I think PJ are just fine - enjoyed their first CD a lot and a bunch of tracks off their other CD’s, but never jumped in feet first. I always preferred Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, but that’s just me.
Anyway, I saw that it was on PBS Friday night so I set the DVR and ended up watching it yesterday when the football games were bad ;). Bottom line - it was a very-well-done overview of the band - Cameron Crowe brings his skills to match his fanboy passion and Pearl Jam gets a good showing as a result. He weaves in both band-specific footage and a lot of contextual media coverage to put you in the period when Grunge exploded and what it was like to stay balanced while that was happening.
Eddie Vedder comes across as far more normal and balanced that I tend to think of him (vs. overly-intense tortured artist) and the other guys seem pretty reasonable. I still don’t get how Mike McCready is anything more than a serviceable lead guitarist, but there is a bit where the other guys sing his praises and there is a bunch of footage of him playing some VERY pricey guitars (although they are not identified as such, he is playing his '58 Strat and Sunburst Les Paul a lot)…
I have not seen it, but will try to catch it based on this review. I do love the song Just Breath.
Eddie Vedder could do anything to me that he would want to, not that he would. Want to, I mean. I’d pay him to spread jam all over me and lick it off. We could toss a pearl necklace in the mix if he wanted.
:shaking head: Oh, sorry OP, I got a bit sidetracked there. Yes, they make good music.
I’m a big Pearl Jam fan so I probably would have enjoyed this even if it wasn’t very well made, but I was glad it was so well done. I did think it was a little odd that the movie was weighted so heavily towards the earlier years of the band (the last ten years were covered in about 15 minutes), but that’s not really a complaint. It seems like the past few years for the band have mostly been “We’re all feeling pretty good, we’re continuing to record and tour, no major drama or anything”, so there’s probably not all that much to say about them.
As a long-time fan there wasn’t much information in the movie that was new to me, but I think Crowe struck a nice balance in making a documentary that would be interesting to both hardcore fans and people with a more casual interest in the band.
I also thought it was kind of touching just to see the same group of people growing older.