Gigaton: Official album thread

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[96583UP]

nothing positive about that quote from Stone

just confirms what many of us suspected

Ed is a bitch and makes this band suck more than it should

it was obvious in the Temple of the Dog concerts how great this group is - with Chris Cornell at the lead they were on a completely different level

Ed is amateur hour

and he was once a transcendant vocalist but his voice sucks now, his lyrics suck now, and his lyrical delivery especially sucks now

so he can go eat a d1ck

but i liked his howard stern interview

[Birds in Hell]

I don’t think anyone needs to feel bad for stone, or harbor some sort of grievance, because I don’t think he holds that for himself.

Sure, but I don't think that sense of acceptance has come without a great deal of struggle.

Pearl Jam was undeniably Stone's band at the outset.

He wrote the lion's share of the material and was, more than anyone else, the leader in terms of the band's overall direction.

He's talked in the past about how it was really challenging to let go of the reigns once Ed started asserting his dominance more in the mid 90s.

And now:

If (Ed) can see the big picture, and put the puzzle pieces together to make it where he knows it’s right, we’re totally trusting that. He’s our leader. If you have one great moment on a record, you’re like, ‘Got it!’”

Stone, blink twice if you need help.

[LetMeSleep]

I honestly believe that the best thing for PJ is for Ed to do a solo album every five years or so. Get a lot of those songs of his out of the way. He has five or six on every album and those are usually the ones I don’t care for.

[96583UP]

Stone is basically a battered wife that accepts a lesser role just to stay with her man

but she could do way better out there on her own

cause she's hot and smart

but she's too weak and invested in the relationship already

and afraid to live alone

[LetMeSleep]

Is Betterman from Stone’s POV?

[Jorge]

Think I'll listen to Moonlander tonight!

[Birds in Hell]

I honestly believe that the best thing for PJ is for Ed to do a solo album every five years or so. Get a lot of those songs of his out of the way. He has five or six on every album and those are usually the ones I don’t care for.

There's definitely something out of whack when Ed is the sole arbiter of which songs are developed by the band and make it onto the records, and yet the albums are dominated by his songs.

[FlatSideofaDog]

It's passive aggressive as hell for Stone to say these things, and it makes Ed look like the problem.

[guitar_davey]

Stone is basically a battered wife that accepts a lesser role just to stay with her man

but she could do way better out there on her own

cause she's hot and smart

but she's too weak and invested in the relationship already

and afraid to live alone

No.

[96583UP]

Stone is basically a battered wife that accepts a lesser role just to stay with her man

but she could do way better out there on her own

cause she's hot and smart

but she's too weak and invested in the relationship already

and afraid to live alone

No.

she thinks it would be too hard out there alone

but the moment she slaps on those jeans

and gets back in the scene

she will fly like a free bird

[Kevin Davis]

I honestly believe that the best thing for PJ is for Ed to do a solo album every five years or so. Get a lot of those songs of his out of the way. He has five or six on every album and those are usually the ones I don’t care for.

I almost think, if anything, Eddie's solo career has had the opposite effect on Pearl Jam; the two PJ albums that are largely regarded as the weakest were both immediately preceded by Eddie solo albums, and some of their weaknesses feel like carryovers from him having been in that headspace. Jeff even made some comment about this around Backspacer, about some "cool new acoustic space" Eddie had managed to tap into after having done Into the Wild.

Stone's comments above remind me of that scene in Single Video Theory where Eddie grumbles about being nagged to finish "In Hiding" -- based on what Stone says, whether Ed "responds" to something seems to be less about the content of the material itself and more about whether he is in some kind of transient creative "zone" at the time it is presented to him, with anything beyond that seeming laborious to him. Granted, I can relate to the idea that having 30 ideas thrown at you at once would be too much information to process. But, musically speaking, I suspect Eddie struggles with things that don't just sort of flow naturally, and I think Pearl Jam's best stuff has always been the stuff that has felt just a little forced -- where you can hear the tension between musical ideals that are just ever so slightly at odds.

Stone should definitely do more solo stuff. I have unquestionably gotten more enjoyment from his two solo albums than I have from any other PJ-related side project, including Ed's albums, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, etc.

[washing machine]

I missed a chance to rib you about messing up the italics code. You're too quick.

[joostone]

When I listed to 'Painted Shield' or Jeff's latest projects 'Ghost Riding' and 'Heaven/Hell' they are obviously experimenting with different sounds and styles. With Josh Evans they found a producer who can help them in those realms. Maybe 'Gigaton' is a transitional record after all...

[VinylGuy]

Yeah, it feels like the start of a new chapter for them for sure. I also love how prominent Jeff is on Gigaton. So its not not all Ed's choices.

And yes Stone, release a new solo album damn you

[Bammer]

The conversation over the past couple pages seems like it should be in a different (its own??) thread.

[Ms Harmless]

I read that interview and was just struck by the same things. Can't lie, but it's kind of depressing that a man as talented as Stone has to be beholden to Ed (as much as I love him). The dude wrote almost all of Ten and was a huge contributor to Vs. It's not like he's some sideman that wasn't ever sure of himself.

I understand the band developed in a way that helped it to survive, but excuse me if I think Ed needs to try a little bit harder to get on the other band member's vibe. Instead, it's all of them catering to him b/c he needs to connect with the material. Again, I get it, but seems like it was a pretty cool dynamic when Ed was the new kid in town and had to reckon with the tasty riffs one Mr. Stone Gossard was serving up.

If it's just about "capturing the muse" whenever it strikes him, he should do a solo career.

P.S. this comes from someone who still really enjoys Gigaton.

agreed on all of this

[Bammer]

Stone’s struggle here reminds me of the classic Dr. Dre line: “I started this gangsta shit. This is the mothafuckin’ thanks I get?”

[Tuolumne]

Interesting few comments by Stone. I didn't sense any angst from him or anything, just some tossed off thoughts. I think the way he must see it is - if he really was that good then his other projects would be more successful. I think he really really wanted Brad to be commercially successful but it didn't take off. And Bayleaf and Moonlander are nice niche projects but were never going to burn up the world. Meanwhile, Ed can pack any theater he wants at anytime. Stone knows this and has even acknowledged in the past how lucky he feels that Ed continues to choose to work with the band.

All that said, if he's a prolific and interesting songwriter .... Ed, pay attention. If Stone wants to send over tapes of his demos go do your surf thing while you listen to them and give them the attention that they deserve. Isn't that how Ten was created? It seems like what Stone is saying is that Ed only pays attention when he's in the room while it's happening otherwise he never gets to it.

The Stone and Ed relationship is something that still has never been given a real deep dive in any way by the band. I've mentioned this here before, but the book Grunge is Dead has some very brutal comments by none other than Regan Hagar who is one of Stone's longtime friends (in addition to the tough comments by Shawn Smith). Those comments lay right into Ed. Regan works for the band now so clearly things are ironed out, but something was afoot back in the day and Stone and Ed made it through but the relationship definitely changed.

[FlatSideofaDog]

There's no one Ed wants to kick out of the band more than Stone.