The 11 Best Albums By Pearl Members

It's been three years since our last Pearl Jam album but that hasn't stopped the members from keeping productive.  This year alone...there have been three side projects put out by PJ members.  Earlier this year we had a new Brad album, United We Stand.  And just in the past month, two new side projects were released.  The first album features Jeff Ament and Joseph Arthur, called RNDM.  The second group...which is actually truly random...features Duff McKagan (of Guns N Roses) and Mike McCready, called Walking Papers.  Two decades ago, Duff and Mike represented two different worlds of popular music.  Duff was in one of the most heralded metal group of 80s with Guns N Roses, while McCready and Pearl Jam were on the front lines of the alternative music that pretty much decimated 80s metal from the mainstream.  Now, the two musicians are basically equals.  Both groups raise the question of whether musicians can be great on their own or are they really stronger as the sum of all parts.  RNDM borrows the sound and style of Pearl Jam from the old days as if they're better doing what they do best.  Walking Papers does the opposite.  They toss the styles of their previous bands out the door and try to establish their own sound.  They have more in common with King Crimson or Black Label Society then they do with anything they've done before. It's interesting to be able to hear both strategies side by side.  On one hand it's comforting to hear the familiar sound of a band you love...but it's also an intriguing listen when a band goes out on a limb and tries something new.  Getting two side projects at the same time with both styles is basically the best of both worlds.

Here are the 11 Best Side Project Albums by Pearl Jam Members:

1. Brad - Shame (1993)
2. Mad Season - Above (1995)
3. Brad - Interiors (1997)
4. Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild (2007)
5. The Rockfords - The Rockfords (2000)
6. Jeff Ament - Tone (2008)
7. Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park (2002)
8. Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs (2011)
9. Tres Mts. - Three Moutains (2011)
10. Three Fish - The Quiet Table (1996)
11. Stone Gossard - Bayleaf (2001)

Buy Jeff Ament's side project RNDM's new album Acts and Mike McCready's new side project Walking Papers.