Prime

noun - The period or phase of ideal or peak condition.

I tend to believe that it is difficult to recognize someone "in their prime," if for no other reason than they have to visibly decline, thereby making it possible to assess their period of greatness. Why did I begin thinking about this? Well, I stumbled upon some older Dave Matthews recordings on youtube. Vocally and creatively, I would say Dave peaked somewhere in the late 90's. Before these Crowded Streets was the band's last really good studio album. As for his vocals, it is evident to me that his prime was between say 1996 and 2000, maybe into '01 or '02. This is not to say that he has not been exceptional since that time, but I am speaking of his peak performances. Now I saw a Dave and Friends concert in 2004 and it was amazing, but I still claim the previous statements to be true. I will forever be a DMB fan. Red Rocks and Live at Luther College are superb. So many of my memories from high school and college are linked with certain Dave songs. I feel indebted to the man. But I am also realistic enough to admit that his best days may be behind him. The thing is, no matter what he does with the rest of his life, his legacy will live on for generations to come. Back to my reason for writing, the idea of an individual/group's "prime."

Take Pearl Jam as another example. I became a big fan in the late 90's during my musical awakening. Before that time I honestly thought music played on 98PXY was as good as it got. Turth be told, I will always have a place in my heart for Boys II Men. Back to PJ. I have watched early live performances, seen music videos, and listened to my favorite albums (Ten, VS, Vitalogy, and parts of Yield and No Code). This band kicked ass for a number of years. I would still like to see them in concert, but I will not be privileged to a screaming and jumping Eddie Vedder. And that's a shame. I bought Live on Two Legs and Californication on the same afternoon. That setlist, starting with Corduroy and ending with Keep on Rockin' in the Free World is genius. My love of that live album pushed me to buy the following three Pearl Jam releases (Binural, Riot Act, and self-titled Pearl Jam), each of which had only 2 or 3 above average songs on them. So would I still purchase a 50+ ticket to see these rockers? Without a doubt.