Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Birds in Hell]

I recall Phoenix 2000 having a great Crazy Mary.

I love the hushed vibe of the studio version, the 2003-present live versions are a total drag.

[---]

in retrospect, eddie's decision to have boom smear his hammonddroppings all over some of the band's more interesting and atmospheric work was the first conscious move away from their 2000 greatness

[McParadigm]

Hammonds are like little licks to the balls, my friend, and the band's failure to make them anything other a burden is down to them and them alone.

[verb_to_trust]

in retrospect, eddie's decision to have boom smear his hammonddroppings all over some of the band's more interesting and atmospheric work was the first conscious move away from their 2000 greatness

But Boom let Eddie smoke his awesome island weed. He needed to repay him somehow. Let the man focus on what is most important here...

[---]

That RVM jam has never been amazing; it ruins the studio version, which was plenty long enough already.

Jesus, dude.

i regard the studio RVM bridge as one of the best editing decisions in the entirety of the band's catalog. the first two-and-a-half minutes of the song are relentless, and the foreshadowing provided by the instrumental breakdown and jeff's bassline sets up the intensity of the coda - one of PJ's best - flawlessly. without that space, that temporary instrumental reset, the song's payoff wouldn't be as rewarding.

[jdopj]

Harmless, I'm on your side. The jam in the middle of RVM kills the songs momentum. Once and while it can be interesting, but mostly it drags on.

[VinylGuy]

i love RVM´s jams. More than Porch´s jams , for example.

[---]

Hammonds are like little licks to the balls, my friend, and the band's failure to make them anything other a burden is down to them and them alone.

as so pithily outlined by the theplatypus account, i would have hoped that one of mr. vedder or his musical associates would have had refined enough musical ears to detect a hammond bludgeoner when one hears one

[BurtReynolds]

The RVm jam is the best jam.

[verb_to_trust]

The people here criticizing RVM are deaf or insane. Maybe even both...

thodoks pretty much nailed it in the above post.

[VinylGuy]

I recall Phoenix 2000 having a great Crazy Mary.

I love the hushed vibe of the studio version, the 2003-present live versions are a total drag.

Yes, the studio version has this quiet and haunting vibe, its pretty awesome.

[BurtReynolds]

the only thing about RVM is that sometimes it feels like they are rushing to get to the jam. the rest of the song is cool too dudes.

[hailroad]

Crazy Mary post 2000 is like vomiting onstage to me. I was lucky enough to see it in Atlanta 2000 and it was unreal. I suggest the last night in Seattle on that tour merely because Mike flawlessly weaves Led Zeppelin into the outro of the song. As far as RVM goes, the 2000 jams were definitely their attempts at a Sonic Youth-like mashup and they generally worked; however, the only RVM since that has really hit its mark for me was in Uniondale 2003, early in the set and a chopped down jam. It packed a sharp wallop and really showed how great of a song it is when it's not stretched out needlessly.

[Norah]

I agree that RVM more often than not misses the in the post 2000 years, but I think that's an indictment of the band and not the song or the jam.

[VinylGuy]

i will say it again, Buenos Aires 2005 is one of the definitive RVM versions from all times.

[Cleverman]

I agree that RVM more often than not misses the in the post 2000 years, but I think that's an indictment of the band and not the song or the jam.

Did you ever wonder why they never had Ed scream "rearviewmirror" live?

I always thought it robbed the live version of its emotional climax. Probably one of the few live versions that is that dramatically different than the studio.

[Norah]

To be perfectly honest with you, I've never wondered that.

[HardTI]

I agree that RVM more often than not misses the in the post 2000 years, but I think that's an indictment of the band and not the song or the jam.

Did you ever wonder why they never had Ed scream "rearviewmirror" live?

I always thought it robbed the live version of its emotional climax. Probably one of the few live versions that is that dramatically different than the studio.

Ed couldn't even come close to hitting that note. God, I don't even want to hear him try. Remember those years when he would try soooooo hard. He would take like a giant gasp of air and put everything into that fucking noise. I think we were witnessing the birth of the screech.

[Cleverman]

I agree that RVM more often than not misses the in the post 2000 years, but I think that's an indictment of the band and not the song or the jam.

Did you ever wonder why they never had Ed scream "rearviewmirror" live?

I always thought it robbed the live version of its emotional climax. Probably one of the few live versions that is that dramatically different than the studio.

To be clear, i know he sings it live once, but I mean after the "I gather speed.." part

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Its not as good as it used to be, though nothing really is, but RVM is still a highlight of shows for me