albums making. This is also included on the band’s 2004 greatest hits album and peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard of Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. This song was featured in the band’s 2002 album Riot Act, this peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and was later included on the band’s 2004 greatest hits album.
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