Eddie released his second solo album titled Ukulele Songs, a collection of original songs and covers performed by Vedder on ukulele, on May 31, 2011. The first single from the album, Longing to Belong, was released through digital retailers on March 21. A live DVD titled Water on the Road was released the same day as Ukulele Songs. The DVD contains live performances from two shows in Washington, D.C. during his 2008 solo tour. Read more on Last.fm.
Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the grunge band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist in Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to the late singer Andrew Wood.
Vedder is known for his powerful baritone vocals. He was ranked number 7 on a list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time", based on a readers' poll compiled by Rolling Stone. Read more on Last.fm
I’m glad to see others feel the way I do about “Ukulele Songs”. This was a decent enough idea and Vedder has the song-writing chops to make it interesting, but the weight of 16 tracks contradicts the light-hearted feel that was supposed to accompany such an instrument. Skip the covers and the instrumentals (save for, maybe, one of them) and focus on 5-6 songs- and you’d have an original, enjoyable album. Instead it comes across as, as stated previously, pretentious.
This a great cd, but I would have to agree that it is a bit too long. The songs are great, but nothing catchy. You won’t find me singing on the sidewalk to any of these tracks, like Big Hard Sun and Society still have me doing. I will probably listen to it every once in a while to change things up, but I might just end up forgetting about it.
Eddie Vedder has always been just a little pretentious. He’s also always been a solid, prolific songwriter, a limited guitar player who’s guitar contributions to his own band tend to outshine the more technically proficient Stone Gossard and Mike Mcready. His riffs are typically simple, in the vein of Neil Young, and memorable.
On Ukulele Songs, his first proper solo outing (if you discount his Into The Wild soundtrack, a much better record), Vedders pretentiousness and his skill meet at a crossroads. On a pretentious level, its fifteen songs all played on an instrument with severely limited range. On a songwriting level, the chord progressions are strong and, as usual, the lyrics are top shelf poetry. The pros are almost equaled by the cons. Vedder might have saved himself from pretension by shortening the length, ditching the short instrumentals, and cutting one too many covers.
Overall, this is a rewarding experiment while not managing to be a great album. 50 minutes of nothing but ukulele gets tedious….and the record wears down after ten tracks, but the strength of Vedders originals makes the album worth the trouble. Burn it…don’t buy it.