The most embarrassing thing from PJ’s career - RESULTS

[Chris_H_2]

it bugs me the way ed's voice crackles on the "she once believes" lyric in the second verse of nothingman on the recorded version. yet paradoxically, i will only listen to the recorded version now. i'm very much over this song live (particularly where it's become a part of the 3-5 song, slow-burning start to every concert).

[Kevin Davis]

Great live version of "Nothingman" -- the debut I think, and possibly the only time it was ever played live with an electric:


I definitely understand feeling a bit bored by it in the current setup though.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Chris_H_2]

Great live version of "Nothingman" -- the debut I think, and possibly the only time it was ever played live with an electric:


I definitely understand feeling a bit bored by it in the current setup though.

i was at that show!!!

[Chris_H_2]

The recorded version is top PJ for me.

And what the hell Chris, his vulnerable performance is what makes it so great

trag, a pitchy high note does not equal vulnerability

[Ms Harmless]

Smile is wildly underrated; I don't know if it's *better* than Nothingman but I don't regret giving it the vote; it might well be my favourite song on No Code

[Ms Harmless]

The recorded version is top PJ for me.

And what the hell Chris, his vulnerable performance is what makes it so great

trag, a pitchy high note does not equal vulnerability

tell that to Thom Yorke

[Ms Harmless]

there's nothing funner in the catalogue than saying "this is how I feel!" in Ed's swaggy way along to the music

[RockPusher]

Smile is wildly underrated; I don't know if it's *better* than Nothingman but I don't regret giving it the vote; it might well be my favourite song on No Code

Agreed, plus the word written in Eddie's script with the picture of the three crooked hearts is an iconic tattoo at this point

[RockPusher]

The first time I heard the “Better Man” first verse thing I thought it was awesome. It felt less awesome subsequent times. There are some concert gestures that are meant for the setlist spotters and fans that collect boots and travel to multiple shows; other gestures are meant for the people who are at their first and/or only show, or aren’t otherwise at risk for having a seemingly spontaneous, special moment exposed as manufactured and routinized. Can’t fault them for trying to find moments in shows that appeal to all levels of fan, even though I am generally with Wease in not really enjoying those moments anymore. I go to shows because I want to hear the band, not the crowd.

Kevin Davis said it better than I did.

And yet…

5/21/2010 at MSG, that crowd response to Better Man was one of the most amazing live music experiences of my life - not the singalong per se, but when Vedder paused to take in the moment and the crowd kept getting louder - the loudest I have heard any crowd - was really something

9/11/22 also at MSG - not manufactured at all, but the way the crowd responded as Present Tense built on itself, it was like a room wide swelling that just bursted when they hit the jam in the second half of the song. The place was literally bumping, and it was just astonishing.

So these moments still happen, though probably in both cases they were less manufactured and lived in the moment.

[spike]

The recorded version is top PJ for me.

And what the hell Chris, his vulnerable performance is what makes it so great

trag, a pitchy high note does not equal vulnerability

terrible take

[bodysnatcher]

Chris can’t feel emotion

[Bammer]

You guys are getting way off topic

[igotworms]

The recorded version is top PJ for me.

And what the hell Chris, his vulnerable performance is what makes it so great

trag, a pitchy high note does not equal vulnerability

In the 30 years I've listened to the album version of that song I don't think I've ever considered Ed's singing on it 'pitchy'.

They can never really do justice to the song live as they can't replicate the harmonies.

[spike]

The recorded version is top PJ for me.

And what the hell Chris, his vulnerable performance is what makes it so great

trag, a pitchy high note does not equal vulnerability

In the 30 years I've listened to the album version of that song I don't think I've ever considered Ed's singing on it 'pitchy'.

They can never really do justice to the song live as they can't replicate the harmonies.

Low Light suffers from this too.

[Kevin Davis]

It's unfortunate because Stone and (especially) Matt are both pretty decent harmony singers, but for whatever reason it's not an element of their performance that they've made the effort to develop beyond the utilitarian.

[super nintendo chalmers]

Mohawk Ed.

[spike]

It's unfortunate because Stone and (especially) Matt are both pretty decent harmony singers, but for whatever reason it's not an element of their performance that they've made the effort to develop beyond the utilitarian.

Re Nothingman and Low Light, they’re both Jeff compositions, so he handles the harmony vocal. Stone or Matt would be much better; Jeff can’t sing in key to save his life.

[Ms Harmless]

I like the harmony work on Gigaton and I think we might get some on Dark Matter

[lvc]

Not embarrassing, but makes me sad: Jack Irons never rejoining the bad were he able to get healthy. The way the band played with him is my favorite way they play.


Actually embarrassing: Future Days. That's the kind of song you record into your iPhone and text to your wife. And I think what makes it truly embarrassing is that the rest of the band was like, "eh whatever it's fine" and sent it to press. Yellow Moon could have been developed into a show-stopping closer if it hadn't been amputated in favor of Future Days.

My least favorite parts of Gigaton share this heritage of Eddie writing something that's ho hum diary entries (like 7 o'clock -- even titled like a diary entry) and the band not being able to turn it into something interesting.


Also embarrassing: forgetting how to mix live recordings so you can hear Stone. Like he was sonically fired from the band and nobody noticed. Cf the entire mix on Live on Ten legs which is so anemic I forget it even exists.