Arc

There isn’t much to Arc, just Eddie’s glorious voice looped over and over. Apparently it’s looped 9 times (one for each of the victims of the Roskilde incident, we assume) with most of the loops providing background while one takes the lead. They only performed it 9 times live, each during their 2003 tour, and they probably won’t again for a very long time.

Ed’s voice has always been the most crucial and magnificent part of Pearl Jam to me. He just has this mesmerizing, masculine quality that never fails to turn me on. I’ve even made mix-CDs before simply titled “Ed’s Voice” (not joking). I know most (rational) people focus on lyrics and the music to judge artists, and Pearl Jam excels in those too, but Ed’s voice will always be the heart and backbone of the band’s music to me.

To hear most of Riot Act was painful for me at first. Ed’s so downtrodden, shaky and pathetic sounding that I really couldn’t stand anything but “I am Mine” at first. The whole album feels lost and confused. I’ve since come to appreciate the maturity and sadness in it, but at first I just thought he’d lost it. Those beautiful vocal cords, the ones that Scott Stapp and Scott Weiland could only hope to imitate, the ones that gave me “Release” and “Nothingman,” the ones that sold over 10 million copies of Ten, were apparently gone.

Then I hit the second-to-last track, “Arc.” It was short, a little over a minute, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. Even then, when I thought it was nothing more than a showcase for those golden pipes, it meant so much to me. Just to hear Ed sing like that, for him to soar so confidently, is absolutely mesmerizing. For him to take all the vocal work he’d done before and outshine it in every way meant a lot to me. I know I’m being pretentious about something seemingly trivial, but this song is that important to me. It was definitely a milestone in my obsession with this band.

I didn’t realize when I first heard it that this song was a direct tribute to those who died in the Roskilde tragedy. Once I found this out, the song’s importance to me jumped exponentially. Eddie focuses so much pain, guilt and loss into the simple sound of his voice as only he could do. Obviously, Love Boat Captain and I am Mine reference the Roskilde tragedy, and they’re both amazing songs, but for some reason they don’t strike such a deep cord with me. Pearl Jam love their fans, especially this hardcore following that’s developed around them in later years, and this song is their most stirring tribute to that.

This is a 5 star song to me (despite the fact that it can hardly be classified as music) if only for how much emotion Ed puts into something so simple.

Previous Songs of the Moment
1. In My Tree
2. Red Mosquito
3. Porch
4. I Got Id
5. Release
6. Do The Evolution
7. Breath
8. Corduroy
9. Elderly Woman...
10. Leash
11. Hail Hail
12. Grievance
13. Love Boat Captain
14. Even Flow
15. Black Red Yellow
16. In Hiding
17. Can't Keep
18. Indifference
19. Insignificance
20. Whipping
21. Black
22. Smile
23. Push Me Pull Me
24. Rats
25. God's Dice
26. All or None
27. Yellow Ledbetter
28. Last Exit
29. Who You Are
30. Rearview Mirror
31. Hold On
32. Present Tense
33. Light Years
34. Alive
35. Brain of J
36. Thumbing My Way
37. Hard to Imagine
38. Tremor Christ
39. Rival
40. Animal
41. Lukin
42. You Are
43. betterman
44. Given to Fly
45. Once
46. Low Light
47. Parting Ways
48. Off He Goes
49. Go
50. get right
51. World Wide Suicide
52. Angel
53. MFC
54. Long Road
55. Why Go
56. Nothingman
57. Save You
58. Of A Girl
59. Habit
60. Satan’s Bed
61. Faithful
62. Oceans
63. Gone
64. WMA
65. State of Love and Trust
66. Spin The Black Circle

very surprising pick, 4 stars. If Ed wouldn't have clarified what it was about and why and how and everything, it probably would have been 2-3 stars.

I tend to like ed's layering more on all night. I do like the fact that the context for this peice is centered around a real event. for some reason it feels a bit melow dramatic. but thats just my interpretation. I think if they had done something more with this song, maybe had it segue into something a bit longer and more complex it could turn into something really interesting. again its my oppinion, so take it for what its worth.

It's 5 stars to me, just because this song is as good as it wanted to be

I used to hate it and skip it all the time. It grew on me

Not a 5 star all-star track, but definetly a nice 4 star track. Nice feeling and a great reason behind it.

4 stars, very touching.

I gave this a 3, but I don't think it even needs to be rated...I mean it is what it is, isn't it?

It served its purpose being played 9 times, and obviously what it remembers is something that is particularly haunting. It's totally up to Ed and the band to say how good it is, and when it needs to be played etc.

"Lost nine friends we'll never know, 6 years ago today"

5 stars. Player shit.

Kind of hard to rate this one. I think it does what it's supposed to perfectly. So in that case it would get 5 out of 5 in marks. But if I'm comparing this to other PJ songs it is definetly not on par with the best. Tough to rank, I give it a 4.

ChristcanIFly that's a nice write up.

It's hard to classify. I honestly don't know how to rate it.

It's just special. 5 stars.

I like Riot Act every listen more and more, although most people rate it as the worst PJ album, I think it's as good as most of them.

great write up ChristIcanfly junco sums up my thoughts pretty well though. It is a beautiful piece in its own way, and I don't think I'd go so far as to say it is melodramatic, but it seems some what adrift on its own, both as a song and its placement on the record.

I gave it 3 stars

before riot act came out, i read descriptions of this song and was excited for the possibility of a song based only on his voice and loops of his voice. But it was a big disappointment for me, kind of a bland uninspired execution of the idea. I hope they try an eddie's-voice-as-the-focal-instrument song again sometime in the future.

seeing it performed live was damn near life changing. Not sure how. Iowa, chicago, fargo? mind blowing.


Iowa i was front row, seeing him crouched down in front of me with the headphones on...you could only see him layering the first few vocal lines, then those woul finally come throug the speakers....hearing it live is really mindblowing.

hearing ed live with the band is great and all but there have been two instances where it hit me how really good he was. a "fuck me that voice is brilliant" moment.

1. iowa doing arc. JUST hearing eds voice. Really shines.
2. fargo soundcheck hearing them play small town. Without fans screaming eds voice can really e heard. Hearing it soar through the arena was glorious.

arc into all or none is one of my favorite things in all of music.

Riot Act's best. 5 stars.

At Chicago 2003, the crowd was loud as hell during the performance, and it was barely audible. But getting Arc into Corduroy was the highlight of that show for me.

i knew it! (double post)