Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[lecherouslittlestump]

There is absolutely nothing original about even their most inventive songs. So in that sense, they're a good comparison with PJ.

ok AM probably weren't the best choice but it was what i was currently listening to. heavy riffs and dark atmosphere courtsey of josh homme, fuck yeah i love that shit. but yes there are better bands out there.

[harmless]

if you want interesting/challenging music, then listen to the endless younger bands out there that are making vital exciting music like vitalogy and no code. my pick? arctic monkeys, they're going through their "anti commercial experimental no code" phase.

Is that what that is? The problem is, they suck.

They do suck but other than that his description of LB and its reception seems spot on.

Well, it's not spot on until it's happened, but I can relate to his pessimism. All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

[lecherouslittlestump]

if you want interesting/challenging music, then listen to the endless younger bands out there that are making vital exciting music like vitalogy and no code. my pick? arctic monkeys, they're going through their "anti commercial experimental no code" phase.

Is that what that is? The problem is, they suck.

They do suck but other than that his description of LB and its reception seems spot on.

Well, it's not spot on until it's happened, but I can relate to his pessimism. All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

this entire thread is about what pj 'should' be doing. which would be some bizzare psychedelic space rock album written by stone gossard

[Lament]

All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

I don't look at what young artists are doing and wish Pearl Jam were more like them. I do sometimes look at other older artists and wish Pearl Jam were in a similar place to said other acts, though.

[harmless]

if you want interesting/challenging music, then listen to the endless younger bands out there that are making vital exciting music like vitalogy and no code. my pick? arctic monkeys, they're going through their "anti commercial experimental no code" phase.

Is that what that is? The problem is, they suck.

They do suck but other than that his description of LB and its reception seems spot on.

Well, it's not spot on until it's happened, but I can relate to his pessimism. All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

this entire thread is about what pj 'should' be doing. which would be some bizzare psychedelic space rock album written by stone gossard

I can agree with that. No, my issue isn't that you're talking about what PJ should be doing (that's one of my favourite things to do), just that you used a band I don't like to do it.

[harmless]

All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

I don't look at what young artists are doing and wish Pearl Jam were more like them. I do sometimes look at other older artists and wish Pearl Jam were in a similar place to said other acts, though.

Me too. But I'll be honest; when they were a little younger, I looked at other bands of the same age and thought PJ could be cooler, like them. It's something I've always done and I'm still doing. When they released Yield, Binaural, Riot Act... I had the same feeling. Yeah, I really like it, but wow, they're different; they're kind of mature and 'classic rock' and shit, and that's not very cool. It's almost as if they're just doing what they always did, but because they're actually *old* now, it sucks. When it could be argued that what they are now is, in a way, a logical extension of what they were.

[harmless]

Basically, take Tom Waits for example. Have PJ *ever* been Tom Waits? No way. They've never been that intelligent or inventive, even at their best moments.

[Lament]

All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

I don't look at what young artists are doing and wish Pearl Jam were more like them. I do sometimes look at other older artists and wish Pearl Jam were in a similar place to said other acts, though.

Me too. But I'll be honest; when they were a little younger, I looked at other bands of the same age and thought PJ could be cooler, like them. It's something I've always done and I'm still doing. When they released Yield, Binaural, Riot Act... I had the same feeling. Yeah, I really like it, but wow, they're different; they're kind of mature and 'classic rock' and shit, and that's not very cool. It's almost as if they're just doing what they always did, but because they're actually *old* now, it sucks. When it could be argued that what they are now is, in a way, a logical extension of what they were.

See, what's weird is that when Pearl Jam was younger, a lot of times I found myself looking at my other favorite acts and wishing they were more like Pearl Jam. It's very odd to me how much the tables have turned in the last decade.

[harmless]

All I'm saying is I hate the "PJ should be doing what (insert shitty band here) is doing" argument. It invalidates the whole post.

I don't look at what young artists are doing and wish Pearl Jam were more like them. I do sometimes look at other older artists and wish Pearl Jam were in a similar place to said other acts, though.

Me too. But I'll be honest; when they were a little younger, I looked at other bands of the same age and thought PJ could be cooler, like them. It's something I've always done and I'm still doing. When they released Yield, Binaural, Riot Act... I had the same feeling. Yeah, I really like it, but wow, they're different; they're kind of mature and 'classic rock' and shit, and that's not very cool. It's almost as if they're just doing what they always did, but because they're actually *old* now, it sucks. When it could be argued that what they are now is, in a way, a logical extension of what they were.

See, what's weird is that when Pearl Jam was younger, a lot of times I found myself looking at my other favorite acts and wishing they were more like Pearl Jam. It's very odd to me how much the tables have turned in the last decade.

It's not like I wanted PJ to be like other bands. I just recognised that they weren't. They did their own thing, and even then, it wasn't 'cool'. This band hasn't been 'cool' in the public eye since Vitalogy. They were always goofballs who admitted to worshipping The Who. They were a classic rock band trapped in a young 'hard rock' band's bodies.

[Lament]

It's not like I wanted PJ to be like other bands. I just recognised that they weren't. They did their own thing, and even then, it wasn't 'cool'. This band hasn't been 'cool' in the public eye since Vitalogy. They were always goofballs who admitted to worshipping The Who. They were a classic rock band trapped in a young 'hard rock' band's bodies.

At the time I appreciated that, though. They seemed to conduct their career with a heavy consideration of how certain things would look in retrospect, and as a kid who loved rock mythology, I really admired this. But now that, as you put it earlier, they ARE old men, playing the role of old men has really painted them into a corner. There weren't enough stark departures along the way to put them in a spot where they could REALLY make any kind of album they want. That's great for some people, and I can't knock Pearl Jam for wanting to make Pearl Jam records, but at the same time I can't help but wonder if they'd forced themselves out of their comfort zone a bit more when they were younger if they'd feel like they were able to do more now as an older band.

Then again, I'm not sure they'd even want to. Stip talked earlier about older bands lacking a singular vision, and I think that's true. That's something I wish Pearl Jam had now, but probably never actually did, even when they were younger. Regardless of what you think of the quality of their music, bands like U2 or R.E.M. at the very least seem to still be able to operate behind a single vision. When that vision was strong made for some excellent late career work (in my opinion).

[pnjguy]

Whoever's heading the official Pearl Jam twitter account, please stop.

[harmless]

It's not like I wanted PJ to be like other bands. I just recognised that they weren't. They did their own thing, and even then, it wasn't 'cool'. This band hasn't been 'cool' in the public eye since Vitalogy. They were always goofballs who admitted to worshipping The Who. They were a classic rock band trapped in a young 'hard rock' band's bodies.

At the time I appreciated that, though. They seemed to conduct their career with a heavy consideration of how certain things would look in retrospect, and as a kid who loved rock mythology, I really admired this. But now that, as you put it earlier, they ARE old men, playing the role of old men has really painted them into a corner. There weren't enough stark departures along the way to put them in a spot where they could REALLY make any kind of album they want. That's great for some people, and I can't knock Pearl Jam for wanting to make Pearl Jam records, but at the same time I can't help but wonder if they'd forced themselves out of their comfort zone a bit more when they were younger if they'd feel like they were able to do more now as an older band.

Then again, I'm not sure they'd even want to. Stip talked earlier about older bands lacking a singular vision, and I think that's true. That's something I wish Pearl Jam had now, but probably never actually did, even when they were younger. Regardless of what you think of the quality of their music, bands like U2 or R.E.M. at the very least seem to still be able to operate behind a single vision. When that vision was strong made for some excellent late career work (in my opinion).

I agree with everything you say here. Collapse into Now is the best record a band could hope to end on, I think.

[evenslow]

It's not like I wanted PJ to be like other bands. I just recognised that they weren't. They did their own thing, and even then, it wasn't 'cool'. This band hasn't been 'cool' in the public eye since Vitalogy. They were always goofballs who admitted to worshipping The Who. They were a classic rock band trapped in a young 'hard rock' band's bodies.

At the time I appreciated that, though. They seemed to conduct their career with a heavy consideration of how certain things would look in retrospect, and as a kid who loved rock mythology, I really admired this. But now that, as you put it earlier, they ARE old men, playing the role of old men has really painted them into a corner. There weren't enough stark departures along the way to put them in a spot where they could REALLY make any kind of album they want. That's great for some people, and I can't knock Pearl Jam for wanting to make Pearl Jam records, but at the same time I can't help but wonder if they'd forced themselves out of their comfort zone a bit more when they were younger if they'd feel like they were able to do more now as an older band.

Then again, I'm not sure they'd even want to. Stip talked earlier about older bands lacking a singular vision, and I think that's true. That's something I wish Pearl Jam had now, but probably never actually did, even when they were younger. Regardless of what you think of the quality of their music, bands like U2 or R.E.M. at the very least seem to still be able to operate behind a single vision. When that vision was strong made for some excellent late career work (in my opinion).

I agree with everything you say here. Collapse into Now is the best record a band could hope to end on, I think.

[VinylGuy]

And Blue is a great final song.

[harmless]

[WaitingForBluey]

So does the "official" LB promo blitz begin tomorrow with the release of the video?

[harmless]

Quick, someone adjust the countdown clock to factor that in.

[dimejinky99]

So does the "official" LB promo blitz begin tomorrow with the release of the video?

Interesting idea. Could well be.

[VinylGuy]

So does the "official" LB promo blitz begin tomorrow with the release of the video?

the LB video followed by a stone video talking about it.

" well, its a video from us, classic pearl jam"

[harmless]

"Well, you know when I said 'Sounds like Pearl Jam?' Well this video, it looks like Lightning Bolt."