Pearl Jam, Even flow - Amy’s First Listen And Analysis
Added 2025-01-07 12:17:20 +0000 UTCAn eloquent piece of music, and one that serves an important purpose. Also it feels very close to the spirit of pioneers such as Hendrix and Dylan.
Comments
Amy needs more exposure to Hendrix.. how about another Hendrix weekend?
Rea Lavi
2025-01-22 06:15:47 +0000 UTCGreat singer great voice
Rea Lavi
2025-01-22 06:13:58 +0000 UTCRegardless, Grunge is a reductionist marketing term that somehow very unfortunately became a reductionist genre term. The Seattle bands clustered under that umbrella word are of multiple actual genres and the only reason there is a common sound that’s easy to call Grunge is because the music scene of any town, not just Seattle, will have a common sound. And to set the record straight, the only reason for the flannel “Grunge” look is because in Seattle folks wear a lot of it because it’s cold. I’m from Minnesota. I’m wearing flannel right now.
Joe Cunningham
2025-01-17 21:44:17 +0000 UTCI remember her Locomotive Breath review.
TONY SURRATT
2025-01-14 13:28:16 +0000 UTCI’m 54, and I completely agree!
Kristina Mathesen
2025-01-14 06:13:01 +0000 UTCI THINK she’s done Aqualung but not positive.
Evelyn
2025-01-14 05:05:35 +0000 UTCI wonder how old you are? In my life, I found I had a much higher tolerance for intense, uncomfortable music than I do now in old age. Doesn’t mean I respect it any less. Just that I cannot listen to it allot. And that goes for really sad music too. I ADORE Jackson Browne, but an album of his will make me sad for hours.
Evelyn
2025-01-14 05:04:23 +0000 UTCI feel exactly the same about Tool; fantastically gifted band that I can only take in one or two song doses. So intense it makes me nervous. And that reaction to intense music increases with age.
Evelyn
2025-01-14 05:01:16 +0000 UTCExcellent comment. And I agree completely with your observation regarding SRV and Hendrix. That being said, I was so glad to have a guitarist around who sounded even remotely like Hendrix. Felt the same about Robin Trower.
Evelyn
2025-01-14 04:58:46 +0000 UTCI believe was because of the general “grungy” appearance popular with young folk in Seattle at that time: Jeans, combat boots, flannel shirts…long and not necessarily very clean hair. Personally, I liked the look. Very “Seattle”
Evelyn
2025-01-14 04:52:33 +0000 UTCOh my gosh, you hear a link in Eddie’s voice to Bob Dylan! Vlad, PLEASE have Amy watch the live performance of Eddie Vedder covering one of Dylan’s most powerful songs; Masters of War. It’s an intense rendition.
Evelyn
2025-01-14 04:49:48 +0000 UTC"Kneeling... lookin' through the paper... though he doesn't know how to read... oh yeah!" Man, I wish I had written that line! (Actually, no: if I had, no one else would have heard it... so, good on you, Eddie!)
DJ Marquis Marc Rambeau du Tacoma
2025-01-14 03:02:58 +0000 UTCKeep the Pearl Jam reactions coming. So many great songs, and an evolving sound right up to today
Dd
2025-01-14 01:04:36 +0000 UTCAmy’s very perceptive here noticing the connection to Dylan and Hendix’s time, furrowing her brow when she saw this was out of the nineties. The massive rock movement in Seattle then, while called Grunge (whatever that means) was really the grassroots taking the initiative away from the music industry just like in the late sixties, and saying something that matters.
Joe Cunningham
2025-01-13 19:41:49 +0000 UTCThanks Amy! Eddie Vedder is one of the most compassionate, insightful men of rock. I worked with homeless people suffering from psychosis in Asheville NC, The EVenflow lyrics so perfectly describe those people, how they could barely pull it together enough to interact at all. They were constantly visited by visions, hallucinations, and thoughts…. They tried to will the thoughts and images away sometimes…. They were often demonized by society. They lived with so much tension in their bodies. Recently in the US homeless people are increasingly criminalized. It’s shameful, in my opinion. Thanks Eddie, for always being the voice for the vulnerable.
Angela Mucci
2025-01-13 00:39:09 +0000 UTCSuch a great song. Yep it’s just full on throughout. Glad you enjoyed it Amy.
Siôn Hewitt
2025-01-12 22:36:05 +0000 UTC"Nervous energy" is one way to put it. To me, Pearl Jam (especially early Pearl Jam) sound unleashed, like a big release of energy, and it also shows live. Their second album, Vs., is even wilder. I completely agree that a lot of this energy comes from the lead guitar, but there is also something about the groove that is very forward leaning. Their current drummer (since the late 90s) used to be in Soundgarden, but his play is much more muscular for Pearl Jam. Some albums he seems to treat like a physical workout routine.
Vitor Zimmerer
2025-01-12 21:04:40 +0000 UTCFor a slightly different yet similar take on the topic, try “Wharf Rat” by the Grateful Dead. Always been a favorite of mine.
Steve
2025-01-12 20:28:53 +0000 UTCBob Dylan is the most decorated singer-songwriter of all time IMO. Medal of freedom, Nobel Prize, Oscar, Pulitzer, you name it. So, he has had quite the impact. You should review IMO : https://youtu.be/T5al0HmR4to?si=TUmRCZhYVZkZqLQe or the Pearl Jam cover of his : https://youtu.be/dwa2jK0xglk?si=SFM7O-Kxz_L4klQw . That being said, you have to review Jeremy. It is such an important song : https://youtu.be/MS91knuzoOA?si=Ufty0LpZR_JPBDyw
Marc Gendron
2025-01-11 14:44:47 +0000 UTCI’m with you, Eric. 95% of my listening preferences are extreme forms of Metal and Punk. Not easy listening to most people, but listening to them bring me a sense of calm. It helps me to exorcise my aggressive demons.
Julian Ortiz
2025-01-08 03:49:18 +0000 UTCAnother great song from Pearl Jam, but you know what irritates me to this day? Anthrax released a song that touches on the same subject of homelessness called “Who Cares Wins” three years before this one on their 1988 album, State Of Euphoria. They even had a music video that got played on MTV. A year later Phil Collins released a song called “Another Day In Paradise” and guess who gets the credit for bringing this topic to the public’s attention? Not Anthrax. Granted, Anthrax’s song is a little heavier than this one, but if this song causes Amy to feel nervous I’d hate to know what she’d think thinks about the Anthrax song, which is way way way heavier than Phil Collins. 😆 Sorry, for getting on a soapbox there. I prefer Anthrax’s take on the subject over all of them, but I do really like this Pearl Jam song, and always have. As a guitarist myself, I always heard the Jimi Hendrix influence in the lead and rhythms. Mike McCready says Stevie Ray Vaughn, but let’s be real, SRV owed his career to Jimi Hendrix. SRV maybe added more Bo Diddley into his rhythms, which is really what I hear in the main rhythm guitar parts in Even Flow, just more souped up. And yes, the lyrics are very Dylanesque. All of those were very astute observations by Amy! Well done. I really hope Amy returns to more from Ten. There are some terrific songs I really feel she’d appreciate. Namely, Alive, Oceans, Porch, and Garden.
Julian Ortiz
2025-01-08 03:44:04 +0000 UTCI enjoyed this song, but I'm hoping for the one that I already posted. Good review, once again Amy.
Paul D. Hoffmaster III
2025-01-07 23:32:21 +0000 UTCVedder was a huge Dylan fan and his lyrics portrayed his inspiration at times to a fault
Michael T.B
2025-01-07 14:54:37 +0000 UTC"Taking forever", Kristina, means something different for each of us. I wish The Beatles Series would accelerate, for entirely selfish reasons. 🙂
George Brady
2025-01-07 14:51:46 +0000 UTCAmy as a new mother you should get the reference to Even Flow
Michael T.B
2025-01-07 14:46:37 +0000 UTCYou think that's Hendrix wait till you get a load of Yellow Ledbetter
Michael T.B
2025-01-07 14:46:10 +0000 UTCI have felt that way too at certain points in my life- it was like a validation of negative feelings. Now at midlife, if I choose to go there, I know that darkness is going to hang around for a while, so I’ve learned to choose otherwise. I don’t know if that makes any sense…
Kristina Mathesen
2025-01-07 14:29:25 +0000 UTCI seem to be attracted to music that makes me feel uncomfortable. Not sure why.
Eric Pearce
2025-01-07 14:22:18 +0000 UTCI hear you, Amy, when you say this music doesn’t let you stay comfortable. I think this is why I don’t deliberately sit down and listen to Pearl Jam all that often; it’s great and I appreciate it, but the intensity just leaves me feeling unsettled. We appreciate all you do and I, for one, don’t mind if it takes forever! Please go at a pace that is best for you and your family and we will adjust. (I can’t promise I won’t get excited and inspired to write more ideas and recommendations though… just sayin’! 😉)
Kristina Mathesen
2025-01-07 13:57:00 +0000 UTCEnjoyed that. Here is a Even Flow nugget. https://youtu.be/qu-GJ6duL68?si=3z6oA_JuGFIe2V36 Your references of SRV, Jimi, Bob Dylan, and social discussion of homelessness in this song bring to mind Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. Aqualung, is from the perspective of a sinister, homeless man. And that was his Madman persona on stage. Don’t worry about being late to PJ, I’m still swimming in Supertramp,
TONY SURRATT
2025-01-07 13:37:21 +0000 UTC
