Is This Classic Rock?

I think STP belong in the conversation of great 90s acts. Break their catalog down to 20-25 singles and album cuts, you have alternative rock gold.

Same goes for Oasis and Blur.

 

Longevity does mean a lot. But I'd still put No Code, Yield, Live on Two Legs and Binaural (96-2000) well ahead of One Hot Minute and Californication.

And even if we consider, say, Ten and Blood Sugar Sex Magik a wash, that leaves Vs. up against Stadium Arcadium. And I'll take Vs. every time.

 

I was a senior in high school, which is why thinking that it was 18 years ago is enough to make my head explode.

 

Among the many programming problems for "classic rock" stations is this: Some of these guys (PJ included) are still putting out good -- even great -- stuff, but no one wants to play it.

To use an older example, only a handful of stations will play "The Rising" by Springsteen, but thousands still crank out "Born To Run" every 40 minutes.

So PJ "classics" like Jeremy, Even Flow and maybe even Better Man will get classic rock airplay, but good cuts of recent vintage like "Love Boat Captain" or "Life Wasted" won't be heard on the airwaves.

Guess I'll have to keep "spinning the black circle" in my humble abode ...

 

Always preferred Alice In Chains among 1990s acts. Thought they were the best new band of that decade. Heavy metal without being thrash, the singer could actually sing (as opposed to screaming), and they could move pretty seamlessly between electric and acoustic. Their lyrics were pretty solid, too.

Anyway, about 18 years ago a major classic rock station here started playing U2. In response to listener questions, they had their program director tape a shpiel that was heard a few times a day, explaining that "classic means an artist had stood the test of time. We believe U2 has done that." I think it had been, what, a decade since U2's first release? Wrote it off at the time as a radio station trying to compete by playing an extremely popular band's music, and then giving a cheesy explanation.

I'll assume this about the station playing Pearl jam. Unless they actually delve deeper into the band's catalog than three or four songs from Ten, Betterman, and their cover of the car accident song from the 1950s.

 

That's a damn fine point, Coco.

I think "Last Kiss" is still PJ's biggest radio hit. Sort of amazing they're still able to sell albums without videos or any radio airplay after, say, Vitalogy.

I remember when Yield came out, I thought it would be their biggest album ever. So many radio-friendly tracks. And... nada. My college station played Given To Fly. That was about it.

 

I will say that an album that rate a 9.5 in my book (nothing can called better) was released in 1992, so they deserve a mention on this list.

To have something this great so late in their career...

Can singers be on steroids?

 

Perfect example of why I stopped listening to the radio years and years ago. The interpretation of music and genres by many stations is almost comical.

 

Pearl Jam is the shit.

One of the highlights of my life is jamming with Mike McCready a few years ago.

 

Stadium Arcadium sucked balls. Almost every song was a replica of the next.

I still think By the Way is their best work...melodic masterpiece and one of my favorite albums.

 

If U2 counted as a 90s band they'd be the pick of that litter, but they're not. They had 6 albums in the 80s. I think their best is Achtung Baby from 1991, but after that the rest of the decade was a lost cause for the band. They finally quit fucking around in 2000.

By the way, as someone who got the first Chili Peppers album when it came out and saw them play a few weeks later in a dinky club in Huntington Beach, the love for their later stuff has always mystified me. It's good, but their first four albums are much better, I think.

I think you could say Pearl Jam is easily one of the biggest bands of the 90s largely by default. A couple great albums, a handful of decent ones, and no competition to speak of. And no offense, Zeke, but the "intentionally making their fan base smaller" stuff always cracks me up. So, by releasing mediocre stuff are you whittling the fan base down to the "real" fans, or just to the ones with the lowest standards? Dylan claimed the same thing when he released "Self-Portrait." "Self-Portrait" is still a piece of shit.

 

Dear God. There is a very bold line between classic rock and Seattle entering the picture. (although I profess an unspoken love for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ... shhhh).

I've got my 20 year reunion this year, and there is no Pearl Jam on the play list.