Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[harmless]

Also, I just spotted this in the BO'B interview that I didn't notice before.

I think we mixed everything in Seattle. They wanted to mix up there because they all wanted to be around. It takes a little longer when everybody is around. I say a "little longer," but It probably took 10 days. That's not a long time for some people, but that seems like a long time to me.

Where they not around for all the mixing last time? That's what this seems to imply (and also that it took longer than BO'B might've hoped...). If they weren't present during the mixing of Backspacer, and they insisted that they should be present this time, maybe it's because they were relatively unhappy with the pop sound. It's only mindless speculation but it's possible, no?

To be fair, he just says they ALL wanted to be around. I highly doubt BO'B mixed Backspacer alone (I'm sure Ed was present at the very least). Also, it's not like when he finished mixing it they weren't able to ask him to make changes before it was mastered.

(And if they did let him mix it and then send it off to be mastered without listening to it? Well then they care even less than even the most cynical posters claim they do...)

All these are real possibilities; yep, they could've asked to make changes before being happy, but it's not as easy to make a democratic decision that everyone's happy with after the fact; I'm guessing it's easier to do it face to face. Also, if just Ed was present, the same problem could've resulted if he's very ready to go with all of Brendan's ideas. I'm not suggesting the band didn't listen to it, just that maybe after the fact they didn't have much motivation to make huge changes; after all, they were all busy at the time with their side projects. Maybe Backspacer just speaks to the place the band was in at the time (distracted).

[harmless]

I'd imagine it was quite a blow to the band to discover that their wonderful S/T, the album that was meant to represent a real return to form, didn't really blow up critically or commercially (it did OK, let's not have that debate again). So maybe Backspacer was another attempt, which again, didn't light the world on fire. Maybe all the stress and the break taken was symptomatic of these disappointments? (Hence the feeling that they didn't care anymore.)

[harmless]

But now I'm totally inventing my own PJ mythology.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

But I like Crazy Mary and Leatherman. The line "Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around" represents the last year I was really passionate about PJ (2006).

I like leatherman, and crazy mary is okay live occasionally. I really dislike the studio crazy mary.

Its the opposite for me, these days live crazy Mary is too long and just way over done, but the studio version is very nice

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

But now I'm totally inventing my own PJ mythology.

It could be the case though, if they were trying hard to get big time commercial success again and failed twice in a row, they could really have struggled with it.

[Norah]

But I like Crazy Mary and Leatherman. The line "Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around" represents the last year I was really passionate about PJ (2006).

I like leatherman, and crazy mary is okay live occasionally. I really dislike the studio crazy mary.

Its the opposite for me, these days live crazy Mary is too long and just way over done, but the studio version is very nice

I love those live versions from the 2000 tour.

[harmless]

I don't think I've heard the studio version. Is it on Youtube?

Edit: yeah, listening to it now! It's really good.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

But I like Crazy Mary and Leatherman. The line "Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around" represents the last year I was really passionate about PJ (2006).

I like leatherman, and crazy mary is okay live occasionally. I really dislike the studio crazy mary.

Its the opposite for me, these days live crazy Mary is too long and just way over done, but the studio version is very nice

I love those live versions from the 2000 tour.

Before boom they were great

[harmless]

I saw CM live with Boom. The organ made it, I thought. Stop insulting Boom, I won't have any of it. I'd rather have a thousand Booms than one Brendan O'Brien.

[Jorge]

I saw CM live with Boom. The organ made it, I thought. Stop insulting Boom, I won't have any of it. I'd rather have a thousand Booms than one Brendan O'Brien.

Really? He sounds like he's wearing boxing gloves when he plays.

[EJ]

I saw CM live with Boom. The organ made it, I thought. Stop insulting Boom, I won't have any of it. I'd rather have a thousand Booms than one Brendan O'Brien.

Really? He sounds like he's wearing boxing gloves when he plays.

[stupidmop]

Fairly bad quality and Victoria williams has a weird voice, but i think this is the only version of Crazy Mary i like the sound of. I really like the ending and eds singing from 4 min ish onward

[harmless]

I saw CM live with Boom. The organ made it, I thought. Stop insulting Boom, I won't have any of it. I'd rather have a thousand Booms than one Brendan O'Brien.

Really? He sounds like he's wearing boxing gloves when he plays.

Well, this was 2006 / 7 / 8 (I can't remember, bad time in my life) but yeah. He does play like a big ape given a piano, but... the song suits all of that organ soloing I think. I can't comment on his sensitivity as a player because I don't generally listen to much organ music.

[harmless]

I can't remember whether I've seen it once or twice, but here's one I enjoyed:

[harmless]

Ah yes, I also saw it in London '09.

[Lament]

Crazy Mary was so much better before Boom. On the 2000 tour it was so hushed, dark, tense...it was almost holy. A real slow burn in all of the best ways. Some of those performances of it from that August were just unreal.

Once Boom joined the band it turned into a six minute wank-off between Mike and him. It's like the kind of shit you'd hear at a frat party. The 2003-present versions aren't even in the same league as the 2000 ones (per my tastes, at least).

[harmless]

I've only just heard the studio version, today. If that's what you wanted it to be -- emotional, intense, intimate -- I can imagine being unhappy with late versions. But live, I enjoyed it, both for the song itself (that "Take a bottle, drink it down..." line is really memorable and catchy) and for the duelling between Boom and Mike. Yeah, it's a big classic rock jam song. But it's good for that, and I don't even like jamming much. *shrug*

[harmless]

Basically, I have a hierarchy with PJ complaints at the moment, and Boom's inclusion is right at the bottom. If I was to prioritise, I'd say less Brendan, more Boom. At this point I really don't think he justifies any real noise.

[harmless]

*double post*

[harmless]

If anything, including Boom is probably one of the few things PJ have done that would fit right into that 'ageing gracefully' thing that everyone wants.