Pearl Jam are widely regarded as the most popular band of the 1990s, and for good reason. At a time of great uncertainty for the future of rock ‘n’ roll, a new revolution of “alternative” rock music was brewing in northwestern America, at the forefront of which stood Pearl Jam. With darker, funkier sounds, more mature in composition, but arguably messier in presentation, Pearl Jam’s music left the dying genre of glam rock and hair metal behind, presenting something far more socially relevant with which the frustrated youth of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s could identify. Shunning rock excess and embracing art for its own sake, Pearl Jam would transform rock music as the world knew it and usher in a mindset peacefully rebellious of the status quo and far more in tune with modern attitudes.