Song: "Hold On" (acoustic version)
Artist: Pearl Jam
Album: "VS" (Expanded Edition)
Year: 2011
Place Of Origin: Seattle, Washington
Years Active: 1990 - present
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
I could elaborate what I think "Hold On" is about but if you open up the liner notes of Pearl Jam's b-side album, vocalist Eddie Vedder sums up what the song is about short and sweet. Here's Mr. Vedder's own words about Hold On. ""If you love someone, set them free... if someone loves you, don't fuck up." There ya go! "Hold On" was a song that bounced around dating back to the "Ten" era of the band so it's one of their first batch of songs. It never made it on "Ten" or "VS". The full band version was released on "Lost Dogs". The version I chose for my song of the week is an acoustic version which was a bonus track on the remastered 2011 version of "VS".
PEARL JAM DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
1991 - Ten (Epic Records)
* #2 on the Billboard 200
* certified diamond
1993 - VS (Epic Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified 7X platinum
1994 - Vitalogy (Epic Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified 5X platinum
1996 - No Code (Epic Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum
1998 - Yield (Epic Records)
* #2 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum
1998 - Live On Two Legs (Epic Records)
* #15 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum
2000 - Binaural (Epic Records)
* #2 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2002 - Riot Act (Epic Records)
* #5 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2003 - Lost Dogs (Epic Records)
* #15 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2004 - Live At Benaroya Hall (BMG Records)
* #18 on the Billboard 200
2006 - Pearl Jam (J Records)
* #2 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2009 - Backspacer (Monkeywrench/Universal Music Group)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2011 - Live On Ten Legs (Universal Music Group)
* #21 on the Billboard 200
2013 - Lightning Bolt (Monkeywrench Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold
2017 - Let's Play Two (Republic Records)
* #31 on the Billboard 200
2020 - Gigaton (Monkeywrench Records)
* #5 on the Billboard 200
* Pearl Jam has also released tons of live bootlegs through their website www.pearljam.com.
* Beginning with their 2000 "Binaural" tour, the band has recorded every live show and made them available in digital format or hard
copy cd's.
* They also have released some of those bootlegs to retailers as well as releasing some "vault" shows of previous tours.
* All of these are available on www.pearljam.com or programs like Amazon music and Apple music to name a few.
MY THOUGHTS ON PEARL JAM:
Out of the ashes of Seattle band Mother Love Bone rose the band Mookie Blaylock, which became Pearl Jam. When Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose, MLB bandmates Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament decided to continue working together. A guitar virtuoso, Mike McCready would also join the band. Drummers Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain and Dave Abbruzzese would hold down the beats in the early going. Another drummer, former Red Hot Chili Pepper Jack Irons, would hand the famous demo tape to San Diego surfer Eddie Vedder and the rest my friends, is history. The band first work together wasn't a Pearl Jam project, but another project called Temple Of The Dog featuring Soundgarden's Chris Cornell on vocals and Matt Cameron on drums. Cameron, of course, would later become the Pearl Jam drummer in 1998, succeeding Jack Irons. With a burgeoning music scene developing in the great northwest, Pearl Jam would release the epic debut "Ten". At first, sales weren't that great, but when fellow Seattle band Nirvana released "Nevermind" that same year, the grunge explosion was born and "Ten" shot up the charts quickly. This album has been certified diamond! What does that mean? That means it sold a shitload of albums, over 13 million units in the U.S. alone! Seattle was officially on the map and the music world was about to be turned upside down! The band's follow-up, 1993's "VS" damn near sold 1 million copies in the first 5 days of it's release which was a record at the time. The grunge wave was rolling high. Pearl Jam was selling millions of albums as well as their contemporaries Nirvana, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. The pressures of fame began to affect the band as they were making their third album "Vitalogy". As it was, the band stopped doing videos and really pulled back on press for their releases. "Vitalogy" is also the beginning of Eddie Vedder really taking control of the band. "Ten" and "VS" were both more a product of Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament but now Eddie was the defacto leader of the band. This shift in power definitely created some tensions within. With the release of "No Code", Pearl Jam was really trying to distance themselves from what you would call "radio friendly" hits as that album saw the band create some more obscure tracks. By this time, grunge's popularity was starting to wane. Kurt Cobain was no longer with us due to him committing suicide. Soundgarden had broken up and Alice In Chains was a shell of themselves due to the drug issues of their lead singer Layne Staley. Pearl Jam continued to soldier on however and in 1998, they released what I think is one of their best albums, "Yield". Much like the first two releases of their career, this was a band collaboration and the album definitely felt that way. It was a big time cohesive effort. As the 2000's approached, this is what I would call a dark period for the band. "Binaural" and "Riot Act" were not the band's best efforts and in between those two albums was the Roskilde tragedy on June 30, 2000 where 9 fans were trampled to death during Pearl Jam's performance at that festival. The tragedy almost caused the band to break-up. Luckily, they pulled together and continued on. It was around this time, perhaps a healing process for both the band and the fans, that Pearl Jam live shows really began to feel like one big family. The fans and the band in complete sync and the connection was beautiful. I've always said that seeing Pearl Jam live is kinda like a religious awakening. It's just an awesome experience. In 2006, I would say this was another pivotal moment for the band. The self-titled, sometimes called "Avocado", album was a monster! In the aftermath of 9/11, the band was in an angry state of mind and it showed in the urgency and aggression of this album. Another of my favorites by the band. 2009's "Backspacer" was a little "happier" in it's feel and yet another really good album. This is an album that has been growing on me more and more as of late. Really underrated album. 2013 saw the release of "Lightning Bolt", a good release but I was hoping for more from this album after "Backspacer". Most recently, Pearl Jam has released "Gigaton" in 2020. It took 7 years to release this album, the longest span the band took to release a new album. The wait was well worth it however. "Gigaton" is an excellent album from beginning to end. It's awesome to see that Pearl Jam can still be super relevant in a time when rock music seems to be struggling to get back on it's feet. What more can I say about this band? First of all, Pearl Jam is my favorite band of all time. Their catalogue is crazy deep. If you delve into their bootlegs, you'll see that this band covers a shitload of songs and is constantly playing rare gems in their concerts. Eddie Vedder is easily one of the best rock vocalists in the history of rock music. Pearl Jam is one of the most influential bands of all time. The band has sold over 85 million records worldwide! The Seattle sound was my wheelhouse. It really changed my life. It really sucks that Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Chris Cornell are no longer with us. That makes me hope that Eddie Vedder continues to have good health and continues to make great music with his bandmates. Pearl Jam is at the top of the mountain for me. As top tier as top tier gets!!
SIMILAR ARTISTS:
Temple Of The Dog
Soundgarden
Stone Temple Pilots
Alice In Chains
Mad Season
TEN PEARL JAM SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
* It's so hard for me to just pick 10 songs from this band so I'm gonna pick what's my favorite song from each of their studio albums
plus 1 from their b-sides comp. "Lost Dogs" and 1 live cover song for the hell of it! Of course, my favorite song on each album is
subject to change on a week to week basis!! ;)
1. Release (Ten)
2. Go (VS)
3. Corduroy (Vitalogy)
4. In My Tree (No Code)
5. Do The Evolution (Yield)
6. Light Years (Binaural)
7. Love Boat Captain (Riot Act)
8. Come Back (Pearl Jam)
9. Got Some (Backspacer)
10. Mind Your Manners (Lightning Bolt)
11. Who Ever Said (Gigaton)
12. Yellow Ledbetter (Lost Dogs)
13. Rockin' In The Free World (live Neil Young cover)
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