Eddie's Voice and the direction of pj

Smoking affects voices. Doesn't matter if it is our beloved Eddie or any one else. How many of you know people that are not really as old as they look and have a deep raspy (sp?) voice? How many of you will sound like that in a few years?

Sexy2aFault wrote:

Lollapalooza was an indictment of Ed's voice being effected by his lifestyle. You could tell he spent 3 days straight drinking and smoking and, being in his 40's, he got tired... so while musically the band was in amazingly faqst grooves and totally rocking, Ed could not keep up.


Now withthat said, when Ed rests and has the energy he can still totally bring it, compare MSG1 03 where he was blown away by Ben Harper (again Ed was out o gas) with Mansfield 3 where he, for whatever reason, was able to bring it hardcore.

this is spot on. anyone who was at Werchter will say the same, (eddie openly admitted that he'd been hanging around drinkin and smokin all day with QOTSA & KOL) at werchter and that was the reason he sounded like crap....and he did sound exhausted at that show.
Then again i had friends there who hadnt seen PJ before who thought he sounded amazing!

but three days before in Copenhagen and the week before in Dusseldorf (when he had prepared better) he put out the two best vocal performances ive ever heard.

Its a combo of age & lifestyle:

Cornell August 03 - with audioslave, sounded incredible. pulled off all the crazy screaming from the album perfectly....then July 05 saw them again and he could barely talk let alone sing

Bono - 2001 and 2005 shows sound like two singers, he's just plain auld losing his voice, and doesnt have the energy to sing at full strength throughout a show..

compared to him Eds lasting very well

You can't compare the depth and strength of his voice circa ten and now. Listen to 'once' and it's obvious.
BUT, we can't expect the same consistency during live performances. I saw them in camden '98 and I couldn't believe how scratchy his voice was, and then I saw them again almost 10 years later and his voice was much better. it's physiologically impossible for vocal cords to maintain their patency day in and day out.
So, what is the conclusion? on the albums it's blatantly obvious he has lost, to whatever degree, some of that characteristic depth that gives his voice so much power...I put my hope in a change of direction for the next album.

Worldwide Suicide & Lukin @ Lolla are perfect examples of whats being said here.

However, If you listen to the Soldier Field show.. you see how much better his voice is now. 95-96 was rough in terms of Ed's voice.

On the solo tour, his voice was unbelievable. There's nothing bad to be said about it. But, on songs requiring excessive shouting and screaming, yes, his voice doesn't have the power to belt it out in quite the same way. But that's just a minor issue with me, as his voice is perfect in every other respect.

billyshears wrote:

how much (i was going to write "damage" here , but instead i am going to write "altering" as i suspect some people prefer the change in eddies voice),, how much ALTERING have American Spirit cigarettes done to eddie's voice.

IMHO faster songs with eddie on the guitar while singing demonstrate this "change" the most. THE VH1 storytellers is, for me, the worst sounding Eddie i have ever heard (although, with that said, still an awe-inspiring set of pipes).

i am just curious on other people's opinion on the "change" and wheter or not they suspect an ensuing "change" in the direction of PJ (key-changes, different tempos etc.)

NB i do understand how people's voices change with years, whether or not one is a smoker, but i think his American Spirits have exacerbated this evolution?/devolution? of my favorite singer's voice

Ed has gotten better in other areas, Im sure his voice has aged.

I can't believe there is another thread about Ed's voice. Come on people we all know Ed has a great voice, one of the best of all time.

This is gonna be shocking for many. Ed's singing of the early days is what did the damage more than cigarettes ever could. There are articles/interviews from that time when it's mentioned he had serious problems with his voice after the tour in 93 etc.

digster wrote:

I think the problems Eddie has had are a common one with smokers; breath control. You can hear it on the faster paced songs, like Worldwide Suicide for example. Pretty much every 07 version of that song I've heard Eddie has had difficulty getting the screams right and runs out of breath on some of the lines. On slower songs, it's a little better probably cause as a singer he has more time and control over how he sings his lines, etc. But there's no doubt his voice has taken a beating, and alot of the power is gone. He still has a great voice, but I'm surprised that people keep saying his voice is better now than it ever was. I mean, after thousands of shows and thousands of cigarettes, his voice is somehow improving? I don't really understand what shows they're listening to.

You hit it right on the head. Not to mention that WWS is just too wordy of a song IMO. The song itself doesn't breath at all, but I am rambling here. Smellyman also raises a good point.

Like I said before, I can understand his difficulty in screaming, but his overall voice is really suffering these days IMO. He should quit smoking while he is ahead.

Sexy2aFault wrote:

Lollapalooza was an indictment of Ed's voice being effected by his lifestyle. You could tell he spent 3 days straight drinking and smoking and, being in his 40's, he got tired... so while musically the band was in amazingly faqst grooves and totally rocking, Ed could not keep up.


Now withthat said, when Ed rests and has the energy he can still totally bring it, compare MSG1 03 where he was blown away by Ben Harper (again Ed was out o gas) with Mansfield 3 where he, for whatever reason, was able to bring it hardcore.

Anyway, that is only noticeable on the boots, in concert- in the venue- I haven't noticed any let down or any change from 98 when I attended my first PJ gig, to my last one in 06.

The fact that it is sometimes noticdeable on the boots is precisley why we will not get anymore of them offered to us.

blown away from ben harper, did ben bring a really huge fan on stage and turn it in Eds direction? I thought ben sucked.