Pearl Jam celebrates 20th anniversary

Feb. 8, 2009

Still together and solid (by rock band standards, anyway), Pearl Jam will be celebrating their band’s 20th anniversary next year, and they’ll kick off a two-year anniversary celebration by offering up four deluxe reissues of their debut album, Ten, which fans will be able to pre-order at www.pearljam.com. Among the releases will be the Legacy Edition of the album, which will contain two CDs, the original version of Ten and a version as remixed by Brendan O’Brien (plus bonus songs); and a Super Deluxe Edition, which will include two CDs, an MTV Unplugged DVD, two vinyl records, a vinyl live version of one of the band’s Seattle gigs, a cassette replica of PJ’s original demo album, and a pile of liner notes and other memorabilia...
Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan has reaffirmed that last year’s Zeitgeist is to be the last “proper” studio album from the band, as he feels that people are listening to music differently - as in dumping random singles onto their MP3 players and ignoring the rest of a carefully-crafted and tracklisted album. Corgan said that he feels the band’s primary function is to now be a “singles band,” in that they’re not going to bother putting so much effort into album releases since the market has changed. In a recent interview, Corgan also discussed the reasoning behind the original disbanding of SP in 2000 - mainly that guitarist James Iha was driving Corgan insane with all of his negativity. Corgan promises to “further challenge listeners” as the current incarnation of the band moves forward...
Retro ‘80s band Simple Minds will be performing a one-night show at Edinburgh Castle next July, where the band will play their landmark 1982 album, New Gold Dream in its entirety. Tix for the special gig are on sale now, although the show itself won’t take place until July 18; if you miss the set in person, you’ll be able to purchase the show on DVD on a release date TBA...
And the summer festival rosters and schedules are beginning to trickle in already; the seventh annual 10,000 Lakes Festival is now set for July 22-25 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, with Dave Matthews Band and Wilco tapped as headliners. The fest, which will be held at the Soo Pass Ranch, is offering tix now on sale online, and will also include the likes of Sharon Jones, BoomBox, Railroad Earth, and Junior Brown on the bill...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
British rockers Doves are set to release their first new album in four years this upcoming spring; Doves fans can get a sneak listen of the album’s first single, “Jetstream,” at www.doves.net, where you can snag the tune as a free download...

MINI BUZZ:
No Doubt will be embarking on their first tour in five years, which will kick off in May; the tour, which will play outdoor amphitheaters and arenas, will also feature Paramore, Bedouin Soundclash, and The Sounds as opening acts...
Meanwhile, North Carolina rockers The Avett Brothers have been tapped as support band for the aforementioned Dave Matthews Band on various live dates this spring...
Marianne Faithfull brought in a plethora of collaborators for her next album, which is due in stores on March 17 on Decca Records; among those working with Faithfull are Sean Lennon, Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, Keith Richards, and Teddy Thompson...
DeVotchKa is prepping for an eight week U.S. tour through February and March, with stops to include St. Paul, Minnesota (3/19), Chicago (3/21), and Cleveland (3/22)...
A host of musicians are contributing to a Nick Drake tribute album set to be released by Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records label; among those paying tribute to Darke will be Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, the Foo’s Dave Grohl, and Johnson himself, plus late actor Heath Ledger’s interpretation of Drake’s “Black Eyed Dog”...
U2’s newest single, “Get On Your Boots,” has just hit radio and is now available for sale via iTunes music store; the band’s official website is also streaming the song...
And out on disc this week are these additional new releases... ON CD: The Fray’s The Fray... Mos Def’s The Ecstatic... Dan (Black Keys) Auerbach’s... India.Arie’s Testimony: Vol. 2, Love and Politics... Ben Lee’s The Rebirth of Venus... and Trouble Andrew’s Trouble Andrew... ON DVD: Sinead O’ Connor’s Theology: Live at the Sugar Club... Neil Young - Rock at the Beach... Oasis: And It’s Goodnight From Him... and The Fray... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com