Artistes and musicians these days are constantly reinventing themselves in order to survive in the highly competitive and creative music industry.
With bands like Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots having lived through their glory years and are close to the tail end of their rock personas, it is time for people like Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam frontman to do the same. And this is exactly what he has done with his new solo effort entitled and appropriately called ‘Ukulele Songs’. A brave move but a necessary one because as the name suggests, Ukulele Songs is all about music in the currently being revived Ukulele instrument which have been pretty popular of late.
So with this solo effort, Vedder did what many did not dare to do, to move away from the rock music he is so accustomed to. Gone are the Pearl Jam trademarks of guitar riffs and heavy drum solos and in place are the more mellow and melodious 4 stringers. The only thing that remain perhaps is the standard manner by which Vedder write his songs, with heavy metaphors and some angry tones. Its all about his voice and the mini guitars here very much exhibited in tracks like ‘Sleeping By Myself’, ‘Without You’ and ‘Goodbye’.
