Pearl Jam Twenty
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-Ray
Written and Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain, Neil Young
Tremolo Productions
Originally Released: September 10, 2011

As a rock fan and metalhead, it’s hard for me to imagine in many ways that Pearl Jam is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. The time, in my mind’s eye, has flown; but the more I think about it, the more I consider how much this band has been a part of my passion for music… something evidently experienced by other fans as portrayed in Pearl Jam Twenty.

When Pearl Jam was only just starting to achieve international recognition, I was entering my teens. Music was in a transitional period, as far as rock was concerned. In the background, you had your harder edged thrash bands (and up and coming death metal groups) there, consistent with their attack. In the forefront you had the glam and the rock of the 1980s – but not for long…

Soundgarden
Live on I-5
CD | MP3
A&M Records
U.S. Release date: March 22, 2011
UK Release date: March 21, 2011

Soundgarden is a band almost impossible to neatly define. So diverse is the band’s sound that anything they try — be it punk, grunge, rock, acoustic — nothing sounds out of place. Like contemporaries Faith No More, they manage to mix all of these influences together while still possessing an identifiable sound. This keeps their audience guessing, not just from album to album, but from each track to the next.

On new live album, Live on I-5, Soundgarden keeps this excitement going. It was recorded at various U.S. and Canadian venues at the tail end of 1996, just a few months before the band’s eventual break up. Thanks to this, there is a definite sense of anger within the performances, which added to the band’s natural energy and power on stage makes for an intensely frenetic and hugely impressive live album.

Pearl Jam
Live On Ten Legs
Monkeywrench
Released January 17 (UK) January 18 (U.S.: CD | MP3) 2011

I hate Pearl Jam. I’ve spent many hours on my guitar trying to sound as good as Stone Gossard and Mike McCready. I gave up a long time ago trying to play the bass like Jeff Ament and I have as much chance of being a better drummer than Matt Cameron as I have of finding a voice like Eddie Vedder in my armpit. I find them sickeningly good and I can barely stand it.

Of course, I am joking about my ‘hatred’: I adore Pearl Jam. This year Pearl Jam has lined up a list of surprises to coincide with the 20th anniversary of its debut album, Ten. To kick things off comes the release of new live album, Live On Ten Legs. Recorded at various concerts during 2003-2010 and at 18 tracks long it’s a good collection of Pearl Jam songs with at least one track from all of its back catalogue (with the exception of No Code).

Grunge rock superstars Soundgarden performed live last night on Conan.

Watch the video here below of their live performance of “Black Rain,” a single from their new album, Telephantasm, which was released in September. Also embedded below is a web-only video of them playing another song, “Hunted Down,” which did not air during the Conan broadcast.

On January 1, 2010, the band announced their plans to reunite after a 12-year break. The current line-up of Soundgarden is Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd.

Former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell‘s official site was updated today to announce that the grunge rock pioneers are reuniting after a 12-year break!

The message simply states:

The 12 year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again! www.soundgardenworld.com

When you sign up at the site, a video for “Get On The Snake” from their 1989 album Louder Than Love pops up, but there’s no other information at this time, though I gather we’ll be getting some details real soon.

The Seattle-based quartet released their first album Ultramega OK in 1988, but didn’t rise to fame until 1991 with Badmotorfinger, which contained the hits “Outshined” and “Rusty Cage” (which subsequently became popular videos in constant rotation on MTV). From then on, Soundgarden was at the top of the music scene, paving the way for other Grunge acts (along with fellow Seattle bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam).