Gigaton: Official album thread

[McParadigm]

And, I don't know if I've just got used to his new voice or not, but it's crazy (and makes me very very happy) to see an album where Eddie is a strength and not a detriment. Eddie has aways been my favorite part of Pearl Jam and I...am just really happy to hear him again. Not sure if maybe it's just songs that suited his voice much better or his vibe or just....production magic. I don't know. But it's so nice to hear. Because I listen back to LB and hate how he sounds on most of it.

I mean man...I like The End but comparing The End and Future Days to Comes Then Goes - Comes Then Goes blows them away. It's not even close. It's hard to specify what the quality is. Raw? Authentic? It's not like it sounds particularly like any of their other songs that I can think of and yet it just seems so much more real to me. It somehow sounds like 'Pearl Jam' in a way they don't and I don't know why. Maybe BOB just stripped out so much of their soul.

I hear this album and I think it's just so Eddie Vedder, for better or worse you can really feel where his heart is right now. Can't say that for Backspacer or LB. Even when it's cheesy you know it's real.

I love those few seconds in Seven o’Clock, right after the vocal liftoff that follows “knows relief will be coming soon,” where you can hear Ed continuing to hum that melody under his breath...low in the mix, to himself, like some dude on the bus caught up in the sounds coming out of his headphones.

In a lot of ways I feel like you have to go back to the first album to find a time when he sounded this much like singing was an unthinking, uncalculated act of catharsis, and not a determined expression in service of an artistic ambition or commercial desire. Where it’s like he’s discovering the release it can bring. Where he just constantly seems to want more of it.

He’s always been exceptional at using his voice to express, to include, to envelop, or to further a sonic goal. This is the first time in a long while where it feels like it’s just pouring out of him, and he’s not instinctively trying to bend it by force of will, or self-protect in some way. The closest comparison I can think of post-Ten is Into the Wild, and even there he had the protection of having somebody else’s story to tell.

Some of that might just be the context of the songwriting....the way many of these songs will reach a point where they feel more or less complete, and then suddenly reveal an entirely new direction of expressiveness or melody...but that’s how it ends up feeling to me.

[stip]

i dont know....i dont think Ed has a performance like River Cross in LB. Or DOTC. And i dont mean that the songs are better, but there is a decision there of trying something else.

I think Ed was great on LB, better than Backspacer maybe, but his performance in Gigaton is better. He is choosing the range better...i mean Come Then Goes?? Quick Escape?

i think these are nuances that john q public wouldn't pick up on. River Cross's performance is great. Is it THAT unusual? Probably not unless you are spending time at the granular level that we do. The greater distinctions in Dance and River Cross are musical.

Eddie is doing what he is doing on Gigaton really well. his performance is excellent. But it isn't necessarily 'new'

[guitar_davey]

In a lot of ways I feel like you have to go back to the first album to find a time when he sounded this much like singing was an unthinking, uncalculated act of catharsis, and not a determined expression in service of an artistic ambition or commercial desire. Where it’s like he’s discovering the release it can bring. Where he just constantly seems to want more of it.

He’s always been exceptional at using his voice to express, to include, to envelop, or to further a sonic goal. This is the first time in a long while where it feels like it’s just pouring out of him, and he’s not instinctively trying to bend it by force of will, or self-protect in some way. The closest comparison I can think of post-Ten is Into the Wild, and even there he had the protection of having somebody else’s story to tell.

Some of that might just be the context of the songwriting....the way many of these songs will reach a point where they feel more or less complete, and then suddenly reveal an entirely new direction of expressiveness or melody...but that’s how it ends up feeling to me.

I really like all of this, and I think it sums up why I (and probably many of you) are really feeling something special with this record.

[stip]

same

[super nintendo chalmers]

Haven't been able to muster any enthusiasm to listen to this album.

Maybe things will swing back around at some point, but I wonder if my interest in Pearl Jam is now primarily historical.

Same. I did like three songs, put it aside for something and never returned.

SNC, I need you to keep giving Gigaton a try. You are a super fan from WAY back, at least in my online world. I think there is more in this album for you. I have you tried listening.......on WEED?!

Ugh, tell me about it! I didn't get around to it yet, didn't write it off.

Still have zero desire to ever see them live again though, that ones on me.

[RockPusher]

I just listened to the intro to Getaway and Who Ever Said to compare. Two things jump out: Who Ever Said has a more relaxed, spread-out intro that builds atmosphere. Then when the guitars arrive, they have a full open-air sound i.e. you can hear the atmosphere of them. When the guitars come in on the shorter (let's say "concise") build of Getaway, their sound is kind of clipped, like it was trimmed to the bare minimum on each strum to serve its purpose. You can't feel the air around it, its imprint, if that makes any sense. This is just my first time trying this out, but it is a step toward confirming that one of the big differences between BoB and Josh Evans is refinement/editing (BoB) vs open/atmospheric (Evans).

{I also posted this to the LB thread. I hope that's okay}

[mikejasond]

I'm gonna give Lightning Bolt a listen today, but I don't think Eddie sounds that much different on Gigaton. He is just recorded in a much more flattering way (and the writing/melodies are stronger on Gigaton, which is just a better record. Then again, it is better than the majority of their records). But I'm going to listen to them back to back to see.

He does stay away from the higher register more on gigaton (maybe Superblood Wolfmoon and Never Destination are the exceptions. He sounds particularly good on SBWM), which is general a smarter choice for him. So there are fewer songs in the range of Infallible's chorus, LTRP, Getaway, and MFS.

But Eddie still sounds great on songs like Sirens, Yellow Moon, Mind Your Manners, Sleeping by Myself, etc.

I personally think he sounds awful on Mind Your Manners. It's one of my least favorites. He just sounds so marbly mouthed and old to me. Maybe it's just an unflattering sound or a song I don't like. But I feel the same way on a lot of LB. It almost makes my throat uncomfortable to listen to him.

There are moments on Gigaton that just sound so much better to me than anything on LB. I think some of it might just be the sounds of the record being more full and lush and him being produced in a way that blends well with it.

[mikejasond]

If you aren't listening with a fan's ear I totally see how this follows from Lightning Bolt. Similar ideas, and not all that dissimilar a sound. Just better execution.

I can see this with a non-fan's ear, and there are some songs that definitely seem to be later Pearl Jam songs...I'm thinking Who Ever Said, SBWM, and Retrograde are all influenced by the Lightning Bolt era sound, though IMO both much more well written and thought out.

That being said, there is so much more texture on this album that wasn't on those. The middle section of Who Ever Said for example, Comes Then Goes, most of Seven o Clock.....

[mikejasond]

I wouldn't say I could easily see how this album follows LB. But I would say that I could easily see how this album follows Ten--->LB.

This is a GREAT statement. That's exactly what I see as well and will keep saying its my favorite thing about the album. There have been so many different Pearl Jams and this album contains all of them, plus a new one in DOTC.

Meanwhile LB sounds nothing at all like their pre-Avocado work

[mikejasond]

i dont know....i dont think Ed has a performance like River Cross in LB. Or DOTC. And i dont mean that the songs are better, but there is a decision there of trying something else.

I think Ed was great on LB, better than Backspacer maybe, but his performance in Gigaton is better. He is choosing the range better...i mean Come Then Goes?? Quick Escape?

I think he maybe is just singing songs that flatter his voice now. I HAAAAAATE how he sings on Getaway. "Science says we're making love like the lizaaards" it just sounds awful. The song is cheesy and Eddie sounds like an old over the hill man.

However the verses of Seven O Clock and Comes Then Goes or the bridge of Who Ever Said? He sounds amazing.

But I think its like....maybe these are just better written songs for his voice that let him accentuate his positive qualities.

I don't know how to express it well enough to explain why I think the LB era songs were so bad for him vocally. I mean they are not interesting songs and they never would have been, but something about hearing EV sing it NOW really really REALLY accentuates how bad he sounds to me.

[mikejasond]

In a lot of ways I feel like you have to go back to the first album to find a time when he sounded this much like singing was an unthinking, uncalculated act of catharsis, and not a determined expression in service of an artistic ambition or commercial desire. Where it’s like he’s discovering the release it can bring. Where he just constantly seems to want more of it.

He’s always been exceptional at using his voice to express, to include, to envelop, or to further a sonic goal. This is the first time in a long while where it feels like it’s just pouring out of him, and he’s not instinctively trying to bend it by force of will, or self-protect in some way. The closest comparison I can think of post-Ten is Into the Wild, and even there he had the protection of having somebody else’s story to tell.

Some of that might just be the context of the songwriting....the way many of these songs will reach a point where they feel more or less complete, and then suddenly reveal an entirely new direction of expressiveness or melody...but that’s how it ends up feeling to me.

I really like all of this, and I think it sums up why I (and probably many of you) are really feeling something special with this record.

I agree. I see Eddie expressing his heart to me and not an old man trying to sing rock songs. It feels real and authentic which is Pearl Jam at its best.

[guitar_davey]

I agree. I see Eddie expressing his heart to me and not an old man trying to sing rock songs. It feels real and authentic which is Pearl Jam at its best.

[guitar_davey]

In all seriousness, from this point forward, I could see myself listening to Gigaton more than any other Pearl Jam record. I love the other ones, but I've already had years to absorb them.

[mikejasond]

This is the most the board has ever agreed with me in my 7 years here.

[mikejasond]

Also is it me or is the youtube version much better quality than the spotify version for some reason?

[digster]

i dont know....i dont think Ed has a performance like River Cross in LB. Or DOTC. And i dont mean that the songs are better, but there is a decision there of trying something else.

I think Ed was great on LB, better than Backspacer maybe, but his performance in Gigaton is better. He is choosing the range better...i mean Come Then Goes?? Quick Escape?

I think he maybe is just singing songs that flatter his voice now. I HAAAAAATE how he sings on Getaway. "Science says we're making love like the lizaaards" it just sounds awful. The song is cheesy and Eddie sounds like an old over the hill man.

However the verses of Seven O Clock and Comes Then Goes or the bridge of Who Ever Said? He sounds amazing.

But I think its like....maybe these are just better written songs for his voice that let him accentuate his positive qualities.

I don't know how to express it well enough to explain why I think the LB era songs were so bad for him vocally. I mean they are not interesting songs and they never would have been, but something about hearing EV sing it NOW really really REALLY accentuates how bad he sounds to me.

I think this is it. Plenty of people are able to find ways to reassess how they "write" with their voice as it morphs and changes with age, and that doesn't have to mean you're never able to play a loud rock song again. The problem has not been Ed's voice; the problem has been the songwriting choices he's been making with his voice as it has changed. The instrument is what it is, but you have a chance to succeed or fail depending on how you play it.

[stip]

all the answers will be found in the mistakes that we have made

[Ms Harmless]

my mood tanked pretty hard tonight, so I just went to bed and put this album in my ears; god, it's almost becoming a friend

[E.H. Ruddock]

my mood tanked pretty hard tonight, so I just went to bed and put this album in my ears; god, it's almost becoming a friend

Around Seven o'clock, make a Quick Escape to the bedroom. Who Ever Said that's too early to go to bed probably has insomnia that Comes Then Goes. Throw on your headphones and Take the Long Way as you imagine standing at the River Cross watching the Dance of the Clairvoyants as your eyes get heavy and begin the Retrograde into the land of Never. Destination has arrived so Buckle Up because everything is Alright.

[McParadigm]

So it is a concept album