MM 1-2: Black vs. Jeremy vs. Indifference

[stip]

look at all these Indifference voters just throwing their vote away

[oneway23]

look at all these Indifference voters just throwing their vote away

Have to admire the conviction, though, but...this is the Ralph Nader of Pearl Jam votes.

[epilogue]

Again, three all timers.

But it's Black and it isn't that difficult.

I'll be happy with whichever wins, though.

[Strat]

Jeremy or indifference for me....hmmm.

[warehouse]

jeremy might be my least favorite song on Ten. black is one of the best broken heart songs ever.

[mray10]

The older I get, the less the Black lyrics work on me. It's still a 5 star song and the solo is still an all timer, but man I've got to split hairs between these 5 star songs somehow. I can't say anything bad about Jeremy. Just can't. It was a force in 1992 and still holds an arena full of people rapt today. Jeff is the man.

But Indifference has maybe grown t a 5 star song where in 93 I would have had it as a 4? And because I appreciate it now more than I did then I guess I'll lean a little bit and give it my vote in this absolute bloodletting of a first round match.

[Kevin Davis]

“Black” and “Jeremy” have both dulled a bit for me over time, “Black” especially. IMO it’s one of the early songs that really highlights some of Eddie’s less attractive early tendencies as a singer (the “hurr durr” thing), but a lot like “Yellow Ledbetter,” the later versions lose some immediacy.

“Indifference” pretty easily for me here. In just a couple of years I feel like you can hear Eddie harnessing a great deal more control over the immense power of his early voice, and I love how the performance feels both resigned but incredibly compassionate at the same time. Also love the way the guitar lines play off the organ (played by BO’B, I think) — a great sonic nuance.

[WaitingForBluey]

Vote for Jeremy
*using best Vote for Pedro voice*

[digster]

“Black” and “Jeremy” have both dulled a bit for me over time, “Black” especially. IMO it’s one of the early songs that really highlights some of Eddie’s less attractive early tendencies as a singer (the “hurr durr” thing), but a lot like “Yellow Ledbetter,” the later versions lose some immediacy.

“Indifference” pretty easily for me here. In just a couple of years I feel like you can hear Eddie harnessing a great deal more control over the immense power of his early voice, and I love how the performance feels both resigned but incredibly compassionate at the same time. Also love the way the guitar lines play off the organ (played by BO’B, I think) — a great sonic nuance.

It was close between Jeremy and Indifference for me, but the former is inching ahead, at least for now. But it's a photo finish; Indifference has definitely has a resurgence with me over the past several years. Eddie's vocal tics throughout Ten are ever-present on Jeremy, but for whatever reason they don't grate the same way it does on much of the rest of the record.

[stip]

Those Ten-era vocal tics are what made him the greatest vocalist of all time, damn it!

[Kevin Davis]

The early trajectory of Eddie’s voice is interesting — in ‘91, live and on Ten, it is pretty natural, full of power but also a lot of natural high end in addition to the more familiar baritone, and still some undisciplined “still finding his voice” wildness to it. But by 1992 that deep throaty thing that people always use to make fun of him is really out in full comedic force; I find some ‘92 performances really hard to listen to because of it. I’m not sure what it is, other than possibly a tool for keeping control of his voice live, through a rigorous touring schedule and a lot of songs that are really vocally demanding. But it can really be unpleasant.

By the time of Vs., and the ‘93-‘94 live shows, he’d manage to incorporate it all in a way that checked all the boxes — amazing range, equally powerful and controlled in all registers, all traces of parody (mostly) gone.

[Farmer John]

I've decided to cast my vote for Indifference.

Hope it makes a difference!

[stip]

The early trajectory of Eddie’s voice is interesting — in ‘91, live and on Ten, it is pretty natural, full of power but also a lot of natural high end in addition to the more familiar baritone, and still some undisciplined “still finding his voice” wildness to it. But by 1992 that deep throaty thing that people always use to make fun of him is really out in full comedic force; I find some ‘92 performances really hard to listen to because of it. I’m not sure what it is, other than possibly a tool for keeping control of his voice live, through a rigorous touring schedule and a lot of songs that are really vocally demanding. But it can really be unpleasant.

By the time of Vs., and the ‘93-‘94 live shows, he’d manage to incorporate it all in a way that checked all the boxes — amazing range, equally powerful and controlled in all registers, all traces of parody (mostly) gone.

he must have been acutely aware of the parody. I hope someday we learn how intenetionally, if at all, he was moving away from it

[digster]

Those Ten-era vocal tics are what made him the greatest vocalist of all time, damn it!

It's the aural equivalent of scenery chewing...listening today, it was hard not to find some of the between-the-lyrics asides kind of funny. Is that informed by how much of a caricature it became largely by others? Probably to some degree; you can't listen to anything completely devoid of context. But I still think that while some vocalists are better off being their fully unhinged selves, others (Eddie included) get better when they learn to pick their battles more.

[liebzz]

So Eddie unhinged = bad, but Brian Fallon unhinged = good?

[stip]

Those Ten-era vocal tics are what made him the greatest vocalist of all time, damn it!

It's the aural equivalent of scenery chewing...listening today, it was hard not to find some of the between-the-lyrics asides kind of funny. Is that informed by how much of a caricature it became largely by others? Probably to some degree; you can't listen to anything completely devoid of context. But I still think that while some vocalists are better off being their fully unhinged selves, others (Eddie included) get better when they learn to pick their battles more.

it was shaksperean in all the best ways

[digster]

I'm with KD in that even by their second album two years later it was much better. He had the same intensity and passion without all of the other...stuff, for lack of a better word.

[liebzz]

Arena raising without saying you’re arena raising.

[stip]

Black wins in a brutal, bitter first round match