Comments on: Arc

By: opposite_prime

opposite_prime — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:11:13 +0000

I was lucky enough to be front and center for Boston July 11, 2003. Arc was played that evening and it’s one of the most breathtaking performances I’ve ever seen in 12 years of attending Pearl Jam performances.

By: oleyever

oleyever — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:25:23 +0000

can anyone think of another band that makes this kind of music?

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:15:39 +0000

Was his voice looped nine times in the live versions? I didn’t count. I saw that comment somewhere, but I don’t know where or, I guess, what it pertained to. That would make this tribute compulsively symmetrical. I’ve heard that Ed is a very compulsive guy when it comes to the making of music.

By: Believe You Me

Believe You Me — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:21:05 +0000

Susan – “And I believe that his voice is also looped nine times in the song.”

I’m not sure what you mean by looped or if you’re talking about the studio version, but I think ‘Arc’ made up of 40-50 (or more) different vocal tracks by Ed. This was mentioned in the billboard.com article before Riot Act’s release. I think the looping technique is just used for the live rendition.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:01:58 +0000

You are right NoCoder. And I believe that his voice is also looped nine times in the song. I love ARC, too. I didn’t experience it live, I only saw it on video, but it was intense even there.

At some point, I realized that part of what I loved about Pearl Jam was Eddie’s voice. Yeah, they have a lot of great songs, and I love Mike’s solos, and Stone writes great riffs, but without Eddie, Pearl Jam just wouldn’t have been Pearl Jam for me. And here was that voice that had helped me work through literally hundreds of emotion-filled nights stripped down to its essence.

It is my favorite moment on Riot Act, only Eddie’s voice. I have no idea whether his version of the qawwali chanting is at all competent, but I don’t care. ARC encapsulates the emotional investment of half a lifetime in one long minute.

I too wish it were longer.

By: NoCoder

NoCoder — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 19:49:24 +0000

I wish I would have had a chance to hear it live. Just for the experience.

I wish the album version had been longer. I find it to be one of the most beautiful “songs” to grace a Pearl Jam record and, for me, the highlight of “Riot Act.”

Is it true that Ed only performed “Arc” nine times and people thought that was meant to honor the nine individuals who died at Roskilde? I feel that I read that somewhere before, but now I can’t remember if I really did. I’m sure someone out there knows.