Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard recently discussed hearing Nirvana’s Nevermind, and why they were a ‘slam dunk’ for commercial success.
Audio Ink Radio said, “I was actually talking with Greg about the bands back then, like Soundgarden and Nirvana, and he said that he was surprised that those bands made it so big, but he wasn’t surprised about Pearl Jam, because he was at your first show and felt there was something special.”
Gossard responded, “Hmmm, that’s interesting. It took me a minute to- I mean, we were listening to Soundgarden, and Nirvana to me was just like, that was- once I started hearing their records and kind of going, ‘Oh my God,’ because of the nature and the simplicity of Nirvana and the directness of it and the sort of dynamics. The band’s dynamics and their sort of rootedness in really blues.
I mean, (their music is) just so rooted in blues. Just, to me, they seemed like, ‘Oh my God. This is a slam dunk.’ To me, Pearl Jam was more complex. It wasn’t figured out yet. It wasn’t one thing. It was kind of a bunch of things put together. So, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.”
