In fairness for the position Ed is in, he's in line for more bashing.... the head banging in the car, the celebrity circles, ukelelelelle songs, the vulnerable songs lyrics ala Sirens... Not that I agree with it but he has to put himself out there.Mine wrote:Let me just check this with you so i can be sure. Bashing Ed and Jeff is ok right? I'm not even going to ask you about Matt.pappas wrote:anyone who bashes on Mike solos is basically saying they hate PJ. It's the same as bashing on Stones riffsguitar_davey wrote:Soooo...
I see we're on to shitting on Mike McCready's solos.
Please fucking leak. Please.
There's no point in bashing or whatever, its all just opinion. There are some many different kind of PJ fans, everyone has different periods that they think are the best.... I jumped on the boat when No Code came out, but there are people who were just born around that time and got onboard from Backspacer, which is good too.
What Im saying is albums like Ten are preserved in carbonite for me personally. they are almost retired in a sense, still have value but I dont listen to them. The guys playing on those albums are much more of the time they were created, with longer solo's, flashy playing, splashy cymbals and (tonnes of reverb) but even of No Code that was gone. This band is awesome because they dont stay in the same place long, and are relevant still because of that. People complain about Mike's solo's on Backspacer are missing the point. Those solo's just showed how efficient a player he can be, they said everything the solos needed to say in a short spot. I remember an interview too around the time of Riot Act, and Mike was describing the solo in Cropduster as an 'anti-solo'... love it, he is always experimenting with the what he can add to a song (see Nothing as it seems... I wonder what Jeff thought when he brought in that tune and McCready starts blasting out that line....)
As for my defense of Jeff, he is just an awesome bass player with some of the best hooks in the business. Again he has changed with the different drummers, as the bassist has to. He is probably the most consistent musician in terms of the amount of songwriting and what he does for other players. You cant tell how good he is by his seamless playing
Stone is and always will be the DNA of Pearl Jam, not the heart or the soul, or the head or whatever. I think his fingerprints are all over their output and the way he can string two chords together is what gives them alot of their flow. Whatever about Ed steering the band, and having the artistic drive, he cant change the basic PJ element that comes from Stone.
What I got from PJ20 is much of what Im saying above. It was like a chemical reaction when Eddie joined the band, and Ten blasted out of it and was unattainable for the band again. It couldn't make something that raw, personal and unaware of itself again. It would sound contrived. I think everything they have done since has been channeling the energy of that chemistry in ways that was healthy and interesting for them. I love the way Stone describes Vs. as this weird follow up, I cant remember exactly. The last time I think they pulled it off to such an extent was Riot Act, which has a real alchemy to it but the feel was weary of struggling in the face of these outside forces. Whereas Backspacer was a conscious effort at an aesthetic and message (but still great)... really the optimism, and positivity is outlined in Inside Job, which I take as the bands mission statement after the changes between Riot Act and Avocado
But my point is it takes a special group of musicians to channel energy like that, up to the point where they are now with Lightning Bolt. It goes beyond the technical nitpicking that goes on in these forums. And its what makes them special beyond the thousands of technically better bands out there and shows that they are really still in touch with the genesis of the band while they have grown as individuals.
