Colorsblend A Pearl Jam Trading Page Last Updated 2002

Colorsblend A Pearl Jam Trading Page

Pearl Jam CD-R’s

1990 1997

1991 1998

1996 Compilations New!

Pearl Jam Related

The Early Years

I first heard Pearl Jam just before Christmas 1991 and thought they had a cool sound, but nothing truly exceptional. I was just beginning to open up to new music (I was stuck in serious ‘Classic rock’ mode) and they were one of the first new bands I heard that I liked. By the end of 1992, everyone knew who they were and ‘grunge’ mania was everywhere. In a way, this kind of turned me off, but I still eagerly anticipated the follow-up to Ten. When Vs. came out in October 1993, it just blew me away. I spent many nights cruising the countryside with my girlfriend listening to ‘Go’, ‘Animal’, and the rest of the album over and over again. There was just something about it that resonated with me. The subject material was more varied than Ten had been and I related more easily to many of the songs. Also, I thought the production was much better – less overdubs, a grittier sound, and the sometimes overbearing reverb found on Ten was gone. I couldn’t wait to see them live. I almost ended up getting tickets to see them in St. Louis in the Spring of ’94, but the shows sold out just before I could get tickets. Big bummer…

Rise and Fall

When news came that Pearl Jam would be broadcasting an entire show live on the radio, I just about flipped out. This was as close to seeing a show as I could get and I specifically made no plans for the night of April 3, 1994. I simply stayed home, set up my radio and tape deck, and sat back and enjoyed the finest concert I’ve ever heard. I was completely blown away. I couldn’t remember a better rock concert and I went on to listen to those tapes until they wore out. Really! This is when I got my first taste of Pearl Jam mania. I couldn’t get enough. I bought all the import singles I could find and even went to a midnight sale the night before Vitalogy came out to get it. This was also around the time PJ started trying to fight Ticketmaster and I knew tickets for a show, if there were even going to be shows, would be hard to come by. As we all know, the Summer ’95 tour turned out to be a near-fatal end to the band and although I probably could have gone to see them at Soldier Field, the screwed up ticketing system they had in place along with the rescheduling of the show caused me to reconsider (big regret). It was around this time that my interest in the band started to fade. It was becoming almost impossible to see them live and the lack of publicity in magazines really hurt. There was no internet as we now know it and I was left to guess what they were up to. No Code came out and even though I bought it, I just didn’t get into it at all. They seemed so different than before…

Growing Up

Sometime in early ’97 I pulled out my copy of No Code and decided to give it another chance. I loved most of their earlier songs and hoped that maybe I just missed the point of No Code. I studied the lyrics and songs and after a few more listens, it finally occurred to me – the band was growing up. It was also around the same time that I discovered the internet and I found some great resources for all things PJ, including Five Horizons. I learned more from pouring over web pages and newgroups than I thought possible. I also found a local record shop that carried imports and bootlegs of live shows and, despite my poor financial situatuion, I bought a couple, including one entitled ‘The Delta Tapes’ which was the 11-01-1995 Salt Lake City, UT show. Now more than ever, I was what I thought to be a hardcore fan, even though I hadn’t seen them live yet. I tried to scrape enough money together to fly to Oakland to see them open for The Rolling Stones, but I just couln’t pull it off. I was disappointed, yet still determined…

Redemption

While on Christmas break, a close friend and I happened to be going somewhere in the car together when the radio jock announced they would be premiering the new Pearl Jam song at, of all times, now! I couldn’t believe it – I was with the only other person I know who likes PJ as much as me and we were lucky enough to be in for such a treat. ‘Given to Fly’ played and we were speechless. I sometimes still get goosebumps when I hear it. At this point it was clear – Pearl Jam was hear to stay and they were still rocking. I made up my mind that day that there would be no excuses this time – I would see them live on their Yield ’98 tour at almost any cost. When tour dates were announced I almost started faoming at the mouth – they were playing at Alpine Valley, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis – places that were all within easy driving distance to home. I ended up seeing 4 shows in all that year and the main thing that stuck out for me was how good they still sounded live. I couldn’t wait to find some bootlegs of the shows I went to. Ultimately, I was disappointed in the search for live shows – people either wanted $50 or more for a show on CD or I needed a CD burner or DAT machine to get digital recordings…Live on Two Legs would have to hold me over…

It All Comes Together

Like all fans, I waited a long time for Binaural to come and was not in the least disappointed by the album. But, at this point the real ‘prize’ for me was the opportunity to see them live again and when the band announced another long tour for 2000, I jumped at the chance to get tickets. When the on-sale dates were announced and about 75% of the shows went on sale on the same day, I was up in arms. Which shows did I see as most important? How was I going to pull this off? Well, with the help of family and friends, I managed to get tickets to 7 shows. Maybe not as many as I would have liked, but my budget was maxed-out anyway. There’s really not much I can say, except that seeing them for three shows in row somehow made me realize what a truly special band they are. By constantly altering their set lists and not charging crazy amounts for tickets, they set a standard that all rock bands should follow. Just when I didn’t think Pearl Jam could be any more fan-friendly, they announced that all of the shows from the Binaural 2000 tour would be released in 2-cd sets that would be distributed by the Ten Club and would be available for about $12. Truly unbelievable!…

Here and Now

Since the end of the 2000 tour I have made it my personal mission to collect as many live Pearl Jam recordings, both audio and video, as possible. I bought about 20 of the official boots and began searching online for people to trade with. Along with about 10 ‘unofficial’ boots (that cost about $50 each), around 20 official boots and 10 analog videos, I began trading in earnest in February 2001. Since then I have acquired about 325 recordings on CD, about 10 more analog vids, and 20 or so VCD’s. I also managed to make a cross country trip to see PJ at the Bridge School shows and the Groundwork benefit in Seatlle. Now that I have gone so far as to create a personal web site dedicated to trading Pearl Jam recordings and have traveled about 5,000 miles to see just 2 short shows, I suppose I have entered the circle of truly ‘hard-core’ fans. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier…