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Target stores nationwide to offer DLC download code with album purchase

Harmonix and MTV Games announced that the entirety of Pearl Jam’s new album Backspacer will be added to the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii(TM) immediately surrounding the album’s retail release. The album hits shelves Sept. 20, and will be added to the Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360 on Sept. 20, for Wii on Sept. 22, and for PlayStation 3 on Sept 24.

Rock Band DLC Additions for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 System and Wii

Pearl Jam is an American band that became one of the precursors of alternative rock after forming in Seattle in 1990. Made up of Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Matt Cameron, the band has sold more than 60 million records around the globe. The band hit mainstream success after the release of its 1991 debut album, Ten, which sold 12 million copies worldwide. Ten became available for download in the Rock Band Music Store day-and-date with the reissue of the album March 24, 2009, and has sold more than 850,000 song downloads to date.

The band’s ninth and latest studio album, Backspacer, will be released in stores Sept. 20 and will be added to the Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360 on Sept. 20, for Wii on Sept. 22 and for PlayStation 3 on Sept 24. Pearl Jam is touring in promotion of the new album from August through October in the United States and Europe.

In addition, Pearl Jam will offer a special edition CD set at Target stores nationwide that will include the Backspacer album disc and a code that enables owners of the special edition to download the entire album for Rock Band or Rock Band 2 gameplay for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The tracks will be imported into participating fans’ Rock Band libraries and be accessible to all game modes, including solo, band play, online multiplayer and instrument vs. instrument.

Available on Xbox 360 (Sept. 20), Wii (Sept. 22) & PlayStation 3 system (Sept. 24):

http://www.mtv.com/videos/foo-fighters/19594/all-my-life.jhtml
– “Gonna See My Friend”
– “Got Some”
– “The Fixer”
– “Johnny Guitar’
– “Just Breathe”
– “Amongst the Waves”
– “Unthought Known”
– “Supersonic”
– “Speed of Sound”
– “Force of Nature”
– “The End”

(All tracks are original master recordings)

These tracks will be available for purchase as “Backspacer (Album)” and as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system and as individual tracks on Wii.

Price: $1.99 USD, .99 pounds Sterling UK, 1.49 euros EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
$17.99, 9.19 pounds UK, 21.95 euros EU (1440 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “Backspacer (Album)”
$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points(TM)) per track

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **

Rock Band 2 is available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and Wii system. Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii versions support downloadable content.

Downloadable content for Wii is purchased via the in-game Rock Band Music Store using Wii Points(TM) purchased through the Wii(TM) Shop Channel and can be downloaded to the system memory or to an SD card for additional storage. The tracks stream directly from the SD card for seamless play.

There are now 867 tracks available to date via disc and download purchase (complete list of tracks at www.rockband.com/music). Rock Band continues to satisfy music fans’ and gamers’ voracious appetite for rock with more than 50 million paid downloads since its launch Nov. 20, 2007. The Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks and packs from the vast selection of offerings available to date without ever leaving the game as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band and Rock Band 2 are rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, suggestive themes) by the ESRB. Music downloads are not rated by the ESRB.

Source: MTV Games

Beginning this week, fans who love legendary rock band Pearl Jam can find exclusive ringtones and ringback tones only at Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless is giving customers a sneak peak of Pearl Jam’s much-anticipated new album, Backspacer, before it is released on Sept. 20, 2009.

One exclusive ringtone and ringback tone will be available from VZW Tones or at www.vzw.com/mp3 for download and purchase each Thursday leading up to the album release, with the final three songs available the week of Sept. 17, 2009.

The new exclusive Pearl Jam ringtones and ringback tones from their forthcoming album, Backspacer, will be released as follows:

– Available Now: “The Fixer” and “Got Some”
– Aug. 6: “Amongst The Waves”
– Aug. 13: “Just Breathe”
– Aug. 20: “Gonna See My Friend”
– Aug. 27: “Supersonic”
– Sept. 3: “Force of Nature”
– Sept. 10: “Speed of Sound”
– Sept. 17: “Johnny Guitar” / “Unthought Known” / “The End”

At the dawn of the ’90s, Pearl Jam came together to form one of the most influential bands of the modern era. Beginning with their iconic debut album, Ten, in 1991 and continuing through to today, the quintet have consistently combined the perfect amalgam of punk aesthetics with anthemic, classic rock sounds, and in the process have created one of the most respected catalogs in rock history. For the past 18 years, Pearl Jam has remained a relevant cultural and political force, having completed countless international tours and selling over 60 million records worldwide.

For more information on mobile music from Verizon Wireless, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, visit www.verizonwireless.com/music. For information on Pearl Jam, visit www.pearljam.com.

Multi-Dimensional Campaign Celebrates Return of Pearl Jam’s Groundbreaking Musical Masterpiece

With “Brother,” a previously unreleased track from the album’s recording sessions, reaching #1 on the nation’s Modern Rock radio charts, Legacy Recordings/Epic Records’ avidly-anticipated reissue of “Ten,” Pearl Jam’s 1991 game-changing debut album, has rocketed to #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Catalog albums chart, with first week’s domestic sales topping out at more than 60K pieces. Pearl Jam’s “Ten” has also hit #1 this week on the Top Hard Music Albums chart and the Top Internet Albums chart.

Thanks to first week’s sales on the “Ten” reissue, the album has just been certified 13x platinum (up from 12x) by the RIAA. (The original “Ten” was certified RIAA gold in February 1992 and received its first platinum certification on May 5, 1992). Early international chart figures show the album hitting Top 40 or better in Portugal (#2), Canada, the Netherlands (#9), the UK (#29) and Italy (#29).

In mid-March, Pearl Jam made American radio history when “Brother,” a previously unreleased track recorded more than 18 years ago and now available for the first time as a bonus track on the “Ten” reissue, rocketed into the #1 slot on the BDS/R&R Modern Rock Chart four weeks after entering the chart. With the #1 success of “Brother,” Pearl Jam joined the Beatles (“Free As A Bird”) and Elvis Presley (“A Little Less Conversation”) as one of the rare bands or artists to ever hit #1 with a track recorded decades prior.

One of the year’s most eagerly-awaited catalog releases, the new Legacy/Epic edition of “Ten” arrives in the midst of a groundbreaking multi-tiered campaign celebrating a historic masterpiece of rock.

Cold Case

As the newly remastered version of “Ten” hits the stores, the music of Pearl Jam has been slated to be featured exclusively during the two-part sixth season finale of the hit CBS television series “Cold Case,” to be broadcast on Sunday, May 3 and Sunday, May 10 (check your local listings). A total of 16 Pearl Jam tracks will be woven throughout the two consecutive “Cold Case” finale episodes, marking the first time in the show’s history that the music of a single artist/group will be showcased in more than one episode. A number of the songs featured on the “Cold Case” finale episodes are being drawn specifically from “Ten.”

VH1 Classic

On Saturday, March 21, VH1 Classic premiered “Pearl Jam Ten Revisited,” a half-hour look back at the seminal album that brought the sound of the Pacific Northwest underground to the American mainstream. The program showcases videos for “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Porch” (from the band’s Unplugged performance), and a never-before-seen version of “Jeremy” as well as archival footage and interviews from the band. If you missed the first round of airings, VH1 Classic will re-broadcast “Pearl Jam Ten Revisited” on April 7 (please check your local listings).

In addition, MTV, VH1 and VH1 Classic celebrated Pearl Jam throughout March 2009 airing blocks of Pearl Jam music videos, feature videos and editorial content on MTV.com, MTV2.com and VH1.com, as well as VH1 Classic. VH1.com and VH1Classic.com streamed the full album the week of release.

Rock Band

On December 15, 2008, Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, confirmed that “Ten” would be offered for download in the Rock Band Music Store day-and-date with the re-issue of the album in stores on March 24, 2009.

In addition to the track “Alive” which is already available on the Rock Band 2 game disc, the Pearl Jam Ten download pack includes an additional 11 songs from the album: “Once,” “Even Flow,” “Why Go,” “Black,” “Jeremy,” “Oceans,” “Porch,” “Garden,” “Deep,” “Release,” and “Master/Slave.”

Fan response has been fantastic. On the album’s launch date, five of the Top 10 songs on Xbox LIVE were from Pearl Jam’s re-mastered “Ten” album for Rock Band. Moreover, the Pearl Jam album for Rock Band remained in the Top 3 most popular selling offers on Xbox LIVE throughout its launch week.

With Pearl Jam becoming an Xbox Artist of the Month, the group’s drummer Matt Cameron drew more than 18 million online viewers to the Xbox site when he played Rock Band 2 on Game With Fame with Xbox LIVE(R) Gold members on March 27. The Pearl Jam Game With Fame session took place inside the band’s secret Seattle headquarters where Rock Band 2 was set-up on a 50″ LCD TV inside the conference room of the building. The session was attended by gamers from around the world including the United States, Italy and Canada. Matt received hundreds of voice messages, text messages, game invites, and Xbox Live Party invites throughout the session.

The Legacy Editions

On Tuesday, March 24, Legacy released four special edition packages of “Ten,” each of them featuring two versions of the album: the remastered version of the original album PLUS an accompanying remixed version done by the band’s long-time producer, Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Audioslave).

The new editions include:

Legacy Edition (a 2-disc set in a mini-LP style slipcase featuring six bonus tracks: “Brother,” “Just a Girl,” “State of Love and Trust,” “Breath and a Scream,” “2,000 Mile Blues” and “Evil Little Goat”);

Deluxe Edition (a 2-disc set plus the long-awaited first-ever release of Pearl Jam’s mythic 1992 MTV Unplugged concert including never-before-seen bonus performance of “Oceans” with a 5.1 Surround Sound audio remix);

Vinyl Collection (two 12″ LPs of the original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl including the new Brendan O’Brien remix);

Super Deluxe Edition (a 2-disc set plus DVD, 4 LPs including 1992’s “Live at Magnuson Park” mixed by Brendan O’Brien, a cassette replica of the legendary “Momma-Son” demos of “Alive,” “Once” and “Footsteps” and an Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament, a vellum envelope with replicated era specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and a two-sided print commemorating the Drop in the Park concert).

Press Response

The newly remastered edition of “Ten” has been drawing critical raves from all over the world:

“… [Ten] one of the great rock albums, period, of the last 20 years” – People magazine

“…the freshened-up album sounds to us today even more like it did back in 1991: classic.” – LA Times

“The guitars snap and bite, Vedder’s vocals are rawer and more textured, and Krusen’s crisp, syncopated parts stand out” – Rolling Stone (US)

“‘Ten’ is a classic of the grunge era, its super-sized anthems and introspective mood pieces powerfully voiced by Eddie Vedder, a Jim Morrison for the plaid shirt brigade.” – Mojo

“There is no shortage of choice for the avid collector…. It sounds great, actually from the inflammatory guitar intro to the momentous ‘Once’ to the final handsome drift of ‘Release’ it’s a resplendent thing.” – Uncut

“Pearl Jam has solidified its place as an indomitable cultural force.” – Seattle Sound

“It’s a relic and a shrine commemorating a bygone time when music was something you caressed.” – Blender

“It’s the extra features, spread over four different lavish editions, that truly impress…” – Q

“…fans will be particularly impressed with the difference in singer Eddie Vedder’s voice on the ‘new’ version of the album.” – NME

About “Ten”

Pearl Jam first released “Ten” on August 27, 1991. The album reached #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, sold over 12 million copies and became one of the cultural touchstones of the 1990s. Songs such as “Alive,” “Black,” “Even Flow” and “Jeremy” became staples of rock radio, and still make frequent appearances on the band’s ever-changing concert setlists. The album was produced by Rick Parasher. Pearl Jam’s 1991 lineup was Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (guitar), Dave Krusen (drums), Mike McCready (guitar) and Eddie Vedder (vocals/guitar).

Source: Legacy Recordings