Donate | NPR Shop | NPR Community | Login | Register
Pearl Jam artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Backspacer is Pearl Jam's first studio album since the musicians became free agents, finally fulfilling a seven-album contract with Sony. That process took 15 years. The band is now on its own, striking distribution deals with major corporations, a turnaround for the once very anti-corporate band.
()Pearl Jam was one of the biggest-selling rock bands of the last decade, and one of the few bands to survive the Seattle grunge scene. The group's success comes from its powerful, melodic rock and its intense, charismatic lead singer, Eddie Vedder. NPR's Elizabeth Blair profiles the band, now on a major U.S. tour. Hear some of their songs and extra portions of their interviews.
()Passionate hard rock from Pearl Jam; Seattle's next big act Mountain Con; A farewell release from Grandaddy; Sweden's colorful pop group The Concretes; A hip hop wonder hit by Gnarls Barkley; Remembering guitarist Django Reinhardt; Music from Kenya's Extra Golden; Experimental space rock from Mogwai.
()A sneak peek at new work from Ry Cooder; Iceland's beautiful but elfish Sigur Ros; An All Songs great unknown: Jamie Janover; A dreamy instrumental from Japancakes; Former PJ Harvey guitarist John Parish; and seventy-two live CDs later, Pearl Jam has a collection of all-new work.
()
When a successful band returns after a long break, it's bound to worry about expectations. That's what's striking about new albums by Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains: Pearl Jam is the only one that sounds desperate to give fans exactly what they've come to expect. Alice in Chains sounds considerably more liberated.
()
Loading...