Eddie Vedder sings like his life depends on it, but there's only so much anyone could do with such a totally indistinguished composition.
Pearl Jam is beating the (anti) war drums for a big new album release coming May 2 on J Records, after a long association with Epic. Here's the track listing:…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Al Barger
Well NO Mr Saleski, that is not correct. I make a point of distinguishing between politics and musical values, and you should understand that by now. I listen to and praise all kinds of music by left wing types. It would be petty and shallow to conflate things like that.
Being a reviewer is exactly about breaking things apart, and making the relevant distinctions. This one has a good voice, but the arrangements are weak. That one has a good tune, but the singer isn't competent to carry it.
Relative to Pearl Jam, for example, I'm all about classic Clash records- and they're about 10 fold more annoyingly pinko than Pearl Jam.
If I've got beef with their politics, I'll address it straight up. But they're not saying anything interesting or specific enough even to merit an answer. In the field of liberal celebrity dumbasses, Eddie actually rates very low on the annoyance scale with me. He's a little silly, but he's certainly no Michael Moore.
I care not a whit what some illiterate teenage idiot comes in blathering about me, but my itty bitty feelings are a bit hurt that YOU would so disparage the honesty of my writing and thinking. I've earned better than that.
27 - Cody
I'm sorry did you just call the white stripes the greatest band in the world? Are you on crack? Have you heard them live? Well if you haven't then grab a drum stick, bang on one drum with an occasional cymbal and step on a cats tail and you've got the white stripes.
28 - Mark Saleski
al, it's not so much in the review as the commentary. if you can say things like:
"You're confusing (a very low rent version of) morality with art. You seem to be arguing that because PJ are willing to say that Bush sucks, that makes what they're saying artistically meaningful."
...but still remain 'objective' about the actual music, then...well...good for you.
as far as being 'objective' about reviewing music, you and i will have to agree to disagree because i just don't think it's possible. at all.
29 - Mark Saleski
ps. there really is no east rutherford, new hampshire.
30 - Mark Saleski
p.p.s where the hell is the review of the latest Elvis Costello?!
31 - Brandon
People who are not educated and don't want anything out of music except a momentary state of satisfaction usually don't like PJ's music. Their music is meaningful, introspective, and endearing. It doesn't matter if it's a ballad or a rocker.........there's usually a message being sent that means something.
32 - Mark Saleski
#32: not educated and don't want anything out of music except for a momentary state of satisfaction?
come on now, to use al's words: that's just plain silly.
33 - Al Barger
Mark, re: comment 29. Notice that my comments there are not about Pearl Jam at all, but about our commenter.
Yes, I can hold an opinion about politics different than a musician or actor, yet listen to their work and judge it on it's merits. I can also give a fair listen to a song written by a Christian, though I am a non-believer- and yet not spend the whole time I'm listening to a U2 record saying "They are Christians, this music must suck." Indeed, I've been listening to the Birmingham Sunlights a lot lately, and other gospel music.
Why is this idea hard for you to accept?
34 - Al Barger
Cody, re: comment 29, in the White Stripes Nation, the Generalissimo will brook no foolishness. We have an enemies list, and you're liable to find yourself on it if you cross the Generalissimo. Don't do it.
Oh, and Brandon- licking up spewed pinko boilerplate like PJ lyrics does not constitute proof of depth or education. An educated person would more likely be listening to, well anything else really, but let's say Miles Davis or Elvis Costello.
By the way Mark, I just got the Elvis album yesterday. I'll have to stew on it for at least a few days before I can really render any fair judgment. Sounds pretty good so far, though. I'm really digging the mambo version of "Clubland" in particular.
35 - Michael
[Entire comment deleted]
36 - Michael
[Entire comment deleted]
37 - Michael
Al had a relationship go bad with someone who loved Pearl Jam and he takes his own non-performance with his ex out on the band. How childish.
38 - Impersonating People
[Entire comment deleted]
39 - john
youre obviously not a pearl jam fan, but not only that, you re obviously not a good rock music fan, you have no ears, no taste, you should be writting on classical music. get a life.
40 - Total loser
[Entire comment deleted]
41 - LOSER
[Entire comment deleted]
42 - I'm a loser
[Entire comment deleted]
43 - john
youre an elvis costello fan..oh i get it now. i saw him live last year. i almost fell asleep at his show. you wanna impress us with 80s jewels? talk to me about joy division, p.i.l., iggy pop (he opened for pearl jam in 98 you know?), the replacements, etc. then you can fill your mouth with pearl jam. oyu dont know what the hell youre talking about. go back to dolly parton & costello
44 - steve m
I have to disagree with many of your opinions about Pearl Jam. You obviously are not a generation Xer. If you were, maybe the music would mean more to you. Spin magazine rates the album "Ten" as one of the top 20 greatest albums of all time and VS in the top 50, but I guess they don't know what they're talking about right? Have you ever listened to "Yield" all the way through? That album is an absolute triumph. Have you ever heard the song Rear View Mirror, Nothing Man, Thumbing My Way etc? To say Eddie is not a great lyricist is ridiculous. He has more depth as a song writer than anyone I know. Example....
Routine was the theme. He'd wake up wash and pour himself into uniform.
Something he hadn't imagined being.
As the merging traffic passed he found himself staring down at his own hands.
Not remembering the change. Not recalling the plan. Was it?
He was okay but wondering about wandering.
Was his age by consequence or was he moved by sleight of hand?
Mondays were made to fall. Lost on a road he knew by heart.
It was like a book he read in his sleep. Endlessly.
Sometimes he hid in the radio watching other pull into their homes.
While he was drifting.
On a line of his own. Off the line of the side. Bye the by.
As dirt turned to sand. As if moved by sleight of hand.
When he reached the shore of his clip on world he resurfaced to the norm.
Organized his few things. His coat and keys.
And he knew realizations would have to wait.
Till he had more time. More time.
A time to dream to himself. He waves goodbye to his self.
I'll see you on the other side.
Another man moved by slight of hand.
Lets see The Who come up with anything thought provoking like that. I can't think of one Who song that goes into depth. Can you? Talk about my g g g g generation. I'll pass. And what's with that "Don't tread on me crap" on your URL? Are you a marine? I'm sure if I had a lobotomy and a shitty haircut, I'd write this shit too.
45 - Al Barger
Yeah, you motards can type my name to attach it to your idiocy, but no one is fooled by this nonsense because you can't fake my writing skill and style. You'd have to have a brain for that, wouldn't you?
As to using "big words" like "eponymously," I do apologize profusely for having a vocabulary. I know better than using words with more than four letters in discussions with illiterate Pearl Jam fans. I swear to Ayn Rand that even the silly Pretty Ricky fans are better behaved and more thoughtful than some of y'all.
John, perhaps this is lack of objectivity, but to me you look a might bit silly dissing artists of the stature of Elvis Costello and Dolly Parton in favor of not just so-so Pearl Jam, but absolute worthless crap like Iggy Pop and PIL. They might have the cool virtue of being more obscure, but if you think PIL is the shit and Dolly Parton ain't nothin', then there's no other way to say it but that you don't a goddamn thing about music. And as Samuel Jackson's Senor Love Daddy would say, that's the truth, Ruth.
46 - PJFaninIndy
You sir are obviously not a rock fan. Go listen to Avril Lavigne or something!
47 - Steve M
Better yet, stick your thesaurus up your ass. Maybe it can help you can spew out some more $0.50 words.
48 - Al Barger
Steve M, you started to actually say something, but didn't quite get there. Hint: the more specific you can be, the better. Thus, it was good that you came up with a specific PJ lyric to offer as an example of a good lyric. But you didn't really do anything to explain why it was great.
Like your comments, the lyric almost sounded like it was going to be about something, but doesn't quite seem to get there. Having read the lyric, I don't know what the point was. There's no striking visual image or resonant metaphor or anything. I mean, what's the point that's supposed to be so profound here? What thoughts does this supposedly provoke? Again, Mariah Carey writes songs about how there's a hero inside every one of us. That seems at least as profound as this Pearl Jam lyric.
As to a good Who lyric, for a simple one you might start with "Who Are You?" This portrait of Pete's alienation and self-loathing comes out of clear dramatic scenes. Contrast the opening scene of the big-shot rock star fronting and "preaching from my chair" to the reality of being just another dumbass drunk passed out in a doorway for the cops to have to sweep up.
But again, that good lyric wouldn't mean much if it weren't attached to an outstanding and memorable tune, and those throbbing synthesizers whipping around like a brutal hangover.
The "Don't Tread on Me" on my home site is part of the American Revolution era flag of the Maryland Culpepper Militia. It's a libertarian thing.
Also, that little blast of gratuitous hatefulness at the end detracted rather than added to your case.
49 - John
"absolute worthless crap like Iggy Pop and PIL"!!!!
my gosh!! yeah i get it now!! youre obviously not gonna dig Pearl jam at all.
50 - Al Barger
Aw now Steve M, don't be that way. Do you think that you're making a convincing argument in favor of Pearl Jam in the court of public opinion when curse me for having a vocabulary? Do you really think that you are insulting me when you say "stick your thesaurus up your ass."?
Again with apologies to those to whom it doesn't apply, my experience at Blogcritics leads me not to be surprised to find Pearl Jam fans throwing childish tantrums. If you were in MY family home, you'd be sitting in the time out corner the rest of the day. Obviously you mama's didn't raise y'all right.
51 - Al Barger
Yeah Ignatius, besides a winning people personality you also lack skills of critical musical judgment, based on your comment 24 here.
Just as a lyric, the James Blunt song is pretty good, but not particularly the greatest thing ever. That makes it about 100 times better than the "World Wide Suicide" lyric. Just as a piece of craft, "You're Beautiful" actually says something specific and identifiable. The scene on the subway is quite memorable- much more so than anything PJ has done except maybe "Jeremy."
But screw the lyrics entirely. It's a SONG, and the main point with Blunt is that "You're Beautiful" has perhaps the most beautiful, tender melody of any record put out all year. For starters, there's more melody in the opening guitar statement before you even get to the lyric than in most of the Pearl Jam catalog combined. This is a guy what knows how to write a damned song.
52 - IgnatiusReilly
Al, it seems your music criticism skills are as good as your reading comprehension. I made no mention of the lyrics from WWS, but let's talk about it.
I felt the earth on Monday
It moved beneath my feet
In the form of a morning paper
Laid out for me to see
Saw his face in a color picture
I recognized the name
Could not stop staring at the
Face I’d never see again
This tells me a story about a person who lost someone they knew in the war. I know more about this person than the two people in Blunt's song, which reads like a Hallmark card. Tell me one reason from Blunt's song that he finds the woman in the subway beautiful.
Of course, you want to screw the lyrics and move on, because they are lame. They read like a journal entry from a 13-year-old girl, which is what pop music is supposed to be, but please don't act like it's deep and profound, or at least don't tell people you think it is.
So you like pop music and not rock, which is fine, but don't expect anyone to take your opinion about rock seriously. Iggy Pop, especially his work with The Stooges, created some great music. You're not getting it is a reflection on you not them.
53 - C2V3N
I see someone doesn't have a life, so he need to waste his precious time on listening pearl jam. well I hope someday you'll be proud you could even hear a single from pearl jam. go jerking on your 3 minutes...
54 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I was thinking asbout writing a review of a band in Israel, but reading the back and forth on this article has talked me out of it.
No, I don't have any opinions on Pearl Jam. Can't criticize what I haven't heard. But I can comment on what I read.
Guess it takes a special type to be a music reviewer...
55 - Christopher Rose
Don't you worry about that, Ruvy. Some cowardly loser was pretending to be Mr Barger but their craven remarks have been given the appropriate treatment!
56 - Mark Saleski
how the hell can you give al grief for using the word "eponymous"? they're revoke your music reviewer permit if you don't use it at least once a year.
;-)
that, and it's a really useful word.
57 - 5 against 1
"Do The Evolution"
Woo..
I'm ahead, I'm a man
I'm the first mammal to wear pants, yeah
I'm at peace with my lust
I can kill 'cause in God I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby
I'm at piece, I'm the man
Buying stocks on the day of the crash
On the loose, I'm a truck
All the rolling hills, I'll flatten 'em out, yeah
It's herd behavior, uh huh
It's evolution, baby
Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, he's my clone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby
I'm a thief, I'm a liar
There's my church, I sing in the choir:
(hallelujah, hallelujah)
Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, admire my clones
'Cause we know, appetite for a nightly feast
Those ignorant Indians got nothin' on me
Nothin', why?
Because... it's evolution, baby!
I am ahead, I am advanced
I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah
I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher
2010, watch it go to fire
It's evolution, baby
Do the evolution
Come on, come on, come on
58 - mrbenning
Is the song anything like "Spin The Black Circle" off of Vitalogy. "They play guitar real frantic and all..." makes me think so.
If they're similar, It might be the Pearl Jam I've been missing.
59 - Mark Saleski
"Spin The Black Circle" is my favorite Pearl Jam song. how could it not be? it's about records!
60 - John
so you want lyrics that say something specific. check this one out
Unemployable, by Pearl Jam
He's got a big gold ring which says "Jesus saves"
And it's dented from the punch thrown at work that day
Where he smashed a metal locker where he kept his things
After the big boss said you'd best be on your way
Oh yeah...
So this life is sacrifice
Oh yeah...
Jumping trains just to survive
Well his wife and kids' asleep but he's still awake
On his brain weighs the curse of thirty bills unpaid
Gets up, lights a cigarette he's grown to hate
Thinkin if he can't sleep, how will he ever dream
Yeah...
So this life is sacrifice
Oh yeah...
To a stranger's bottom line
Oh yeah...
I've seen the light
Ohh ohh ohhh... Ohh ohh ohhhh...
I'm scared of life
Near to death
Ohh ohh ohhh... Ohh ohh ohhhh...
I've seen the light
Scared of life
Yeah...
So this life is sacrifice
Oh yeah...
Was a dream that had to die
Oh yeah...
I've seen the light
Ohh ohh ohhh... Ohh ohh ohhhh...
And I'm scared of life
Near to death
Ohh ohh ohhh... Ohh ohh ohhhh...
I've seen the light
Scared of life
Ohh ohh ohhh... Ohhhhhh Ohhh..
And I'm near to death
Here to die
Scared of life
Near to death
Here to die
Scared of life...
61 - Al Barger
John, that "Unemployable" doesn't strike me as particularly compelling, but it's definitely better than the average Pearl Jam lyric. It's actually about something, and has some specific visual imagery with the locker and the ring. That's at least a passably competent lyric.
The big question though, is there a good melody attached to those words?
62 - John
yes, Al. check it for yourself. its available for download.
63 - peter
this is no where near as good as the pearl jam iv learn to like and enjoy. Seems like not enought creative spark, and a overall forgettable song. 5/10
64 - Frida
I really like World Wide Suicide and can't wait for the album and tour. Sorry you didn't feel anything from this song or for that matter the band. When I hear it I just want to get up and dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!
65 - Al Barger
Frida- if this song works for you, then rock and roll!
As to dance music, maybe I'm a little weird in what does it for me. Other than Prince, I'm liable to go for something like Captain Beefheart singing about the "Tropical Hot Dog Night" (like two flamingos in a FRUUUIT fight).
66 - Freedom Fries
"zero-sum game." "no there there." "beating the anitwar drums." "go the extra mile."
Is that music criticism or feedback of Neocon cliche?
"The song sounds like a million others."
Please name 20 other songs that sound like it. Let your readers decide if you are correct.
67 - Al Barger
Howdy Freedom Fries. You have grabbed several phrases from my story apparently at random, and then labeled them "Neocon cliche." That pretty much seems like a non-sequitir to me. Other than the phrase "(anti) war drums" having perhaps some passing allusion to the general concept of foreign policy, I don't see any connection.
As to 20 other songs that sound like WWS, I don't have a list of specific songs in mind, largely because all that crowd except for Nirvana pretty well runs together. But WWS could have come from Soundgarden or Alice in Chains or a bunch of other so-so bands.
You could drop this song into the middle of some Soundgarden record and hardly anyone would know the difference, unless maybe they noted some secondary characteristics of the timbre of the singer's voice or something like that.
68 - Rocker
Who is this guy? While the Pearl Jam song didn't blow me away, you shoudl realy stop commenting because every statemnt you make shoiws you no less and less aboiut music.
Layne, Chris and Eddie's voices sound nothing alike. forget secondary characterisitics, the primary ones aren't the same. If you can't tell the difference, then you should stick to your generic pop miusic
69 - Matt
".... because all that crowd except for Nirvana pretty well runs together"
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh ....... man, why didn't Eddie blow his brains out in '95 instead, maybe then PJ would get the "respect" that Nirvana gets today. In Utero you say? In Da Garbage say I! What a piece of shit!
What a fuckin' elitist cliche - 'Nirvana was really deep' Come on Al, aren't you smarter than that. Just because people die young doesn't make their art any more compelling years later.
Then again, you used such phrases like "pinko" earlier on in this thread so maybe I shouldn't expect much.
Let all us PJ fans know when you've had enough buddy.
70 - Freedom Fries
Thanks for proving my point.
Anyway, I cannot argue with your tastes, even if they are bad. You like and dislike whatever you want. I am not even arguing that Worldwide Suicide is a good song, but the basis of your argument against the song is wrong. We in the reality-based community like to make informed opinions. When you are unable to name one song that sounds like Worldwide Suicide, you prove your ignorance. I would have given you credit for other Pearl Jam songs, like Do the Evolution. You seem to be too wrapped up in Pearl Jam's politics to give the song a good listen. If you think you backed the wrong war, admit it and stop holding it against bands that point this out to you.
If you can point to one Alice in Chains song that is as fast as Worldwide Suicide or uses a similar vocal phrasing, I'd apreciate it. If you could point to one Soundgarden song that has the same guitar tone or rhythm of Worldwide Suicide, I'd like that, too.
Again, let your readers decide if they are similar.
71 - Mark Saleski
so al, do you dance to stuff from Trout Mask Replica? that...is a funny mental image!
72 - Matt Largo
Pearl Jam is highly overrated. The production on their music sounds like mud. Eddie Vedder sounds like a bleating sheep on quayludes.
73 - me!
shut up yopu nasty bastards!!
"pearl jam suck, pearl jam suck"
haaa
noone is ideal. could you write such a song? i guess no!
HAA!
74 - Al Barger
Mark, I have been known to to be dancing under the full moon to "Moonlight on Vermont." "Gimme that old time religion."
Freedom Fries, I mean the entire vocal timbre of Eddie vs AIC or Soundgarden is a secondary characteristic to the whole recording. That Eddie has an identifiable vocal timbre does not mean that anything that he's actually doing with it is worthwhile. Roger Daltrey or Robert Plant couldn't sell this crappy song.
You have me at a bit of a disadvantage in demanding the names of specific songs from AIC or Soundgarden to which to compare WWS. I can actually remember a couple of songs from each, but the problem is exactly that they're memorable songs.
So then, I could say that WWS sounds stylistically similar to "Rooster." It does, but that's already giving PJ too much credit, because "Rooster" is a pretty good actual SONG. It has some personality to it, which WWS does not. For a proper comparison, I'd need more like a crappy AIC song, some b-side album filler. But of course, I can't remember any of that stuff by name.
Also, some of you people need to get over your politics. Yup, I think Eddie Vedder's politics are dumb and childish- but I don't care. Note that I said nothing in the review about his politics. That's only come up here with me because some of YOU PJ fans are pushing the point.
You seem to lack any ability to make even the most basic distinctions between very different topics and issues. Only someone who agrees with his idiot politics can understand his deep art, or some such. That's just nonsense. I'm a highly knowledgeable connoisseur of American popular music- and not only music made by people whose politics I share.
In your world, it's some childish Lord of the Flies tribal crap. You're for Eddie or against him, and it all goes from there. You seem in the aggregate to be unable to even understand what my argument in this review- or even the basic concept of a music review. Indeed, this thread is largely me trying to teach Music Criticism Principles 101 to what appears to be an audience of hostile, belligerent teenagers too goddamn stupid to even realize how dumb and outclassed they are.
Now, if you try talking respectfully, and make some identifiable effort at actually making reasonable, thoughtful points indicating a search for knowledge and understanding, then I'm the nicest fellow around. But if you insist on acting like ignorant, belligerent punks- well, I simply don't even intend on suffering fools gladly.
Finally, Matt (comment 69). You put up this quote for me which is not anything that I ever said and doesn't reflect my thinking at all. 'Nirvana was really deep'
No, let me explain just briefly Nirvana vs Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam is a much better BAND than Nirvana- which was absolutely the least of all the major grunge bands as instrumentalists. Eddie is certainly ten times the vocalist that Kurt Cobain was.
But Nirvana is a much bigger name, and will be remembered far longer because Cobain wrote much better SONGS. Cobain was barely technically competent as a vocalist at best, but he wrote at least a dozen or fifteen outstanding compositions that will stick around. "Come as You Are" and "Teen Spirit" are superior compositions. To hear what a real singer can do with Nirvana, check out Sinead O'Connor's cover of "All Apologies."
75 - deano
I never mentioned timbre. I mentioned phrasing, as in the way they put words together. I mentioned guitars and their tone.
I have a tip for you: Retake Music Criticism Principles 101. If you do, you'll find that you it's a good practice to know a lot about music and bands, so you can compare bands and sounds and be credible. You may even want to take a music history class to learn about bands that Pearl Jam actually sounds like. You'll learn about the MC5. You'll also learn that Dave Grohl's contemporaries regard him as the best instrumentalist of the major "grunge" bands. Then move on to a class about music theory. That way, you'd know if your argument that Alice in Chains's Rooster is similar to Worldwide Suicide is accurate, because you'll know about chords, tempo, and structure.
Call Pearl Jam punk for dummies, or a poor man's Who, but comparing the band to Soundgarden or Alice in Chains is covered as one of the major faux pas in Music Criticism Principles 101.