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Springsteen wrote that pearl jam swings its tunes

just davejust dave Posts: 260
edited November 2008 in The Porch
In the book 5 X 1, Bruce springsteen listened to ten for the first time and noticed that Vedder has a trill in his voice, and the band swings its rhythms but hits hard.

I agree about the hitting hard part. BUt the swingin? i have never thought of pearl jam as a swinging band.

Thoughts?
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  • PJammer4lifePJammer4life Posts: 2,646
    Ten is full of swing..(i.e. evenflow) in terms of sonic movement of the notes in a riff up and down high and low back and forth..
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  • just davejust dave Posts: 260
    how is it swing? i think swing and think like jazz
  • Brain Of EBrain Of E Posts: 499
    i dont think he mean the genre "swing" you know with the trumpets and all that mess, i think he means the verb "to swing" as in the movement.
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  • dreamweaverdreamweaver Posts: 717
    it does actually swing very well... One of Krusen's great abilities IMO. Now, the way they play with Cameron... doesn't swing like it used to IMO.
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  • G ForceG Force Posts: 1,393
    dreamweaver wrote:
    it does actually swing very well... One of Krusen's great abilities IMO. Now, the way they play with Cameron... doesn't swing like it used to IMO.

    Agreed. Why does Cameron not hit as hard as Krusen or Abruzees. Seems like the songs from the early albums are so much softer than they were at one time. Of course Ed has mellowed out but one aspect I have always noticed a significant difference from early material is the hard hitting drum style.

    Thoughts.
  • just davejust dave Posts: 260
    Maybe longer shows, like up to 3 hours, so he can't giver or will be spent in an hour?
  • petrocspetrocs Posts: 4,342
    Springsteen is a genius so if he said it its fact :)
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  • muppetmuppet Posts: 980
    TipJammer wrote:
    Agreed. Why does Cameron not hit as hard as Krusen or Abruzees. Seems like the songs from the early albums are so much softer than they were at one time. Of course Ed has mellowed out but one aspect I have always noticed a significant difference from early material is the hard hitting drum style.

    Thoughts.

    I've always wondered this. Cameron is brilliant but his drumming always seems so soft. And the rest of the band doesn't seem as heavy anymore. I mean, just listen to the Atlanta 94 bootleg and compare it to a modern day one. It's not neccesairly better, but it's certinally more heavier.

    I can understand that they're getting older, but a lot of their new songs are still very angry and aggressive and could benefit from a good dose of...well, heaviness!
  • giventofly0812giventofly0812 Posts: 218
    dreamweaver wrote:
    it does actually swing very well... One of Krusen's great abilities IMO. Now, the way they play with Cameron... doesn't swing like it used to IMO.
    cameron was trained as a jazz drummer, and you can tell, especially in his "drum solos" during even flow, he swings teh hell out of it
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  • dreamweaverdreamweaver Posts: 717
    TipJammer wrote:
    Agreed. Why does Cameron not hit as hard as Krusen or Abruzees. Seems like the songs from the early albums are so much softer than they were at one time. Of course Ed has mellowed out but one aspect I have always noticed a significant difference from early material is the hard hitting drum style.

    Thoughts.


    well style is the word.. and it's a perception. Actually, Dave A. didn't hit that hard, he's has been known to say it himself, "you dont have to hit hard to sound hard". Cameron plays pretty hard. It's all about the drums too. Dave A. mostly used a piccalo, which has a high frequency. He also kicked the bass drum pretty hard and played tightly.
    Matt C has more rounded edges but like someone said, has a jazzy technique, but i wouldn't say he swings LIKE they did on Ten. just different is all..



    i could discuss the change in Pearl Jam's sound for days.. but it is obvious that they have softened, perhaps it's for quality in tone. They did say in an interview back around 98 that when they played through smaller amps they got more sound. and that can be true. I think they got more gear-heady and tone driven, whereas before they were just blasting away, and their shows might have been fast and sloppy.
    Meadowlands, MSG 1, MSG 2 - '98
    Jones Beach NY 1 + 3 - '00
    MSG 1 + 2 - '03
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    Mansfield 1 - '08
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    Chicago 1 - '09
    MSG -'10
    Brooklyn 1+2 - '13
    Central Park - '15
    MSG - '16
    Fenway - '16
    Wrigley - '16
    (RRHOF) Brooklyn - '17
    Fenway - '18
    MSG - '22
    MSG 1 - '24
  • G ForceG Force Posts: 1,393
    dreamweaver wrote:
    well style is the word.. and it's a perception. Actually, Dave A. didn't hit that hard, he's has been known to say it himself, "you dont have to hit hard to sound hard". Cameron plays pretty hard. It's all about the drums too. Dave A. mostly used a piccalo, which has a high frequency. He also kicked the bass drum pretty hard and played tightly.
    Matt C has more rounded edges but like someone said, has a jazzy technique, but i wouldn't say he swings LIKE they did on Ten. just different is all..



    i could discuss the change in Pearl Jam's sound for days.. but it is obvious that they have softened, perhaps it's for quality in tone. They did say in an interview back around 98 that when they played through smaller amps they got more sound. and that can be true. I think they got more gear-heady and tone driven, whereas before they were just blasting away, and their shows might have been fast and sloppy.

    Right on. Thanks for your insight. I don't know if I agree that they were sloppy in the early days. They seemed pretty tight. I think they were just more enthused about what they were playing at the time and hitting every note hard and sharp...including guitars, vocals, drums and the works. If they were sloppy than I think I could go for some wild slop. But...in thinking about it now... I know I hear ed screw up all the time now... can't say that for the early days. Maybe becuase there was so much less material and thus less lyrics to remember but its worth mentioning.

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  • MattyJoeMattyJoe Posts: 1,424
    Well musically the term "swing" means anything that's triplet based, as opposed to straight eighth notes. Yes, Even Flow does swing, just as much as any jazz piece. But only because it's triplet based. We commonly associate the term "swing" with jazz because jazz is almost always triplet based. But really it means anything that utilizes triplets instead of eighth notes.
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  • 12345AGNST112345AGNST1 Posts: 4,906
    dreamweaver wrote:
    well style is the word.. and it's a perception. Actually, Dave A. didn't hit that hard, he's has been known to say it himself, "you dont have to hit hard to sound hard". Cameron plays pretty hard. It's all about the drums too. Dave A. mostly used a piccalo, which has a high frequency. He also kicked the bass drum pretty hard and played tightly.
    Matt C has more rounded edges but like someone said, has a jazzy technique, but i wouldn't say he swings LIKE they did on Ten. just different is all..

    Thats exactly it.

    What's funny is, I don't know how many times I've heard people say Matt plays too hard. (ex: Benaroya) But if you think he plays too soft I would say its mostly because of his drums. He uses birch toms which are apparently not as loud or aggressive compared to maple. I love matt, but his drum sound is terrible. His snare sounds like complete crap at times, his floor toms have a terrible echo or ring to them (listen to Who You Are live) and his toms aren't loud enough. I'm not sure what type of wood his Ayotte set was in 1998-2000, but it was MILES better. Especially the snare, which IMO was the nicest sounding snare I've ever heard from a recording.
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  • knittedknitted Posts: 244
    listening to old boots i reckon they are way less 'sloppy' now than they used to be, but they still have soul.

    uh..um. soul, swing, are they a rock band or what? :)

    back in 97-98 ish, i read jeff saying that jack made even flow 'swing' - and he did use that word, too.
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  • lockedlocked Posts: 4,038
    12345AGNST1 wrote:
    Thats exactly it.

    What's funny is, I don't know how many times I've heard people say Matt plays too hard. (ex: Benaroya) But if you think he plays too soft I would say its mostly because of his drums. He uses birch toms which are apparently not as loud or aggressive compared to maple. I love matt, but his drum sound is terrible. His snare sounds like complete crap at times, his floor toms have a terrible echo or ring to them (listen to Who You Are live) and his toms aren't loud enough. I'm not sure what type of wood his Ayotte set was in 1998-2000, but it was MILES better. Especially the snare, which IMO was the nicest sounding snare I've ever heard from a recording.

    that explains why the 1998 and 2000 (european leg) boots have massive drum sound from Matt!

    that's for poitning that out!
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  • drummerboy_73drummerboy_73 Posts: 2,011
    Jack and Matt both play a lot "lighter handed" than Dave A. did. They tend to have a more "swing" sound through their use of triplets, ghost notes and rolls, more prominent in jazz and swing, whereas Dave A. had a more funk feel, and did a lot more flams and tighter fills, and filled in a lot of off-beat spots with his wide range of cymbal tones. Listen to some Wellwater Conspiracy or the Harrybu Mccage CD and you'll definitely see where Matt's foundations are.

    I like what each drummer has brought to the band, and rhythm-wise, I think Jack and Jeff were "tighter" in the sense both have a very organic and fluid approach to song structure. I like the '95-'98 boots the best from an overall feel of the songs, not necessarily the sound - but Dave A.'s DW kits always had a great sound, as well as Matt's Ayotte's.
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