Pearl Jam's Ticket Wars
Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1995
IN 1994 PEARL Jam showed they weren't just the biggest band in America, they were the most revolutionary. Now that's a combination we haven't seen in a while. Consider: The band refused to make any videos for its massively successful second album, Vs. They released no singles in the U.S., and in the U.K., where they did put out a single, 'Animal', they released it without a bar code, more or less stifling attempts to track sales. They didn't tour, of course — not exactly a political act in and of itself. But the drama behind their decision to not tour became, at least in the music business, the David and Goliath story of the year. Vs., indeed.
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