Cracks in the surface

I read some place that Pearl Jam will soon hit the road to support the forthcoming release of their self-titled 8th album. The tour's first leg will kickoff May 9th in Toronto and continue until June 3rd in NJ. This got me thinking. Will little Eddie Mueller (bet you didn't know that was Mister Vedders real name...thank you Rolling Stone for revealing that little nugget so many years ago...I am still laughing) and company be capable of keeping up their energy levels for the duration? After catching the brothers grunge performance on SNL a few weeks back, it seriously begged the question. I must say, Eddie still provides on many levels, the essentials visually speaking, though he's clearly looking a little older in the face (aren't we all). This aside, the strains and pains that were being emitted from his face and voice whilst singing had me wincing with every passing lyric from his lips. The boy has pipes (no, not in the same manner as his friend Chris Cornell), but it was, nonetheless, painful to watch. The boys don't move like they used to either and the requisite jumping up and down with guitar in hand and runners on feet just didn't look quite right. The spring in their step has now been reduced to a charlie-horse in the leg. The music itself was pitiful, I couldn't listen at all. The new album has 13 songs, which makes me very weary. I've always thought of Eddie's voice as memorably muscular and the groups songwriting consistently strong, creating songs with big echoey sounds. They always gave impassioned performances and if Ten were the only album they'd ever made or sang live, I'd still be satisfied. Some prefer to think of them as legends of the alternative grunge scene and I am inclined to leave it that way.