Pearl Jam vs Nirvana

[Roddy]

Which was/is the better band? Why? Which band was the 'leader' of the early 90s Seattle/alternative Rock explosion?

 

[HorseHead]

Easy question for me to answer, as I don't like Pearl Jam. Never did anything for me.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Easy question for me to answer, as I don't like Pearl Jam. Never did anything for me.

This has been done a thousand times, but Im gonna reply anyways

Pearl Jam in a canter. Were far better in the early/mid 90's and its fair to say they've done a little better over the last decade. Nirvana are in my opinion ridiculously over-hyped

 

[Leaping Lindner]

Nirvana by a mile. Pearl Jam were one step away from being adult contemporary rock IMO.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Nirvana have and always will be better than Pearl Jam.

For those who like signs.

Nirvana>Daylight>Pearl Jam

 

[Corrosion]

Pearl Jam by a ********ing mile.

Nirvana only broke Grunge into Mainstream with the most overrated song ever, Smells Like Teen Spirit. Pearl Jam came and took over from Nirvana. Ten was far better than Nevermind in terms of quality and sales.

Vs was a billion times better than In Utero. The quality songs that Pearl Jam produced were on another planet compared to Nirvana.

 

[Heisenberg_]

Both awsome bands, Nirvana no doubt lead the grunge movement, but Pearl Jam overtook them as Nirvana was coming to an end.
Cobain was an awsome song writer but really, Vedder isn't that far behind him, and IMO that is the only factor that Nirvana is ahead of PJ IMO.
Vedder is a MUCH better singer, and Cobain was really not that great as the lead guitarist, fair to say that Mike McCready has him covered their.

 

[Herbs]

Pearl Jam for me. Not much wrong with Nirvana though.

 

[Carlos]

Which was/is the better band? Why? Which band was the 'leader' of the early 90s Seattle/alternative Rock explosion?

Soundgarden in answer too all of those questions. Comfortably too.

Alice in Chains would take out the silver.

IMO both those bands featured better players than either of the PJ or Nirvana lineups of the same time, they wrote better tunes (and thats comign from a MASSIVE Pealr Jam fan) and were bigger players in the Seattle scene before either PJ or Nirvana were anything.

Nirvana and Pearl Jam certainly became just a tickle bit more popular outside that scene though...

I never quite got the whole Nirvana thing though.

 

[melbournemartin]

Not a huge fan of either but prefer Nirvana.

 

[Val Venis]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260145&highlight=Pearl+Jam

 

[pjcrows]

ridiculous to compare as the two band's sound very different. if you have actually listened to each band's catalogue a bit you will notice that the only similarities that they have is that they both use guitars, drums and a bass. the fact that they both came from seattle is why they are so often compared - it's like comparing the beatles and the spice girls because they're both from britain.

but, to play along with the post, i enjoy pearl jam's music more than nirvana's but have a great appreciation for what they have done for music.

pearl jam's music is sublime and their live shows are outstanding.

 

[Roddy]

ridiculous to compare as the two band's sound very different. if you have actually listened to each band's catalogue a bit you will notice that the only similarities that they have is that they both use guitars, drums and a bass. the fact that they both came from seattle is why they are so often compared - it's like comparing the beatles and the spice girls because they're both from britain.

but, to play along with the post, i enjoy pearl jam's music more than nirvana's but have a great appreciation for what they have done for music.

pearl jam's music is sublime and their live shows are outstanding.

Yes, ridiculous to compare 2 bands who have regularly been put into the exact same genre (rightly or wrongly), come from the same city and scene, had their formative years in exactly the same era, released their breakthrough albums in the same year, have both been credited with 'starting' a new genre (the same one, in fact!), played shows together in that same city and scene and have generally been compared and contrasted by the music media and fans alike constantly for the last 16 years!
Apart from all THAT the only thing they have in common is they both use guitars, bass guitars and drums. So yes, I suppose you're right....

 

[Mattlowry]

I think Nirvana is winning alot of the younger votes in these polls due to the fact alot more teenagers have heard Smells Like Teen Spirit. At my work most of the under 18's there havent even heard of Pearl Jam...

I love both bands, but Pearl Jam has just far too many good songs in comparison to Nirvana for me to steer away from them..

 

[pjcrows]

Yes, ridiculous to compare 2 bands who have regularly been put into the exact same genre (rightly or wrongly), come from the same city and scene, had their formative years in exactly the same era, released their breakthrough albums in the same year, have both been credited with 'starting' a new genre (the same one, in fact!), played shows together in that same city and scene and have generally been compared and contrasted by the music media and fans alike constantly for the last 16 years!
Apart from all THAT the only thing they have in common is they both use guitars, bass guitars and drums. So yes, I suppose you're right....

i know the histories, mate. the 2 bands couldn't be more different, in my opinion. sure, they were a part of the so-called 'grunge' movement, but i find the whole 'starting a new genre' is a funny one itself, seeing as they sound completely different, and genre categories generally refer to a group of things that have the same characteristics.

 

[Toasta]

Crazyhorse pioneered grunge.

 

[Roddy]

i know the histories, mate. the 2 bands couldn't be more different, in my opinion. sure, they were a part of the so-called 'grunge' movement, but i find the whole 'starting a new genre' is a funny one itself, seeing as they sound completely different, and genre categories generally refer to a group of things that have the same characteristics.

That's why I said 'rightly or wrongly'..
And I doubt very much you'll get many people to agree that they are completely and totally different to the extent that they can't be compared at all. Completely and totally different is Motorhead vs Enya.
And many bands, FAR further apart than Nirvana and PJ, are lumped into the same genre. Slayer and Lacuna Coil are both considered Metal, but how similar are they????? Chalk and cheese.....

 

[spanna050]

i know the histories, mate. the 2 bands couldn't be more different, in my opinion. sure, they were a part of the so-called 'grunge' movement, but i find the whole 'starting a new genre' is a funny one itself, seeing as they sound completely different, and genre categories generally refer to a group of things that have the same characteristics.

Completely agree with this. For me, 'Grunge' was always a term coined by a music exec mast*rbating over Nirvana's music. Let's be honest, Ten and Nevermind have never sounded similar. The fact they both came from the same 'scene' is irrelevant, and as far as I'm concerned, the Screaming Trees did as much for this scene as anyone, but Nirvana and PJ broke it into the mainstream.

As far as bands go, I'll take PJ any day of the week. Superior song-writing, superior tunes, superior musicianship, superior vocalist, superior longevity, superior live shows - not really a contest for mine.

BTW, any fans of this 'scene/genre' need to see the documentary 'Hype' - great flick.

 

[rick James]

Soundgarden in answer too all of those questions. Comfortably too.

Alice in Chains would take out the silver.

IMO both those bands featured better players than either of the PJ or Nirvana lineups of the same time, they wrote better tunes (and thats comign from a MASSIVE Pealr Jam fan) and were bigger players in the Seattle scene before either PJ or Nirvana were anything.

Nirvana and Pearl Jam certainly became just a tickle bit more popular outside that scene though...

I never quite got the whole Nirvana thing though.

Yeah kind of feel similar.

Except I have AIC first, Soundgarden second. Oh, and I don't like Pearl Jam bar a few tracks.

 

[Bourky23]

pearl jam

 

[kolchak]

Nirvana blow Perl Jam away....

Perl Jam have superior songs

Each to your own I guess, Nirvana brought out classic albums that Perl Jam couldn't even aspire too, there are other bands from the late eighties early nineties that would also blow Perl Jam away.

Wouldn't have thought this was worth discussing.

 

[Corrosion]

Nirvana blow Perl Jam away....

Perl Jam have superior songs

Each to your own I guess, Nirvana brought out classic albums that Perl Jam couldn't even aspire too, there are other bands from the late eighties early nineties that would also blow Perl Jam away.

Wouldn't have thought this was worth discussing.

In Utero and Bleach are classic? Well, that's news to me.

I wouldn't even call Nevermind a classic album.

On the other hand, Ten. Now that is a classic album.

Pearl Jam blow Nirvana away

 

[bmwofoz]

I like them both, but Pearl Jam are No 1 and I agree with the below mentioned post

Both awsome bands, Nirvana no doubt lead the grunge movement, but Pearl Jam overtook them as Nirvana was coming to an end.
Cobain was an awsome song writer but really, Vedder isn't that far behind him, and IMO that is the only factor that Nirvana is ahead of PJ IMO.
Vedder is a MUCH better singer, and Cobain was really not that great as the lead guitarist, fair to say that Mike McCready has him covered their.

I think Nirvana is winning alot of the younger votes in these polls due to the fact alot more teenagers have heard Smells Like Teen Spirit. At my work most of the under 18's there havent even heard of Pearl Jam...

I love both bands, but Pearl Jam has just far too many good songs in comparison to Nirvana for me to steer away from them..

Completely agree with this. For me, 'Grunge' was always a term coined by a music exec mast*rbating over Nirvana's music. Let's be honest, Ten and Nevermind have never sounded similar. The fact they both came from the same 'scene' is irrelevant, and as far as I'm concerned, the Screaming Trees did as much for this scene as anyone, but Nirvana and PJ broke it into the mainstream.

As far as bands go, I'll take PJ any day of the week. Superior song-writing, superior tunes, superior musicianship, superior vocalist, superior longevity, superior live shows - not really a contest for mine.

BTW, any fans of this 'scene/genre' need to see the documentary 'Hype' - great flick.

 

[kolchak]

In Utero and Bleach are classic? Well, that's news to me.

I wouldn't even call Nevermind a classic album.

On the other hand, Ten. Now that is a classic album.

Pearl Jam blow Nirvana away

There are people in the industry (who are not Nirvana fanatics) who think that Nervermind is one of the best rock albums ever written....

Ten, pretty good, PJs best album, but everything after Ten is a little second rate. You really need to a fan of their music, which you obviously are.

 

[cats2rise]

Pearl Jam. Can't really say much more than what others have said. IMO Nirvana is a good band, but I do not think they would have been able to produce as much success as PJ have if they were still around.