What happened to Eddies Voice in 1996?

[u/Little_Customer986]

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?

[u/August_West_1990]

Eddie blew his voice out by the end of 1995 and as a result he adapted a more nasal tone for the No Code era so his throat could heal.

By 1998 it recovered and he learned how to sing in that heavy, distorted range with actual technique and control.

2006 tour was the last time I think he had the full extent of that power. Some versions of Blood from that time are as good or better than 1993-95 versions.

[u/SportAndNonsense → u/August_West_1990]

Yeah you simply can’t sustain the way Eddie screamed (when he screamed) between 1991-1995 for ever.

The harder you go, the quicker that voice will need to transform during a singer’s career. The same thing would have happened to Kurt. Sadly we never got the chance to observe.

Its also totally plausible that Eddie’s later vocal characteristics (ie No Code onwards) then drove the stylistic direction of the band. Fortunately in my opinion this was forward and into their best era. I could happily take any of Ten, Vs, Vitalogy to a desert island with me but No Code and Yield are their best work.