Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam emerged in 1990 as the successor to the band Mother Love Bone.

Their first album, "Ten," released a year later, became one of the most successful albums of the early 90s, selling over 12 million copies and reaching number 2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The album contained 11 songs (three singles), most of which addressed themes like suicide, depression, and loneliness. The music video for the song "Jeremy" from the same album won 4 MTV awards in 1993, including Best Video of the Year and Best Group Video. This is actually why they stopped making videos for their songs. They claim they don't want their songs to be remembered simply as a music video, but primarily as a message.

In 1993, the band's second album, "Vs.," was released, setting a record for first-week sales after its debut.

Pearl Jam released their third album, "Vitalogy," in 1994. The song "Spin The Black Circle" won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1996.

Vitalogy was followed by 4 albums that could hardly compare to the success of their predecessors. Pearl Jam lost some of their popularity with them, but they did something unconventional and different.

In 1996, Pearl Jam released the album "No Code." "No Code" was different when compared to previous albums. Pearl Jam experimented with ballads and garage rock. This made the album less popular with mainstream listeners.

Yield followed, along with the band's first music video in 6 years. The video was for the song "Do The Evolution" and was an animated version of human history and nature. A documentary film was also made about the creation of Yield - Single Video Theory. After the series of concerts accompanying the release of Yield, drummer Jack Irons (ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers) left the band. His replacement was Matt Cameron (ex-Soundgarden). His first album with Pearl Jam was "Binaural" in 2000. A new series of concerts began. They ended tragically. During the Roskilde festival in Denmark, several of the band's fans were brutally crushed. The concert was interrupted, and the musicians themselves considered leaving the stage forever. Fortunately, this did not happen, and two years later, "Riot Act" was released. This album also included folk elements. Boom Gaspar (pianist) joined the band as a guest musician. During this period, the songs "Hail Hail," "Do The Evolution," "Given To Fly," and "I Am Mine" became memorable hits.

Eddie Vedder at a band concert in Albany in 2006.
2006 was the year that brought Pearl Jam back to the energy of the early 90s. This happened with the release of the album "Pearl Jam." Critics described it as their best album in ten years. The album was a combination of their experiments with recent albums and the vitality of their older ones. This combination proved successful. Two music videos were also filmed – for the songs "World Wide Suicide" and "Life Wasted." A tour followed, covering a large part of the musical world we know. Pearl Jam released a song for the 2007 film "Reign Over Me," namely – "Love, Reign o'er Me" (an old song by The Who).