A goofball song the band all but disavowed for years, it captures the playful energy of PJ’s early days, complete with chainsaw sound effects and the tragic news that McCready’s been eaten. This redheaded stepchild of a song crosses a crazy real-life tour bus driver with Jeffrey Dahmer. “It starts out slow and then it gets a little larger and a little larger and then it breaks and then it comes down again.” “I just kind of imagined it as sort of a wave in an ocean,” McCready explained. The soul-soaring spirit of 1998’s Yield hits a high mark of uplifting optimism on this track, and it’s no accident that the melody mirrors Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” – the tale is a mix of messianic symbolism spun into what could be interpreted as an autobiographical streak of Ed’s own journey to California in his younger years. It’s also helped by the anxiety-spawning fatal finality in the solo, red-lining a delicate engine before easing the song out again somberly. The songwriter, bassist Jeff Ament, attributes this to some darker hidden childhood memories that began to surface in more recent years. and an estimated 60 million worldwide.The sparse nature of this darkly melancholic Binaural gem leaves a great deal open to interpretation. With 10 studio albums and various live recordings (including “Official Bootlegs” of basically every concert the band performed since 2000), Pearl Jam has sold nearly 32 million records in the U.S. In the meantime, various drummers passed through the band, with percussion only settling once Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron joined them in the tour for 1998’s Yield. Growing uncomfortable with success, the following albums went for a more anguished and experimental sound, and the band’s notorious activism had its most prominent case once they boycotted Ticketmaster, accusing them of price-gouging fans. Along with drummer Dave Krusen, they signed with Epic Records and released Ten in 1991, which by the following year was becoming one of the most successful debut albums ever. Once the tape passed along, it attracted a San Diego-based singer, Eddie Vedder. The group started with Stone Gossard (guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass), veterans of the proto-grunge scene, recording a demo along with local guitarist Mike McCready. Founded in 1990 in Seattle, Pearl Jam is one of the most successful bands out of the grunge movement, if not of the whole alternative rock scene from the early 90s.

Hit songs by pearl jam