The Red and Black

I recently came to a conclusion after listening to that vast wasteland of music called FM radio: I miss grunge.

It came around in the early 1990s when I really started listening to music (hair metal does not qualify), and from the first time I listened to Pearl Jam's "Ten," I was hooked. But besides the wicked guitar riffs and intensity of Eddie Vedder, there was just something else that seemed to draw me to the band and the grunge movement as a whole.

In hindsight, grunge was the right music for the right time. The angst-ridden lyrics of Pearl Jam rang loud and clear to a group of kids growing up in '90s America.

Our parents enjoyed the excess of the '70s and '80s; we got the uncertainty and instability of the post-Cold War world. We also seem to know that someday it's going to be us footing the bill for the huge debts of those who came before us.

But grunge was universal. Everyone knew a kid like Jeremy, felt like Eddie felt in "Black" after a bad relationship breakup and can relate to the defiance of "Porch."

Initially, some proclaimed Eddie Vedder as a modern-day Jim Morrison, destined to meet a similar end. But Eddie and the boys kept on rocking with even more anger with their second album, "Vs."

But maybe the anger and depression was a little too much reality. When Kurt Cobain actually took his life in 1994, his lyrics almost sounded like one long suicide note.

Grunge began its slow death with the breakup of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots both having to deal with drug problems.

Rock and roll has not been the same (read existent) since grunge left the scene. Radio is full of all kinds of poseur rock like Matchbox 20, Sister Hazel and Third Eye Blind.

Aerosmith sold its soul to Top 40 with its extremely nauseating single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."

But Tuesday night, for two sweet hours at Lakewood, grunge was back. The sellout crowd in attendance showed that grunge is alive and well, if only in nostalgia. The notes may have changed with Pearl Jam, but the song remains the same. Each album represents a different attitude and musical phase of the band.

Maybe it was time for grunge to leave. Anger is a part of life, but too much of it can be seen in the end results of Kurt Cobain's life.

Maybe in "Wishlist," Eddie was trying to bring closure to the movement with lyrics like "I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off/ I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow I still lived on" and "I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good/ I wish I was a full moon shining off a Camaro's hood."

Closure or not, there always will be kids looking for an outlet from the pains of adolescence, and Pearl Jam will always be their spokesman.

So don't be surprised if in 20 years you're listening to "Alive" cranking out of your kid's room - but maybe be a little concerned if they take a little too much of a liking to "Jeremy."

- Mark Mathis is a sports writer for The Red & Black.

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