Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder is gearing up to release his third solo album, Earthling, on February 11th, and the grunge icon just kicked off a brief tour with his star-studded band the Earthlings, A.K.A. Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, keyboardist-guitarist-vocalist Josh Klinghoffer, Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, guitarist-vocalist Glen Hansard and guitarist (and Ozzy Osbourne producer) Andrew Watt.
Ahead of all this, Vedder recently sat down with The New York Times for a candid, in-depth interview that took many twists and turns. One of those digressions found the Pearl Jam frontman notably expressing his hatred for Mötley Crüe and the late-Eighties hair-metal scene.
"You know, I used to work in San Diego loading gear at a club," he explained. "I'd end up being at shows that I wouldn't have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-'80s MTV. The metal bands that — I'm trying to be nice — I despised. 'Girls, Girls, Girls' and Mötley Crüe: [expletive] you.
"I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous. Guns N' Roses came out and, thank God, at least had some teeth.
"But I'm circling back to say that one thing that I appreciated was that in Seattle and the alternative crowd, the girls could wear their combat boots and sweaters, and their hair looked like Cat Power's and not Heather Locklear's — nothing against her.
"They weren't selling themselves short. They could have an opinion and be respected. I think that's a change that lasted. It sounds so trite, but before then it was bustiers. The only person who wore a bustier in the '90s that I could appreciate was Perry Farrell."
