Eddie Vedder - Earthling

[epilogue]

I'm much more surprised by RM's reaction to this album than I am by the quality of the album itself.

Pleasant surprise, indeed!

never trust first impressions

lots of folks liked Backspacer initially too

If Backspacer had been an EV solo record though...

I just don't get this argument. It's the second time it's come up this afternoon. Weird.

[stip]

Still waiting for Stip's review though!

I'm so pumped to hear his thoughts. I could really see it going either way for him. :fingerscrossed:

I'll be really surprised if Stip isn't into this.

ill post first impressions tonight but I am way behind on my reviewing - I hope put together a big piece on the last 3 solo projects in the next week or so

[DeeDee]

The Dark is very good straight forward-Sprinsteen rock.

Love it.

[liebzz]

The Dark is very good straight forward-Sprinsteen rock.

Love it.

Thought the exact same thing this morning listening.

Nearly could have been on Born in the USA

[Fattie_Vedder]

Something strange is happening the more I listen to it. Power of Right is fast shooting up as one of my favorites.

I take back what I said about the production not working on the harder/rockier songs of the album. It works for what they're trying to do on this album. It works for making it sound really loud. It would be anathema if trying to highlight nuanced tones, notes, and flourishes here and there, which is an aspect of PJ that I love, particularly an album like Yield. Which is why I wouldn't want this "sound" or production style on a PJ album, even though I enjoy quite a bit here. And I don't see it as PJ muffling Eddie's sound, rather that Eddie is forcing his music onto the band and muffling their individual flourishes.

The Haves... like an insidious parasite, is growing on me. I still don't care for it, but I've heard enough times that the melody is in my head. I realize that I hate it's concept and lyrics more than the music itself. Sigh...

On My Way... when Ed says "can you hear us Echo Victor? When we love, we are invincible" is such a nice touch to bring the album full circle from the opener and goes a long way to making the Echo Victor thing less cheesy. He called out to the void in the beginning of his journey, and the wisdom of his ancestors responded in the end.

[RockPusher]

I just don't get this argument. It's the second time it's come up this afternoon. Weird.

My point is that EV=/=PJ. Expectations are different, in the sense that we are all to some degree Pearl Jam fans, and while that makes us EV fans, it doesn't definitively make us fans of his solo work. If his solo work is great, woohoo! But if his solo work doesn't live up to the PJ standard, that's not the same kind of dealbreaker as when PJ's work doesn't live up to the PJ standard.

[Fattie_Vedder]

The Dark is very good straight forward-Sprinsteen rock.

Love it.

Thought the exact same thing this morning listening.

Nearly could have been on Born in the USA

Listen to Dancing In The Dark and report back.

[Release_Me]

So I just turned 38 and this album has been a great early birthday present. The thing that makes me happiest besides the fact that the songs are really good and Ed sounds great, is how most people here are loving or at least liking the album. It's a bit of a downer when others are shitting on music you enjoy listening to so I'm thankful this album has something in it for most of you guys.

Happy birthday! My son just celebrated his 9th and last month I celebrated my 46th. I'm such the ideal demographic for the "dad rock" version of Eddie Vedder, lol. So glad you like this album and it's been meaningful for you- same for me!

[benton netty]

Just stopped at Target to grab the CD. It wasn't even on the shelf -- kid had to grab it from the stockroom. Very disappointed in the lack of interesting liner notes. No lyrics, and just a few filtered shots of Ed that look like he's posing for grad pics in a basement. Looks like someone made it in Canva in 30 minutes. Ed couldn't even be bothered to whip out the typewriter?

Luckily, the record is pretty fun. Good energy, good singing, decent songs, crappy dead-drum modern-rock production. The Elton collab is bland mom-rock from hell and makes me wanna puke, but songs like "The Dark," "Brother the Cloud," and a few others are pretty enjoyable. He's particularly on the ball with lyrics, here -- which is why it's stupid there are none in the CD.

Last time I bought a CD was Gigaton. Figured that would be my last one ever, but here I am. Weird that I started the pandemic with a PJ CD, and now we're ending it (hopefully) with EV.

[stip]

I just don't get this argument. It's the second time it's come up this afternoon. Weird.

My point is that EV=/=PJ. Expectations are different, in the sense that we are all to some degree Pearl Jam fans, and while that makes us EV fans, it doesn't definitively make us fans of his solo work. If his solo work is great, woohoo! But if his solo work doesn't live up to the PJ standard, that's not the same kind of dealbreaker as when PJ's work doesn't live up to the PJ standard.

agreed. this seems pretty straightforward to me

[dprival78]

was just going to post about the cd.. whole reason i ordered it was for liner notes

weird

[Jaeti]

Just figured out what Try has been, er, trying to remind me of all day.

And also sort of a key to why I'm enjoying this so much in general. This is a song I always loved that was Eddie having fun outside of Pearl Jam:

[stip]

with a few exceptions the further this strays from grunge/punk influences the more I like it, probably because my subconscious mind doesn’t immediately start cataloging and comparing it to so many of my favorite songs that have been important to me for decades

[stip]

after two listens (not headphones/focused experiences) invincible, the dark, try, and Mrs Mills and On My Way were the standouts, none of which feel like the types of songs I would have gravitated to

[Anders]

Think the Flag Day soundtrack was hit and miss, but perhaps replacing the 3-4 lesser songs here, and replacing them with the top Ed songs from Flag Day could work.

[stip]

interesting - which ones? they dont feel particularly compatabile to me

[Anders]

after two listens (not headphones/focused experiences) invincible, the dark, try, and Mrs Mills and On My Way were the standouts, none of which feel like the types of songs I would have gravitated to

Good songs. Love that Ed’s dads voice was part of On My Way, but think the song needed another minute or two.

[stip]

i saw a bunch of backspacer comparisons earlier, but this album has stronger Yield vibes to me

[Anders]

interesting - which ones? they dont feel particularly compatabile to me

Flag Day, Tender Mercies, I’ll Be Waiting.

[Anders]

i saw a bunch of backspacer comparisons earlier, but this album has stronger Yield vibes to me

Unsurprisingly, I think Ed sounds a lot like he did on Gigaton. That’s what I thought of most.