Welcome to 15 Against 30, the Pearl Jam retrospective that pits the angsty, belligerent 15 year old version of me against the conservative, stick-in-the-mud, 30 year old version of me. In this second installment I am looking at Vs. This is the album that made me grow up and appreciate acoustic songs.
I have been having the “who is a better fan” debate with gremmie for the past 5 years. It usually ends in me calling the band a bunch of sell outs simply to infuriate gremmie into a frustrated silence. It’s my nuclear option and it routinely works. But the facts are these: gremmie is a web sensation who attends every show he can, archives the best live performances he can find for almost 10,000 fans to listen to, and likes even the weakest of the Pearl Jam catalog. “Hitchhiker” anyone? Point is: it’s hard to beat him.

