Pearl Jam WEEK on Jimmy Fallon

[harmless]

Yikes, what a bummer of a vocal. Lots of flats and goating.

I never understand why he keeps writing parts that are hard for him to reach. It's only going to get harder, dude, and it's not a crime to write to your current voice. It's kept some of your friends in business for years.

aren't you the 'what matters is the studio' take guy?

I don't know that the issue here was the part. Eddie just sounded pretty hoarse even from the beginning. I think this was tour fatigue more than the song.

Not that the broader point isn't generally valid.

i'm not sure that's it's tour fatigue.. eddie's been a bit flat on sirens since the start of the tour pretty much. he just can't get up there like he once could. i just wish he would face that fact and work around it, rather than continuing to write songs that he can't sing live. imo, this is the reason we haven't seen getaway yet.. there's no way he could sing that in the key used on the record. and that starts making me wonder how he did it in the studio..

Can't it be both? I've seen live versions of Sirens on Youtube, and while they're a bit flat sometimes, none of them have been as bad as that. It wasn't just that he couldn't reach the notes, his voice was cracking and it sounded hoarse. That comes from having used it too heavily.

[harmless]

It's also the fact that he was flat on the low notes (that he usually reaches perfectly fine) that makes me think tour fatigue, more than the song. Right from the second "Hear the sirens", he's off, and that part is really not difficult to sing.

[Ledbetterman10]

new subject: Has Pearl Jam burned its bridges with David Letterman? yes. discuss.

I was thinking the same thing the other day

I posted the same thing on the message pit because of how the band played Conan instead of Dave to promote Backspacer. But then someone reminded me that Eddie appeared solo on Dave to promote Uke Songs so I don't think there's any burned bridges. Fallon is just the right spot for them now. Hell, he did a Pearl Jam week.

[Thejambi]

It could just be because of the NBC/Universal connection.

[stupidmop]

Jesus jimmy fallon is enthusiastic about everything. I LOVE TRAINS.

Whats eddie pointing to on his guitar at the end there? Number 21?

He didn't sound all that different to me than usual, but including the studio version and video version this is only the third time ive listened to the song. A little hoarse maybe and it didn't help he was so much louder than the music though.

'Grateful meauhn' 'Understeauhnd' Dammit ed stop it.

[harmless]

I agree, the problems with the vocal would've been halved by having him further down in the mix (which is probably closer to what the TV audience was hearing).

[Kevin Davis]

I'm the album love no show guy, yeah. But I don't necessarily agree with the "I don't care how they do it, so long as it sounds good" crowd. All that electronic "fixing" seems fine individually...adjust Ed's vocal and you can't always tell, EQ the shit out of the drums and electronically lock them to the tempo and you dont really notice, compress and scoop frequencies out of the guitars like mad and they dont sound all that different...but then you pan out and hear it all together and it's a little bit soulless all of the sudden.

You dont need to understand those acts to hear that this record has a barrier between the humanity at its core and the listener that Yield doesn't have, or that Quadrophona doesn't have, or Harvest or The River or Begger's Banquet. When you give a tiger a very large cage, you see a tiger. But a big cage limits your control over where the tiger goes, so you start adjusting and adjusting and....

Then the cage gets too small, and what you see is the cage.

This "perfection over humanity" aesthetic makes records sound like a lot of this one does...vacant, robotic, and controlled.

I wish I could buy you a beer.

I'll pitch in. McP has been dropping some serious science lately.

[Thejambi]

I agree, the problems with the vocal would've been halved by having him further down in the mix (which is probably closer to what the TV audience was hearing).

My second listen has cemented this. The lack of bass/guitars is just leaving the drums and vocals hanging out there.

[Jorge]

Jesus jimmy fallon is enthusiastic about everything. I LOVE TRAINS.

I dig the enthusiasm but it gets to be a little grating. He's had Elvis Costello on a few times (which resulted in the new Roots/Costello album) and the interview segments are awful 'cause he's just stammering and tripping over himself talking about how much of a fan he is. Just relax, guy.

[harmless]

I agree, the problems with the vocal would've been halved by having him further down in the mix (which is probably closer to what the TV audience was hearing).

My second listen has cemented this. The lack of bass/guitars is just leaving the drums and vocals hanging out there.

Yup. I mean the studio song is all driven by vocals and drums, but there at least they both sound really good. Same thing happens live and...

[stupidmop]

Jesus jimmy fallon is enthusiastic about everything. I LOVE TRAINS.

I dig the enthusiasm but it gets to be a little grating. He's had Elvis Costello on a few times (which resulted in the new Roots/Costello album) and the interview segments are awful 'cause he's just stammering and tripping over himself talking about how much of a fan he is. Just relax, guy.

It's kind of refreshing, but at the same time i refuse to believe he loves aallll those things

Apparently ed is gonna be talking to him on todays show, i expect lot's of ums, stuttering, talking over eachother, deer in the headlights facial expressions and ed not knowing what to do with praise.

[dprival78]

Yikes, what a bummer of a vocal. Lots of flats and goating.

I never understand why he keeps writing parts that are hard for him to reach. It's only going to get harder, dude, and it's not a crime to write to your current voice. It's kept some of your friends in business for years.

aren't you the 'what matters is the studio' take guy?

I don't know that the issue here was the part. Eddie just sounded pretty hoarse even from the beginning. I think this was tour fatigue more than the song.

Not that the broader point isn't generally valid.

i'm not sure that's it's tour fatigue.. eddie's been a bit flat on sirens since the start of the tour pretty much. he just can't get up there like he once could. i just wish he would face that fact and work around it, rather than continuing to write songs that he can't sing live. imo, this is the reason we haven't seen getaway yet.. there's no way he could sing that in the key used on the record. and that starts making me wonder how he did it in the studio..

Can't it be both? I've seen live versions of Sirens on Youtube, and while they're a bit flat sometimes, none of them have been as bad as that. It wasn't just that he couldn't reach the notes, his voice was cracking and it sounded hoarse. That comes from having used it too heavily.

i suppose it could be both.. and the fact that the sound generally sucks on these tv performances. but there is still the fact that eddie can't effectively sing those higher parts anymore - at least not with any consistency, so he should face reality and stop writing them.

look at me.. asking a man who has a flunky fill wine bottles with fruit punch gatorade to face reality..

[Thejambi]

Those were some pretty glassy eyes. I bet he was high as fuck.

[Release_Me]

For the last time, Sirens isn't a difficult vocal for Ed at all. It's all in his comfort zone. There really is no 'high' part in the song. It's all in his comfort zone and even the highest parts are upper fourth octave, just belted out. He just couldn't belt in this performance. His voice was shot and it has nothing to do with the song's difficulty. It's probably the easiest song for him to sing from tracks 1-8 on the new album. If he struggles with Sirens, he'll struggle with just about everything.

The youtube performances of Sirens from the tour have all been ok if not perfect. Minor issues which happen in a live setting. This one shows him clearly struggling. Could have been sick. Could have been tour fatigue. A bad night happens once in a while.

[Thejambi]

It has not passed the masturbation test. Shame.

[digster]

For the last time, Sirens isn't a difficult vocal for Ed at all. It's all in his comfort zone. There really is no 'high' part in the song. It's all in his comfort zone and even the highest parts are upper fourth octave, just belted out. He just couldn't belt in this performance. His voice was shot and it has nothing to do with the song's difficulty. It's probably the easiest song for him to sing from tracks 1-8 on the new album. If he struggles with Sirens, he'll struggle with just about everything.

The youtube performances of Sirens from the tour have all been ok if not perfect. Minor issues which happen in a live setting. This one shows him clearly struggling. Could have been sick. Could have been tour fatigue. A bad night happens once in a while.

Speaking from my limited experience as a singer, there are songs I've written which don't scrape the top of my range which are harder to sing than songs that do. It can depend on the melody, the times you're able to catch your breath, the tone you're singing in; I don't know if Sirens is one of those songs for Eddie, but it's possible.

[hlniv]

This has probably already been covered, but shouldn't we know what they're playing on the show tonight already? They recorded it yesterday, right? Do we already know it's Lightning Bolt for that reason, or is it just a guess?

[Thejambi]

This has probably already been covered, but shouldn't we know what they're playing on the show tonight already? They recorded it yesterday, right? Do we already know it's Lightning Bolt for that reason, or is it just a guess?

Heard they aren't recording it until today.

Spoiler: show

Betterman

[Release_Me]

I highly doubt it. Sirens just isn't that difficult a song for Ed. The higher parts are right in his sweet spot, just before things start to get tough for him as far as belting from the chest is concerned. Infallible is the sort of song where he could be uncomfortable live. Though he hasn't been in all the tour videos I've seen so far. He does skip the high part before the solo but then belts it fine after.

Sirens on Fallon is more a case of him struggling with his voice than the song itself.

[dprival78]

This has probably already been covered, but shouldn't we know what they're playing on the show tonight already? They recorded it yesterday, right? Do we already know it's Lightning Bolt for that reason, or is it just a guess?

Heard they aren't recording it until today.

Spoiler: show

Betterman

Spoiler: show

(live)?