After hearing the first two officially released tunes, I'm digging the tones of these songs moreso than any other Pearl Jam release. For anyone who thought Ed's voice wasn't as powerful (for lack of a better adjective) on the last record, the multi-tracked vocals really add so much to the songs. When I first pushed "play" on the Lost Dogs record, I was floored by "All Night," wondering why they hadn't put it on No Code, or why multi-tracked vocals hadn't been used in the past more effectively (with all due respect to Stone & Jeff's studio & live abilities). And of course, "Arc" was just absolutely gorgeous for me. I dunno, I don't think this record is going to sound like Vs. musicially, which is what I imagine most people are thinking or hoping (I was too for a while). I think maybe the work ethic put into crafting these songs in the studio might be akin to some of the philosophies towards making the second record, maybe not, but I seriously doubt that this is a band that's willing to retread old ideas (Even if you can hear parts of "Undone" in "Worldwide Suicide"). I'm just so amped for new music like everyone else. I'm an addict and I'm happy to have such a supplier.

As for the guitars, I think they show a sign of maturity in the sense that the tones aren't drowning in the angst of distortion that was so characteristic of their style and initial records. I'm feeling the riffs and chords so much more because I think they breathe so much more by backing off the distortion (This is coming from an amateur musician who cranks the gain on his Mesa Boogie all the time). The phasing/flange in "Worldwide Suicide" sounds so alive because the guitars just ring out so much more and the harmonies and guitars for "Unemployable" are absolutely fucking stellar. I'm sure we'll see a bit of hard rocking on the album, but I wouldn't be surprised or unhappy if the majority of the album sounds like these two songs. They seem to be focusing on melody so much more, leaving the angst to Eddie's lyrics.

May 2nd can't come soon enough. I can't say I'll fall into a blackout mode like some other people. I think Binaural and Riot Act were tarnished for me personally by having the music without the artwork, but if I can hear a copy of the record before, I'm enough of a fan to grab it for myself and be there opening day when the stores open shop. When you look at the musical landscape of major artists out there, it looks so fucking bleak far too often. Yeah, there's still great music out there, but you have to dig moreso than ever before I think. I dunno if that's akin to scraping the bottom of the barrel and that Roger Waters was onto something when he wrote "this species has amused itself to death."

Nevertheless, I feel extremely satisfied already. Welcome back guys. Its a fucking honor to have your music in my life.

cool post man, i agree, but,,,,.........i would like to see a couple of the tracks with some heavier distortion just because...............................
so far the two studio songs available are indeed,, stellar......................
good read.....

Good points, I agree especially with your take on the guitar sounds and how it's maturing from the dirty distortion. I think it'll be interesting to see how the vocal harmonies on these new songs play out live.

I like the dirty distortion. In general I am not a big fan of Adam Kasper's production but I'll wait and see. I like the first two songs i've heard, but can't help feel that as good as they are they would sound even better with O'brien, who gave everything a more muscular sound.

Definitely O'Brien, vs, vitalogy, no code and yield all sounded different but sounded just right. Blake turned some great songs into a fairly uninspiring album.

I think that Riot Act and what I've heard of the new album have a decent sound and I can't really criticise it but I also struggle to find any superlatives to describe it.

I do recall discussions when Yield came out and some felt that it was over produced. I think Leash shows what a good producer O'Brien is, that song which sounds like it should be awsome live never sounded as good live as it did on vs, he nailed it.

I think WWS sounds like shit, to be honest. The production of Unemployable is better though.

I do like both songs though, this is just strictly sound speaking.

judging audio production on an mp3 is like water-skiing in the redwood forest.

wait til the actual cd comes out. then, and only then, can a credible opinion on production be formed.

I'm wasn't really referencing the quality of the files. I think anyone who's into music probably knows that .flac, .shn, .wav, whatever will always be superior to mp3, but if you can't notice a stylistic shift or growth in the guitars and vocals, then... Even if you disagree and wish it was just balls to the wall hard rock, these songs are evidence that they really did do the opposite of Riot Act where they recorded things quickly, paying little attention to minor flaws in favor of the immediacy of the music. The production sounds more vibrant and colorful to me, I guess.

a more muscular sound.......cool.......if o'brien produced this,,,....unemployable would sound way more............umm,.......oh, muscular.............very good way to describe it stip..agree 100%...both songs rule anyway....

I would agree with you, except the WWS mp3 sounds like absolute shit.

yea i generally dont care as much about shn vs. mp3 (heavy ipod user) but i agree that wws in mp3 format sometimes sounds like one big lump of sound.....

I dunno, I paid my $0.99 for both tunes from iTunes and I've been cranking the fuck out of them for the last several hours. They sound amazing considering its a 128 kbps rip and not the quality from the disc. I think the initial leak of WWS didn't sound too good, but right now, the only thing that sucks is the quality of my PC speakers.

Is that what you mean or are you saying you think the song sucks in general? No offense, but maybe its time for a Q-tip.

Yeah, I like the "new" guitar sound so far.

Multi-tracking vocals almost always sounds brilliant. PJ should do this more often.

j.

I think the production sounds very good on both songs. They both seem to well-mixed and what should stand out at given point during the songs does.

I like the new songs but boy do they both beg to be played live.

Why is Mike pushed to the back? I don't like having to try and pick out his work. He does some great work on Undone but it's tough to make out.

I've always viewed their work as a push and pull between Ed and Mike. PJ without featuring Mike just isn't as good.

It's Rock 'n Roll, there should be dirty distortion. For me, that's where the groove of a song comes from.

They should've gotten David Fridmann to help out a bit.

who is david fridmann

I'm also disappointed that Mike is always lost/diminished in the mix.

I've never noticed Mike's absense in the mix as much as I've noticed Jeff's on the live recordings.

I have been absent from the board for awile, what other song have you heard besides WWS. True question, please don'e think I am being a dick.

unemployable is available as a b-side, the live and demo versions of gone (which may not resemble the album) and two live versions of crapshoot have also surfaced on the board.