12th album rumors and speculation

[tragabigzanda]

Of all the hackneyed hype building efforts from the last few album cycles — remember the turtle race?! — I liked the low key DOTC rollout on the BS Report the best.

The LB interviews weren’t bad either.

[VinylGuy]

I actually feel the band does care a lot.

You're thinking of Faith No More

thats we careee a lot

[VinylGuy]

Of all the hackneyed hype building efforts from the last few album cycles — remember the turtle race?! — I liked the low key DOTC rollout on the BS Report the best.

The LB interviews weren’t bad either.

I loved those LB interviews yeah. Wish they did that for a way better album though.

[stip]

it would be nice to just get a hint of what the new Pearl Jam song sounds like, I feel like nothing says "we don't care much about it" than not describing its sound at all

have they ever described their music? I cant think of many bands of their longevity and stature who talk about their music less

[Fattie_Vedder]

is cheese just sentimentality you arent moved by? those are all songs seemingly about Ed’s family but open hearted longing and protectiveness is in their DNA

This is a really good question.

One of the main reasons I (and many others) gravitated to Pearl Jam is the authenticity in Ed's lyrics. I mean, it doesn't get any more sentimental than Black, but hearing that song at the height of the power ballad hair metal era, it landed differently than those types of songs because it felt intensely personal and relatable.

For whatever reason, songs like Sirens and Future Days feel like they veer a bit into the saccharine, although I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. I'm sure EV means what he's singing just as much as he did with Black, but there's a poppy corniness to my ears that wasn't there years ago -- those tunes feel like Desmond Child or Diane Warren could have co-written them, and Pearl Jam never felt like that to me once upon a time.

The other culprit for me, cheese-wise, is the rock songs that feel a little too poppy and throwaway, lyrically-speaking -- Supersonic, Infallible, and LTRP would be three of the worst offenders for me. I guess there's a lack of gravitas that at one time was never absent in their songwriting.

That is a good question, and I’ll liken it to what a writing teacher once taught me. The worst thing a writer can do is try to write sentimentally. Writing to be sentimental is a guaranteed way of achieving the opposite. There is nothing wrong with sentimentality, but forcing it makes things feel cheesy. Using Sirens as an example, Ed has written about mortality before but here he seems to be pushing for sentimentality. His lyrics suffer most when he directly states how he feels instead of showing us through clever, beautiful imagery (“I can get overwhelmed by the grace”, “feeling angry knock it off the shelf”…). Cheese is forced sentimentality.

And yeah, the production amplifies the underlying cheese.

That’s not to say being cheesy is all bad. Self awareness of the cheese and not taking things too seriously makes it easier to enjoy

[Fattie_Vedder]

Now I’m curious, which Ed-penned song has the best lyrics and which the worst?

[tragabigzanda]

Best: Tremor Christ maybe?

Worst: MYM

[guitar_davey]

Best: Tremor Christ maybe?

Worst: MYM

MYM is far from the worst.

[Ms Harmless]

it would be nice to just get a hint of what the new Pearl Jam song sounds like, I feel like nothing says "we don't care much about it" than not describing its sound at all

have they ever described their music? I cant think of many bands of their longevity and stature who talk about their music less

same and it's bothered me forever, but we did used to get stuff like Single Video Theory so I think it has got worse

[VinylGuy]

They did EPKs for Riot Act, ST , Backspacer and LB where they discussed the songs and the approach was, so thats changed.

When they have the album ready they tend to talk about the songs enough

[guitar_davey]

I always liked the fact that they don't talk about their music ad nauseum.

I mean as a fan, it's obviously fun to have a peek behind the curtain, but I think it serves the band's brand well to maintain some degree of mystique.

[guitar_davey]

They did EPKs for Riot Act, ST , Backspacer and LB where they discussed the songs and the approach was, so thats changed.

When they have the album ready they tend to talk about the songs enough

Are there EPKs for Riot Act and S/T? I don't think I've ever seen these...

[Birds in Hell]

Now I’m curious, which Ed-penned song has the best lyrics and which the worst?

Save You a strong contender for the worst.

[96583UP]

i think they don't talk about their music because they are all battered wives of Ed and they are afraid to do or say something wrong to get on his shitlist

[VinylGuy]

They did EPKs for Riot Act, ST , Backspacer and LB where they discussed the songs and the approach was, so thats changed.

When they have the album ready they tend to talk about the songs enough

Are there EPKs for Riot Act and S/T? I don't think I've ever seen these...

This one is the avocado epk. The Riot Act one was mostly interviews with all the band sans Ed. And they were in pairs, like Mike and Matt i think and Stone and Jeff maybe?

I think they use footage of the Chop Suey sessions too.

[tragabigzanda]

Why does Mike throw eight guitar picks at band practice

[Fattie_Vedder]

Now I’m curious, which Ed-penned song has the best lyrics and which the worst?

Save You a strong contender for the worst.

Hmm, did not expect that. They don’t read well that’s for sure, like, reading them straight up without music. But I don’t mind them when listening to the song; they fit the intensity and directness of the song

[Fattie_Vedder]

Why does Mike throw eight guitar picks at band practice

Something a producer told him to do, or did he think it would look cool?

[Fattie_Vedder]

Best: Tremor Christ maybe?

Worst: MYM

MYM is far from the worst.

Yeah not sure MYM is THE worst, but lightning bolt in general has the weakest lyrics of all the albums. Sirens is up there for worst lyrics. Inside Job is up there for worst lyrics too, although written by Mike I think, and I like the song despite the bad lyrics.

[tragabigzanda]

Best: Tremor Christ maybe?

Worst: MYM

MYM is far from the worst.

Yeah not sure MYM is THE worst, but lightning bolt in general has the weakest lyrics of all the albums. Sirens is up there for worst lyrics. Inside Job is up there for worst lyrics too, although written by Mike I think, and I like the song despite the bad lyrics.

That first verse of inside job is pretty awful, but I unabashedly love the “life comes from within…” Like LBC, the delivery really sells me on the sentiment despite how bad the words might look on paper