I assume that this is true and not some nightmarish dream that I have yet to wake from…
Pearl Jam has released something in the neighborhood of 50 live albums?! One for each city on it’s last two tours?! 50 albums??!!
I think Veder’s been pulling the drawstrings on his hooded sweatshirt too tight and it’s cutting off the blood to his brain… thus resulting in a euphoric feeling of self-importance.
Just thought I’d share. I’m really in too much of a state of incredulity to rant properly.
Or it could be that they are trying to counter act bootleggers, by releasing a copy of every concert at higher quality so that everyone who wants a individualized souevenier sp? can have a recording of the very concert they went too. I personally think it is cool, and while I am not a huge fan, my brother who is has purchased every single one of the CDs (I think he is a freak).
The title of this thread amuses me greatly.
I admit that seems like an awful lot of albums, but hey. Nobody said anyone had to buy them.
“Freak” doesn’t begin.
I guess I don’t understand why bands would want to counteract bootleggers. There’s no evidence whatsoever that taping lowers either concert revenues or album sales. But whatever.
I think it’s a way to make money. They have little overhead, few production costs, and they’re selling these things for $13 bucks and up. So yeah, they’re selling themselves for money. That’s the point.
'Course, if any member of Pearl Jam ever says it’s “all about the music,” I’ll cheerfully offer to ram a refinished Orville up his urethra.
Well, hold on a second. Weren’t Pearl Jam the ones who sued the Ticketmasters of the world, refused to charge over a certain amount for their concerts and generally have been pretty fan-friendly?
I’m sure they intend to make a buck off this (what’s worth doing is worth doing for money, after all), but I’d wouldn’t be too quick to slam their motivations.
Or am I thinking of another band?
No, you’re thinking of the right band.
Hey, maybe they really do want everyone to be able to have a little souvenir of the concert.
But they’re[sup][/sup] still making a fortune off it.
[sup] “They” meaning the band as well as the managers, promoters, label, et al.[/sup]
Ugh. I hate Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog (? - whatever), and Eddie Vedder in particular. I have always considered him an arrogant, talentless, cocksmoking sellout. Now I’m sure I was alright.
Apologies to anyone who actually likes Pearl Jam and/or Eddie Vedder. Please feel free to flame me or Perry Ferrell in retaliation.
Who is Perry Ferrell?
I don’t get it. Bands are not supposed to make money? Or are they supposed to pretend to not want to make money?
It’s not like Pearl Jam is ripping anybody off or anything. Why the name-calling?
Regarding the bootlegging issue, FTR: the Dead used to allow people to tape their concerts… they would even set aside a section of the venue for people to set up recording equipment!
Of course, the Dead were never really an album-oriented group. They were more live-performance-oriented…
sigh I miss Jerry!
“Who is Perry Ferrell?”
I thought it was Perry Farrell, also known as the lead singer for Jane’s Addiction, and then Porno for Pyros, if I’m correct.
Great great idea by Pearl Jam. The major record companies must hate them.
How do you figure, Cap?
Well, I don’t know about this. But it could be a good idea. A lot of bands that are good live (never seen Pearl Jam, so I don’t know if they are or not) have fans screaming for concert cds, and they just don’t put them out. So fans rely on bootleggers, and pay LOTS of money to these people.
I’d rather pay the people that actually performed the music and get a good copy than someone who was just sneaky/smart/tricky/whatever enough to record the concerts somehow. And the price of an ‘official release’ often is cheaper than a boot. There are a few bands that I really wish would do this. And video the concerts as well.
Besides, I would think that not that many people would want 50 of their concert cds, so are you pretty sure this is a real money maker for them?
When I see those in the stores here, they sell for $25 a piece. New CD’s usually sell for $19. They have virtually no cost to make, no effort to create, and they charge more for them than anything else they’ve made. Quite frankly, I think that’s abusing the relationship between the band and their fans.
I’ve got a good band whore story.
:: someone whispers in my ear ::
Oh…OH! The BAND are whores…ok, then let me tell a different one.
My favorite band ever, Rammstein, whom I love and cherish and highly recommend, are definitely product whores. At least Pearl Jam’s 50 Live albums vary a tiny bit from show to show so they’re original items.
Rammstein issued no less than…um…EIGHT versions of their second album Sehnsucht, six of them with identical content, just with a different band member’s face on the cover, one with GOLD text and a hidden track and one without Gold text but STILL with the hidden track.
That’s…just embarassing I think.
jarbaby
I remember a while back Pearl Jam had some kind of live concert that was fed through various radio stations across the country. The majority of the show was spent playing (Not by Pearl Jam, but on a record player, of course.) really obscure, half assed Seattle grunge that didn’t have a chance in hell in making it big and answering machine messages people left on Eddie’s machine. Wow, Eddie, I’m sure that’s what your fans were just dying to hear when they tuned in. Thanks for showing everyone what bands are “cool” and answering the age old question everyone thinks about when they’re rocking out to “Alive”. “Hey, I wonder what kind of answering machine messages Eddie Vedder gets?” Oh, and support the pro choice side of the abortion issue, everyone. Eddie wore a shirt with a clothes hanger on SNL once. Now that we know how he feels about it, we can all make the right decision and don’t forget to help the Tibetan Monks. Despite the fact that thousands of people of other faiths are being persecuted and killed for what they believe, Buddhism is just so damn cool and hip, we should all turn our attention solely towards it.
I don’t know what everyone’s whining about. Sure Pearl Jam have made some dodgy political statements (like just about every rock band who’s ever mentioned politics), but these bootlegs are a great idea for fans.
As someone who’s paid $50-80 (Australian - about half the value of $US), for bootlegs, without any idea what it’s going to sound like, and having some jerk coughing into the microphone during quiet songs, the idea of only having to pay about $30 (which contrasts with the usual price of about $35-40 for standard double CDs), for something I know is going to sound great is an absolute bonus.
Pearl Jam have always allowed fans to record shows, but these official boots are for the people who aren’t in the tape/CDR trading scene who want to hear a band live who often have quite radically different set lists from night to night. And as someone who’s waited almost ten years for the promised Velvet Underground official bootlegs (supposedly on the way, but I heard that back in '92), I can appreciate the idea of a band only keeping their fans waiting a matter of weeks before releasing this stuff, rather than 30 years.
HenrySpencer
So, Pearl Jam has released high-quality recordings of their live shows at a reasonable price. This means that their fans have the option of obtaining copies of these shows without paying bootleggers large amounts of money for a questionable product.
Those bastards.
Manhattan, I think you just became my hero. If more people realized this we’d have less angst in the world.