Song of the Moment: Getaway

[Release_Me]

Getaway is quite a screamy one and hard on the chords. Ed probably wants to preserve his voice for the tour. It's also very wordy so there's a lot of strain throughout the song. Infallible has a couple of difficult parts out of which Ed omits one live. I haven't heard MYM live except for the live debut but that's another one that would probably be downtuned if it's played regularly.

MYM has been played regularly and not tuned down (I don't think). yes it's screamy, but not high register screamy - it's more growly, in a range Eddie can handle.

getaway, on the record, is in a higher range that I can't see him handling well at all. he did ok with it tuned down, but in my opinion, the song sounded quite neutered.

Relistening to MYM, the most difficult aspect is the wordiness and the last scream at the end. Overall, it isn't as difficult as Getaway which has more strain throughout the song and enough screams scattered in to make it more taxing if done regularly on tour. He could handle it well enough if they were doing one-off performances but regularly, the toll is too much to make it reasonable.

[Mine]

Getaway is quite a screamy one and hard on the chords. Ed probably wants to preserve his voice for the tour. It's also very wordy so there's a lot of strain throughout the song. Infallible has a couple of difficult parts out of which Ed omits one live. I haven't heard MYM live except for the live debut but that's another one that would probably be downtuned if it's played regularly.

MYM has been played regularly and not tuned down (I don't think). yes it's screamy, but not high register screamy - it's more growly, in a range Eddie can handle.

getaway, on the record, is in a higher range that I can't see him handling well at all. he did ok with it tuned down, but in my opinion, the song sounded quite neutered.

Relistening to MYM, the most difficult aspect is the wordiness and the last scream at the end. Overall, it isn't as difficult as Getaway which has more strain throughout the song and enough screams scattered in to make it more taxing if done regularly on tour. He could handle it well enough if they were doing one-off performances but regularly, the toll is too much to make it reasonable.

Playing an average of 20 rather than 30 songs per night would also help in this regard.

[stupidmop]

Just imagine the shitstorm.

[harmless]

It wouldn't be any worse than every shitstorm that breaks out with every decision they make.

[Mine]

both of you

[Birds in Hell]

Getaway is quite a screamy one and hard on the chords. Ed probably wants to preserve his voice for the tour. It's also very wordy so there's a lot of strain throughout the song. Infallible has a couple of difficult parts out of which Ed omits one live. I haven't heard MYM live except for the live debut but that's another one that would probably be downtuned if it's played regularly.

MYM has been played regularly and not tuned down (I don't think). yes it's screamy, but not high register screamy - it's more growly, in a range Eddie can handle.

getaway, on the record, is in a higher range that I can't see him handling well at all. he did ok with it tuned down, but in my opinion, the song sounded quite neutered.

Relistening to MYM, the most difficult aspect is the wordiness and the last scream at the end. Overall, it isn't as difficult as Getaway which has more strain throughout the song and enough screams scattered in to make it more taxing if done regularly on tour. He could handle it well enough if they were doing one-off performances but regularly, the toll is too much to make it reasonable.

Playing an average of 20 rather than 30 songs per night would also help in this regard.

I'd be totally OK with that.

Pearl Jam shows are really, really long.

[stupidmop]

You know the first songs to go would be the 'rarities' and not the even flows though.

[stip]

Getaway is quite a screamy one and hard on the chords. Ed probably wants to preserve his voice for the tour. It's also very wordy so there's a lot of strain throughout the song. Infallible has a couple of difficult parts out of which Ed omits one live. I haven't heard MYM live except for the live debut but that's another one that would probably be downtuned if it's played regularly.

MYM has been played regularly and not tuned down (I don't think). yes it's screamy, but not high register screamy - it's more growly, in a range Eddie can handle.

getaway, on the record, is in a higher range that I can't see him handling well at all. he did ok with it tuned down, but in my opinion, the song sounded quite neutered.

Relistening to MYM, the most difficult aspect is the wordiness and the last scream at the end. Overall, it isn't as difficult as Getaway which has more strain throughout the song and enough screams scattered in to make it more taxing if done regularly on tour. He could handle it well enough if they were doing one-off performances but regularly, the toll is too much to make it reasonable.

Playing an average of 20 rather than 30 songs per night would also help in this regard.

I'd be totally OK with that.

Pearl Jam shows are really, really long.

As long as my shows are 30 plus

[harmless]

You know the first songs to go would be the 'rarities' and not the even flows though.

With every album it becomes more and more certain that Pearl Jam and the rest of the world apparently dislikes / wants to forget some of my favourite Pearl Jam albums.

[hbk]

I rather have ed strain and miss a few notes with the band absolutely on fire behind him than down tuning to suit eds vocals. At least on that track.


I dont need perfection as long as passion is at the forefront.

Has nothing to do with missing notes. He might not miss any if he sung it in the original key but it's the toll that singing it day in and day out on tour has on his voice which is why they downtuned it. If they were to do a one off, there would be no reason to downtune it.

Except they haven't been singing Getaway (or My Father's Son which was also downtuned) day in and day out on tour.

They've played Blood a few times and I haven't heard whether or not that song was downtuned (I don't think so), and that song takes the most toll on his voice.

I agree that has nothing to do with missing notes, however.

In the end it really is with what Ed is most comfortable with. If singing it in the original key is too much of a strain then he knows what he's doing and will sing it down tuned. I doubt he actually likes the idea of down tuning ANY of the songs, but he knows his own limits more than anyone else.

Down tuning is a tricky situation. It sticks out like a sore thumb if you're Pearl Jam because 99% of the rest of the set is still played in the original keys.

On the other hand, when Metallica started playing ALL their songs down tuned a half step around 1996 it didn't sound bad, though of course some songs were still better in the original tuning in my opinion (Enter Sandman).

There is also the case of Led Zeppelin. In their 2007 Ahmet Ertegun tribute show, a good majority of the old Zep songs were downtuned (the best performed song by Robert Plant on that set IMO, Kashmir, was actually in the original key) and the set sounded pretty good considering it was a bunch of guys in their 60s.

Curiously, Robert Plant has been playing Zep songs in his 2013 tour in their original key, even the early stuff like Whole Lotta Love and Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. He has clearly trained himself to sing to the songs in their original key and make it work (and he sounds AWESOME on them by the way).

Hopefully once Ed realizes that he starts struggling on more and more of PJ's catalog, he can train his voice to adhere to the original keys instead of having to downtune.

In these instances, my opinion is that downtuning definitely works for Metallica, is acceptable (but not the best) for Led Zeppelin, and isn't a good choice for Pearl Jam.

To bring this comment on topic...even if Getaway is down tuned, I would still rock out to it live and enjoy the hell out of it

[stupidmop]

You know the first songs to go would be the 'rarities' and not the even flows though.

With every album it becomes more and more certain that Pearl Jam and the rest of the world apparently dislikes / wants to forget some of my favourite Pearl Jam albums.

Honestly I can see why they do it. Even though there's a lot of fans that do mulitple shows and follow setlists and whatnot, I assume there's a large majority of the crowd that don't see them every tour or only go to one show, for them a setlist full of lost dogs and new shit is gonna leave them going wtf. Of course the dream is for them to release a new double album so awesome they can tour on it alone and fuck everything else.

I think it looks like they're striking a good balance so far this tour. It'd be cool if they shook up the middle set more though, throw in a parting ways/ acoustic of the girl / mid set indifference or something. But that's selfishly based on what I want to listen to on YouTube the next day lol. These fuckers better play tremor christ soon. And not at voodoo fest, where I just realised its likely to show up.

I wonder what would happen if they did stuff like do a completely down/ dark set one show, and a really happy one another.

[harmless]

You know the first songs to go would be the 'rarities' and not the even flows though.

With every album it becomes more and more certain that Pearl Jam and the rest of the world apparently dislikes / wants to forget some of my favourite Pearl Jam albums.

Honestly I can see why they do it. Even though there's a lot of fans that do mulitple shows and follow setlists and whatnot, I assume there's a large majority of the crowd that don't see them every tour or only go to one show, for them a setlist full of lost dogs and new shit is gonna leave them going wtf. Of course the dream is for them to release a new double album so awesome they can tour on it alone and fuck everything else.

I think it looks like they're striking a good balance so far this tour. It'd be cool if they shook up the middle set more though, throw in a parting ways/ acoustic of the girl / mid set indifference or something. But that's selfishly based on what I want to listen to on YouTube the next day lol. These fuckers better play tremor christ soon.

It's been a good tour, according to my Youtube views. I just want a bit more Binaural / Riot Act.

[Release_Me]

I rather have ed strain and miss a few notes with the band absolutely on fire behind him than down tuning to suit eds vocals. At least on that track.


I dont need perfection as long as passion is at the forefront.

Has nothing to do with missing notes. He might not miss any if he sung it in the original key but it's the toll that singing it day in and day out on tour has on his voice which is why they downtuned it. If they were to do a one off, there would be no reason to downtune it.

Except they haven't been singing Getaway (or My Father's Son which was also downtuned) day in and day out on tour.

They've played Blood a few times and I haven't heard whether or not that song was downtuned (I don't think so), and that song takes the most toll on his voice.

I agree that has nothing to do with missing notes, however.

In the end it really is with what Ed is most comfortable with. If singing it in the original key is too much of a strain then he knows what he's doing and will sing it down tuned. I doubt he actually likes the idea of down tuning ANY of the songs, but he knows his own limits more than anyone else.

Down tuning is a tricky situation. It sticks out like a sore thumb if you're Pearl Jam because 99% of the rest of the set is still played in the original keys.

On the other hand, when Metallica started playing ALL their songs down tuned a half step around 1996 it didn't sound bad, though of course some songs were still better in the original tuning in my opinion (Enter Sandman).

There is also the case of Led Zeppelin. In their 2007 Ahmet Ertegun tribute show, a good majority of the old Zep songs were downtuned (the best performed song by Robert Plant on that set IMO, Kashmir, was actually in the original key) and the set sounded pretty good considering it was a bunch of guys in their 60s.

Curiously, Robert Plant has been playing Zep songs in his 2013 tour in their original key, even the early stuff like Whole Lotta Love and Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. He has clearly trained himself to sing to the songs in their original key and make it work (and he sounds AWESOME on them by the way).

Hopefully once Ed realizes that he starts struggling on more and more of PJ's catalog, he can train his voice to adhere to the original keys instead of having to downtune.

In these instances, my opinion is that downtuning definitely works for Metallica, is acceptable (but not the best) for Led Zeppelin, and isn't a good choice for Pearl Jam.

To bring this comment on topic...even if Getaway is down tuned, I would still rock out to it live and enjoy the hell out of it

They are probably planning to perform these songs (Getaway, MFS, etc.) regularly because this is the LB tour.

Blood isn't downtuned as far as the music is concerned but Ed doesn't sing it with anywhere near the same effort or intensity as he could/used to. They way he does it, it's not too bad for his voice.

It's not about training yourself to sing in the original key. If they were touring as infrequently as Plant, it wouldn't be a problem. Their schedule requires Ed to make these decisions if he wants to sustain a complete tour. This is about the constant wear and tear that touring causes. He's doing what he can to mitigate it.

[hbk]

I rather have ed strain and miss a few notes with the band absolutely on fire behind him than down tuning to suit eds vocals. At least on that track.


I dont need perfection as long as passion is at the forefront.

Has nothing to do with missing notes. He might not miss any if he sung it in the original key but it's the toll that singing it day in and day out on tour has on his voice which is why they downtuned it. If they were to do a one off, there would be no reason to downtune it.

Except they haven't been singing Getaway (or My Father's Son which was also downtuned) day in and day out on tour.

They've played Blood a few times and I haven't heard whether or not that song was downtuned (I don't think so), and that song takes the most toll on his voice.

I agree that has nothing to do with missing notes, however.

In the end it really is with what Ed is most comfortable with. If singing it in the original key is too much of a strain then he knows what he's doing and will sing it down tuned. I doubt he actually likes the idea of down tuning ANY of the songs, but he knows his own limits more than anyone else.

Down tuning is a tricky situation. It sticks out like a sore thumb if you're Pearl Jam because 99% of the rest of the set is still played in the original keys.

On the other hand, when Metallica started playing ALL their songs down tuned a half step around 1996 it didn't sound bad, though of course some songs were still better in the original tuning in my opinion (Enter Sandman).

There is also the case of Led Zeppelin. In their 2007 Ahmet Ertegun tribute show, a good majority of the old Zep songs were downtuned (the best performed song by Robert Plant on that set IMO, Kashmir, was actually in the original key) and the set sounded pretty good considering it was a bunch of guys in their 60s.

Curiously, Robert Plant has been playing Zep songs in his 2013 tour in their original key, even the early stuff like Whole Lotta Love and Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. He has clearly trained himself to sing to the songs in their original key and make it work (and he sounds AWESOME on them by the way).

Hopefully once Ed realizes that he starts struggling on more and more of PJ's catalog, he can train his voice to adhere to the original keys instead of having to downtune.

In these instances, my opinion is that downtuning definitely works for Metallica, is acceptable (but not the best) for Led Zeppelin, and isn't a good choice for Pearl Jam.

To bring this comment on topic...even if Getaway is down tuned, I would still rock out to it live and enjoy the hell out of it

They are probably planning to perform these songs (Getaway, MFS, etc.) regularly because this is the LB tour.

Blood isn't downtuned as far as the music is concerned but Ed doesn't sing it with anywhere near the same effort or intensity as he could/used to. They way he does it, it's not too bad for his voice.

It's not about training yourself to sing in the original key. If they were touring as infrequently as Plant, it wouldn't be a problem. Their schedule requires Ed to make these decisions if he wants to sustain a complete tour. This is about the constant wear and tear that touring causes. He's doing what he can to mitigate it.

We're getting close to the halfway point of this tour, if they were planning to perform those songs regularly they would have done so already. Also Plant had almost the same amount of shows in 2013 as PJ (34 RP shows to PJ's 36).

I will grant that PJ plans for and plays a longer show, so Ed looks to take care of his voice some.

[harmless]

"The way he does it, it's not too bad for his voice."

This is vague and I don't get what it means. Blood is at least as difficult as "Getaway", however he might sing it. The chorus is way higher. You could argue that because it's higher in a smaller portion of the song, it's easier overall, but I doubt it.

[evenslow]

Also Plant had almost the same amount of shows in 2013 as PJ (34 RP shows to PJ's 36).

Plant has been touring since March with large gaps in between. Seems like an easier way to do 34 shows.

[Release_Me]

"The way he does it, it's not too bad for his voice."

This is vague and I don't get what it means. Blood is at least as difficult as "Getaway", however he might sing it. The chorus is way higher. You could argue that because it's higher in a smaller portion of the song, it's easier overall, but I doubt it.

Blood gets no higher than B4 on the studio version. There are some falsetto screams which are higher but those aren't full voice. What makes it difficult is that it's almost all screamed and screamed very powerfully. However, listen to Ed sing it from 93-95 and compare to the way he sings it now. Nowhere near the same effort. It was a much more difficult proposition back then. He's not trying to project his voice as powerfully these days while screaming, it's much more controlled.

Getaway is much more wordy and alternates screamy parts with more melodic parts which are all sung high-ish. The highest part goes up to B4, I think (will have to confirm this). He can't get into a controlled screaming groove and just make it through the song. It requires more effort to alternate between the styles and then project powerfully on the screamy parts for there to be a good contrast, if the song is to sound good.

This is my guess listening to Ed sing these days. He could have different reasons.

[hbk]

Also Plant had almost the same amount of shows in 2013 as PJ (34 RP shows to PJ's 36).

Plant has been touring since March with large gaps in between. Seems like an easier way to do 34 shows.

Ok, if we simplify it to a single tour since 2013 had full tours for both plus other appearances.

In June/July Plant played 21 shows, took a month break and played 2 more.

In this current tour, PJ is playing 23 shows, then are taking a little more than a month break and playing 6 more.

Still not that much of a difference.

To get back to the original point, down tuning works better sometimes and it really depends on the songs and the style of music. I know its easy to hate on Metallica (and I laugh at them more than I cheer for them) but they do well with their entire catalog down tuned (metal just lends itself easier to down tuning I guess). PJ seems to catch criticism for down tuning some of their stuff. I do remember Evacuation being down tuned a few tours ago, and actually liking the way it sounded.

I don't follow the Rolling Stones or The Eagles much, but know they still tour a bit...Anyone have insight as to how their songs are represented currently?

[Mine]

Also Plant had almost the same amount of shows in 2013 as PJ (34 RP shows to PJ's 36).

Plant has been touring since March with large gaps in between. Seems like an easier way to do 34 shows.

Ok, if we simplify it to a single tour since 2013 had full tours for both plus other appearances.

In June/July Plant played 21 shows, took a month break and played 2 more.

In this current tour, PJ is playing 23 shows, then are taking a little more than a month break and playing 6 more.

Still not that much of a difference.

To get back to the original point, down tuning works better sometimes and it really depends on the songs and the style of music. I know its easy to hate on Metallica (and I laugh at them more than I cheer for them) but they do well with their entire catalog down tuned (metal just lends itself easier to down tuning I guess). PJ seems to catch criticism for down tuning some of their stuff. I do remember Evacuation being down tuned a few tours ago, and actually liking the way it sounded.

I don't follow the Rolling Stones or The Eagles much, but know they still tour a bit...Anyone have insight as to how their songs are represented currently?

Plant's shows are shorter than PJ's to go back to the point i made earlier.
Also it's useless to compare one singer to another because some singer's are more prone to have issues due to certain factors.

[Mine]

"The way he does it, it's not too bad for his voice."

This is vague and I don't get what it means. Blood is at least as difficult as "Getaway", however he might sing it. The chorus is way higher. You could argue that because it's higher in a smaller portion of the song, it's easier overall, but I doubt it.

Blood gets no higher than B4 on the studio version. There are some falsetto screams which are higher but those aren't full voice. What makes it difficult is that it's almost all screamed and screamed very powerfully. However, listen to Ed sing it from 93-95 and compare to the way he sings it now. Nowhere near the same effort. It was a much more difficult proposition back then. He's not trying to project his voice as powerfully these days while screaming, it's much more controlled.

Getaway is much more wordy and alternates screamy parts with more melodic parts which are all sung high-ish. The highest part goes up to B4, I think (will have to confirm this). He can't get into a controlled screaming groove and just make it through the song. It requires more effort to alternate between the styles and then project powerfully on the screamy parts for there to be a good contrast, if the song is to sound good.

This is my guess listening to Ed sing these days. He could have different reasons.

Ed's been "faking" his screaming for years and fans have been bitching about it ever since - the same fans that were convinced to be witnessing a miracle when they did the Who tribute on VH1 because the consensus at that point was he lost his voice because he can't scream properly and hurr-durr any more so according to the expertise of the fanbase that performance was completely out of Ed's reach.