Nirvana, but only because all of Pearl Jam’s many imitators were horrible. It’s more about the damage they wrought than the bands themselves.
Although, come to think of it, I’d rather listen to Nirvana than Pearl Jam, so that’s not entirely true. I almost never listen to either band by choice these days.
ooh, good one. i’m going with pearl jam, but only because my husband recently stopped someone (he’s a cop) who is still obsessed with them and had pearl jam crap plastered all over her car. when my husband told me about her, we proceeded to poke fun, but then started reminiscing on how much we loved “ten.” we promptly bought it on itunes. the itunes review read something like, “nirvana opened the door and in walked pearl jam.”
i agree with btdg about nirvana winning on the basis of imitators, though… “smells like nirvana” is WAY better than “my baby’s in love with eddie vedder.”
Damn you, Rusty. At the time I would have said Nirvana for their sheer ass-kicking of popular music. (As it happens, I’m listening to Incesticide as I type.) But for sheer longevity and classiness, Pearl Jam by a whisker.
Ultimately it’s PJ for me, although both have their own flare and attraction. If we’re talking debut albums, Nevermind and Ten are split down the middle for me.
Pearl Jam was my first concert. It was pretty good, but at the time I knew more Nirvana. I chose Nirvana because of their influence on my taste at the time. But The Brit is right about Pearl Jam’s longevity and classiness. It’s a close one.
Sorry Susan, two options means Soundgarden gets squeezed out.
Number of Pearl Jam songs on my MP3 player: 1 (Yellow Ledbetter).
Number of Nirvana songs on my MP3 player: 0
Number of songs by either group that I wish I had on my MP3 player, but do not: 0
I really like both. It’s very hard to chose. I ended up picking Nirvana but mainly because I think their unplugged album is just so freaking fantastic.
You never saw Andrew Wood (singer of MLB and imspiration of Temple of the Dog) live, Greg. History would’ve been different if he hadn’t died.
Nirvana opening the door for any of the Seattle bands is a bit of a joke if you know the history. More like MLB/Soundgarden attracting major label attention to Seattle and Nirvana hopping the train.
The one problem with Pearl Jam is that even if you love them you have to admit they’ve had some real stinkers of albums. (Although I always did like “Do the Evolution” even though that album and the one before were pretty disappointing)
Give to Nirvana, despite the tragedy of the end, they went out on top after their best album. There is no bad Nirvana album but lots of mediocre Pearl Jam ones.
RJ, ah yes, “Bleach.” I own a copy, but never really dwelt on it like “Nevermind.” I guess I give people the same $hit when they say “Cowboys from Hell” was Pantera’s first album, or “Under the Table and Dreaming” was Dave Matthews Band’s first. NOT TRUE!
And I didn’t mean to imply PJ came out of nowhere; not sure where you got that from my comment. I know personally I discovered them after buying “Temple of the Dog” (heard “Hunger Strike” on the radio and fell over it was so cool) and seeing Veddor’s name in the credits for that song. Then I heard “Even Flow” and since then I’ve owned three copies of “Ten” (lost one, then later bought a replacement, then bought another one so I’d have a copy in the house and in the car – this was back when CD burners were EXPENSIVE).
Until somewhat recently, Bleach was the only Nirvana album I owned. On vinyl, no less, and only listened to a handful of times. Think it’s worth anything? Unfortunately it’s not a colored vinyl version.
“Spank Thru” from the Sub Pop 200 Comp is still my favorite Nirvana song.
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Neither is as interesting to me as the were five years ago, but I suppose Pearl Jam gets the nod.
Nirvana, but only because all of Pearl Jam’s many imitators were horrible. It’s more about the damage they wrought than the bands themselves.
Although, come to think of it, I’d rather listen to Nirvana than Pearl Jam, so that’s not entirely true. I almost never listen to either band by choice these days.
ooh, good one. i’m going with pearl jam, but only because my husband recently stopped someone (he’s a cop) who is still obsessed with them and had pearl jam crap plastered all over her car. when my husband told me about her, we proceeded to poke fun, but then started reminiscing on how much we loved “ten.” we promptly bought it on itunes. the itunes review read something like, “nirvana opened the door and in walked pearl jam.”
i agree with btdg about nirvana winning on the basis of imitators, though… “smells like nirvana” is WAY better than “my baby’s in love with eddie vedder.”
Hello? Soundgarden.
Damn you, Rusty. At the time I would have said Nirvana for their sheer ass-kicking of popular music. (As it happens, I’m listening to Incesticide as I type.) But for sheer longevity and classiness, Pearl Jam by a whisker.
I do love me some Eddie Vedder…
His cover / collaboration of the Split Enz “I See Red” is simply amazing. (see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYxmHJwXos)
Ultimately it’s PJ for me, although both have their own flare and attraction. If we’re talking debut albums, Nevermind and Ten are split down the middle for me.
Pearl Jam was my first concert. It was pretty good, but at the time I knew more Nirvana. I chose Nirvana because of their influence on my taste at the time. But The Brit is right about Pearl Jam’s longevity and classiness. It’s a close one.
Sorry Susan, two options means Soundgarden gets squeezed out.
But Soundgarden was easily the better band, poll button or not.
Number of Pearl Jam songs on my MP3 player: 1 (Yellow Ledbetter).
Number of Nirvana songs on my MP3 player: 0
Number of songs by either group that I wish I had on my MP3 player, but do not: 0
I really like both. It’s very hard to chose. I ended up picking Nirvana but mainly because I think their unplugged album is just so freaking fantastic.
It’s no contest for me. As soon as I heard Pearl Jam I forgot all about Nirvana.
The Brit says:
Well, yeah. It’s hard to keep going when your singer and principal songwriter blows his head off with a shotgun.
Pearl Jam. But it was really close. So close that maybe they got my vote because they are still making music….
Come on, Greg. If Cobain had survived, Nirvana would still have imploded.
David, mate, Nevermind was not Nirvana’s debut!
It also bugs me (and I’m not saying this is you) when people claim PJ came from nowhere. What of Green River, Mother Love Bone, and Temple of the Dog?
When I grow up I want to be Stone Gossard. Vedder’s a superstar but Gossard’s one cool cat.
And if frogs had wings they wouldn’t bump their ass a-jumpin’.
Still, I give Nirvana the slight edge on the longevity issue; at least they haven’t bored us with a series of mediocre albums since 1994.
With all due respect to Susan, I’m wishing that the whole Seattle music thing never would have happened. Mother Love Bone? Ugh.
Don’t mind me, it’s my first day back at work after vacation. 150% more curmudgeon!
You never saw Andrew Wood (singer of MLB and imspiration of Temple of the Dog) live, Greg. History would’ve been different if he hadn’t died.
Nirvana opening the door for any of the Seattle bands is a bit of a joke if you know the history. More like MLB/Soundgarden attracting major label attention to Seattle and Nirvana hopping the train.
The one problem with Pearl Jam is that even if you love them you have to admit they’ve had some real stinkers of albums. (Although I always did like “Do the Evolution” even though that album and the one before were pretty disappointing)
Give to Nirvana, despite the tragedy of the end, they went out on top after their best album. There is no bad Nirvana album but lots of mediocre Pearl Jam ones.
Screaming Trees
Good answer, Brian V. But they weren’t from Seattle, if that’s part of the criteria here.
RJ, ah yes, “Bleach.” I own a copy, but never really dwelt on it like “Nevermind.” I guess I give people the same $hit when they say “Cowboys from Hell” was Pantera’s first album, or “Under the Table and Dreaming” was Dave Matthews Band’s first. NOT TRUE!
And I didn’t mean to imply PJ came out of nowhere; not sure where you got that from my comment. I know personally I discovered them after buying “Temple of the Dog” (heard “Hunger Strike” on the radio and fell over it was so cool) and seeing Veddor’s name in the credits for that song. Then I heard “Even Flow” and since then I’ve owned three copies of “Ten” (lost one, then later bought a replacement, then bought another one so I’d have a copy in the house and in the car – this was back when CD burners were EXPENSIVE).
Until somewhat recently, Bleach was the only Nirvana album I owned. On vinyl, no less, and only listened to a handful of times. Think it’s worth anything? Unfortunately it’s not a colored vinyl version.
“Spank Thru” from the Sub Pop 200 Comp is still my favorite Nirvana song.
The best Nirvana song bar none is the Leadbelly cover they do. My Girl. Even better than the original.
Does your copy of Bleach have a poster, Susan? If so, it’s probably worth something. If not, probably not since it’s been reissued a number of times.
neither, thank you very much.
Soundgarden is better than Nirvana and Pearl jam put together.
Gayvana sucks.
Pearl Jam and Nirvana sucks.
You say Pearl Jam and Fagvana?
I say Soundgarden and Alice in Chains
Nirvana = Crap