I am pretty excited about Andrew Watt, to be honest. Not saying I like all the songs on Earthlings, but I like a lot of them. I would love to see what he could do with the full band, getting everyones "sound" on there.
There are slow them there are lame live. HTI . Oceans. Footsteps.of the girl all fit great into the nice slow start.
The end. Just breathe and some of the ed songs that should be his solo stuff don't work there.
You must not have been at Ft. Worth night 2. Just Breathe was a hit, as @kmcmanus said. Ed even commented at the end how it was the loudest he'd ever heard that one sung by the crowd.
words seem so out of place.
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EDIT: To be clear, I want Pearl Jam songs, whether they be fast or slow. The problem with "Just Breathe" and "The End," to the extent there is one, is that most of Pearl Jam doesn't do much on them. Save the solo songs for the solo records. (Although I think "Comes Then Goes" is just Ed and that song works well on Gigaton, so these are not hard and fast rules.)
I don't think a song of "a band" has to have everyone throwing everything at it. Every song doesn't need to have a guitar solo to fill up some "lead guitarist! quota etc. The problem with The End is that it is banal. You can't deny the "power" of Just Breathe though, even with it being an Into the Wild-song repurposed into a Pearl Jam-number.
Like I said, it's not a hard-and-fast rule, and I'm definitely not saying everyone should throw everything at a song. But when a song sounds like Ed could have (and sometimes did) put it together by himself, it probably deserves strict scrutiny before it ends up on a Pearl Jam album. I like "Just Breathe"-- that's why I said "the problem [with it]... to the extent there is one." I thought that, if they had put some effort into pushing "Just Breathe" to radio, it could have been a top ten song for them. But the band doesn't really care about that, and there was no record company to do that work for them (and Target doesn't have people in their marketing department that know how to do that).
I'm stoked we're getting a new record a "mere" 4 years after the last one.
I know. Since 2013, Pearl Jam has released one album (and Ed has released one solo album). Meanwhile, Wilco is about to release their fifth studio album in that span, one of which is a double album. On top of that, in that span, Jeff Tweedy has released four solo albums, three consisting of original material, plus another double album that's not technically a solo album but for which he wrote all the songs. And he's written three books. And they tour all the time, whether it be Tweedy solo or the whole band. These are my two favorite bands, whom I've seen hundreds of times, and their approaches are so different.
Ha! Yeah, Pearl Jam fans are a funny bunch. 30+ years in, 11 albums... I'm thankful they haven't taken the AC/DC approach and become predictable. I know not everybody is on board with Gigaton, but what I really enjoyed about that album is that it was different! It didn't sound like the Brendan O'Brien-produced Backspacer / Lightning Bolt (I liked these two albums, thought they were well-produced, but they had a similar feel for me). I thought Gigaton was very well produced and had a lot of moments unique to PJ on there.
One thing about Gigaton, love it or hate it, they did things on that record they had never done before. Not every band does that after 30 years, I respect the heck out of that.
What did they do? Base a song off a synth?
That’s pretty reductive isn’t it? Yeah they based a song off a synth, where the bassist plays the synth & the guitarist plays bass. And it ends with a 3 part vocal round. Alright is based off a kalimba, have they done that often? How many of their older songs sound like Buckle Up? Or Retrograde? Take the Long Way is their first studio track in 30+ years to have a female backing vocal. Who Ever Said, Seven O’Clock & Comes Then Goes are much denser lyrically than EV’s usual style. You may not like any of these choices, but to act like it wasn’t unique in their catalog? Really? Hell, all these new elements are most of the reason the people who don’t like it don’t like it.
Really? God's Dice is an awesome song, I'd much rather hear it than MYM....
Same
I'm of the school that I would love to hear "Gods' Dice"* and other songs like it that are live rarities, but only if the band is going to practice them. It is very deflating to be at a show and recognize the opening strains of something rarely played live only to have it quickly devolve into a shambolic mess where Ed mixes up verses and forgets swaths of lyrics. There is a delicate balance between preserving Ed's voice and practicing and touring enough so that these songs stay sharp.
* The Pearl Jam song is polytheistic, if that helps people remember where to put the apostrophe.
Ha! Yeah, Pearl Jam fans are a funny bunch. 30+ years in, 11 albums... I'm thankful they haven't taken the AC/DC approach and become predictable. I know not everybody is on board with Gigaton, but what I really enjoyed about that album is that it was different! It didn't sound like the Brendan O'Brien-produced Backspacer / Lightning Bolt (I liked these two albums, thought they were well-produced, but they had a similar feel for me). I thought Gigaton was very well produced and had a lot of moments unique to PJ on there.
One thing about Gigaton, love it or hate it, they did things on that record they had never done before. Not every band does that after 30 years, I respect the heck out of that.
What did they do? Base a song off a synth?
That’s pretty reductive isn’t it? Yeah they based a song off a synth, where the bassist plays the synth & the guitarist plays bass. And it ends with a 3 part vocal round. Alright is based off a kalimba, have they done that often? How many of their older songs sound like Buckle Up? Or Retrograde? Take the Long Way is their first studio track in 30+ years to have a female backing vocal. Who Ever Said, Seven O’Clock & Comes Then Goes are much denser lyrically than EV’s usual style. You may not like any of these choices, but to act like it wasn’t unique in their catalog? Really? Hell, all these new elements are most of the reason the people who don’t like it don’t like it.
I agree. I love Gigaton. The only problem I have with it is that I started listening to it every day starting on March 18, 2020, so it was the soundtrack to a very stressful time, and it sometimes brings me back to that feeling of high anxiety.
Ha! Yeah, Pearl Jam fans are a funny bunch. 30+ years in, 11 albums... I'm thankful they haven't taken the AC/DC approach and become predictable. I know not everybody is on board with Gigaton, but what I really enjoyed about that album is that it was different! It didn't sound like the Brendan O'Brien-produced Backspacer / Lightning Bolt (I liked these two albums, thought they were well-produced, but they had a similar feel for me). I thought Gigaton was very well produced and had a lot of moments unique to PJ on there.
One thing about Gigaton, love it or hate it, they did things on that record they had never done before. Not every band does that after 30 years, I respect the heck out of that.
What did they do? Base a song off a synth?
That’s pretty reductive isn’t it? Yeah they based a song off a synth, where the bassist plays the synth & the guitarist plays bass. And it ends with a 3 part vocal round. Alright is based off a kalimba, have they done that often? How many of their older songs sound like Buckle Up? Or Retrograde? Take the Long Way is their first studio track in 30+ years to have a female backing vocal. Who Ever Said, Seven O’Clock & Comes Then Goes are much denser lyrically than EV’s usual style. You may not like any of these choices, but to act like it wasn’t unique in their catalog? Really? Hell, all these new elements are most of the reason the people who don’t like it don’t like it.
I agree. I love Gigaton. The only problem I have with it is that I started listening to it every day starting on March 18, 2020, so it was the soundtrack to a very stressful time, and it sometimes brings me back to that feeling of high anxiety.
Absolutely agree. I work at a hospital, that was an awful time. I probably overrated Gigaton at the time because it came right when I needed something. And I probably underrate it now because it takes me back so i don’t play it much.
Will Gigaton be that album that gets lost in the shuffle because of the time it got released?
In what sense? From the band's perspective? They already largely avoid Riot Act through Lightning Bolt in the live sets, with a few exceptions, so they're all somewhat lost in the shuffle. From the fan's perspective? I think each new album is less and less relevant to the fan base because the fan base is, on average, at an age where it is very resistant to new music. It's just a fact of life that people in their 40s and 50s generally do not listen to new albums day in and day out like they did when they were between 16 and 25. It's a phenomenon that is mostly independent from the quality of the new music.
I thought Gigaton was phenomenal the first time I heard it. Really happy with the music they created on the album as a whole. Much, much better than LB. Backspacer is an album I liked and played a lot, but didn't appreciate as much as I do now.
Gigaton has lockdown feelings to me and in a way that's what I feel when I put it on in the car. As I used to drive around finding food shopping for family members at that time with it on a loop.
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Ha! Yeah, Pearl Jam fans are a funny bunch. 30+ years in, 11 albums... I'm thankful they haven't taken the AC/DC approach and become predictable. I know not everybody is on board with Gigaton, but what I really enjoyed about that album is that it was different! It didn't sound like the Brendan O'Brien-produced Backspacer / Lightning Bolt (I liked these two albums, thought they were well-produced, but they had a similar feel for me). I thought Gigaton was very well produced and had a lot of moments unique to PJ on there.
One thing about Gigaton, love it or hate it, they did things on that record they had never done before. Not every band does that after 30 years, I respect the heck out of that.
What did they do? Base a song off a synth?
That’s pretty reductive isn’t it? Yeah they based a song off a synth, where the bassist plays the synth & the guitarist plays bass. And it ends with a 3 part vocal round. Alright is based off a kalimba, have they done that often? How many of their older songs sound like Buckle Up? Or Retrograde? Take the Long Way is their first studio track in 30+ years to have a female backing vocal. Who Ever Said, Seven O’Clock & Comes Then Goes are much denser lyrically than EV’s usual style. You may not like any of these choices, but to act like it wasn’t unique in their catalog? Really? Hell, all these new elements are most of the reason the people who don’t like it don’t like it.
If the argument is "they used a female backing vocal", then many songs in their discography have "things they had never done before".
Not saying Gigaton didn't feel "creative".
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
When I think about it there re no album I dislike. Only a few songs so I'm happy to hear anything they feel is where they are NOW. The past is gone. And we have the luxury of choice if we revisit any or all. The sound mike is talking about I want to hear so that's a plus
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I am pretty excited about Andrew Watt, to be honest. Not saying I like all the songs on Earthlings, but I like a lot of them. I would love to see what he could do with the full band, getting everyones "sound" on there.
Whatever, just give me new music.
What I did like about Earthlings, is that every song got its' own thought out production and identity and time and focus given. There are a lot of cool production (I feel) on that album and it sounds like they had creative and ideas in the studio. I also think most of the songs are quite good.
But the other side of that coin is that it feels like a compilation album, it doesn't have one identity. I like my albums having one mood/identity all through. Compare the shattered nature of all those different sounding songs to e.g. eh... hmm.... Neil Youngs Harvest Moon, or Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction or Eddie Vedder Into the Wild where it feels like you are listening to one thought out piece and a producer with an overarching idea of what that very album is.
I feel like that is the problem with the "newer" PJ albums too. It feels like five different people coming in with five different ideas of songs and they do them in whatever way they are done to fill up 10-12 songs. Doesn't feel like the songs are being brought up and nurtured and gone through a producers/or bands filter of "this is what this album is and sounds like". But I guess that just isn't part of the bands MO, and never was.
Post edited by Spiritual_Chaos on
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
I'm stoked we're getting a new record a "mere" 4 years after the last one.
I know. Since 2013, Pearl Jam has released one album (and Ed has released one solo album). Meanwhile, Wilco is about to release their fifth studio album in that span, one of which is a double album. On top of that, in that span, Jeff Tweedy has released four solo albums, three consisting of original material, plus another double album that's not technically a solo album but for which he wrote all the songs. And he's written three books. And they tour all the time, whether it be Tweedy solo or the whole band. These are my two favorite bands, whom I've seen hundreds of times, and their approaches are so different.
Tweedy is prolific but, as a long time fan of both bands as well, I'll take PJ's quality over Wilco's quantity. Not much of Tweedy/Wilco's recent output has interested me. Star Wars was the last record that really grabbed my ongoing attention. I've relegated his solo albums from my rotation to my archive. Cruel Country has a nice sound - much better than Ode to Joy, but still not knock-my-socks-off. I might feel better about it without some of the dead weight of the 21 songs. I am not jazzed up at all for Cousin. Maybe I'll be surprised. I really liked Earthlings. Even though some of the middle-late songs on there are not my taste, I like the overall vibe, and the good songs are really good and really enjoyable. Invincible, Brother the Cloud, and The Dark, would be great on a PJ album and in concert. That's got me feeling good about the next PJ record, maybe moreso than what Gigaton offered. More of Classic Ed and less of Word Salad Ed.
I'm stoked we're getting a new record a "mere" 4 years after the last one.
I know. Since 2013, Pearl Jam has released one album (and Ed has released one solo album). Meanwhile, Wilco is about to release their fifth studio album in that span, one of which is a double album. On top of that, in that span, Jeff Tweedy has released four solo albums, three consisting of original material, plus another double album that's not technically a solo album but for which he wrote all the songs. And he's written three books. And they tour all the time, whether it be Tweedy solo or the whole band. These are my two favorite bands, whom I've seen hundreds of times, and their approaches are so different.
Tweedy is prolific but, as a long time fan of both bands as well, I'll take PJ's quality over Wilco's quantity. Not much of Tweedy/Wilco's recent output has interested me. Star Wars was the last record that really grabbed my ongoing attention. I've relegated his solo albums from my rotation to my archive. Cruel Country has a nice sound - much better than Ode to Joy, but still not knock-my-socks-off. I might feel better about it without some of the dead weight of the 21 songs. I am not jazzed up at all for Cousin. Maybe I'll be surprised. I really liked Earthlings. Even though some of the middle-late songs on there are not my taste, I like the overall vibe, and the good songs are really good and really enjoyable. Invincible, Brother the Cloud, and The Dark, would be great on a PJ album and in concert. That's got me feeling good about the next PJ record, maybe moreso than what Gigaton offered. More of Classic Ed and less of Word Salad Ed.
I guess I'd like to find the happy medium between the two. I think Schmilco and Ode to Joy are low points in the Wilco catalog. Ode to Joy feels more like an intellectual exercise than a collection of good songs. I gave it a lot of listens to try to find the best it had to offer, and it was a chore. Cruel Country was a fantastic return to form. There's some great stuff on the Tweedy solo records, and some stuff that doesn't connect as well. But what I appreciate about Tweedy is that he is committed to being creative and to playing live. He is always writing songs, and he doesn't take long periods off from touring very often. I don't know how much Pearl Jam is writing, and I know how infrequently they're touring.
It just seems like Pearl Jam is on hiatus from one another an awful lot. I still think about Jeff saying the early days that he wanted to be like Neil Young and put out an album every six months. I never really expected that, but I also would never have believed it, if you told me at the end of 2013 that Pearl Jam would remain together for the next ten years but release only one album.
Word Salad Ed is a good description. He also seems increasingly to force "big words" into his lyrics that I think reflects an undercurrent of insecurity.
Comments
Whatever, just give me new music.
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* The Pearl Jam song is polytheistic, if that helps people remember where to put the apostrophe.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
My question for this forum is how do you all react when and if you hear a track with Eddie autotuned?
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Not saying Gigaton didn't feel "creative".
The sound mike is talking about I want to hear so that's a plus
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But the other side of that coin is that it feels like a compilation album, it doesn't have one identity. I like my albums having one mood/identity all through. Compare the shattered nature of all those different sounding songs to e.g. eh... hmm.... Neil Youngs Harvest Moon, or Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction or Eddie Vedder Into the Wild where it feels like you are listening to one thought out piece and a producer with an overarching idea of what that very album is.
I feel like that is the problem with the "newer" PJ albums too. It feels like five different people coming in with five different ideas of songs and they do them in whatever way they are done to fill up 10-12 songs. Doesn't feel like the songs are being brought up and nurtured and gone through a producers/or bands filter of "this is what this album is and sounds like". But I guess that just isn't part of the bands MO, and never was.
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
Tweedy is prolific but, as a long time fan of both bands as well, I'll take PJ's quality over Wilco's quantity. Not much of Tweedy/Wilco's recent output has interested me. Star Wars was the last record that really grabbed my ongoing attention. I've relegated his solo albums from my rotation to my archive. Cruel Country has a nice sound - much better than Ode to Joy, but still not knock-my-socks-off. I might feel better about it without some of the dead weight of the 21 songs. I am not jazzed up at all for Cousin. Maybe I'll be surprised.
I really liked Earthlings. Even though some of the middle-late songs on there are not my taste, I like the overall vibe, and the good songs are really good and really enjoyable. Invincible, Brother the Cloud, and The Dark, would be great on a PJ album and in concert. That's got me feeling good about the next PJ record, maybe moreso than what Gigaton offered. More of Classic Ed and less of Word Salad Ed.
It just seems like Pearl Jam is on hiatus from one another an awful lot. I still think about Jeff saying the early days that he wanted to be like Neil Young and put out an album every six months. I never really expected that, but I also would never have believed it, if you told me at the end of 2013 that Pearl Jam would remain together for the next ten years but release only one album.
Word Salad Ed is a good description. He also seems increasingly to force "big words" into his lyrics that I think reflects an undercurrent of insecurity.
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