all those yesterdays

Sunday 9/20 was a big day. In case you didn't have it circled on your calendar for weeks, and I bet you didn't, on Sunday (yes Sunday, not Tuesday) Pearl Jam released their ninth studio album, Backspacer. Not enough listens yet to make the best judgment, but I like what I'm hearing.

This probably won't surprise you, but I can pretty much remember the day each album, other than the first, came out.

(1) I bought Ten from Columbia House sometime in 1992, so that was kind of uneventful. One day freshman year of high school our science teacher asked everyone what their favorite band was. I had never thought of it, but this was my favorite album, so I responded with Pearl Jam. Hasn't changed since that day.

Much more after the jump.

(2) The day Vs. came out was a big day. It was October 1993 and I had pre-ordered it from Musicland at a mall. The school day couldn't end quickly enough and I remember my mom driving me to Independence Center to pick it up as soon as I got home. For many years Vs. sold the most copies of any album in its opening week. I think the Backstreet Boys or a "band" like eventually dethroned PJ for that title. Like Ten, I loved this one from the get go. I even owned a t-shirt with a picture of the album cover, a dirty llama sticking its head through a fence. I wore it until the shirt fell apart.

(3) Vitalogy came out in early December 1994. They were one of the biggest bands around back then, so I wasn't the only one who was excited. That year we went to the Lake of the Ozarks a couple days before Christmas. I remember listening to Corduroy on repeat. I was blown away. It is still my favorite song. I definitely liked the album a great deal, but remember thinking from the get-go that it was a step behind the first two.

(4) On the second Tuesday of my first semester in college (1996) I walked up 9th St and bought No Code as soon as a now-defunct record store in Columbia opened. This was the band's effort to get away from the limelight, and the album took several listenings to really stick since it was so different from previous releases. Our dorm had a dingy little radio studio with a signal that could maybe be picked up at the far end of the dorm. I had a radio show and would often play tracks off the new album, particularly Present Tense. This is the album I find myself reaching for the most these days...well at least before Backspacer arrived.

(5) On a cold February night dorm-friends Dustin, John, and I walked up to Slackers and bought Yield at a midnight release party in 1998. We walked back to the dorm and listened to it twice in John's room, because he had the best stereo. Soon after they announced a tour and would be playing in KC, so it was going to be my first chance at seeing them. The six month period from the album's release to the my first show on 7/3/98 was probably the height of my fandom/obsession.

(6) My last spring semester of college (2000) I was an intern at the state capitol in Jefferson City. The session ended in May and since we were pretty much all recently jobless, one of the interns had a party on a Monday night. I left the party early so I could drive up to Columbia to pick up Binaural at the midnight release party at Slackers. I had my cousin Justin's truck that week - I think I was going to be moving my stuff back to KC later that week - and when I got back to my crappy apartment (the one with a termite problem and a sock in the door in lieu of a deadbolt) listened to it all night long. Ah, joblessness. Good, but probably my least favorite Pearl Jam album.

(7) Riot Act came out after I had joined the real world. I was working for the Governor of Missouri in DC and at 10am took a "break" to run over to the music store in Union Station to pick up the album when the store opened. Luckily it was a slow December (2002) day in DC so I was able to listen to the album most of the day while doing some filing and other grunt work in the office.

(7.5) Lost Dogs doesn't technically count, since it is a double album of B-sides. I was slacking back then, and actually didn't know the album came out when it did. About a month later, in December 2003, I figured it out and rushed out to buy it. From the shows I had been to, the singles I owned, and being well entrenched into the online music-sharing era, I had heard many of the songs already, but it is still a good release. I used to listen over and over while playing NCAA football or NHL on the Xbox. My favorite part is that it is an album of B-sides, but it can still beat the pants off most albums.

(8) By 2006 I was back to being fanatical and eagerly awaiting the May release of the self titled album. I pre-ordered it from the Ten Club, surprisingly the first time I had done so. Although the Ten Club mailed the copies prior to the release, mine was lost in the mail. Fortunately they allowed everyone who bought it from them to download the tracks the day it was released, so I could still hear it, I just couldn't hold the real thing. After a couple weeks but no love from the mail man, the fan club sent me another copy and all was right in the world.

(9) Sunday morning I woke up and headed straight to Target. The band streamed the album on the interwebnets on Friday, and I managed to listen to it about ten times between then and Sunday morning, but I went right out to get it. A couple songs aren't my favorites, but I'm loving the rest, particularly Unthought Known.

I can't believe it has been seventeen years since I bought Ten! It has been a great run. Here is to hoping that the band keeps on releasing great material (and we keep up the blog) so that I update this sucker many times in the future.