I think we'd be lying if we all didn't admit that Ed's voice is still one of the best features of this band. For me, it used to be the voice and the drummer. That was a long time ago; Ed's pretty much kept me here.
On some songs on the last three albums I'd say Ed is by far the weak point.
I think we'd be lying if we all didn't admit that Ed's voice is still one of the best features of this band. For me, it used to be the voice and the drummer. That was a long time ago; Ed's pretty much kept me here.
On some songs on the last three albums I'd say Ed is by far the weak point.
Sure, on some songs. Which doesn't really disprove my point, since more often it's one of the others.
Also, I'm talking about Ed's voice, not his songwriting, which sometimes sucks hard.
It all depends which songs you find disappointing, which may well be different to mine. Are you one of these fools who was let down by Ed on Riot Act?
I think Ed was horrible on Bushleaguer. There's a handful of songs on Backspacer where I think Ed is truly awful. I honestly believe if you had someone listen to Just Breathe, not knowing it was Pearl Jam or Ed singing that they would say the vocals were horrible.
I can't htink of a single song on the last three albums where I feel he was the true star and stand out performer. That used to consistentaly be the case.
Last edited by tyler on Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
I think the only two songs I can think of from the last three albums where Ed's voice really undermined a song for me are unemployable and supersonic (although I'm not sure I would have cared about supersonic no matter what). There are of course other times I think his voice could have been better, but that's not the same thing as detracting from a song.
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
I'm with Stip. I think most of the time, if anything was lacking it was the lyrics, and Ed made a song listenable when otherwise it would've been awful. Would we really have taken Comatose seriously if it had been sung by anyone else? I like all the songs you listed and I don't think Ed fails any of them. Let's be honest, he's pushing fifty. If you didn't expect some depreciation, your disappointment is probably that. The biggest problem I've had with a handful of songs since Riot Act was lyrics. The only issues I've had with Ed's voice, at all, is enunciation. His 'Yes I understand that every life must eeeeyaaaand, aw-huh' in Just breathe is pretty awful, even though I really like the song. And the vocals on Inside Job are pretty irritating for several reasons, but they don't stop me going back to it, the lyrics do. If I have any issues with PJ's current output it's very, very rarely Ed's voice. It's the fact that they seem to have forgotten how to write a consistently good song.
I realize it's an each their own thing. I think the last song Ed was great on in Pearl Jam was 'Man of the Hour'. He can sound real good still, see 'Can't Keep', 'All or None'. But there's nothing on the last album where I would say he was even really good.
If he doesn't make a song 'stand out' anymore, it's probably more to do with production than him. All the low end, the bass, seems to have disappeared from his voice over the last couple of albums. That's not anything he's done, I don't think. He sings that nice baritone in The End and he sounds *almost* like old Ed, except for the recording taking out the low end.
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Harmless wrote:
If he doesn't make a song 'stand out' anymore, it's probably more to do with production than him. All the low end, the bass, seems to have disappeared from his voice over the last couple of albums. That's not anything he's done, I don't think. He sings that nice baritone in The End and he sounds *almost* like old Ed, except for the recording taking out the low end.
yeah the low end being absent from his voice is bizarre, since it is there live
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
digster wrote:
Got Some is one where the vocal on the song (as well as the melody, though I guess that's more of a songwriting thing) really held the song back.
I still like Got Some, though. There are a few songs where vocals keep a song from reaching its full potential, but do the vocals in got some make you actively not enjoy the song?
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:04 am Posts: 12383 Gender: Male
stip wrote:
Harmless wrote:
If he doesn't make a song 'stand out' anymore, it's probably more to do with production than him. All the low end, the bass, seems to have disappeared from his voice over the last couple of albums. That's not anything he's done, I don't think. He sings that nice baritone in The End and he sounds *almost* like old Ed, except for the recording taking out the low end.
yeah the low end being absent from his voice is bizarre, since it is there live
Yeah, it's also there when he's just speaking and talking to the crowd. That's a low, low voice. And then you hear him sing something like "Hail, Hail" on Letterman and you're like wow, that's incredible range.
I find that the ever-growing number of warbles and hiccups in his singing really detract for me, which is unfortunate because they're so much more prevalent on the softer songs. I just don't like that type of affected singing.
His tone has dried up quite a bit over the last ten years, too...which is more about bad singing habits and smoking than it is about aging.
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
cutuphalfdead wrote:
spenno wrote:
I agree with McP, it's those strange affections and mannerisms that irritate me more than anything else.
yup
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
a few months back someone posted that some of that is related to how he does his breathing while singing. Did a singer ever weigh in on that?
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
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