Aug 19 2008
Aging gracefully: Paul Weller & Pearl Jam
It’s heartening to see that there are rock ‘n’ roll acts who age gracefully. I think this is particularly (maybe a little too) important for those of us who would still like to think of themselves as a little counter-cultural, or at least open to it, not fully on ‘the man’s’ side, not quite bought in/sold out. While actually saying these things may have just caused all of them to happen to me anyway, I’d like to think of myself as someone who’s at best skeptical about many aspects of what society appears to expect from someone who’s 38 (work, life circumstances, where I live, what I wear, how I choose to spend my time, etc.). And so I search for validation for some of these choices as we all do, seeking to affirm them and understand them in the context of what I see others do. Preferably others who have something to say, show or share.
Since I’m such a music nut, looking to rock appears to be a good choice - rock has a lot to offer, continues to be a vital form of music and is filled with interesting characters. But they’re not always beacons of inspiration. I mean, Bono? He’s inimitably larger-than-life at best and wears really bad sunglasses at worst. I won’t build a list of rock musicians and pithy comments here; suffice it to say that successful musicians seem caught in an insect net of ’stardom,’ limiting genre definitions, unfortunate ‘reinventions,’ the drive to develop more-or-less useful charitable or political profiles, and so on. Speaking metaphorically, it sometimes seems that once a rock musician’s career is in full swing, there’s little discernably left of the person. It’s all been lost in a PR maelstrom. And I think what happens frequently (too frequently) is that the music suffers as a result.
Take Coldplay (okay, one more example). They seem like lovely people. Smart, likable, they write good music, support good causes and lead intelligent lives. And yet - once you get to that sort of level of exposure - some almost imperceptible thing sets in where, as Noel Gallagher put it in the August 2008 edition of Mojo, the music becomes afflicted by “the Brian Eno curse.” Why do they need Brian Eno? Is it to try and re-capture the greatness he and U2 achieved on Achtung Baby? Is that realistic? Is it even it? Another reviewer of Coldplay’s latest oeuvre said that they were trying to subtly bring ‘indie’ to major label music (don’t remember where I read this). Realizing that’s exactly what Coldplay tries to do didn’t make me admire them more (as, say, ‘revolutionaries from inside the system’) but rather less. Okay, enough with the exposé - you get my point.
Acts that do inspire, time and again, and that seem to have found a positive balance, a comfortable place in the treacherous tapestry of rock ‘n’ roll ’stardom,’ are therefore a rare and meaningful find. They’re to be cherished. Each new record release or media interview causes me slight anxiety (”Is he going to say something stupid?” - “Have they turned into a retro act?”) and palpable relief when they get it right one more time. Of course I’m fully aware of the carefully constructed nature of it all and realize that - especially when it comes to representing oneself in the media - almost everything can be carefully controlled. Yet I think that the music can’t really lie. I think I, and other listeners, can tell if it sucks. It’s that simple.
Two artists that I return to as resting poles of graceful aging are Paul Weller and Pearl Jam. Weller founded The Jam in the late 70s and, after its demise, saw out the 80s with The Style Council. Two completely different styles done with eloquence, skill and inspiration. Even his more obscure pop-jazz stylings in the 80s were never anything less than an interesting musical and sartorial exploration. Weller has subsequently developed a fabulous solo career that started in the early 90s and continues strongly today. Nine studio albums in, this is rock ‘n’ roll for grown-ups, music that resonates, grooves, makes you think, calls up references from the storied history of popular music as seen through a 50-year-old British musician’s eyes. Paul Weller, in many ways, did everything right - he’s a great and ever-maturing singer, a fabulous guitar player, a man of excellent taste. He’s also an important taste-maker, as evidenced by the many, many leading British musicians who openly acknowledge him as a revered influence (Oasis et al.).
I know Paul Weller’s latest offering has been received cautiously by the critics, but I’ll recommend it here anyway. I think that ‘cautiously’ is the only way one can receive a Paul Weller record that doesn’t immediately reveal itself as the work of rock ‘n’ roll genius… 22 Dreams is full of excellent music, though some of it may not be as accessible as, say, Wild Wood (which - if you don’t own it - you should go and buy immediately). It’s perhaps the prerogative of a gracefully aging rock musician to be ‘allowed’ to conduct gentle experiments and not lose a single follower in the process.
On to Pearl Jam. If you’re like me, you’ll remember them primarily as members of Seattle’s ‘grunge’ movement from the late 80s/early 90s. A sludgy, heavy-metalish sound, but punkier maybe, more do-it-yourself-ish. Not a bad band, but - for someone who felt that he was just emerging from the “Metal 80s” and cutting his hair for the first time in years, it felt like a bit of a throw-back. I struggled to see exactly how Ten was substantially different from some of the smarter, more mature metal bands at the time. So I mostly ignored Pearl Jam. (Nirvana, on the other hand, had what appeared to be more of a punk edge, and an outstanding singer-songwriter at the helm who then killed himself. Not a role model, maybe, but quite iconic. And great music, too.) I was vaguely aware that Pearl Jam had become one of the most popular and successful rock bands of the 90s, but that just caused me to do what I typically do with fame - I don’t go and investigate an act just because it’s famous. I wait for something else to pique my interest.
Fast forward many years to about 18 months ago. I’m not sure what made me look at Pearl Jam again (it’s not like I really needed more CDs or anything). But somehow, starting somewhere in the mid-90s, Pearl Jam turned itself into an incredible ‘alternative acoustic rock’ act with brilliant, economical songcraft, an intelligent ‘message’ profile and perfectly acceptable hair cuts. Eddie Vedder turned out to be a deeply gifted lyricist, someone who has the ability to write honest lyrics that aren’t cloying or terrible in other ways. Sure, there’s an earnestness in Pearl Jam’s music, but - if you’ve looked at my blog before - earnestness, for me, is not a deterrent (not everything has to be seen through a pop culture irony filter; that gets old very quickly).
So for every 30-something reader who’s still wondering what, exactly, happened to MTV’s Unplugged, I’ll recommend two Pearl Jam records that continue to amaze me at each listen. And, I think, I’ll also throw in Eddie Vedder’s recent solo soundtrack album from Into the Wild, a Sean Penn movie I’ve not seen. Listen to these records if you’re looking for music that won’t make you feel like you’re 16 if you’re really, well, a little bit older than that.
