I was never a good student, but college offered me a few opportunities to express myself in front of other people at a time when it seemed like no one else was listening. I remember a speech class I took my sophomore year. The assignment was to write a persuasive speech – start out by stating your opinion on something that mattered to you and support that opinion with research and evidence. Some people did speeches on why Jesus was the one true God (this was Texas), or how a low carb diet was, like, the best diet ever (this was South Texas). I decided to do a persuasive speech about the thing that was blowing my mind at the time, which, of course, was how awesome Pearl Jam was.
This was my argument: Unlike many other bands on radio and MTV who followed a similar path to stardom and kept releasing the same dull, manufactured records over and over again, Pearl Jam refused to repeat itself. The band recognized the purity and soul of its music, and they never allowed their art to become superficial, forgettable product. Pearl Jam’s music evolved record after record as the band experimented and reached for new artistic heights. This was artistic integrity. Pearl Jam struggled to maintain its artistic credibility, and that mattered.
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