You can’t have it both ways. Plain and simple. You can’t be a dick all the time and then once in awhile be nice and expect people to be nice back. You can’t be a vegetarian and wear a leather jacket. You can’t be a starving artist living off of a trust fund. You can’t say you’re straight edge and have the occasional social cocktail. You can’t do these things and expect to not be called on your shit because you are a fucking hypocrite. So then Pearl Jam you can’t sell your album as a “Target Exclusive” but also sell it only in independent record stores and expect people to shrug their shoulders and buy it.
I ordered “The Fixer” some weeks back when I read (erroneously) that it was going to be a glow in the dark 7”. I thought here’s a band that I can respect. They’re not only still supporting vinyl when they don’t have to, but they’re doing it up proper-like. If they’re still writing songs close to being as good as State of Love and Trust and Rearview Mirror I can’t miss. Honestly I haven’t really bought any Pearl Jam since their second album but they’ve definitely put out some righteous jams and I always sort of admired how they hated the commercial success of their Jeremy video and took The Murder City Devils on tour with them. Hating commercial success is punk rock. Look it up. So if they’re going to dangle a glow in the dark record over me I’ll bite. Long story short. The record is not glow in the dark. Some of the U.S. copies have glow in the dark covers. The U.K. version (which I got) doesn’t even have that. The other difference between the two is that the U.S. has normal gauge white vinyl while the U.K. comes on heavy weight black.
The songs are not offensive to my tastes in any way. Eddie still has his voice (which is good I guess if you like his voice) and the band still knows how to write a catchy yeah yeah yeah hey hey hey infused tune. But when I saw their new full length at my local record store this weekend I passed it up because these assholes are trying to have it both ways. Let me back up a second to Thursday night watching Conan. I’m fast forwarding the commercials and pass by one for Pearl Jam. Or Target. Or wait. What? Rewind the DVR…Eddie and crew are on stage at some ridiculous small club (don’t they normally sell out stadiums?) and there are all these Target logos around them. But like punk rock spray painted distressed Target logos as if to say “This ain’t cho grandma’s Target”. The crowd jamming out to them are all models. The band even looks like they’re acting. At the end some announcer says “get Pearl Jam’s new album exclusively at Target”. The only thing I get exclusively at Target is toothpaste and video games (sometimes socks). Whatever though, I understand it’s not easy to sell albums these days so if that’s what it takes. But then I read online that it’s not even a Target Exclusive. Wait. An advertiser lied to me? It can’t be. So the truth is the only big name chain store that is carrying it is Target, however you can still buy it at independent mom and pop record stores too. So I’m calling Pearl Jam out on their bullshit. You can’t have it both ways. You gotta pick one. I’d respect that more. I’m not buying your new album on this principle. I don’t care if it’s any good or not. (This is also something the band should keep in mind when they’re covering the Dead Boys on stage at Madison Square Garden.)
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I think bands can have it both ways. dosent mean that it works for all bands or everyone, but some have a diverse and versatile appeal to their charisma or persona.