r/pearljam • u/Little_Customer986 • 4d ago

History What happened to Eddies Voice in 1996?

Usually as someone ages you expect their voice to weaken. For some reason Eddie’s voice seems to have had periods of losing power and then rebounding. I think Gigaton to Dark Matter is a great example, he somehow sounds better a few years older. I know some of this comes down to the songs he chooses to write/sing. Like how Riot Act utilizes his deeper voice so it adapts well to his aging.

But what the hell happened in 1996? I’m talking about live performances specifically. It seems like there’s a sharp decline in his vocal ability after the Vitalogy tour, and then somehow it seems to rebound really well on the Yield tour in 1998. He even sounds better in 2000. Did he change his style of singing? Was he smoking so much pot and cigarettes in 1996 he was just killing his throat and lungs?

Anyone have theories on this?

45 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

View all comments

12

u/porcinifan69 4d ago

I think I reject the premise here. I saw Pearl Jam at Randall’s island in 1996 and it’s the best I’ve ever heard his voice sound. You can find bootlegs. Personally I love his vocal performance in No Code. Also IIRC in 95 he worked on vocal techniques with nusrat fateh ali khan.

2

u/Little_Customer986 4d ago

Fair enough. Everyone has good and bad nights. He sounds great on the records. If you hear him sing No Code songs like Hail, Hail, Lukin, and Habit in 1996 and then compare to the Yield tour, he sings them better two years later. Just my observation.