Pearl Jam

Two albums. That’s all it took for Pearl Jam to become one of the biggest bands in the world — alt-rock icons who can sell millions of albums without losing a lick of credibility. Take Vs., for starters. A dark horse disc through and through, it debuted at #1 without the support of singles or music videos. Fans simply had to have the album instead; had to blast the brittle power balladry of “Daughter” and the restless riffs of “Rearviewmirror.” Of course, they did. With songs like “Jeremy,” “Evenflow,” and “Alive” setting the scene on Pearl Jam’s chart-crashing debut, Ten, the band had nowhere to go but up. Wondering what happened between then and now? Our Next Steps has that story covered.

By the time they dropped their third album, 1994’s Vitalogy, Pearl Jam made one thing abundantly clear: whether this grunge thing lasts or not, they weren’t going anywhere. And you know what? They actually followed through on that promise by pushing their sound way past its supposed limits on every single album, including the speaker-plowing punk spasms of “Spin the Black Circle,” the minor-keyed melancholia of “Nothing As It Seems,” and the gritty, straight-up rock ’n’ roll of “Got Some,” “Do the Evolution,” and “Life Wasted.” Things get even crazier in our Deep Cuts, as Pearl Jam prove themselves again and again, with one fan-favorite after another.

Yep, that’s Neil Young squeezing out a swiftly-seared solo on “I Got S**t,” one of many Pearl Jam songs that’ll get you in a heated hardcore fan argument over the band’s greatest secret weapons and B-sides. Other bits of ammo on that front include the hazy harmonica and spare acoustic guitar of “Footsteps,” the sucker-punch rhythm section and subtle hooks of “Tremor Christ,” the spine-tingling slow burn of “Crazy Mary,” and the speaker-thumping grooves of “Dirty Frank,” a deliriously funky tribute to Pearl Jam’s old tour-bus driver.

From their earliest singles (the tension-building basslines and unflinching lyrics of “Jeremy”; the arena-ready anthems “Even Flow” and “Alive”) to their roots-revisiting album Backspacer, Pearl Jam were never just grunge demigods or angst-ridden leaders of the Alternative Nation. They’re right up there with U2 and Nirvana as one of the greatest rock artists of our time. We’re talking about a band that’s sold more than 60 million albums worldwide by following right in the shape-shifting footsteps of their guitar heroes, the Who and Neil Young. And as our crowd-riling cuts from Live On Two Legs and a Lollapalooza concert reveal, Pearl Jam still sell out stadiums and drive their devoted fans absolutely insane for a reason. Now what was that part about Generation X being a bunch of slackers again?