Red Mosquito

Given To Fly (Los Angeles 1998-07-14) vs. Deep (Las Vegas 1993-11-30)

Deep. I almost can’t stand to hear GtF anymore.

That yell at the beginning of Deep...goddamn. That alone makes me vote Deep.

I barely ever listen to GTF anymore, but sometimes when I do, it strikes me as the truly wonderful song that I loved so much for a few years after Yield came out. This performance was fantastic. Love it. Deep has always been a song that continues to get better for me with age, and I have liked it since I was 12 years old and first heard Ten. The best live versions of this song rival some of my favorite performances Pearl Jam has ever had. And this version of Deep definitely fits the bill. Ed’s voice is incredible. Dave A kicks so much ass. And the band sounds amazing. It’s Deep, man. It’s Deep.

There is arguably no other song in the Pearl Jam catalog whose character and emotional nuance is lost so profoundly to the increased tempos of their live performances as "Given to Fly." But when it's done like this, it is my favorite Pearl Jam song (though I personally would have Definitive Live'd a Jack version, Matt kept very true to the spirit of the song in his 1998 renditions, and anyway it's Mike's fault for supercharging it in later years). This is a good performance of "Deep," one of my favorites on "Ten" these days, but yarling '93 Pearl Jam is just not in the same ballpark for me.

Deep.

GTF from 98 is the last time it sounded great. But fucking Deep.

Given to Fly, though Deep is a hell of a contender. One thing I never really picked up on before in Given to Fly is how in the last vocal break after the last chorus, he employs pretty much every voice he has (at least on Yield). There's the gritty, sandpaper screams when he's yelling fly, and the full voice singing he does right afterwards. He breaks into falsetto for a moment, only to end the song far lower in his register. It's a pretty impressive vocal moment that, despite being the climax of the song, doesn't call too much attention to how challenging that probably is to sing correctly.

Deep

Really wanted to vote GTF here b/c the rest of the band is so on point but MC (even in 98) just plays this thing wrong. For fuck's sake, bring back Jack.

How do you NOT choose a version of GTF in '98 by JACK IRONS!??!! - Look at ANY of the Australian shows before he left. He's amazing on them! Matt doesn't come close to the guy that WROTE the drum part...

jackcameron wrote:How do you NOT choose a version of GTF in '98 by JACK IRONS!??!! - Look at ANY of the Australian shows before he left. He's amazing on them! Matt doesn't come close to the guy that WROTE the drum part...

This guy gets it.

Birds in Hell wrote:

jackcameron wrote:How do you NOT choose a version of GTF in '98 by JACK IRONS!??!! - Look at ANY of the Australian shows before he left. He's amazing on them! Matt doesn't come close to the guy that WROTE the drum part...

This guy gets it.

Jack Irons is not playing on this version though. That was kinda my point.

Kevin Davis wrote:There is arguably no other song in the Pearl Jam catalog whose character and emotional nuance is lost so profoundly to the increased tempos of their live performances as "Given to Fly." But when it's done like this, it is my favorite Pearl Jam song (though I personally would have Definitive Live'd a Jack version, Matt kept very true to the spirit of the song in his 1998 renditions, and anyway it's Mike's fault for supercharging it in later years). This is a good performance of "Deep," one of my favorites on "Ten" these days, but yarling '93 Pearl Jam is just not in the same ballpark for me.

I'll defend the fast, thundering modern live versions of GTF as a consistently great live moment (at least when you're there) but it does have a totally different character from the studio versions - which remains one of the quintessential songs I'd point to when someone asks what pearl jam is about. It's not my favorite, but it was a top 5 for a long time, and I wouldn't argue with anyone who had it at the top. It's wonderful.

This version, while faithful to the studio version, is a bit too similar, and doesn't fully measure up to it.

I remember being totally blow away with GTF in the PJ20 trailer...i was fuck, i forgot how good that groove is.

impressive performance of deep, but I've heard them do it bigger. I'll vote for GTF