Only Happy When I’m Whining

Rant contained within.

Pearl Jam
U
Angel
Happy When I’m Crying
Santa Cruz
Golden State
Pearl Jam’s been in the news a lot recently. First Jeff Amet got the snot kicked out of him outside a recording studio in Atlanta, then they helped usher in The Conan Era of The Tonight Show by being their first musical guest (and playing this awesome song).

However, what everyone is talking about now is how Pearl Jam has “sold out” because of some deal they made with Target. A quick snippet of comments from across the web:

“Looks like those thugs in Atlanta stole their cred too.”

“I just can’t stop laughing. The unwavering antiestablishment band has finally sold its soul to the corporate machine.”

“I’m still laughing – SELL OUT’s”

If there’s one thing about me that people who read this blog know it’s that I fucking love Pearl Jam. If there’s another thing people who read this blog know about me is that I fucking hate stupid people. So you can imagine the backlash to this non-story is annoying me.

Here’s the article that caused all the ruckus. Now, if you actually read the fucking article you’ll see that it says nothing about Target being the ONLY place where you can buy the album. From the sound of things it will most likely be the only “big box” retail store where you can pick up the album, meaning places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart won’t be carrying it. From the sound of things you can still go to your local independent store and buy it, and you can definitely still get it at Pearl Jam’s website, which is where you should buy all Pearl Jam stuff since you get it sooner and usually with bonus stuff.

I’m having a hard time understanding why signing with a multi-billion dollar corporation like Sony is okay in the eyes of some people, while working with a retail store like Target is not. In a perfect world an artist wouldn’t have to jeopardize their artistic integrity in order to sell records, but that’s not the case. Even a group like Radiohead or NIN has to work with “the man” to get their records out there.

Most importantly, I don’t think any of this really goes against the Pearl Jam code of ethics (that others have seem to supplanted onto them). They aren’t supporting some right wing organization, they’re not working with any major label and they aren’t changing their sound to accomidate a corporation’s desire. People need to shut up and learn to read before bashing someone or something for no good fucking reason.

And by the way, if you want to call Pearl Jam a Sell Out, you can just site when they let Friends use “Yellow Ledbetter” for the series finale.

Enough of my complaining (yeah, right) lets get to the music. “U” was the b-side “Wushlist” Angel was on the 1993 fan club single, “Happy When I’m Crying” is from the 1997 fan club single and the last two are from the newest fan club single that just came out a few weeks ago. I didn’t rip any of the fan club singles personally so if the quality is sub-par for once it’s not my fault. “U” is from a CD single so I don’t want to hear any complaining about that one, especially since the song is great

6 Responses to “Only Happy When I’m Whining”

  1. Anonymous says:

    "'We'll have a lot of partners,' said Curtis, who confirmed that deals were also finished or in the works with an online retailer, a mobile partner, a gaming company and with a network or possibly networks of indie retail stores. "
    Yeah.
    People don't… friggin'… READ… the damn article before yabbering about it.

  2. Jeremy says:

    I don't really care much about Pearl Jam one way or the other. They seem like well-intentioned guys, and I appreciate their sincerity. That said, I can understand where someone who doesn't like Pearl Jam would view this latest development as difficult to defend, and feel a sort of vindication. There are artists who've been signed to majors–Sony, even–for as long (or longer) than Pearl Jam without licensing their tunes for commercial use. Think about it.

  3. Benjamin says:

    The words "sell-out" make me shudder every single time I hear them. (I worked at a college radio station, so I've heard it more than a few times.) I will never understand why people bitch and moan about bands like this. Where the music is sold is such a non-issue. If the music is good, what does it matter? People need to quit thinking they are so hipster cool and shut the hell up.

    Again, thanks for the tunes. I love your blog more and more with every post!

  4. Timothy Barrington-Smythe says:

    The reason people are whining is because, by and large, the internet is full of whiny douchebags.

    See, you had forgotten that:)

  5. Timothy Barrington-Smythe says:

    Oh yes, and while I'm not a huge PJ fan (loved Ten but not really anything since) they have my undying love forever because of Spin the Black Circle. (As a former vinyl junkie.)

  6. ximeremix says:

    Never liked Pearl Jam, always sounded (to my British ears) as a poor man's version of R.E.M., though that Jeremy single was quite different. (yeah, right)

    Love the rants on this site, love most of the music too. Please keep it up.

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