Producer Brendan O’Brien first made a name for himself producing Stone Temple Pilots’ Core in 1992 before producing Pearl Jam’s Vs. in 1993, and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament said in a new Pearl Jam Radio on SiriusXM special that listening to Todd Rundgren helped him understand where O’Brien was coming from when it came to his musical advice in the studio.
“A few years ago for my 50th birthday I was putting together a list of songs that I thought would be fun party songs, and songs that at different points of my life that might have been my favorite songs. I included this song called ‘I Saw The Light’ by Todd Rundgren. Todd Rundgren comes up a lot for me when we make records with Brendan O’Brien.
I always sort of feel like when Brendan is asking for something, if I ask myself ‘what would Todd Rundgren do?’ in this particular instance it helps me understand where Brendan is coming from, because I think they come from the same place.”
O’Brien produced Stone Temple Pilots’ first five albums, and he has produced several Pearl Jam albums including 1994’s Vitalogy, and most recently 2013’s Lightning Bolt. He even played a song live with Pearl Jam in 2013 at Wrigley Field.
