I gave some thought about comparing songwriting and i think it ends up being a (musical) style preference argument at the end of the day even more than plain taste.

Mine and spenno - in agreeance at last!

You can't expect PJ chat to have a clue, though.

For the record, I did not write that, you misquoted.

What pnjguy was on the money with, was his statement about Pearl Jam being much better when they work together, as opposed to individually.

I don't think Eddie needs help in writing and arranging a song. He's work is really effective whether you like it or not. Some people argue that with chord progressions, solos or plain weirdness but that's entirely a matter of preference.

That's kind of hard to back up.
I mean PJ's collaborative efforts tend to be relatively generic. Eddie or Stone can write a song on their own that's at least on par with any songwriters from 90's, whether you like those songs or not.

Also worth the mention is that PJ didn't really put out an album that was plain bad written or arranged as a whole. They didn't have one artistic prime they've always been at a certain level.

My only knock with Ed solo written songs is that Ed doesn't really write that well with a multiple guitar band in mind. There's very little if any interesting interplay between guitars. But he is a fantastic singer songwriter type of writer on his own. That's just not really what I want when listening to Pearl Jam.

I'm sure they could, and they have, but they haven't put out as many, and that tells a lot about a good songwriter.

That's why i think Pearl Jam is a better band than Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and on par with Radiohead, but that doesn't mean that Stone, or Vedder are better individual songwriters than those other guys. The two issues don't have anything to do with one another.

That's just a matter of you personal taste.

Yes it does. Songwriting is a skill that if you have the talent and are smart enough it's going to evolve and not just be a casualty.
Btw This is the 1st time I've seen Cornell called a great songwriter.

How many songs have been 100% attributable to either Stone or Eddie?

I don't agree with that at all. And i've never said Cornell was a great songwriter.

How can you say someone is a better songwriter than somebody else when the good part is actually an exception?

Like i said earlier, i don't think anybody in Pearl Jam are good, i think they're average but together they get more out of eachother regardless if they have songs finished before a recording session or not. Each member puts their stamp on the song whether its a finished song or not. And thats what Pearl Jam are good at. Elevating a song or a piece of music into something better or even different. Just like the NAIS story.

Like i said earlier in this thread, i was comparing Ed and Stone to their genre of music and their era. Cornell, Corgan, and Yorke are better IMO, that doesn't make them great, but they are good, and good is better than average.

I think it's wonderful all of these guys are able to do their own solo albums.

That's all just your taste and that's perfectly fine.

The 1st paragraph is not correct. As i said earlier playing your instrument isn't giving a stamp, deffinitelly not in a songwriting context. It has been known and bitched about that Eddie pretty much dictates how his stuff is supposed to be played and it's not all that hard to believe since no one in the band writes nothing even similar. Jeff as far as i understand likes other people giving input and that's fine. Stone in the words of Jeff and Mike isn't open to other people's ideas either btw.
Eddie in particular is the strongest in melody and lyrics department and to his credit is comfortable in different styles and it's all but average. It may not suite your taste but that doesn't have nothing to do with his songwriting skills.

So why are the majority of their songs credited to more than one member? I really would like to see a list of songs 100% attributed to Eddie.

You could check for yourself but let it be for this time:

Porch, RVM, Small Town, Whipping, Corduroy, Better Man, Immortality, I Got Shit, Long Road, Sometimes, Of He Goes, Habit, Lukin, Around The Band (No Code was nicknamed Eddie's solo album sarcastically because of the predominant input he had over it if we want to take that consideration), Wishlist, MFC, Breakerfall, Insignificance, Grievance, Soon Forget, Parting Ways, Man Of The Hour, Dead Man, Can't Keep, I Am Mine, Thumbing My Way, Green Disease, Arc, Sad, Hitchhiker, Education, Black, Red, Yellow, U, Undone, Drifitn, 4/20/02, World Wide Suicide, Severed Hand, Gone, Broken Hearted, Goodbye, Longing To Belong, Satellite, You're True, No More, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Long Nights, Tuolomne, The Wolf, End Of The Road, Guaranteed.

PJ's credits don't always follow logic btw. The above are credited to Eddie or known to be his in a few cases.
Also Matt and Jeff referred to him as the leading songwriter in the band in interviews and promos.