HALL OF FAME!!!!!!

[michpall]

If Eddie used the same audio echo effects and other "fake" microphone devices that other musicians use he would sound just like and probably better than 90% of singers out there at ANY age. Also, I'd love to hear any of these other musicians play 30+ song, 3 hour shows at PJ's intensity and pull off singing duties....good f'ing luck.

He chooses the most authentic, real voice sometimes at the detriment of his vocals. If you want perfect AUTO TUNE vocals then listen to the radio or EDM or Hip Hop. I dig that stuff sometimes but that shit ain't real. Sorry to bring the TRUTH.

[Norah]

michpall, how would you compare the worst pearl jam albums to other bands best work?

[Strat]

James hetfield soundsl ike crap

And are we really comparing Eddie Vedder to Bill Callahan and the singer from yes? C'mon guys.

Why not?

The guy hasn't been screaming his head off in a full throttle rock band?

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[michpall]

Comparing albums and general song craft and writing is another story. I'm obviously a huge PJ fan so I'm biased but I also understand PJ doesn't write a great song every time. There's definitely been some filler in the later albums.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[michpall]

I don't know....not many singers can pull off Pink Floyd and make it their own at an arena level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkO-lsr ... kO-lsrKzlE

[bodysnatcher]

i'm already loving michpall

[Strat]

James hetfield soundsl ike crap

And are we really comparing Eddie Vedder to Bill Callahan and the singer from yes? C'mon guys.

Why not?

The guy hasn't been screaming his head off in a full throttle rock band?

But so what? Voices change. My examples were meant to offer a bunch of people as evidence of singers who have embraced their aging vocal chords for the better. Ed's problem isn't with his vocal chords; it's with his mouth, teeth, tongue, lips, and lungs -- the phrasing and breathiness. As a band-aid for his limited capacity to belt-it-out, it's rife with awful choices.

Ah yes, i agree.

Ed has yet to embrace his limitations. But i also think thats much easier for a guy like Callahan who hasn't really done much damage to his voice to begin with, as opposed to Eddie.

But, fuck eddie, stop singing Leash and RITFW thanks.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[lecherouslittlestump]

It's ludicrous to propose that folks who are critical of Ed's current vocal issues are only that way because they're so up to their ears in PJ music that they can't think straight. I'd say that most people on RM are well past their "all PJ, all the time" stage. Ed's wheezing and syllable-bending issues are fairly self-evident and easily objectively assessed; they sound pretty much the same to me whether I'm in the midst of a PJ kick or focused on other things.

Look man, his voice is not going to get better. He'll never be that dude from Ten and Vs, but that's the same for every single aging rocker ever. But, he's making up for it in other ways where he can capture the nuances on mid-tempo or the folkier stuff. I think when it's just him and a guitar he'll always be good kinda like a Johnny Cash or something. But in front of a full-throttle rock band he'll be raspy like Bruce is right now. We'll have to do good w/ it, I'm overall okay with it.

Bruce is actually a really good example of a singer whose voice undoubtedly changed as he got older, and he found a way to make it work for the music. I think him and Ed went in opposite directions; Bruce got some grit and sandpaper he was lacking as a younger singer, but Eddie's voice seems to have gotten more 'pinched' for lack of a better term.

Agreed although Bruce really went too far into "grit/sandpaper" in the 90s/00s with a horrible twang style of singing (eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfirrFxJrQQ). He's a lot better now. Regardless, he's never smoked and takes good care of his voice - his voice at nearly 70 is way more powerful than EV at 50. Don't smoke kids.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[evenslow]

Thom Yorke, Jeff Tweedy, Kim Gordon, Leonard Cohen, James Hetfield, Bill Callahan, and Damon Albarn have all done some of their best singing (and complimentary songwriting) in their later years.

This is complete apples to oranges trag.

Leonard Cohen??? Bill fucking Callahan??? There's no comparison to the style of singing Vedder has done throughout his career.

If you're going to compare it should be to people like Daltrey, who at least live in the same ballpark.

[LetMeSleep]

Just for a second guys, stop and consider Leonard Cohen singing Leash.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Kevin Davis]

Holy crap, I'd love to hear Callahan cover "Dead Man."

[Kevin Davis]

It's ludicrous to propose that folks who are critical of Ed's current vocal issues are only that way because they're so up to their ears in PJ music that they can't think straight. I'd say that most people on RM are well past their "all PJ, all the time" stage. Ed's wheezing and syllable-bending issues are fairly self-evident and easily objectively assessed; they sound pretty much the same to me whether I'm in the midst of a PJ kick or focused on other things.

Look man, his voice is not going to get better. He'll never be that dude from Ten and Vs, but that's the same for every single aging rocker ever. But, he's making up for it in other ways where he can capture the nuances on mid-tempo or the folkier stuff. I think when it's just him and a guitar he'll always be good kinda like a Johnny Cash or something. But in front of a full-throttle rock band he'll be raspy like Bruce is right now. We'll have to do good w/ it, I'm overall okay with it.

This really isn't what I was arguing. I agree that it's unlikely that his deteriorating voice will suddenly improve, though I don't agree that there is anything resembling that sort of ragged, roadworn "wisdom" in his voice that you hear in Springsteen's. My point was really just that you have no basis for assuming that the only reason people are critical of Ed's singing is because they listen to half a dozen PJ shows per day and have lost perspective. Many people on this forum listen to PJ only sporadically at best and still find his singing weak; indeed in some cases I'd suspect the latter to be a specific cause of the former. Just because someone listens closely and critically and reflects back what they hear with unfiltered honesty doesn't mean there's some kind of psychological deficiency in their listening. Sometimes things just sound bad.

[TremorJam]

I got swept up in the madness over getting all these shows free. I would've never bought that many. I'm finally at a point to where I've went through them and decided what I'm keeping. Before this, I really hadn't heard any of their music since 2014- ish? I think the Australian mix was the last thing I listened to, so it was something akin to rediscovery.

Now that the nostalgia factor's worn off, it's almost normal listening again. I just don't think he sounded that terrible for the 15 or so minutes on the program. There's quite a few shows where he's out of gas from the night before or running on fumes in the encores. They should retire the more challenging songs for him (Blood, Leash etc..) and trim the shows by 30 minutes or so. It also became redundant with the combinations of either BARY/BARI or BABY/BABI for the second encores.