Earthling

When front men or lead vocalists of well-known bands produce their own work, it often sounds as nothing more than extension of the band they lead. This is absolutely not the case for Eddie Vedder. Yes, that Eddie Vedder. The very same who Pearl Jam fans have gushed over for years on end. Pearl Jam would sound like a completely different band without him, but Eddie Vedder’s new album demonstrates that this doesn’t apply in reverse. His new album, now his fourth solo project, is fresh out the oven and it’s a distinguishing piece of work to say the least.

Earthling was released just days ago, and people are talking. They should be, as this is nothing like what he’s done with Pearl Jam.

Vedder has been the lead vocalist for Pearl Jam since their beginning and still to this day. Though now, with two movie soundtracks under his belt and his first album the 2011 record Ukulele Songs, Vedder may be on the brink of making this solo thing a more common thing. Earthling was released just days ago, and people are talking. They should be, as this is nothing like what he’s done with Pearl Jam. It’s honestly hard to place Earthling into one category, as Vedder is trying a variety of things with different songs in the album. The distinctions are important, as where Pearl Jam is more ‘grunge’ Vedder on his own appears to be more ‘alternative’. Perhaps even daresay, mainstream.

Earthlings is not an intense record. It’s soft, along the lines of music that John Mayer performs or even more akin to Tom Petty’s original music. His guests on the album are in line with this sort of approach as well. Stevie Wonder and Elton John lend their hand, as does Beatle’s legend Ringo Starr. Vedder joined by his esteemed collaborators deliver in more ways than one. A loud and lively lead guitar dominates much of each song, accompanying Vedder’s unmistakable vocals that can be picked out of a full size chorus with no lights on and terrible room acoustics. Picture is an example of one to pick out, as it’s so far from what fans know of Vedder that it may even have people guessing if it’s even him on the song. Power of Right is the complete opposite, closer to Pearl Jam’s sound but even not quite as similar. It’s probably the most ‘rock’ of all the tracks, a bit more upbeat than the rest and definitely faster in stride than the rest.

The key point to take away from Earthling is just how far Vedder is capable of separating himself from that which made him a household name (not in a bad way). Don’t take this as a sign that Vedder is to step away from Pearl Jam, because that doesn’t seem to be the indication. It is clear that he may intend to keep trying out the solo project or two here and there though. Which is ok. Pearl Jam is a band that at this point is too big to fail, and so it would make little sense for him to leave that behind.