New Pearl Jam album "Tides" due October 8th

[Matov]

Album is up for streaming on Itunes. Overall a much better album than backspacer. Not up there with my favorites yet, but pearl jam albums have a weird way of aging. I guess a new studio album from them means, as opposed to janes', even more diversity in their ever-changing setlists. which is, in my opinion, the best way to enjoy pearl jam...
Also, it's noteworthy that the album didn't "leak" in the true sense of the word, right till they released the stream. it's not that common these days for bands to actually be in control of when their music is released so congratulations to them!

[JOEinPHX]

The new album is a turd.

Just like Backspacer.

Just like Avocado.

3 albums in a row of simple stinkers.

I really miss the experimental band they used to be.

At least the live show will continue to be stellar.

[kv]

ya i don't get it whatever tons of people will dig it

[Tyler Durden]

Pearl Jam is like U2: they're never going to make everyone happy. They'll either get some people complaining that they aren't experimenting enough now...or they'll get some people complaining that their new stuff isn't enough like "Ten" or "The Joshua Tree". They can no longer win everyone over no matter what they do.

[JOEinPHX]

Pearl Jam is like U2: they're never going to make everyone happy. They'll either get some people complaining that they aren't experimenting enough now...or they'll get some people complaining that their new stuff isn't enough like "Ten" or "The Joshua Tree". They can no longer win everyone over no matter what they do.

U2 is a mainstream band. They make albums for radio.

Pearl Jam is pretty much only still going because of die-hard PJ fans.

Their top rated album amongst PJ fans, from what I have seen, is No Code.

No one wants another Ten except shitty radio fans. Their actual fans, the ones who sell out arenas, want more No Code experimentation.

[Tyler Durden]

How is "Pendulum" (by Pearl Jam standards) not experimental?

Pearl Jam may not have gone in the direction you would have liked them to...but to say their last three albums are "stinkers" is just absurd. They may not be classics or anything...but they are hardly awful.

Six7Six7, what's your opinion of Eddie's solo albums?

[Hokahey]

I bought every PJ album from Vs. to Riot Act the minute it could be purchased in stores.

I also bought every side project in the same fashion from Mad Season to Brad (who I saw live and hung out with - Stone Gossard was unpleasant) to Three Fish.

I hated Riot Act and havent sat and listened to any album since. What I've heard has done nothing to compel me to do it.

What I've heard from this one sounds pretty promising.

And I know I wasn't asked, but I love the In to the Wild soundtrack. Didn't listen to the solo album. I was so disappointed in Eddies choice of venues and ticket prices for the tour that I could not oblige. He seems to have changed quite a bit form his early ethos.

[Pandemonium]

Pearl Jam is like U2: they're never going to make everyone happy. They'll either get some people complaining that they aren't experimenting enough now...or they'll get some people complaining that their new stuff isn't enough like "Ten" or "The Joshua Tree". They can no longer win everyone over no matter what they do.

U2 is a mainstream band. They make albums for radio.

Pearl Jam is pretty much only still going because of die-hard PJ fans.

Pearl Jam is mainstream, just like say, REM is or was. They just sell a lot less albums and have a smaller, more devoted fanbase than someone like U2.

[Tyler Durden]

I bought every PJ album from Vs. to Riot Act the minute it could be purchased in stores.

I also bought every side project in the same fashion from Mad Season to Brad (who I saw live and hung out with - Stone Gossard was unpleasant) to Three Fish.

I hated Riot Act and havent sat and listened to any album since. What I've heard has done nothing to compel me to do it.

What I've heard from this one sounds pretty promising.

And I know I wasn't asked, but I love the In to the Wild soundtrack. Didn't listen to the solo album. I was so disappointed in Eddies choice of venues and ticket prices for the tour that I could not oblige. He seems to have changed quite a bit form his early ethos.

Yeah, I didn't like Riot Act either. I loved the Into The Wild soundtrack. Ukulele Songs, on the other hand, is pretty awful.

[Hokahey]

Halfway through and I'm realizing that Sirens and Mind your Manners were picked as singles for a reason.

Not very good. We'll see.

Sounds like all of the other PJ songs I've heard over the past 10 years that have sucked.

They sound like they just sleep walk through these new albums. There's nothing very interesting on them. Mostly just really boring, generic rock. It's bland.

Oh how I miss the band from the first 4 albums.

[Hokahey]

I just got to Let the Records Play. This album is stressing me out with how bad some of it is. What is wrong with them? I'm seriously getting itchy.

[JOEinPHX]

Six7Six7, what's your opinion of Eddie's solo albums?

*fart*

[JOEinPHX]

I just got to Let the Records Play. This album is stressing me out with how bad some of it is. What is wrong with them? I'm seriously getting itchy.

Yeah, i am a longtime Ten Club member. Have seen them 11 times. and I am so turned off by this basic garbage they are turning in.

[Matov]

You know what i used to LOVE about Pearl Jam back in the day? It's that nasty habit they had where they'd switch their style between one or two albums, disregarding whatever it was that earned them whatever level of success they had gotten, playing whatever the fuck they felt like playing instead, doing so even if it meant alienating or pushing away many loyal fans, not having met their expectations on the band's choices.





*edit: wow can't believe i typed all of that in one sentence. I'm a bit so i guess my grammar could've been better...

[Matov]

Also, i didn't mean to come off as a smartass or anything. I mean, they've certainly released albums that put me off, backspacer being the most recent but not their only one. Most of them, and i'm taking not only full studio albums but also xmas singles et al, most of them grew on me over time and some others didn't.
But even at what i consider to be their worst, and recent years have been kinda amongst their worse, i don't think they get to that without believing in it and going for it with honesty, integrity even.
I can see how there's a portrayal of current EV where he might be seen as a hollywood kinda lazy and greedy-ish douche. But i believe there's an other side to that which has to do with not beating himself up so much. Playing less shows means more quality time with his family so more power to him/them for it. So what if the price gets steeper per show. Its not like they phone it in live or anything. They'll put out a blood pumping mammoth two hour plus show, changing setlists on a nightly basis and going out of their way to make each show count and stand on its own from a comunication point of view to say the least. Just for the sake of making things different they'll pull a rarity out of the blue, or have stone sing mankind, las t show i went to here in Argentina a fan handed Eddie a spanish translation of their It's OK tag during Daughter and he gave it a shot. People went apeshit.
And they're still pretty vocal about stuff they feel is important so i guess even when i'm the alienated one i'm cool with the band.
That said, so far i've found some songs i really enjoy on the album, some that might grow on me, and some i don't ever see growing on me.

[Hokahey]

Also, i didn't mean to come off as a smartass or anything. I mean, they've certainly released albums that put me off, backspacer being the most recent but not their only one. Most of them, and i'm taking not only full studio albums but also xmas singles et al, most of them grew on me over time and some others didn't.
But even at what i consider to be their worst, and recent years have been kinda amongst their worse, i don't think they get to that without believing in it and going for it with honesty, integrity even.
I can see how there's a portrayal of current EV where he might be seen as a hollywood kinda lazy and greedy-ish douche. But i believe there's an other side to that which has to do with not beating himself up so much. Playing less shows means more quality time with his family so more power to him/them for it. So what if the price gets steeper per show. Its not like they phone it in live or anything. They'll put out a blood pumping mammoth two hour plus show, changing setlists on a nightly basis and going out of their way to make each show count and stand on its own from a comunication point of view to say the least. Just for the sake of making things different they'll pull a rarity out of the blue, or have stone sing mankind, las t show i went to here in Argentina a fan handed Eddie a spanish translation of their It's OK tag during Daughter and he gave it a shot. People went apeshit.
And they're still pretty vocal about stuff they feel is important so i guess even when i'm the alienated one i'm cool with the band.
That said, so far i've found some songs i really enjoy on the album, some that might grow on me, and some i don't ever see growing on me.

They certainly deserve massive respect for their live shows, and they still manage to write a few good tunes per album. It's jusrt hard for me when I hear the few horrendous ones. I was in to PJ like I eventually was in to Jane's. They were my first love. So it's painful for me. I put them away in a way I wish I had done with Jane's. Preserving them for my 14 year old self.

I actually still have a framed black and white PJ poster up in my house amongst some music related decorations.

Every once in awhile I think "I'm going to listen to some newer PJ and fall back in love with my once favorite band." And I always regret it.

It's weird because like all of my (once)favorite bands, the singer seems to be the biggest reason I just can't dig it anymore. Eddie was at his best on the first 4 albums, getting better as he went. Then he started singing a little differently on Yield and the lyrics were less inspired, and it started getting worse and worse.

Like Trent, Billy, Maynard there are things he does with his voice now that just make me cringe sometimes. Trent being the worst offender.

Is it because they had to adjust to older vocal chords?

I don't know, but couple that with more generic sounding music and it adds up to very bland sounding music with uninspired lyrics and goofy vocals.

Mind your Manners is fantastic. Reminds me so much of Vitalogy. Why they abandoned their scrappier side will always baffle me.

Much like Pumpkins and their big fuzz sound.

NIN and their industrial noise w/ Trent's tweaked vocals

and on and on

[Matov]

They certainly deserve massive respect for their live shows, and they still manage to write a few good tunes per album. It's jusrt hard for me when I hear the few horrendous ones. I was in to PJ like I eventually was in to Jane's. They were my first love. So it's painful for me. I put them away in a way I wish I had done with Jane's. Preserving them for my 14 year old self.

I actually still have a framed black and white PJ poster up in my house amongst some music related decorations.

Every once in awhile I think "I'm going to listen to some newer PJ and fall back in love with my once favorite band." And I always regret it.

It's weird because like all of my (once)favorite bands, the singer seems to be the biggest reason I just can't dig it anymore. Eddie was at his best on the first 4 albums, getting better as he went. Then he started singing a little differently on Yield and the lyrics were less inspired, and it started getting worse and worse.

Like Trent, Billy, Maynard there are things he does with his voice now that just make me cringe sometimes. Trent being the worst offender.

Is it because they had to adjust to older vocal chords?

I don't know, but couple that with more generic sounding music and it adds up to very bland sounding music with uninspired lyrics and goofy vocals.

Mind your Manners is fantastic. Reminds me so much of Vitalogy. Why they abandoned their scrappier side will always baffle me.

Much like Pumpkins and their big fuzz sound.

NIN and their industrial noise w/ Trent's tweaked vocals

and on and on

I hear you man. My only real disagreement with what you said is that for me, Yield is a very very high point in their career. I'm thinking it's probably the studio album of theirs which gets more spins at home, followed by no code. But mostly i'll just listen to bootlegs, for the variety and drunken banter which i love.

As per Eddie, being a fortysomething heavy smoker and drinker must've taken a toll on his voice. While it doesn't annoy me as much as corgan's fake vibrato and ommiting certain vowels while singing nowadays, it's also nowhere near his best period which is, in my opinion from vitalogy all the way to yield. Still i prefer his singing nowadays than his Ten singing style. If you hear the man speak, it's pretty obvious how that throaty deep baritone thing of his was a bit postured and not meant to last for a longtime without him going full tom waits.
If only all those great singers from out teens could've aged their voices and singing styles the way Lanegan did...

Anyway, aside from their singing, i need to mention how it rubs me in a good way that both PJ and Corgan usually bring Neil Young up when talking about having been making music for these many years, and how he's had his ups and downs, but never stopped following his muse or something. I guess they kind of see their careers as an ongoing quest, as opposed to, say, becoming de 50 minute hit playing band, doing it for a paycheck.

[Matz]

I'm no PJ fanatic but as I see em their main albums are Ten, VS and Vitalogy. After that the songwriting got watered down a lot

[JOEinPHX]

I'm no PJ fanatic but as I see em their main albums are Ten, VS and Vitalogy. After that the songwriting got watered down a lot

Those were their most popular for sure, but mostly just very straight forward rock albums.

But for me I would rather listen to No Code, Yield, Binaural, and Riot Act

They were so all over the place stylistically you never knew whether you were going to get a punk song or a rock song or some experimental tribal thing or an acoustic number or whatever popped out of their brain.

Even shit like Love Boat Captain, which I hate, was cool because it was heavy on the organ. I always wish Boom had been utilized more on albums since he was added to the band.

Instead we get simplified punk riffs on 90% of their songs and 2-3 accoustic ballads to round it out.

I'm over it. I love the band but they need to make music because they are inspired and not just bring in riffs during their scheduled "lets record something just to record something" they can't seem to fit into their busy schedules for more than 2 weeks at a time.

This album was recorded in two 2 week blocks. You'd think millionaires with no jobs could find 2-3 months to put the appropriate time into it.

[Juana]

I'm no PJ fanatic but as I see em their main albums are Ten, VS and Vitalogy. After that the songwriting got watered down a lot

Those were their most popular for sure, but mostly just very straight forward rock albums.

But for me I would rather listen to No Code, Yield, Binaural, and Riot Act

They were so all over the place stylistically you never knew whether you were going to get a punk song or a rock song or some experimental tribal thing or an acoustic number or whatever popped out of their brain.

Even shit like Love Boat Captain, which I hate, was cool because it was heavy on the organ. I always wish Boom had been utilized more on albums since he was added to the band.

Instead we get simplified punk riffs on 90% of their songs and 2-3 accoustic ballads to round it out.

I'm over it. I love the band but they need to make music because they are inspired and not just bring in riffs during their scheduled "lets record something just to record something" they can't seem to fit into their busy schedules for more than 2 weeks at a time.

This album was recorded in two 2 week blocks. You'd think millionaires with no jobs could find 2-3 months to put the appropriate time into it.

At least unlike Janes they still kick ass for the most part live. The only reason I have talked any shit about Perry doing the same thing is he no longer even gives a shit live. And PJ might have only had two weeks every once in a while where all the band could get together just because their job is touring doesn't mean they do not have other obligations

[JOEinPHX]

They don't have other obligations. Except Matt, who is also busy with Soundgarden.

They need to get their asses to the beach for a month long surfing/writing session and stop with the "here's a riff i came up with. Let's put words on it. Ok, we worked for an hour, this song is done"

[JOEinPHX]

Lightning Bolt? more like Lacking Balls.

[Matov]

Yeah they've done lots of stuff over the course of these 4 years... Jeff solo album, RNDM, Brad, Soundgarden, Ed solo tours/uke album, Mike's soundtrack work plus some guest appearances on albums plus releasing the mad season stuff and that project with Barrett Martin, Duff and JAz Coleman which hasn't seen the light of day yet... I must be forgetting something here. The point is, lazy millionaires they're not.
As for them making "inspired music", you should listen to jeff's account on how No Code was recorded in one of the interviews they did for press on this album. He said something to the effect of "i wish he'd spent a bit more time on those songs, ed just showed them to us, we played them two or three times over and that was that". So i guess it's not about how much time they put into it, more like it's about them playing what they come up with and enjoy playing. If it means Joe or anyone else ends up being "over it" or whatever, then so be it. I know i feel happy playing music i enjoy for 20 people instead of trying to force a certain style so that it becomes more popular for the sake of being popular.
As i said Backspacer was/is pretty forgettable, this new one is uneven with a few gems and a couple turds (in my opinion), but then again riot act and binaural haven't aged well.
I've never ranked albums but just for argument's sake i'll give it a try.

Yield
No Code
Vitalogy
Vs
Ten
Binaural
Self Titled
Riot Act
Backspacer

Still don't know where i'd place LB yet, somewhere in the bottom half for sure.

[JOEinPHX]

No Code
Yield
Riot Act
Binaural
Ten
VS
Vitalogy
Self Titled
Backspacer
Lightning Bolt

[Hokahey]

Did 6767 just call Vitalogy a straight forward rock album?