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Pearl Jam's sound, difference from 03-08

JP2026766JP2026766 Posts: 1,125
edited December 2008 in The Porch
So I remember someone posting yesterday about how Pearl Jam has just gotten softer over the years, or something to that affect. And while they aren't writing songs like Deep and Leash, they still have some damn good rockers. But, I think that a big reason why some folks are thinking this way has to do with the actual guitar setups and tones.

Take a song like Whipping for instance. If you listen to some of the shows from 03, that song has so much more punch, and it's because of how muddy and heavy the guitar tones were on that tour. However this year, and really since 05, the tones have been tinnier, and clearer, and they've lacked that heaviness. This is just what I've noticed from listening to boots and songs from recent and past tours, so I'm curious to hear what other people think.

Mansfield II '08

EV Solo Shows:

NYC I
NJPAC

I. LOVE. YIELD.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • muppetmuppet Posts: 980
    This is exactly what I'm getting at in my thread that you mentioned. I was wondering if it was something to do with the equipment they use.
  • HermanBloomHermanBloom Posts: 1,764
    Maybe our hearing's getting worse from going to so many shows?
    SLC 11/2/95, Park City 6/21/98, Boise 11/3/00, Seattle 12/9/02, Vancouver 5/30/03, Gorge 9/1/05, Vancouver 9/2/05, Gorge 7/22/06, Gorge 7/23/06, Camden I 6/19/08, MSG I 6/24/08, MSG II 6/25/08, Hartford 6/27/08, Mansfield II 6/30/08; Eddie Albany 6/8/09, 6/9/09; Philly 10/30/09, 10/31/09; Boston 5/17/10
    I thought the world...Turns out the world thought me
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,425
    2003 was the first time I noticed the cleaning up of the guitars and the overall cleaner mix. 2000 was so thick and ballsy. I love both as alot of the more nuanced pre-Binaural stuff is so much better now. They still bring the thunder when it's appropriate though, and I thought the 08 East Coast tour, at least, was starting to lean back towards the dirty.
  • ovechkin8ovechkin8 Posts: 491
    i loved the tone the whole band was getting in 2000...it really was much dirtier.

    stone was playing electric on songs like black..he had a really crunchy tone.

    i also liked the acoustic pedal he used on daughter and the like.
  • SomethingCreativeSomethingCreative Posts: 3,371
    DewieCox wrote:
    . They still bring the thunder when it's appropriate though, and I thought the 08 East Coast tour, at least, was starting to lean back towards the dirty.

    I agree...they definitely seem to be trying to go back to a ballsy approach.
    "Well, I think this band is incapable of sucking."
    -my dad after hearing Not for You for the first time on SNL .
  • Stu42Stu42 Posts: 178
    I remember ament saying in an interview that pearl jam isn't going to be one of those bands that softens up as they get older, their gonna be writing hard rockers for their whole lives. Something a long those lines, I'd definately like to hear a lot more distortion in some of the guitar tones though. I've always preferred a thicker sound.
  • youngsteryoungster Posts: 6,576
    ThrowUrArmsAroundMe wrote:
    So I remember someone posting yesterday about how Pearl Jam has just gotten softer over the years, or something to that affect. And while they aren't writing songs like Deep and Leash, they still have some damn good rockers. But, I think that a big reason why some folks are thinking this way has to do with the actual guitar setups and tones.

    Take a song like Whipping for instance. If you listen to some of the shows from 03, that song has so much more punch, and it's because of how muddy and heavy the guitar tones were on that tour. However this year, and really since 05, the tones have been tinnier, and clearer, and they've lacked that heaviness. This is just what I've noticed from listening to boots and songs from recent and past tours, so I'm curious to hear what other people think.

    OH NO! This is the first of many signs of the pussification of pearl jam. Say it isn't so fellas.
    He who forgets will be destined to remember.

    9/29/04 Boston, 6/28/08 Mansfield, 8/23/09 Chicago, 5/15/10 Hartford
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  • NewJPageNewJPage Posts: 3,310
    well, ed played SG's on the '03 tour, and switched after that to more tele's, which would account for some of the thinner sound...at least on whipping
    6/26/98, 8/17/00, 10/8/00, 12/8/02, 12/9/02, 4/25/03, 5/28/03, 6/1/03, 6/3/03, 6/5/03, 6/6/03, 6/12/03, 6/13/03, 6/15/03, 6/18/03, 6/21/03, 6/22/03, 7/12/03, 7/14/03, 10/3/04, 10/5/04, 9/9/05, 9/11/05, 9/16/05, 5/16/06, 5/17/06, 5/19/06, 6/30/06, 7/23/06, 8/5/07, 6/30/08, 8/23/09, 8/24/09, 5/4/10, 5/7/10, 9/3/11, 9/4/11, 10/11/13, 10/17/14, 8/20/16
  • JP2026766JP2026766 Posts: 1,125
    NewJPage wrote:
    well, ed played SG's on the '03 tour, and switched after that to more tele's, which would account for some of the thinner sound...at least on whipping

    That's definitely it. Just hearing In My Tree from MSG 1 in 03. You can't get that sound with a Tele.

    Mansfield II '08

    EV Solo Shows:

    NYC I
    NJPAC

    I. LOVE. YIELD.
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