S Poddar
In the 1990s, Seattle’s underground grunge movement exploded into the mainstream, taking the music world by storm with its raw distortion and rebellious spirit. While this grunge scene was never exactly designed for widespread popularity, the sudden interest in bands like Pearl Jam led to some awkward moments. Many fans accused these bands, particularly Pearl Jam, of selling out as they made the jump from DIY underground roots to major-label success. Pearl Jam, however, was always a bit different from their peers in the grunge movement.
Unlike other bands such as Nirvana or Mudhoney, who were deeply entrenched in punk and hardcore, Pearl Jam brought a wider array of influences into their music, blending elements of heavy metal and classic rock. This gave Pearl Jam a sound that was more arena rock than the raw, gritty grunge that had made Seattle famous. In a sense, Pearl Jam was always something of an outlier in the scene.
As grunge came to the attention of the mainstream, the louder, more marketable sound of Pearl Jam became a prime target for record label executives. This would both help Pearl Jam to become one of the largest rock bands of the 1990s and push them in a direction that didn’t entirely feel like it was about the underground roots from where the music came. One of the most infamous of those directions is their involvement in the making of music videos.
By the 1990s, music videos had become a staple of the music industry, largely because of the success of MTV in the preceding decade. Record companies considered videos to be essential for turning singles into hits; as such, almost every band was compelled to create a video to accompany its latest single. For most grunge bands, however, this was a betrayal of their DIY ethos. They’d always cared most about the music, and the notion of spending money, lot of money, on video production that was all gloss and no substance, simply ran contrary to their original vision.
For Pearl Jam, pressure to conform came fast. At the time they needed a video for their breakout hit “Even Flow” in 1992, they were all set with a fairly ordinary video concept, largely footage taken from a live performance in Seattle’s Moore Theatre. Guitarist Stone Gossard, though had something larger in the design as had taken its inspiration from heavy metal bands. Talking with Spin back in 2001 he said of metal that he and fellow mates would be saying about it to joke about and yet be sure about a kind of marketplace:.
We thought metal was pretty much a joke at that point, but we also knew that it was an area where we could get some fans,” Gossard said. “Headbangers Ball and Rip Magazine, all that stuff. You’re going to do whatever you can to get it going.” His concept for the “Even Flow” video took a heavy metal direction. He wanted the band to perform in a zoo, in cages, with wild animal footage interjected throughout. They would even be performing on the side of a cliff at one point. It was to be big, dramatic, and over-the-top for the metal crowd.
Looking back, Gossard admitted the whole concept was “definitely comic to look back on now.” Despite grand ambitions, the band wasn’t happy with the final product. After spending a significant amount of time and money on the video, it was scrapped in favor of a much simpler approach—using concert footage instead. Gossard reflected on the failed concept with a sense of humor, noting, “Hopefully, at some point, we’ll be able to laugh at ourselves enough to show that one.”
That “one” never saw the light of public view until years later. Since Gossard’s interview, the derailed video somehow found its way on the internet. And as Gossard had predicted, it’s as awkward and embarrassing as he described. While the 1990s were filled with some bad music videos, Pearl Jam’s choice to abandon their elaborate concept for a straightforward video was absolutely the right choice.
In retrospect, the odd idea for the “Even Flow” video is an interesting look into a turning point in Pearl Jam’s history. Refusing to do a heavy metal-inspired video was a good indicator of how much the group wanted to stay true to itself in the face of mainstream pressures. Though awkward as the scuttled video, it remains a reminder of how bands, especially those with an underground origin, constantly need to find a balance between the artistic integrity and expectations by the music industry.
