Eddie Vedder - Earthling

[Fattie_Vedder]

I'm loving where this thread has gone.

I listened to Bayleaf again for the first time in a long time. I'd forgotten what a spectacularly magnificent album it is. It's better than all PJ albums after Riot Act except for Gigaton. It just reinforces for me that Stone is the best composer in the band.

[VinylGuy]

I still think every PJ album are way better than any of the solo releases, with the exception of LB. Both Bayleaf and Moonlander are better than LB for sure, and im inclined to think that Into The Wild and Heaven/Hell too.

[Ms Harmless]

I am not invested in the overall quality of PJ's catalogue anymore so I can't relate. Whether it's "Out of Sand" or "Can't Deny Me" I tend to just judge the songs as songs

I agree with this to a point, but EV solo tracks just register with such little significance to me -- I feel like there have been so many of them over the past 10 years, and they've all just gone in one ear and out the other. We're all raking "The Haves" across the coals, but if I'm honest it doesn't really feel that much worse to me than most of what he's been peddling since 2012, and that includes EV-centric PJ songs like "Future Days" and "River Cross," as well as PJ-leaning EV songs like "Brother the Cloud." All of it is more or less the same to me; his writing style, his musical sensibilities, when given center stage, all equalize for me in roughly the same generally unremarkable space. Little things about each song that may seem especially egregious (i.e. comparing his partner to a siamese twin, Ghostbusters references, etc.) just register as momentary spikes on an otherwise flatlining monitor.

I still, and probably always will, listen to new PJ music with curious ears, and sometimes a "Buckle Up" or a "Take the Long Way" or a "Get It Back" still manages to surprise and delight me. If not, no big deal. But even with tempered expectations, I always look forward to seeing what they come up with.

FWIW, I think the EV song that I still find the most ludicrous is his rewrite of Phil Ochs's "Here's to the State of Mississippi." The ultra-literal, artless zenith of his "three chords and the truth" phase.

I'm not going to change your mind by saying "wow, you compared The Haves to River Cross?!" but I had to do it anyway

[Ms Harmless]

I love both ITW and Uke songs and I think to pretend there hasn't been a significant drop in quality of Ed songs since is preposterous

[liebzz]

I love both ITW and Uke songs and I think to pretend there hasn't been a significant drop in quality of Ed songs since is preposterous

Except what’s in Flag Day - his songs are all good if I remember correctly.

[Anders]

ITW at least is far superior to Flag Day.

[epilogue]

I still think every PJ album are way better than any of the solo releases, with the exception of LB. Both Bayleaf and Moonlander are better than LB for sure, and im inclined to think that Into The Wild and Heaven/Hell too.

I'd put Bayleaf, Moonlander and Heaven/Hell above both Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. I'd probably put Bayleaf of S/T as well.

[liebzz]

This is gonna require a mega-rank the albums thread where we have to include side projects and one-offs. I have some listening to do…

[E.H. Ruddock]

The Wellwater Conspiracy stuff is better than Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. But that isn't really a solo side project, if that is what we are talking about.

[VinylGuy]

I still think every PJ album are way better than any of the solo releases, with the exception of LB. Both Bayleaf and Moonlander are better than LB for sure, and im inclined to think that Into The Wild and Heaven/Hell too.

I'd put Bayleaf, Moonlander and Heaven/Hell above both Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. I'd probably put Bayleaf of S/T as well.

S/T and Backspacer are both better than those to time.

Its just LB thats below them in my book.

[BurtReynolds]

I expected Ed solo stuff to be at least on par with PJ stuff, but that hasn't been the case. Oh well.

[Thurman Murman]

I love both ITW and Uke songs and I think to pretend there hasn't been a significant drop in quality of Ed songs since is preposterous

Except what’s in Flag Day - his songs are all good if I remember correctly.

Its hard to lump in Flag Day...my impression is that Glen Hansard was more a driving force behind most of those songs.

[Thurman Murman]

I am not invested in the overall quality of PJ's catalogue anymore so I can't relate. Whether it's "Out of Sand" or "Can't Deny Me" I tend to just judge the songs as songs

I agree with this to a point, but EV solo tracks just register with such little significance to me -- I feel like there have been so many of them over the past 10 years, and they've all just gone in one ear and out the other. We're all raking "The Haves" across the coals, but if I'm honest it doesn't really feel that much worse to me than most of what he's been peddling since 2012, and that includes EV-centric PJ songs like "Future Days" and "River Cross," as well as PJ-leaning EV songs like "Brother the Cloud." All of it is more or less the same to me; his writing style, his musical sensibilities, when given center stage, all equalize for me in roughly the same generally unremarkable space. Little things about each song that may seem especially egregious (i.e. comparing his partner to a siamese twin, Ghostbusters references, etc.) just register as momentary spikes on an otherwise flatlining monitor.

I still, and probably always will, listen to new PJ music with curious ears, and sometimes a "Buckle Up" or a "Take the Long Way" or a "Get It Back" still manages to surprise and delight me. If not, no big deal. But even with tempered expectations, I always look forward to seeing what they come up with.

FWIW, I think the EV song that I still find the most ludicrous is his rewrite of Phil Ochs's "Here's to the State of Mississippi." The ultra-literal, artless zenith of his "three chords and the truth" phase.

I'm not going to change your mind by saying "wow, you compared The Haves to River Cross?!" but I had to do it anyway

I get comparing The Haves to Future Days...i think that's totally fair. But River Cross, to me at least, is significantly better than those other turds.

[epilogue]

I still think every PJ album are way better than any of the solo releases, with the exception of LB. Both Bayleaf and Moonlander are better than LB for sure, and im inclined to think that Into The Wild and Heaven/Hell too.

I'd put Bayleaf, Moonlander and Heaven/Hell above both Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. I'd probably put Bayleaf of S/T as well.

S/T and Backspacer are both better than those to time.

Its just LB thats below them in my book.

nah

[Leatherhead]

I expected Ed solo stuff to be at least on par with PJ stuff, but that hasn't been the case. Oh well.

15 years ago I would've thought this, but what we've heard is honestly what I've expected based on the last decade.

[VinylGuy]

I still think every PJ album are way better than any of the solo releases, with the exception of LB. Both Bayleaf and Moonlander are better than LB for sure, and im inclined to think that Into The Wild and Heaven/Hell too.

I'd put Bayleaf, Moonlander and Heaven/Hell above both Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. I'd probably put Bayleaf of S/T as well.

S/T and Backspacer are both better than those to time.

Its just LB thats below them in my book.

nah

yes, its a fact.

Its nature.

[warehouse]

Think Josh Evans is pissed about this Andrew Watt news?

I’m super curious to know what Jeff thinks about it

i'm counting on jeff to put this watt guy in his place if anything goes sideways in the studio. but seriously, josh evans seemed like the change the band needed after LB and BS. maybe changing producers every record is the way to go now.

also, eddie vedder recorded with stevie wonder. they could sing the alphabet together and i would listen to it on repeat for days.

[Kevin Davis]

I am not invested in the overall quality of PJ's catalogue anymore so I can't relate. Whether it's "Out of Sand" or "Can't Deny Me" I tend to just judge the songs as songs

I agree with this to a point, but EV solo tracks just register with such little significance to me -- I feel like there have been so many of them over the past 10 years, and they've all just gone in one ear and out the other. We're all raking "The Haves" across the coals, but if I'm honest it doesn't really feel that much worse to me than most of what he's been peddling since 2012, and that includes EV-centric PJ songs like "Future Days" and "River Cross," as well as PJ-leaning EV songs like "Brother the Cloud." All of it is more or less the same to me; his writing style, his musical sensibilities, when given center stage, all equalize for me in roughly the same generally unremarkable space. Little things about each song that may seem especially egregious (i.e. comparing his partner to a siamese twin, Ghostbusters references, etc.) just register as momentary spikes on an otherwise flatlining monitor.

I still, and probably always will, listen to new PJ music with curious ears, and sometimes a "Buckle Up" or a "Take the Long Way" or a "Get It Back" still manages to surprise and delight me. If not, no big deal. But even with tempered expectations, I always look forward to seeing what they come up with.

FWIW, I think the EV song that I still find the most ludicrous is his rewrite of Phil Ochs's "Here's to the State of Mississippi." The ultra-literal, artless zenith of his "three chords and the truth" phase.

I'm not going to change your mind by saying "wow, you compared The Haves to River Cross?!" but I had to do it anyway

I get comparing The Haves to Future Days...i think that's totally fair. But River Cross, to me at least, is significantly better than those other turds.

It's not really a "better than" thing to me -- it's really more that all these songs occupy a similar musical register that doesn't really resonate with me, so my brain kind of just lumps them together in a way that makes the differences between them immaterial. I wasn't meaning to say that in A-B exercises I can't hear quality differences, just that in the end I don't find myself returning to any of these songs, often for very similar reasons, and that's affected the curiosity and interest with which I approach new EV solo material.

For better or worse, I haven't hit that point with proper PJ material yet. I think my expectations are reasonable, but Gigaton was good enough for me to still carry some optimism that they might still surprise me with something cool. So in response to Jorge, I was meaning to agree in the sense that I'm not necessarily "invested" in the ongoing success of either catalog (PJ or EV solo), but clarify that I do approach the two a bit differently.

I love both ITW and Uke songs and I think to pretend there hasn't been a significant drop in quality of Ed songs since is preposterous

I like them both a lot too, especially Uke Songs. I definitely specified post-2012 for a reason. But, I do think that ITW, the accompanying tour, and the inclusion of "Just Breathe" etc. on Backspacer were where the lines started getting blurry for the worse.

[epilogue]

I still think every PJ album are way better than any of the solo releases, with the exception of LB. Both Bayleaf and Moonlander are better than LB for sure, and im inclined to think that Into The Wild and Heaven/Hell too.

I'd put Bayleaf, Moonlander and Heaven/Hell above both Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. I'd probably put Bayleaf of S/T as well.

S/T and Backspacer are both better than those to time.

Its just LB thats below them in my book.

nah

yes, its a fact.

Its nature.

nope

[thesound]

As an album I prefer Backspacer over Lightning Bolt but perhaps it is partly because Lightning Bolt came after BS and I was not expecting or wanting Backspacer 2.0. It felt kind of lazy and paint by numbers and the production is horrible.

I’m still hoping the comment about Watt producing the next PJ album was a slip up and that Josh Evans will be back. This is where my hope lies.

i'm counting on jeff to put this watt guy in his place if anything goes sideways in the studio.

I’m still holding some dying hope that it isn’t true that Watt is producing... and if he is, I hope you are right but I fear that these days the other band members simply accept Ed is in charge and they appear to seek creative outlet in their solo records and side projects.