When I was growing up, rock & roll helped give me my sense of identity, but I had to search for it. I remember I loved the Clash, but I was an outcast because you were supposed to like Journey. Before that, I loved Kiss. The thing these bands gave me was invaluable - that whole spirit of rebellion. Rock & roll should be about rebellion. Rock & roll should be about rebellion. It should piss your parents off, and it should offer some element of taboo. It should be dangerous, you know? But I'm not sure it really is dangerous anymore. Now, thanks to MTV and radio, rock & roll gets pumped into your house every second of every day. Being a rock & roll star has become as legitimate a career option as being an astronaut or a policeman or a fireman. That's why I applaud - even helped create - bands like Marilyn Manson. The shock-rock value. I think it's necessary. Death to Hootie and the Blowfish, you know? It's safe. It's legitimate.

Look at Marilyn Manson: They have no qualms about taking that whole thing on. The scene needs that, you know. It doesn't need another Pearl Jam-rip-off band. It doesn't need the politically correct R.E.M.s telling us, "We don't eat meat." Fuck you to all that. We need someone who wants to say, "You know what? I jack off 10 times a night, and I fuck groupies." It's not considered safe to say that now, but rock shouldn't be safe. I'm not saying I adhere whole-heartedly to that in my own lifestyle, but I think that's the aesthetic we need right now. There needs to be some element of anarchy or something that dares to be different.

I didn't get into music to make a lot of money or to be this big. But now that it's kind of happened, I think well, okay, how can I take advantage of this position? I'm thinking of the fuckin' kid in Nebraska in the cornfield that just heard about nine inch nails and then bought the record. And it doesn't sound like the Pearl Jam record... It might open his eyes and maybe he'll think "This is really cool. I'll go buy a Ministry album. I'll go buy a Skinny Puppy record." It's not that I'm on a great mission to do that even. But I grew up in the middle of nowhere and a lot of my input when I was a kid - when I was forming my self opinion of who I am and what the world is about - music played a big part in that.

I watch MTV because I am morbidly fascinated with how bad most of what I'm seeing is. Occasionally, something will sneak out that's all right. What I think could have been a unique new art form has become a series of 3-minute commericals for products. This one might be for Bon Jovi and that one for Pearl Jam and that one for Close-Up tooth polish or whatever. It's interchangable. Just look how corporate and unchallenging the whole genre of rock video has become. I think that someone realized a while ago that one channel that goes everywhere in the country is much more important than any radio station. "If we get on there we're going to sell *this* many records. So we want something that looks like *this* to do *this* and it imitates *that* one which lucked into something that got big, so we'll make a million things like it." When someone asks me what I listen to these days, what new bands I like, I'm thinking. Ten seconds later I'm still thinking. I've been listening to something that's ten years old. I'm listening to my favorite album from five years ago. I can't think of any new bands, if I thought a while I might come up with a few bands that are decent, but generally why is music so shitty today? Look at the top hundred albums. How did Counting Crows get there? Where the fuck did those guys come from? Who is responsible for subjecting us to that?

Q: What do you listen to?

A: Pearl Jam.

Q: Alright.

A: I fucking hate Pearl Jam.

The only person that should matter in terms of who likes pearl jam should be yourself.

You should give yourself a cookie for that wonderful enlightment.

I watch MTV because I am morbidly fascinated with how bad most of what I'm seeing is. Occasionally, something will sneak out that's all right. What I think could have been a unique new art form has become a series of 3-minute commericals for products. This one might be for Bon Jovi and that one for Pearl Jam and that one for Close-Up tooth polish or whatever. It's interchangable. Just look how corporate and unchallenging the whole genre of rock video has become. I think that someone realized a while ago that one channel that goes everywhere in the country is much more important than any radio station. "If we get on there we're going to sell *this* many records. So we want something that looks like *this* to do *this* and it imitates *that* one which lucked into something that got big, so we'll make a million things like it." When someone asks me what I listen to these days, what new bands I like, I'm thinking. Ten seconds later I'm still thinking. I've been listening to something that's ten years old. I'm listening to my favorite album from five years ago. I can't think of any new bands, if I thought a while I might come up with a few bands that are decent, but generally why is music so shitty today? Look at the top hundred albums. How did Counting Crows get there? Where the fuck did those guys come from? Who is responsible for subjecting us to that?

I think the comments that the original poster was referencing were said by Phil Anselmo, not TR. He said that PJ ought to sue Creed because they were such an obvious ripoff.

trent reznor?

'95


I think this just goes to show that Trent has no idea who Pearl Jam is or what they're about. It had been three years and two albums since they had made a video at this point. In fact fucking NIN had more airtime on MTV in 1995 than Pearl Jam did.

He probably knows as much about Pearl Jam as Britney Spears does, and I'll give his opinion about that much credence.

--PunkDavid