April 8, 2020: Two Men Enter...One Man Leaves (Read on SPT Episode 135)

Hi Brad and Brad,

So it was all "kum by yah" for you two on Gigaton for the first half of the tracklist, but it finally scraped the surface of tension between you two on "Comes Then Goes" and then it went all Thunderdome on "River Cross!" I will say this, leave it to BradB to get a song burnt into my mind. I have been hooked to River Cross since hearing your reactions to the second half of the tracklist.

In general, I have always been one to be more about the music of a song, than the lyrics. I really didn't appreciate how incredible of a lyricist Eddie was until listening to you guys. From my perspective, "Seven O'Clock," "Comes Then Goes" and "River Cross" are the heaviest in their lyrics. One thing I will agree with BradB on is the fact that "Comes Then Goes" doesn't really do it for me, mainly because it feels pretty redundant musically and the song is too long (6:02). I'll keep spending time with it, but for me it is my least favorite track so far. The other two, especially "River Cross" are more complex musically. This is a stretch, but for some reason I get a bit of Radiohead's "Motion Picture Soundtrack" from Kid A when listening to the closer of Gigaton. It might be the just the sound of the pump organ, but I get some remnants between those two songs. "River Cross" really cuts deep emotionally on all levels and you can feel the intensity from Ed's voice. My favorite lyric, while it also is very sobering is, "Let it be a lie, that all futures die." That line defines the time we're living in, in so many ways. I hope so badly we can look forward to a drastic change later this year so there is a future we can look forward to again.

Forced to endure, what I could not forgive,

Chris

Comments

October 17, 2010: RIP Mozart for Guitar

Hi Brad and Brad, I first want to mention that I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did while listening to you two and Clint Wells go on about spoonfuls of flour and uncooked spaghetti. I almost had to pull my car over as I was driving home during that part of the episode! Since Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6th, I've been listening to a lot of Van Halen. I didn't really get into them until 10-15 years ago, but I consider them to be one of my favorite bands of all-time. Eddie was truly an innovator on shredding guitar solos and may be my favorite lead guitarist ever. I saw Mike's comment on Pearl Jam's Twitter feed referencing how he began playing guitar shortly after their first record came out. He goes so far to say "it sounded like Eddie was from another planet" and "Eddie was like Mozart for guitar. Changed everything and he played with Soul." I know the guys have covered Van Halen here-and-there and I looked

December 26, 2020: Someday at Christmas

Hi Brad and Brad, First, I hope you guys have had a Happy Holidays. Secondly, I really enjoy your solo episodes. They have a deejay format to them which also feels personable in getting to know each of your lives and what has influenced you to be who you are now. I hadn't taken the time to get to know Someday at Christmas until after listening to BradB's recent episode. Pearl Jam does a great job in covering the song, and I prefer Stevie Wonder's version over the Jackson 5. Especially, after reading the lyrics and reading some interpretations of the song. At the time the song was released, the Vietnam War was still underway. The lyrics seem to voice opposition to the war itself, but also express the hope for racial and economic equality. Unfortunately, that message still resonates strongly. Stevie Wonder was one of the artists that shaped my musical interests when I was a teenager. I'm very glad the guys chose to cover this song for a Christmas single and have

December 31, 2020: Low Light

Hi Jessi and Kate, I have been way behind on my podcasts the last several weeks. The main reason is because myself and a friend started our own podcast! It's not Pearl Jam themed , however it's consumed a decent amount of my week preparing for each recording. So we now have a hit on the Dink-O-Meter for both of you. First Jessi and now Kate! I can't remember if I have proposed the Dink-O-Meter to you yet, but I have it as a three-tiered system: Dinky: Just your average dinky, will only skip if streaming Rinky-Dinky: Automatic skipper, even when listening to vinyl Stinky-Dinky: It's like nails on a chalkboard to you Based on Jessi's response to Parachutes, I have that somewhere between Rinky-Dinky and Stinky-Dinky. I would have to let Jessi be the final judge on that. For Kate's remarks to Low Light, I have it somewhere between Dinky and Rinky-Dinky, however I'm inclined to believe it's closer to Dinky because I wasn't able to note as many hot

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