can't we just let the PJ thing die, already?

So I guess I have to come back to this now.

let's address the bullets with bullets:

• Not including Ten, the band has cut 8 studio albums. I can't name a single band who has made 8 albums that are worth listening to front to back.
• ok...it's cheating, but I pull the Beatles card. But really, I can't think of any others. However, the point was that for me, the last 5 studio albums are 100% unlistenable for me. Since albums 2 & 3 I'll say were only 50% and 25% listenable respectively, that means that of all the studio material, I can only listen to about 22% of PJ's material. Compare that to any band where you like 3 songs per album, and its a higher percentage.
• If the band had hypothetically decided to remain pop-friendly and tried to make Ten-like albums over and over again, we'd all be criticizing them for repeating themselves.
• You're probably right, but we'll never know because they are completely incapable of reproducing that magic.
• I can't name a single band who is more exciting, relevant and talented after 17 years of existence than they were in the early days.
• dude...PJ, relevant? I'll ignore that for now. However one thing to think about is what they have put out over that 17 years. if you want to talk about pure stature over time: Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, (I hate to say it) U2, Elvis, Metallica, RHCP, Beck, Radiohead, Weezer, Tool, Sting/the Police, the Doors...they all fit in that category.
  
• If you want to look at an average of albums per time around...as in about one album every 2 years where I enjoy the majority of the work, then look to Ben Folds & Ben Folds Five, Letters to Cleo, STP, Jars of Clay, Alice In Chains, Counting Crows, Duncan Sheik, Cake, Jimmy Eat World, etc.
• I know you probably don't care for a lot of that...but its about me now.
• The Ticketmaster thing was incredibly well-intentioned. Some (or a lot, depending...) of their ideas may be stupid or fail to materialize, but the boys in PJ have supplied a lot of evidence that they're genuinely good guys who want to to do "the right thing" by their fans.
• I know a lot of genuinely good people. It doesn't make them good musicians.

Even my favorite artists cannot put out 100% enjoyable albums time and time again. One of my favorites, Duncan Sheik, I will honestly say that of the 5 studio albums he has released over 10 years, there are 2 i listen to straight through, 2 that I listen to about 50-60% of, and one I listen to 1 or 2 tracks only. (so about 66% is listenable to me). But to argue a different point on this one, I think Daylight was his best (and fourth-released) album, followed by Humming (2nd released). His albums follow a sine-wave pattern of listenability for me (For points 0, pi/2, 3pi/2, 5pi/2). [there's the geek in me coming back out].

STP: again, 5 albums in 9 years (not including Thank You), Core & purple get 100% played, Tiny Music gets 85% played, No.4 & Shangri... get about 50%. (so here about 77% is listenable to me). Here, a steady drop off of listenability for me.

My point was this, if I lose enough interest in an artist and they fail to produce music I like, I don't listen to them anymore. Will Pearl Jam stand the test of time...probably...but if it weren't for ten, we would look at them the way we do cracker or the toadies now...a few hit songs and then just gone. The 90's gave us so many few-hit wonders that I'm amazed this many remained popular after.

I know Brian and I will never fully agree on Pearl Jam...but we do agree that they weren't the best band ever. For now, I'll take what I can get.