A very good read.

THIS year, Pearl Jam are hitting the road again with a new album that echoes the band's unmistakable sound.

The US city of Seattle is the key to unlocking the band members' teenage years. It represents a place where angsty rockers put adolescent hormones to good use, pouring them into a revolutionary new sound. It stood for the music of the early '90s. It stood for grunge.

Grunge was the soundtrack to my coming of age, and I wear my fan status with pride: I slept in the mud for two days to be sure I was front row at concerts; I layered my walls with posters from Smash Hits and Rolling Stone; and I spent nights in candlelit rooms dissecting lyrics while chugging West Coast Cooler. I was Gen-X emo.

Over the years, I've matured, as have my musical tastes, but one band's songs still strike a chord: Pearl Jam. One riff from Alive, the breakthrough hit that set them on their path to stardom - not to mention 60 million worldwide sales - and I'm right back in the mud, singing my heart out.

Wandering around the sun-filled streets of Seattle, I find little to explain why this became the hub for a groundswell that defined a decade. It's like many other US cities, yet this was the birthplace of seminal bands Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. I'm told I've caught the city in a moment of good weather and that a few more days in town would guarantee me a glimpse of its true nature.

"Two hundred and twenty days of the year, it's nasty. There are a lot of guys in basements sinking beers and making music," says Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. "There were a few different schools of music (back then) and, kind of unbeknownst, it exploded like a volcano."

In anticipation of a new album release - the eighth since their 1991 debut, Ten, one of the top-selling rock albums of all time - the band has allowed me rare access into Pearl Jam HQ. Sitting at the end of a dirt road, it appears no different to the other nondescript warehouses, apart from the high security - boom gates, unmarked entrance and necessary escort.

It's been three years since the Jammers' last (self-titled) release, which was met with a lukewarm response, as was Riot Act before that. But they've returned to form with an album that sounds like their first six. Their newest baby, Backspacer, harks back to the good old days of Even Flow, Better Man and all those songs even my mum knows.

Guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready are the perfect hosts. Their comfortable jibes are sarcastic and endearing. Gossard, a lean, greying, bespectacled version of the portraits I had on my walls, interrogates me for my opinion on the album. McCready, transformed from the lanky, greasy-haired guitarist into a middle-aged dad-type, is happy to chat about Aussie beaches and Perth, where he's dying to surf. More than anything, both men are obviously pleased to be back in the saddle.

"It's great," says Gossard, 43. "It's still the same group of guys and we all still have an idiosyncratic way of relating and playing."

Still, they're keen to point out that this album is something new.

"If you've liked the band in the past, you'll hear it's the new model," says Vedder, 44. "It's had a new paint job, the engine has a little more power but, at the same time, we're getting better mileage."

I've been led up to Vedder's office-cum-bunker, where I find him playing a track from Backspacer on an acoustic guitar. With a warm smile that reaches his blue eyes, he shakes my hand and welcomes me into his world. He says recording this album had been a bit of a blur, having come on the back of his first solo project - the score for Sean Penn's film Into the Wild.

"But we've heard good things about the album, although I have a healthy sense of distrust."

In the early days, Vedder made a name for himself as a tricky character. I've been warned not to dwell on the past or his personal life. But he's in the mood to elaborate today, saying it's mostly because he is his least favourite subject.

"I read interviews with musicians I appreciate and, half the time, I wish they'd shut up. I don't need to fulfil my ego. I've had enough. I had more than enough 15 years ago."

It's hard not to be drawn in by his gentle manner and whispery baritone - at odds with his raging stage persona. Having spent a lot of time Down Under, both on and off tour ("I had an apartment on Bondi Beach for a while in 2000"), he's pleased to say they'll be back to tour before Christmas.

"We've been treated very well in your neck of the woods," he says.

As one of their biggest markets outside the US, the Australian public has left an impression on the band.

"Apparently, the penal colonies have a firm love for Pearl Jam," Gossard says. "And, per capita, we sell more records in Australia. We've been given a few things from there, but when we got surfboards with our faces on them, we were like, 'Oh my God!'" (Later, I spot the boards mounted next to the original Pearl Jam sign that graced the cover of Ten.) The PJ posse, including original bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron (formerly of Soundgarden), are keen to be back on the road flaunting their wares, but it's different now they're in their early 40s and most of them have young children.

Coincidentally, both Gossard and McCready became first-time dads on April 12, 2007.

Vedder, who has a four-year-old daughter, has made his peace with combining a rock lifestyle with parenthood.

"I don't want to become some sort of pussy dad who writes slow songs on the porch," he begins, explaining that Green River, the band founded by Gossard and Ament, plays tonight and he'd love to go.

"But, to be honest, after you've read your child a couple of stories, you look at your wife and think ... maybe I'll just read a book and see those guys later."

It's a cute picture of his private life, which Vedder happily says isn't often intruded upon. That hasn't always been the case. The idea that he's adored by millions is an honour he's still trying to earn. He tells me he's not really a singer and wishes he could construct the perfect song, a la Nick Cave's God is in the House ("That song is untouchable; it has its own place in the stars").

He goes on to insist he can't play the guitar properly: "But I can figure out how to make a sound - strangle it until a song comes out."

Strangle is not the word I'd use, but there's nothing fake about his modesty. And even when he's had problems dealing with fame in the past, he has a way of explaining it that makes you wonder if you'd do any different in his place.

"I think I've only ever been rude to three people, but one time I was having an argument in Toronto Airport with the woman I was dating," admits Vedder. "Right then, this doe-eyed young girl said, 'Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you', and I said, 'Well, don't!' She froze and I watched one Disney tear roll slowly down her cheek. I turned to the woman and said, 'Are you happy now?' It was 16 years ago and I still think about it."

I hope that doe-eyed girl reads this and understands how bad Vedder feels. Because it's a big risk to meet your heroes. They could accidentally shout at you. Or worse, they could be a huge disappointment. I made this trip with trepidation, prepared to be met by middle-aged rockers who'd started believing their own hype.

Instead, what I found was a bunch of dads who are humble about their role in shaping a generation and focused on moving forward. Not bad for a band with a lead singer who can't sing or play guitar.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/stor ... 21,00.html

Pearl Jam is singular, not plural. The grammatical error in the first sentence turned me off. Some good stuff in that story, but it's awfully written.

In referring to a group, 'are' would be the correct term I would have thought.

Pj fans will argue about anything!

* bitches about the fact that "an album that sounds like their first six" makes no fucking sense *

That was the weakest most base 'sell the new one to the hardcore' line we're ever gonna read in print possibly ever.

Haha. Thank God we're gonna get that unmistakeable 'Porch/I'm Open' type sound back.

Heh!

I agree it was pretty clumsily written, but some good little snippets of info in there.

Ed lived in Bondi in 2000 - who knew?!

I thought it was a good little article. What do you guys expect, some Hunter S Thompson?

is that too much to ask?

how is pearl jam singular? it's a group not one person. Does it magically become singular because they chose not to have "the" in their name?

it's because they are a singular entity, it's similar to the prepositional "each of the doppelgangers is not with his other". always sounds odd. the strokes is a good band from new york




Wasn't s/t very well received and a return to Versus, their best album probably since Vitalogy? really didn't age well for most it seems. not me. or is this standard new record pr.



and how am i the first to draw attention to this in over 6 hours on RM?

Well, a band is technically singular. I'm a journalist, so I can't stand reading poorly written articles. Don't worry. I'm a Pearl Jam who rarely bitches. Didn't even post anything negative in "The Fixer" thread.

But it's so much fun to bash that shitty song! You've got to go post at least one negative comment about how bad it is. You know you want to.

I don't care that he says are instead of is. Perfect grammar is one thing. Your editor can catch that. It doesn't mean shit. It doesn't mean you can actually "write". But being able to tell a story with grace, is another matter. It requires talent.

The end section is brilliantly done. He took what others said and used it to contrast with his own impressions. I loved the last sentence. It says so much about his impression regarding the people he interviewed, that it packs a punch. That's one hell of a close

.

They must have had a really bad breakup with Boom. They have gates to keep him out!

Heh.

But seriously, where did this "no more Boom" thing originate from?

I'm 99.9% certain the big fella will there in Calgary next weekend.

that drives me mad, every album becomes a return to form. same thing happens with REM. I actually like Riot Act and S/T though.

i remember the anticipation for Riot Act, the way they previewed 4 songs on their website - one each week before the release, and then hearing the Seattle radio interviews with the entire band and hearing how jazzed they were about it, and then purchasing the album and disliking the majority of it because of how stock it sounded. the nuances came out over time and it actually has aged well, I believe

Reminds me of the huge argument in Some Kind of Monster.

I love Riot Act and agree that it has aged well. I remember being a bit disappointed because I think I was expecting another Binaural (I love Binaural).

This explains sooo much.