tragabigzanda wrote:Welp, I’ve finally listened with headphones, and here’s where I’m at:
1. Creatively speaking, I find this album even more encouraging than Gigaton for what the future holds for Pearl Jam. The range of ideas is pretty great, and even the lesser tracks have some fun ideas and ear candy. I’m fully on board with an Andrew Wottman-produced Pearl Jam album.
2. The reliance on digital processing is variously encouraging and concerning. It’s great to hear some new guitar and bass sounds behind Ed’s voice, and the synth pads that we first got in DOTC continue to be the most surprisingly great addition to the pallet…but the sloppy vocal edit in Try (“hitting like the WITNESS in your eyes,” at 1:54), and some of the more Frankensteined song arrangements, give me less hope that PJ will ever make another Riot Act.
3. Ed continues to get away from the condenser mic breathiness of BS and LB, which is so great.
4. The compression and EQ are abysmal. I have serious ear fatigue after one listen, and had to turn the volume way down on the heavier songs. I’m firmly convinced that Ed’s going deaf, and has no idea or awareness of the results that’s having on his finished product. It is what it is, I guess.
Compositionally much stronger than I ever thought this would be, and more importantly, it never sounds tired; there’s nothing that smacks of a retread like SBWM.
Trag, you nailed a lot of my reaction to this record. So much of Earthlings I enjoy, but the sound issues are killing it for me. I tried going for a wonderful snow covered trail run with Earthling and didn't make it through "Power of Right". My head hurt. I switched over to Gigaton and sonically it was so far superior.
Watt got a lot of great music out of Ed. I do question some of the guitar tones, like the beginning of "Power of Right", but overall I'm impressed with this record musically. Good and Evil is really growing on me. A little marriage between Comatose and Mind Your Manners.
You can keep the Haves. I'm a Long Way guy. There, I said it!
