you really need to work on this

I always take breaks from PJ. These last couple of years, i hardly listen to them but i always came back specially to the bootlegs...but this year i went full pj with the studio albums...im still listening to everyone of them, kinda obsessed with them again like in the good old days.

I think you guys have it backwards.

I think the reason you guys are fine with it is because you listen to Eddie all the time and have heard five billion bootlegs and have seen the slow transition into this.

But for somebody that HASN'T I feel like that performance would be a lot more shocking.

As I said, I was watching with my parents and my mom, who doesnt know them well, was saying "Wow he's not very good at all" and its sad because this is a good chance to impress people who might be tuning in. Now I had never seen Yes live, only heard their studio versions, and I was wowed by how good they sounded on Roundabout. My mom doesn't know Yes at all, and had never even heard the song, and she was also saying how great they sounded.

When I said "Yeah well Eddie used to be very good his voice just isn't there anymore" she said "He's not that old!" and she's right, considering that the lead singer of Yes is 72. I feel Eddie's voice kind of started sounding pretty bad around 7 years ago in his 40s which is pretty early.

Now, some of my criticisms are based on hearing bootlegs, but thats because Im used to the studio versions, so hearing Eddie constantly change the melody to something that sounds worse because he can't sing it, is annoying. You get to a great line from the song (studio version, not from a million bootlegs) and he changes it and makes it worse because he can't sing the change he's trying to make. I'm all for changing the melody but Eddie seems to stubbornly stick to changes that aren't even good and repeat them forever to where its not an improv anymore.

But that's not even the main point, thats just a nitpick.

The main point is that yes, Eddie sounded fine for 2017 Pearl Jam, but when you go in expecting that amazing voice from 90s Pearl Jam and you get that, its disappointing.

I don't think somebody who had never heard Pearl Jam before would be impressed by his singing at that show and think Eddie was a great singer.

Same here.

This is a silly thing to do.

Its been 25 years but that isnt THAT long, compared to some other bands going longer

Agreed. It's like giving a picture of yourself in High School to a blind date or putting that picture up as your current profile pic. Glory Days, they'll pass you by. I've never understood the people that look around to see what others' experience is instead of just going along for the ride.

I was watching with my parents and my mom, who doesnt know them well, was saying

It's ludicrous to propose that folks who are critical of Ed's current vocal issues are only that way because they're so up to their ears in PJ music that they can't think straight. I'd say that most people on RM are well past their "all PJ, all the time" stage. Ed's wheezing and syllable-bending issues are fairly self-evident and easily objectively assessed; they sound pretty much the same to me whether I'm in the midst of a PJ kick or focused on other things.

So mikejason is a second account troll, good to know he can be ignored

It was her way of justifying the "funny feelings" Ed was giving her to your Dad... Just kidding...


I'd have to be deaf not to notice the difference in Ed's voice. There's a few shows that I just can't listen to because of it. How would I know the difference between a good show or a bad one if I didn't experience it for myself? I'm weeding through these shows as I listen. To be honest, I've never really collected this many shows, aside from the initial run in 2000. The current ones aren't as consistent as the older ones but, they were mostly free, so why not?

I've also never been one to rely on what critics' or others' tell me what to listen to unless it becomes something I can't escape, like the way OK Computer was praised during its' release. I still had to check it out before I bought into the hype, though.

The trick for me is I'll completely immerse myself in new bands or artists or completely new genres altogether. But at some point, as much as I love the other music, there's just something that PJ does that the others don't do. Could be the energy, the way they mix the best of classic, punk, and folk, or just the sincerity and audience communication, something always brings me back cause the others just don't fulfill that itch. Sometimes those fresh ears can work against my feelings about the band where I'll go "well, that one wasn't as good as I originally thought" but more often than not I come back going "yeah this band is awesome". In other words, I'm kind a music man-slut, but PJs always my #1 just like Joanie was always Fonzie's #1 Shortcake.

Look man, his voice is not going to get better. He'll never be that dude from Ten and Vs, but that's the same for every single aging rocker ever. But, he's making up for it in other ways where he can capture the nuances on mid-tempo or the folkier stuff. I think when it's just him and a guitar he'll always be good kinda like a Johnny Cash or something. But in front of a full-throttle rock band he'll be raspy like Bruce is right now. We'll have to do good w/ it, I'm overall okay with it.

Disagree. Thom Yorke, Jeff Tweedy, Kim Gordon, Leonard Cohen, James Hetfield, Bill Callahan, and Damon Albarn have all done some of their best singing (and complimentary songwriting) in their later years. I get they're not all "rockers" in the Eddie sense of the word, but I think it comes down to awareness of one's changing vocal abilities, and writing music that flatters those changes.

Bruce is actually a really good example of a singer whose voice undoubtedly changed as he got older, and he found a way to make it work for the music. I think him and Ed went in opposite directions; Bruce got some grit and sandpaper he was lacking as a younger singer, but Eddie's voice seems to have gotten more 'pinched' for lack of a better term.

On uptemp rockers Bruce struggles alot. I think Ed is in the same spot. I think he's gained those raspy nuances that come with age, but those work better on the lower key stuff. I really liked his vocal performance on Lightning Bolt. I think on recordings, he can still being it on the rockers. Night to night on tour is a different thing. It's just something gets through.

James hetfield soundsl ike crap

And are we really comparing Eddie Vedder to Bill Callahan and the singer from yes? C'mon guys.

The best thing he can do is stop smoking and stop writing songs he needs to screech. If they want to play the older classics and have him belt his way through the best he can, then by all means please do.

He shredded his voice for damn near 16 years. He's heading towards his mid 50's. its fine.

Why not?