Gigaton - Listening Party. Part 3.
by Henrik Tuxen
Everybody knows (not at least his fellow band members) that although Pearl Jam is a strong and substantial collective, Eddie Vedder is in a different position than the rest of the guys. He's the star and the public face everybody knows and relates to; also way beyond the hardcore fan base.
© Danny Clinch.
And not just because he's the singer, but because of his personality, his attitude, his expressions, looks, behavior, lyrics and compositions. A position, the by nature quite shy and introverted San Diego surfer has struggled heavy with over the years.
The many outbursts and controverses, especially in the earlier years, had a lot to do with the enormous pressure he felt, rising from the underground to a world wide center of attention. Not only confronted with people who wanted him to do well.
Stone Gossard told me that Ed had no idea that being filmed in a studio miming to Jeremy, would half a year later mean that he had lost his personal anonymity for life. But when I spoke to Ed in 2006 addressing the same issue, he said that “He felt very much in touch with being a human being.”.
From angry young man to unifying healer
And over the years the frontman has also shown a wide range of personal sides, not at least from stage in public. The shy, angry young man, who came to audition in Seattle in 1990 (recommended by then Red Hot Chili Peppers and later Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons), has for decades been a true international leader in music, words, expression and appearance. Whereas the driving force in the early days was the anger towards oppression, injustice and stupidity, he has gradually stepped in front as a unifying healer, addressing love for each other and to our fellow man. A musician who's never been afraid to step in front and speak his mind, with a direct philanthropic and political aim.
Whereas Ed could be quite introverted and aggressive between songs in the early days, he's certainly developed his storytelling showmanship over the years, not at least in solo shows. As Stone once told me, 'We're all equal when it comes to music and business decisions, but Ed is the only one of us, who can sit in front of 50.000 people with an acoustic guitar and capture the attention of the audience.”
Ed on Gigaton
So how's the Edved footprints on Gigaton? Well, there are a lot of them, pointing in different directions. In plain statistics, Ed sings all 12 songs, has written the lyrics to nine and has written the music to five, and co-written two of them.
The great opener Who Ever Said, is a Vedder-rocker, which reminds me of the feel of Brain of J. Ed and the band sounds fresh, young and rocking, and the chorus has this special PJ/Vedder twist. It's both wild, slightly chaotic and heavy, but with a distinct melodic, melancholic touch, which for me is something I'd forever love about this band. Lyrically Ed is looking back, reflecting, 'Living forward in a backwards town, I feed them drinks, just to watch them drown'. It's not a free ride; not for Ed, not for us, and certainly not the planet, but there's a vital, optimistic power in the hookline 'I won't give up on satisfaction'.
Ed's equally written words and music to Superblood Wolfmoon. Fans know this one already. All I can say is that I was initially disappointed, but it's been growing on me. A great rocker, which I'm looking forward to hearing from the crowd in a (hopefully not too distant) post-corona future.
Ed wrote the cool lyrics, and co-wrote the music to the first single Dance Of The Clairvoyants. A great new and surprising artistic direction for the band. I especially love how the wave of voices and melodies join together at the end.
Ed's written the lyrics to Jeff Ament's composition Quick Escape, which (at the moment) is my favorite song on the album. A low-tempo, angry, twisted rocker unlike something Pearl Jam has done before, although you're never in doubt about who's playing. Great lyrics about searching for breathing holes in a world that ‘Trump hasn't fucked up yet’. One of the few direct political comments on the album. It's angry and intense, but it's more from a personal, individual point of view, as ‘what do you do? where do you go?’ on a planet in chaos, rather than an extrovert accusation of responsible people in power. I find Ed's approach super interesting and convincing. This is a great song.
On Seven O'Clock you get the story-telling Vedder with something on his mind. A song that was unthinkable for the band in the 90s. It's rather in the american, mainstream tradition, like Ed's close, deceased friend Tom Petty. It's the big, strumming ballad, like Gigaton's equivalent to Sirens from Lightning Bolt. I like the feel of the song, and the drive in the lyrics. but it's never gonna be one of my favorites. Almost too mature and responsible. I miss the anger, frustration or melancholic, twisted beauty. If you get an association to 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' at one point, you're not the only one.
Ed's also written words and music to the last straight rocker on the album Never Destination. It's not one of the most interesting and original compositions in the PJ catalogue, but it has a great, dynamic drive, and it's totally moving, and Ed's it's hammering out the lyrics. It kind of reminds me of Michael Stipe when raving, like on The Sidewinder Sleeps, from Automatic for the People. Once again Ed is putting liberating words to personal drive, freedom and independence. Another fine piece in the great shelf of PJ's 'you're not gonna fuck with me' songs.
”I won't be taken, won't take myself. Kicking and screaming, have to knock me off the shelf.”
Ed's written words and music and playing the dominant acoustic guitar on the 6 minute long Comes, Then Goes. In my book this song would have made more sense on a EdVed solo album, and it's way too long, and the 'Pete Townshend hooks' on the acoustic seems exaggerated. It kind of breaks the pattern on an otherwise cohesive album, as I see it.
I dig the verse and atmosphere on McCready's song Retrograde. Ed's lyrics and expression really reminds me of the wide open spaces, which Into The Wild is generally pointing towards. The chorus has a kind of similar 'maturity' as Seven O'Clock. I really like the laid back, open vibe to the song. A real dreamer, where you get a feel of Ed's great voice.
There seems to be a 'new' tradition on PJ albums to end on a low-tempo Vedder song, where he sums up, where he's at and what he basically wants to express. On Backspacer is what the beautiful but rather depressing and lonely The End. Lighting Bolt ended on a more unifying and optimistic note with Future days. On Gigaton it's the pump-organ-based, River Cross. A song Ed has played on solo shows, which for me sounds like something Tom Waits in a 'ballad mode' could have composed, orchestrated and sung. Ed's is addressing some heavy social criticism, but although the feel of the music is kind of spooky and bleak, the message is clear. 'Let it be a lie that all futures die' he sings and ends on the repeating mantra 'Share the light...won't hold us down'.
So, yeah, a hell of a lot of Edved on Gigaton. Not all to perfection, but he's very much alive, inspiring and still unparallel to any other artist in the World. Thanks.
Here's a piece from ”Pearl Jam: The More You Need – The less You Get”, when I asked Eddie in 2006 about how fame had affected his life (Chapter 8).
You’ve mentioned Hollywood bullshit a few times today. But no matter how you look at it, you’re a very famous person. I know that it has bothered you in the past, but have you gotten better at dealing with it over the years?
Eddie: It comes up in different ways, but in very small instances now. But back when we were in people’s living rooms because of videos or however we were represented, we were more visible. I remember it causing problems in relation to your own personal space. Something that we all kind of felt demanding in our own little ways – in relation to other people, neighbors and so on. It just took some time to get used to. It was also just the level of it. But since the level got taken down to more of a simmer than a boil, it’s something that I don’t even think about. I’m pretty in touch with it and things like disappearing for long periods of time into nature helps. I do those things knowing that I am very fortunate to have this opportunity, although you could also do those things having no money what so ever if you happened to be born on an island. If you are born in the Bronx, it’s different. But I feel I’m pretty connected to what it’s like being a human without regard to anything”
