Best and worst eras for Eddie vocally?

[mikejasond]

1992 was amazing...heard some awesome stuff from 1994 too...heard some meh stuff from 1995 though, great stuff from 98. The 2003 bootlegs sound much better than 2000 to me...2006 was a peak...2010 I heard him at MSG sounding surprisingly good for late PJ but 2012 was horrendous...2014 also sounds surprisingly good on some boots.

im sure somebody could break this down much better.

[Strat]

YES!!!!

[lecherouslittlestump]

1991 - 2006 - god

2007-present - godawful

[Dark Helmet]

In 2006 the live versions of Inside Job mapped out how Ed would become un-listenable for me. There were three key problems with his approach that eventually came to dominate his singing style.

1. Deliberate use of the "warble."
2. Overuse of the letter "h" as if he was doing the "cool wHip" bit from Family Guy.
3. Attempts at dramatic pronunciation (how he says "everything") that failed ... well, dranatically.

It's been really painful listening to this approach slowly become his go to over the last eleven years given that as far as I can tell they are choices rather than signs of age.

[Monkey_Driven]

In 2006 the live versions of Inside Job mapped out how Ed would become un-listenable for me. There were three key problems with his approach that eventually came to dominate his singing style.

1. Deliberate use of the "warble."
2. Overuse of the letter "h" as if he was doing the "cool wHip" bit from Family Guy.
3. Attempts at dramatic pronunciation (how he says "everything") that failed ... well, dranatically.

It's been really painful listening to this approach slowly become his go to over the last eleven years given that as far as I can tell they are choices rather than signs of age.

They're choices to mask his weakening power and ability sustain notes.

[mikejasond]

At least he's gotten better from 2012 though. His inability to sustain notes was WORSE then because he didnt try. he would just stop and start again.

[Strat]

I also wonder who the best drummer is

[mikejasond]

Dave A

[Sgt. Crackpot]

I also wonder who the best drummer is

[rick malone]

Best Eddie vocal era:1990.

Best Drummer:Hard to say, maybe Jimmy Shoaf. Showed a lot of promise during his brief stint. I liked his "minimal approach".

[---]

chud drove into a house

[Iholdthepain]

2006 was his peak???...

[Leatherhead]

Best is '94 and '98. Worst?....I don't know.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Sgt. Crackpot]

chud drove into a house

ha wtf

[stip]

studio wise, my favorite era is 1991-1994. Probably 1996-2000 is the stretch I like the least.

[BootsToAsses]

In 1990-1992 he was powerful but he didn't have much control. He had beautiful moments and shoddy moments.

1994 is fantastic, he had absolutely learned to control his vocals by this point.

1995 was shocking Yet the shows are still brilliant to listen to.

In 1996 he started to have a softer, almost nasal approach to his singing which I enjoy listening to. 1998 is definitely a peak. The power is still there when necessary, he has control and he can absolutely kill with a performance of DTE.

2000 is pretty great for the most part. 2003 is great but there are times he sounds a bit flat. Perhaps it's because the studio sessions for Riot Act didn't really stretch him vocally due to the subdued nature of the material. Great moments though.

2005/2006 are fantastic, and his last great era of singing. It's been steadily downhill since then, with 2009-2011 being the worst. 2012 onwards, he's gotten better. 2013 and 2014 are pretty great. 2016 is a bit hit and miss.

[mikejasond]

Its interesting. I know 2000 is popular but Ive heard a couple 2000 and 2003 boots lately and to me Eddie and the band sound much better in 2003...

I thought he sounded wonderful at MSG1 but I will admit he started to lose it in the second half. But the sound of 2000 is just off to me.

[twoheadedboy]

Late Summer '91 - most of '92 was pretty incredible. Had some rough parts when he was sick on the first European tour.
'93 - '94 was incredible. 95% of the power of the previous era, with much better control and richness.
The wheels began to come off at the end of Pacific Rim '95, and the US Vitalogy tour is just horrendous for vocals.
'96 is much better, but I don't know, he just sounds "tired" to me on a lot of it. Definitely a transitory period that hasn't finished yet.
'98 is mostly superb, that transitory period is complete, though he starts to wear down leg 3.
'00 is the tale of 3 tours vocally, each leg is distinct from the other.
'03 pretty much starts off like the best of leg 3 '00, maybe a bit better. Leg 1 US is probably the best tour vocally (and otherwise) since '98. Starts to wear down leg 2 due to the illness, and then the Mansfield Marathon.
'04/'05 is another transition. This is the first time where I feel like they showed up night 1 and had not practiced, playing into tightness, end of the tours is much better than the beginning.
'06 was completely unprecedented. Pretty much the whole tour is incredible, though other than San Francisco 3 and Gorge 1, there aren't a ton of "all-time great" shows like '03 had. But there are way more A- shows than '03.
'07 was just a weaker '06 with less tightness like '04/'05. Lolla was probably the last great Ed vocal performance - not that it's particularly good for the era, but everything that came after was a significantly worse performance.
'08 was the beginning of the end, huge changes here that continued into '09, and got worse in '10.
'11 was again a tour where they seemingly did not practice before hitting the road. PJ20 was a disaster (from a band tightness and vocals perspective), Toronto was a little better, and by South America they were great again...best vocals of this "new era" I have starting in '08/'09.
'12 and '13 continued the decline. I saw my last Pearl Jam show at Wrigley in '13, thought about Moline and Milwaukee but said "nah" in the end. Still listen to PJ Radio on XM on occasion, nothing has enticed me to pay the money for a Pearl Jam ticket, though I have not listened to enough material to continue to track the state of vocal affairs as before.

[Strat]

bump