4. Brad - Shame (1993)
In 1993, if you didn't live in breathe Seattle grunge, you were either living in Antartica or you were dead. Today, Nirvana is credited for revolutionizing music. But any of us who lived through the early 90s...especially in college...it was Pearl jam that everyone was obsessed with. It was Eddie Vedder who was on the cover of Time magazine. It was Eddie Vedder who was the teen heartthrob. It was Eddie Vedder who sang lead vocals for the Doors. Pearl Jam ruled all. And the members of the band realized this might be short-lived and quickly tried to capitalize on their new found fame.
I was a sophomore when I heard the Stone Gossard was forming his own band. But in the days before the internet, finding out any information was like unearthing buried treasure. You had to rely on friends...who mostly lied, radio DJs...who mostly lied, and CD store owners...who mostly lied. I kept a list of hard to find CDs on yellow legal paper, and kept it folded in my wallet for any random stop at a music store. I was on the way to a Cure concert when we stopped to get a quick bite at a sandwich shop next door to a used CD store. I ran in and did a quick canvas of the store. In my rushed state...I only got to the Bs...but Brad was there and waiting.
All I remember is listening to the CD in the car all the way to the concert, thinking about the CD all through the concert, and listening all the way home. It was mesmerizing. Shawn Smith's vocals were such a drastic constrast to Vedder's...but at the same time...somehow similar. The band put out 2 more albums with Stone...and 3 without him. But this first release, 15 years later is as magnetic as anything PJ ever did.
Buy Shame here.
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