Lightning Bolt -- guess the tracks!

[stip]

Ed's voice suits his writing really well, and it was years before I really understood that many pearl jam songs that I thought had brilliant lyrics had brilliant lyrics because of how Ed sang them. What he was saying mattered, but what he was saying was elevated by how he said them

The sum of his talents is bigger then any of them alone. In my opinion this is what actually matters in how a song turns out. Great lyrics get lost on music that don't fit them and esoteric chord progressions/key changes/time signatures do more harm then good if they're there just for the sake of it.

for sure, but I don't think anyone (or at least me) is arguing otherwise

[Coach]

If the music is good, I could give two shits about the lyrics. Ed's voice + Pearl Jam guitar riffs is enough to satisfy me. Simple as that.

[harmless]

This thread is an abomination now.

[stupidmop]

I'm hoping ed sounds really good on this, its the slower songs I'm worried about I hope he cuts out all pronunciation/over acting shizz. He sounded fine on the faster stuff on backspacer and sounds good on mym but the slower stuff is almost unlistenable to me lately.

[harmless]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

[stupidmop]

Yeah the production also played a huge part in ruining those songs for me (see SOS vs demo (though his voice is better on this also)) but if ed sounds like this I'd be ecstatic.

[harmless]

I'm expecting a little gloss but possibly less than on Backspacer, and if some of the sounds / effects BO'B goes for are a bit harsher because of the subject matter, maybe a bit of gloss will be more forgiveable. I mean, there was relatively little dark to match the brightness of Backspacer so it felt one-dimensional. But MYM gives us some hope.

One thought though: aside from the fact that it is kickass, all kinds of amazing, classic, etc. etc. etc., Vs. is actually really quite glossy. So in that sense at least, BO'B is still BO'B. Before Vitalogy, Pearl Jam's music was glossy, it's just that there was a lot of aggression, gain on the guitar, thrashing on the drums, to compensate for the clean production. Actually the clean production just helped every instrument become more prominent. Maybe BO'B is still there in his mind, it's just that the music doesn't suit it much anymore. PJ has mellowed so a more roomy and rough recording makes them shine more. Or something else.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

If the music is good, I could give two shits about the lyrics. Ed's voice + Pearl Jam guitar riffs is enough to satisfy me. Simple as that.

I've always been bad about not listening to lyrics, i think of ed and all singers for the most part all singers as another instrument in the band, and unless it is talked about here i tend to not even really know what the song is about. There are songs that are just obvious, like the end, and that one gets to me a lot, but usually the lyrics aren't important to me, just the way they are sung

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Well, basically my only conclusion is that my friends fuckin' suck... and you guys are awesome!

Aaaaaaaw... We can be your friends too, kido!
Attention everybody! Group hug!

*hugs*

[harmless]

To be fair, the reason I like great lyrics from PJ is that the vocals are so good. When the vocal and delivery is great but the lyrics aren't, it's pretty jarring. (And vice versa.)

[harmless]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

Maybe not, but Im just happy we have it. I don't think it is the case, but if pj gets to the point where they can't put out consistently good to great albums, i will still stick with them for few gems i know they will put out

[harmless]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

Maybe not, but Im just happy we have it. I don't think it is the case, but if pj gets to the point where they can't put out consistently good to great albums, i will still stick with them for few gems i know they will put out

[Noaheb]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

Maybe not, but Im just happy we have it. I don't think it is the case, but if pj gets to the point where they can't put out consistently good to great albums, i will still stick with them for few gems i know they will put out

Parachutes is not a gem...that is all

[harmless]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

Maybe not, but Im just happy we have it. I don't think it is the case, but if pj gets to the point where they can't put out consistently good to great albums, i will still stick with them for few gems i know they will put out

Parachutes is not a gem...that is all

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

Maybe not, but Im just happy we have it. I don't think it is the case, but if pj gets to the point where they can't put out consistently good to great albums, i will still stick with them for few gems i know they will put out

Parachutes is not a gem...that is all

[Noaheb]

Agreed. Where is the atmosphere / intimacy on the slower stuff on Backspacer? The End has some of it. On S/T, the best it gets is probably Parachutes.

And parachutes is fantastic

It's grown on me over the years, I'm just not sure S/T was the place for it.

Maybe not, but Im just happy we have it. I don't think it is the case, but if pj gets to the point where they can't put out consistently good to great albums, i will still stick with them for few gems i know they will put out

Parachutes is not a gem...that is all

[epilogue]

Ed's voice suits his writing really well, and it was years before I really understood that many pearl jam songs that I thought had brilliant lyrics had brilliant lyrics because of how Ed sang them. What he was saying mattered, but what he was saying was elevated by how he said them

Yes. Exactly. And I think that's where I'm at with lyrics as a whole these days. I agree with you and Kevin that once they are a part of the song, they should matter and be looked at like every other element of the song.

But there are also plenty of songs with mediocre/dumb/simple/wonky lyrics that I still love, I mentioned this earlier in the thread, because of they way they're used in the song. This comes down, largely, to the singer using his instrument. Which is mostly what I'm drawn to.

I like a fair amount of instrumental music. But I'll always gravitate toward music with vocals first. Because I love the human voice as an instrument. And my favorite bands/artists are those that usually know how to use that instrument. Even if they are brilliant lyricist.

[Norah]

Sorry I went off the deep end last night, team. I was pretty cranky and took it out on stip's ridiculous comparison.