Duo of Reviews: Doves and Eddie Vedder

Hey Friends,

So you've probably noticed that many of my reviews cover albums that came out some time ago. In my music discovery process, I often come across records from years ago, whether it be from a friend recommendation, a re-release by the band, or an old download I simply hadn't gotten around to yet. Regardless, it's new to me when I listen to it, and hope it's new to at least some of you when reading it.

On that note, here are two old albums I checked out this past week and my opinions on them:

Eddie Vedder- Into the Wild: Into the Wild is a solo album by Eddie Vedder (lead singer of Pearl Jam), which was written for the movie of the same name. Vedder provides all the instrumentation and vocals on the album. The movie is about Christopher McCandless, a college graduate who decides to give away all his savings and live in solitude in the wilderness. McCandless dies five months later of starvation, inspiring a book and movie about his life. The album, much like the film, portrays hope and inspiration early on, then deep sadness and alienation as it progresses. Vedder's gravely baritone perfectly compliments the combination of loneliness and optimism emanating from his lyrics. The instrumentation is fairly simplistic, but it suits the album well and does an excellent job setting the variety of moods throughout. Consisting primarily of acoustic songs, the album falls somewhere between the folk/rock/roots genres. Even on its own (without the movie), this is a very strong and emotionally provocative album.

Doves- Some Cities: I decided to check out the Doves after hearing comparisons between them and Radiohead. In my opinion, the bands' similarities are vastly overstated. The Doves remind me of a cross between Travis (a melodic, softer rock group) and The Flaming Lips. While this record was good on the surface, I found myself unable to fully enjoy it. The musicianship was very strong, and the group combined atypical sounds with their style of melodic rock very well. However, the songs overall came across like a dull razor: no edge. The band seemed unable to maintain a high level of intensity throughout the entirety of a song, often teasing you with a harrowing section but failing to sustain this sound for long. Some Cities is a decent album, but is definitely missing something.