Eddie's Voice Changing Throughout The Years

kieranjohnathan

Hi there,

This is more a question than any particular observation. I love Eddie's Voice and think he sounds the best he has in ages on Dark Matter.

I just was wondering from people more knowledgeable on live shows/eras than me, in what periods did Eddies Voice sound the same and can you put it into category eras.

For example i guess from

91-92 he had the Ten sounding voice.
93-94 - probably his best era imo - sounded so raw and this era will probably go down as one of the best live vocalists there's been
and so on....

What would you guys say from their start till now? Has there been certain points where it's changed either drastically, or subtly? Either through choice, age or something else?

Interested to hear.

tbergs

I feel like 2003 was the last truly spectacular year when he could improv or pull off whatever and it wasn't an issue. Best overall live sound of all eras, '98 - '00.

Best angry yell and vocal intensity '92 - '94 (particularly Porch, Deep, Blood and Leash).

The last 3 years have been a great revival and I feel Eddie has sounded as good as ever.

OceansJenny

Great voice analysis here by u/tenredux
https://www.reddit.com/r/pearljam/s/6xX3SP8kDA

mca47

I think he does sound really good the last two tours.  Early on he was great.  Around 95-97 it seemed like he was deep-throat screaming a lot of songs/parts.  Sounded cool at times but man, I thought he'd blow out his voice.  2000ish it almost sounded like he was bored.  2003 was prob the last where he could still hit everything he wanted.  Seems like 2010-2018 it was a bit all over the place.  Not bad, but just a different delivery from tour to tour, but i also think this had to do with them playing 3 hour shows and the songs played really fast.  I think with this tour and the last, they've slowed things down and haven't played super-long shows and I think it's why he does sound as good as he does.  
I could be wrong....

That said, when I listen to PJ Radio in my car, I don't have to even look at the screen to know approx what date/year/tour that concert was from, based off of his vocal delivery

PJamGrunge10

OceansJenny said:

Great voice analysis here by u/tenredux
https://www.reddit.com/r/pearljam/s/6xX3SP8kDA

Hey, that's me - thanks for sharing!

OceansJenny

PJamGrunge10 said:

OceansJenny said:

Great voice analysis here by u/tenredux
https://www.reddit.com/r/pearljam/s/6xX3SP8kDA

Hey, that's me - thanks for sharing!

Awesome!! I remember upvoting at the time (5yr ago), since then thinking “oh man where was that post broke down the vocal periods best”, FINDING it again and then major bookmark! Great post! 😃👍

JT167846

That depth on Ten he hasn't really repeated when I think about it. Especially live. It would be really hard on his voice too night after night. That's the sound that those accuses of being imitators would have tried to repeat. VS and Vitalogy had the screams which Ed sings now. You get some glimpses of screams in songs like Save You and even the "late" in Amongst The Waves which not only make me think "OH FUCK YEAH" but remind me Ed can still do it. Just not night after night. 

I thought 98 to 00 was his purest singing voice-In Hiding sounded amazing (so glad I got to hear him sing that back then). Maybe from No Code to Binaural he kinda rounded his voice off-a little more gentle and not much screaming (though he sounds exactly like Cornell in one scream during Breakerfall which is so good).

Simmons asked him about the cigs. Corey Taylor gave them up and sounded awesome on We Are Not Your Kind. Ed on Retrograde sounded amazing-though I reckon he didn't feel he could pull it off live given his vocals at the end are mixed so far down-probably gives him the freedom to do what he wants and to skip some of the lines. But his voice sounds less raspy on Gigaton and DM than Backspacer and LB. I don't like his raspy falsetto but the falsetto on DM sounded great-pure.

Maynard from Tool said its easy to scream all night and it's easy to sing all night-it's just really fucking hard to do both night after night. At both their ages I'm bloody impressed they do both as well as they do. Though if PJ had a one off gig wouldn't it be rad to see him scream his balls off in STBC 😂 I dunno how Grohl does it!

Hankj25

I thought Ed sounded good Monday night.  I do like the theory that when he was young he was acting to get the sound he thought he needed and as he matured he’s simply reverting to his natural tendencies.  

He tends to sing in a more “uplifting” tone now than 25 years ago. Hard to tell if that’s age, smoking or simply a conscious choice.  

OceansJenny

I agree he definitely sounded a little more “natural” in 1991. I actually love how he sounds on the Mamasan - youthful and soft sounding, not pushing the lower as hard.

Another fun tidbit is I was reading a 1994 interview where he said he was tired of being an “anthem singer” which feeds into the vocal switch.

kieranjohnathan

PJamGrunge10 said:

OceansJenny said:

Great voice analysis here by u/tenredux
https://www.reddit.com/r/pearljam/s/6xX3SP8kDA

Hey, that's me - thanks for sharing!

That's awesome. I see that was from a number of years ago, how would you say it's changed since your last post on there... if you were to update it?

Milestone

I agree with what most people have posted. 
One item I'd add is that he's no longer broke, angry, filled with rage, and unsure of his place on the stage (or recording booth). 
Now he's happily married, kids, financially solid, comfortable with his role in the band, and years of experience.  
He probably wouldn't even be alive anymore if he'd continued to be the same man/performer that he was in the beginning.

evenflow82

Is Ed still smoking? If so, his voice is doing great for 60.

Kwieneke

Milestone said:

I agree with what most people have posted. 
One item I'd add is that he's no longer broke, angry, filled with rage, and unsure of his place on the stage (or recording booth). 
Now he's happily married, kids, financially solid, comfortable with his role in the band, and years of experience.  
He probably wouldn't even be alive anymore if he'd continued to be the same man/performer that he was in the beginning.

Lifestyle changes are important for sure. Look at all the guys from the scene that didn’t make it to his age 

OceansJenny

evenflow82 said:

Is Ed still smoking? If so, his voice is doing great for 60.

I have heard folks say he stopped after he got Covid. And one fan saying she watched him all show (this tour) and he didn’t take his usual smoke breaks.

Spags

Is he writing on the overhead projector instead of smoking this tour?

KN219077

Best year. 2003. 

Controversial opinion, worst was 2000. Sounding like his jaw was clenched for most songs.

Spiritual_Chaos

KN219077 said:

Best year. 2003. 

Controversial opinion, worst was 2000. Sounding like his jaw was clenched for most songs.

This is a good take. Kind of sounds like he sings like he doesn't wanna be there in 2000. Hehe.

djjazzy276

OceansJenny said:

evenflow82 said:

Is Ed still smoking? If so, his voice is doing great for 60.

I have heard folks say he stopped after he got Covid. And one fan saying she watched him all show (this tour) and he didn’t take his usual smoke breaks.

I was wondering this too. With the long form, filmed interviews they've done this cycle you've never once seen it. I was always used to seeing him side stage during jams having a smoke break and there was definitely none of that during the Portland show. I hope for his sake he was finally able to kick it for good.

benlw86

I don't know why but I love love the arguably "bored" sounding Ed of 1999-2000. I really love his vocal delivery in Binaural and Touring Band. It may also have been a conscious artistic choice (Ed going indy for a couple of years)