![]() ![]() That’s because, in the early 90s, they were on track to eclipse the likes of U2 and become the Led Zeppelin of their era. A band that celebrated its twentieth anniversary by commissioning its own theatrical film directed by Cameron Crowe, the guy that all bands go to when they want to look cool? How could they have killed their careers when it looks like they’re still doing pretty well? Pearl Jam? A band that still regularly sells out arenas and has a large legion of devoted fans (myself included - I’ve seen them in concert several times and own almost all of their albums). ![]() The more experimental, less mainstream and barely promoted album ended their run of commercial dominance and abruptly halted their seemingly inevitable march towards becoming the biggest band in the world. Pearl Jam would take a page from Young’s book for its fourth album, 1996’s No Code. ![]() His label then sued him for making music that was “not commercial” and “musically uncharacteristic” of his previous recordings. In fact, his label once pressured Young for a rock album and he delivered a collection of rockabilly songs (they didn’t specify what kind of rock they wanted). Long known as an artist who refused to play by anyone else’s rules, Young was famous, or perhaps infamous, for making music for artistic reasons without regard for commercial success. Young even helped inspire the name “Pearl Jam.” According to Rolling Stone, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were already considering using the word “Pearl” in their band’s name, and after attending a Young show in 1991 that featured several long instrumental jams, something clicked.īut it wasn’t just his music that was inspirational. Young would become a close collaborator and mentor to Pearl Jam, performing, working and touring together throughout the 90s and 00s. His 1979 album, Rust Never Sleeps, featured a highly distorted guitar sound that proved to be very influential with several major grunge musicians, including Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder. There were several reasons why Neil Young got the moniker “ Godfather of Grunge.” ![]()
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