Okay. I've only listened to the new record once. So let me admit that from the start. But you can tell a lot about a Pearl Jam record from it's initial spin. Mainly that you don't want to spin it again.
The record comes out soon. Next Tuesday, I think. But it's leaking all over the web. Jamming up the iPods of music lovers everywhere who hail the band as a survivor. A band that's been around for a long time. As if this they should be honored for this feat alone. I'm sorry, but it's pretty easy to stick around when you've got a ton of money. This isn't the Ramones touring around in a stinky bus, as much as Vedder wishes they were.
I liked Pearl Jam, and I suppose I still like Eddie Vedder. It was obvious right from the start that he possessed a pretty unique talent. "He understands women", a friend of mine said when I couldn't understand how she could get THAT into Ten. And it's true. There are several songs that really have a tenderness for women and their issues, without speaking out on "Women's Issues". He's also pretty good looking. And when you look at the singers of most of the hair bands that were dominating the day, it's pretty easy to see his appeal to women, as well as men. "Black", "Jeremy", "Alive"- these all have substance lyrically. It's a far cry from "Cherry Pie" and the Nelson twins.
They put on a good show too. Eddie Vedder would climb the rafters and you'd have that fear that maybe this time he'd hurt himself. But that got old quickly. The best part of seeing them live at Lollapalooza 1992 wasn't the Pearl Jam set. It was a 20 minute set that Eddie Vedder did with Chris Cornell on the sidestage. Without the internet to tell everybody about it ahead of time, this improptu show was played to just a handful of people. They sang "Hunger Strike" and a couple other acoustic songs and sounded amazing. Vedder was the highlight of course, and he sounded great.
Here's what happened. Vedder dominates the band for the first four albums. The slower more introspective songs, some of which were written pre-Pearl Jam, tend to be the best cuts. Not coincidentally they're almost always written solely by Vedder. Around the time of No Code the band must've had it with him. The world beat edge. The Dead Man Walking soundtrack. Maybe we can blame it on that Neil Young record that they played on. On Mirrorball, the band stood up and people noticed. Or at least Eddie did.
Since then they've had countless writing credits in the band. Everybody gets their shot. Even one of the drummers wrote a song. I'm sorry, but this band is not the Beatles. They love to be compared to the Who. So here it is: Townshend would never let Daltrey write the songs. So why did Vedder relent? Especially with the lyrics. C'mon!
With each Pearl Jam release we get less and less of the "Elderly Women" and "Wishlist" kind of songs and more and more of the ROCK songs. The type of song Pearl Jam was never that good at anyway. He slurs through the lyrics and gets excited about stuff, but half the time you can't understand him. Give me "Yellow Leadbetter" any day. I can't understand what the hell he's saying, but I feel something. And that's way more than I can say about the last few Pearl Jam records.
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With each Neil Young release we get less and less of the "Pocahantas" and "Journey Through The Past" kind of songs and more and more of the ROCK songs. The type of song Neil Young was never that good at anyway.
Neil's rock songs work (most of the time) because he's a dictator. A brutal dictator.
Why is Springteen playing with a bluegrass band? Is he trying to sneak in on the success of the 'Oh Brother where out thou' soundtrack?
Wait, this isn't a springsteen page.
Umm, Todd, what did you think about the new album. I feel like I'm reading a pitchfork review where I want to find out about a new album but I end up hearing old stories about anything other than the album.
You know, they've been looking for a writer there. I think you could kick any of their asses in a music write-off.
One more thing Todd. You referenced Townshend not allowing others in the Who to write. But on Who's Next, track 4, 'My wife'* was an Entwistle tune. And I believe that Who's Next is your favorite Who album.
*of course, that is by far the worst song on the album, though Ian would argue that 'Going Mobile' wins that title.
I'm on my second listen. This could be their most rocking album, but the tunes are kind of lacking, and it's pretty generic sounding and one dimensional. "Parachutes" and "Life Wasted" stand out. "Gone" is okay. "Come Back" sounds like it should be something special, but it never really goes anywhere. The song titles ("Army Reserve", "World Wide Suicide") make it seem like Vedder has some important things to say, but without a lyric booklet or a hook-filled reason to track one down, it'll be lost on me.
Oh, and as for The Who...I said he didn't allow Daltrey to write. A few Entwistle songs here and there are more of a novelty. An exception to the rule.
"Keep me movin' over fifty. Keep me movin', just a hippie gypsy."
Gimme a break.
Speaking of songs with bloated lyrics, we starting playing "The Final Countdown" exactly three minutes before H&R Block was calling with news of our future. It ended right at 4:00 and we won the business. Thank you Europe. We are forever in your debt.
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