Tag: Pearl Jam (11-20 of 27)

Jun 11 2010 01:56 PM ET

EW exclusive news: Leaked Eddie Vedder song 'Better Days' is his contribution to the 'Eat Pray Love' soundtrack

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roberts-vedderImage Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty ImagesOver the past couple of days, the always-exciteable members of the Pearl Jam message board community have been scrambling to figure out the origin of an accidentally leaked Eddie Vedder-sung track apparently called “Better Days.” The song was hacked from the secure site of Monkeywrench Records, Pearl Jam’s label, and spread — as such things do — like wildfire across the web, with speculation ranging from “It’s a lost track from Riot Act!” to “It’s this year’s Christmas single!” (You can hear the leak here.)

How about: It’s Eddie Vedder’s contribution to the Eat Pray Love soundtrack! A source close to the band has confirmed exclusively to EW.com that the track is a new original from Vedder, intended to play during this summer’s Julia Roberts-starring odyssey. Lyrics like “My love is saved for the universe, see me now I’m bursting / on one planet, so many turns, different worlds” would certainly seem to jive with Elizabeth Gilbert’s story of global self-discovery, and there’s an exotic edge to the instrumentation that could happily live in Italy, or India, or Indonesia. Eat Pray Love star Javier Bardem and Vedder are friends, which may explain Ed’s participation. And considering 7 million people or something bought Gilbert’s book, it’s a savvy involvement for anyone.

Now that we know what the song’s for, what do you think, Mixers? (And you, Jamily friends?) A worthy contribution to the soundtrack? A worthy soundtrack for Vedder to contribute to? And if you’ve just now heard the leak, what do you think?

(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)

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May 7 2010 03:38 PM ET

Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on composing music for 'Fringe', taking singing lessons, upcoming PJ reissues: A Music Mix Q&A!

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Mike-McCready-fringeImage Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images; Justin Stephens/FoxI do not know if you are watching Fringe over on the Fox network, but if you are not, may I ask why? Are you afraid to let yourself be happy? Do you like Glee? Well, Fringe did a musical episode last week that was sort of like if Glee and Raymond Chandler went on a date to a Tim Burton movie. No? Still not into it?

Hmm.

What if I told you that Pearl Jam guitar wizard Mike McCready wrote some music for last night’s episode? Is that something you might be interested in? Yes? Oh good. Then here is a Q&A with McCready where we talk about that, as well as his new hobby (singing lessons!) and some ideas being tossed around for the upcoming reissue of PJ’s second album, Vs. And if you missed last night’s Fringe, you can watch it after the jump. Because now you want to! READ FULL STORY »

Apr 21 2010 01:11 PM ET

Eddie Vedder serenades Conan O'Brien in Seattle: Watch it here!

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Conan O’Brien’s “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on TV” tour swung through Seattle last night, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam (who were Conan’s first Tonight Show musical guests) stopped by for a three-song set of emotional essentials. There was inspiration in “Rise Up,” from the Into the Wild soundtrack. There was love via the John Lennon-inspired “Oh Coco.” And there was fight-the-man passion, as Vedder closed the set slamming tambourines into the Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” with guitarist Mike McCready in tow, and the Legally Prohibited Band (formerly the Max Weinberg 7) in full force. Never knew that song was missing a horn section until this morning. Anyway, watch ‘em all embedded after the jump and weigh in. As my co-worker Leah Greenblatt might ask, is this amazeballs? (Note: Conan sure thought so, which is more or less all that matters these days. Oh, Coco!) READ FULL STORY »

Feb 26 2010 10:00 AM ET

Olympic Playlist of the Day from bobsledder Curt Tomasevicz

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During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, EW.com wanted to find out what music is inspiring US athletes. So we asked a variety of Olympic competitors what song (or playlist of songs) they’ll be grooving to before they compete. We’ll run these throughout the Games. Good luck, Team USA!

Curt Tomasevicz, four-man bobsled (on NBC tonight)

“Better Man” by Pearl Jam
“Simply put: greatest song ever. I love the sound, feel, and lyrics”

“Cover Me” by Candlebox
“I listened to the song when I was on the plane to join the bobsled team for first time.”

“Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Lyrics contain simple and true life lessons.”

“Don’t Follow” (acoustic) by Alice in Chains
“I love the sound of the blend of the voices.”

“Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam
“Mike McCready playing great guitar & Eddie Vedder’s wonderful singing. It can be interpreted different ways for different people. It’s a somber and deep meaningful song to me.” READ FULL STORY »

Oct 8 2009 04:32 PM ET

On the scene for Pearl Jam in L.A.: What are your favorite live performances from Vedder & Co.?

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Caught the last of Pearl Jam’s four L.A. shows yesterday, and, in the wake of the two and a half gigs I witnessed during their stand at the Gibson, I wish to heartily endorse this tour for any of you who may still be on the fence. (This is an admittedly unlikely scenario.) The band is tight, energized, and finding freedom in a set list full of set pieces: We now know to expect a visit from the string section after the first encore break, but their contributions on “Just Breathe,” “The End,” and the bow-shredding fury of “Lukin” are most welcome; we know Ben Harper will emerge shortly thereafter for “Red Mosquito,” and his lap-slide will buzz perfectly throughout the song’s swing. We know “Fixer” and the other Backspacer tracks will mesh with older material like they’ve been there for years, and ”Alive” and/or “Yellow Ledbetter” will probably take us home. But amidst the expected, there’s always a flash of giddy surprise, and for those of us who’ve attended entirely too many Pearl Jam shows over the years, it’s those flashes that keep us coming back.

The guys seemed a bit antic last night — during “Porch,” Eddie Vedder bummed a drink off some dude in the front row, then climbed into the crowd on a security guard’s shoulders; Mike McCready and Jeff Ament played tag during “Spin the Back Circle”; I think Matt Cameron was using light-up drum sticks on “Why Go” — and they also delivered three absolute gems that I shall file away with the other PJ concert highlights I revisit from time to time, thanks to the band’s comprehensive bootlegging policies. First, a slow-building, hypnotic “Present Tense,” preserved here in all its YouTube glory:

The other standouts were an atomic-sized “Love Reign o’er Me” and “Crown of Thorns,” the old Mother Love Bone single made that much more resonant thanks to Tuesday’s brief Temple of the Dog reunion. By the time Jerry Cantrell showed up again on MC5′s “Kick Out the Jams,” it felt damn near anti-climactic.

What about you, Mixers? I know we’ve got some PJ loyalists out there — what are your highlights from this band’s tremendous live oeuvre, either on this tour or tours past? I’m pretty sure my all-time favorite moments have happened at the Gorge, and I’m pretty sure they’re hard to top… but maybe you can convince me otherwise in the comments!

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Chris Cornell, Jerry Cantrell join Pearl Jam for impromptu grunge summit in L.A.
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Radiohead ‘definitely’ planning new album in 2010, says guitarist
Watch Kelly Clarkson cover White Stripes, Kings of Leon in NYC

Oct 7 2009 12:50 PM ET

Chris Cornell, Jerry Cantrell join Pearl Jam for impromptu grunge summit in L.A.

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Was at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles last night for the third of four local Pearl Jam shows. Intended to just kinda hang out, drink in the atmosphere, take down a set list, compare it to tonight’s show, and then write up a nice and articulate review of both. Then Chris Cornell and Jerry Cantrell showed up. Here is a YouTube video in which the former Soundgarden frontman joins Eddie Vedder for “Hunger Strike,” thus reforming the complete lineup of Andrew Wood/Mother Love Bone tribute band Temple of the Dog:

Skeptics will note that not only did Cornell hit the high notes, he probably could have hit them even harder. That was pretty dang awesome. Unfortunately, no one has yet produced video of Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell hopping on stage to close out the night with the guitar solo on “Alive,” and perhaps that’s just as well: Suddenly unoccupied, PJ guitarist Mike McCready gallivanted about the stage like the grunge fairy, flinging handfuls of picks to the admittedly floored crowd throughout the singalong number, and eventually ending up shirtless. Cantrell, for the record, effing killed the lick.

There is no way for the 15-year-old who lives inside me to articulately deal with being there for this, and its significance for all those who grew up under the spell of the early ’90s Seattle scene cannot be underestimated. Here were the survivors, together, remembering, for the first time in a looooong time, and giving those of us who lived it nearly two decades ago the chance to look back with love in our hearts… and hope for the future.

When Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Matt Cameron, Jerry Cantrell, and Chris Cornell took a bow arm in arm at the end of the show, it was the sort of rock n’ roll reunion you pray for as a fan, and, thankfully, it was executed with the sort of musical integrity that makes you glad you took the time in the first place.

Were you there, Mixers? What did you think?

UPDATE: Cantrell video after the jump!

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READ FULL STORY »

Sep 30 2009 11:46 AM ET

Pearl Jam tops the albums chart

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We’re in the full swing of fall now, with plenty of new releases hitting shelves most every week. Leading the pack on the latest Billboard 200 chart is Pearl Jam‘s Backspacer — the band’s first album to hit No. 1 since 1996′s No Code.  After catching flak from some fans for striking a retail deal with Target for Backspacer, Pearl Jam ended up selling 189,000 copies in week 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s not a bad number, but it’s a good bit less than the 279,000 that their previous record put up in 2006. Make of that what you will.

Other top-selling new releases came from Three Days Grace, who made it to No. 3 with 79,000 copies sold of Life Starts Now; Brand New, who placed at No. 6 with 46,000 copies sold of Daisy; Five Finger Death Punch, who proved violence sells by shifting 44,000 units of War Is the Answer for a No. 7 finish; Harry Connick Jr., coming in at No. 8 with 37,000 copies sold of Your Songs; The David Crowder Band, a Christian electro act whose Church Music takes No. 10 with 36,000; David Gray, whose Draw the Line lands at No. 12 with 35,000; and Mika, whose The Boy Who Knew Too Much squeaks in at No. 19 with 27,000. Also of note is Monsters of Folk‘s self-titled debut, which was relegated to No. 144 last week after selling a paltry 3,000 copies through Amazon’s MP3 store (which offered it two days early); this week, with the album available across all retail formats, they sold a respectable 33,000 and moved up to No. 15.

What do you think of those results? Did you buy any of these albums last week? Any albums you expected to show up higher or lower? Weigh in below.

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Sep 18 2009 04:02 PM ET

Pearl Jam, 'Backspacer': Stream the full album at MySpace today

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Pearl Jam’s ninth studio album, Backspacer, doesn’t officially bow until next Tuesday, but MySpace is streaming the record in full beginning today; head to www.myspace.com/tenclub to hear it all.

In the meantime, what do you think of the band’s new Target commercial? Strange to see the ultimate Davids aligned with a corporate Goliath, or is the more alt-friendly Bullseye distinct from other big-box retailers?

Aug 25 2009 01:09 PM ET

Pearl Jam's Cameron Crowe-directed video: Are live videos awesome, or a cop-out?

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If there’s one thing Pearl Jam is known for (besides, of course, all that ’90s grunge/flannel shirt business), it’s their live shows.

So it’s only fitting that the band’s latest video features a live performance, directed by a guy who has something of a soft spot for rock & roll, Cameron Crowe. The video is for the song “The Fixer” (watch below), a track off their upcoming album Backspacer, which they performed live at a secret show at Seattle’s Showbox in May.Granted, the clip is a little dizzying, but it is one of few music videos that actually captures the feel of a band when they perform live.

What about you, MusicMixers? Are you a fan of Pearl Jam’s live videos or do you think they’re a cop out? Does the video get you excited for the new album or are your days of deciphering Eddie Vedder’s every move long since passed?

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TLC’s T-Boz and Chilli to reunite at Justin Timberlake show
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Don Was on his new ‘Outlaw Country’ radio show, having Brando for a neighbor, and touring with Paula Abdul. An EW Exclusive!

Aug 17 2009 01:39 PM ET

Pearl Jam debuts short film in anticipation of 'Backspacer.' Are you psyched?

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“It’s like with oil painting… a friend of mine said, ‘Paint a hundred, see if you’re good at it. After a hundred, maybe you’ll know.’” That’s how Eddie Vedder kicks off this short look inside Backspacer, due September 20th. It’s not their hundredth album — really just their ninth — but as the band pulls into their 20th year of existence, it’s fair to say Pearl Jam has now been painting for a long, long time. Snippets of new tracks surface here: “Got Some,” which they premiered on the first night of Conan’s Tonight Show; “Just Breathe,” a ballad clearly inspired by Vedder’s solo work on the Into the Wild soundtrack; and first single “The Fixer,” which we learn was a Matt Cameron contribution, and whose calf-springing beat just keeps getting better and better. Intercut with loving footage of the band’s Seattle warehouse home — and one sweet John Hughes tribute — this video feels like the infamous PJ shell just creaked open a little bit wider in hopes of letting a few more people in. I’ve heard the whole album and can back them up when they say it’s a tight, concise piece of work. Based on what you’ve heard so far, what do you think, Mixers?

More from EW’s Music Mix:
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Sonic Youth to perform on Gossip Girl: A Music Mix exclusive

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