Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

General Pearl Jam discussion.
Post Reply

Rank Lightning Bolt

5 stars
1
1%
4 stars
4
5%
3 stars
29
37%
2 stars
30
38%
1 star
14
18%
 
Total votes: 78

User avatar
elliseamos
Mind Your Tanners
Posts: 8900
Joined: Thu January 10, 2013 2:19 am
Location: SOUTH PORTLAND

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by elliseamos »

harmless wrote:
elliseamos wrote:i have listened to each of these countless times, what do y'all mean by varitey/eclecticism that i don't when discussing no code and the descriptions we have of lightening bolt?
Nearly all of the effects created by PJ, sonically, are done via bass, two guitars, voice and drums. A band like Beastie Boys will incorporate punk, electronica, hiphop, balladry etc. into one album. The samples borrow from all kinds of musical genres: jazz, blues, synthesized space robots, punk, alternative rock, etc. etc. PJ have generally nitpicked from a few of these sounds and sprinkled them onto a basic rock formula.

But it's just an opinion, man.
of course, sampling is quite common for the genre that the beastie boys inhabited and doesn't equate to eclictic sound rather new ground for the genre of hip hop.
User avatar
evenslow
Stone's Bitch
Posts: 9164
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:47 pm
Location: unnamed mental hospital

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by evenslow »

harmless wrote:
Coach wrote:He's too busy putting recycled tunes on a new record.
I really meant being busy in L.A. frontin' at parties with other artists (and doing their albums).
He's actually busy hosting Pearl Jam listening parties all over the world.

That and waiting with his henchmen to strike Jeff again.
Strat wrote:Alas, we are RM
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

From NYCFlyGal17:

Ok,,, my thoughts on Lightning Bolt.

It's a good album. But I also find it very hard to judge fully based off one listen.
I'm very much a lyrics person. I need to sit and listen to it few times with headphones on and no distractions.
I need to hear the music AND the lyrics. I want to take it all in, and grasp what they are actually singing about.
It was a busy place! Not to crowded, but enough press people there, I guess it was just an everyday thing for them.
A lot more talking going on than I wanted. (from Press People)
Made it noisy and hard to fully hear some parts of it.

I was not able to take notes. I was seriously let in at the very last minute. I wasn't on the list and didn't win the contest to be there. But it was The Ramones Museum,,, And I Believe in Miracles.
A Miracle Happened, and I got in!

So off Memory ( and from reading Franzi and Chris's reviews, which jogged my memory on some songs)
I was able to remember and write out some of my own thoughts.

Getaway... First song it seemed catchy. I remember it had a good beat and I enjoyed it. An upbeat faster tempo.
Not nearly as fast MYM, but it was good.

Mind Your Manners... We all know it. No explanation needed.

My Father's Son... I remember thinking this song was very different. Different how? Honestly,, I don't know how to describe it. I just remember it was very different.

Sirens... I loved this one! It's long and a slow song. I remember the lyrics "Hear the Sirens.. Hear the Sirens" I also remember a nice guitar solo. I see this a classic PJ ballad that fans are going to like.

Lightning Bolt... Again we have all heard this

Infallible... Honestly I can't remember a lot of this one. I think I remember liking this... But Honestly, I can't really give you any good thoughts or description on this one.

Pendulum.... I remember really liking this song also. Kind of a dark slow song.
Found it interesting that Brendan O'Brien said it was suppose to be on Backspacer but it was cut.

Swallowed Whole... Don't remember a lot of this one either. But after the show and discussing it with Franzi and Chris, Chris pointed out "Swallowed Whole" was a lyric in the Song, Unthought Known.
"Swallowed Whole in Negatives" I found this very interesting and something I hadn't really thought about.
Really want to listen close on this one again. See if I find any similarities to Unthought known. Or if it's pure coincidence.

Let The Records Play... Fun Catchy Rock Song. I think I will like it more as I listen to it. For some reason in my head I was thinking it would be something along the lines of Spin the Black Circle. But it definitely was not.
All in all I do remember enjoying the song.

Sleeping By Myself... Disappointed. I really do like the song. Great lyrics and Great song. But I wanted them to change it up. Make it a super rock song, something totally different than the Uke Version. It seemed Very Folk like.
And you do notice just a small bit of the Uke at the end of the song. Maybe I'll like it more after listening to it a bit.
But it seemed out of place on the album.
Brendan O'Brien said HE was the one who pushed to have this song on the album. HE wanted it on.

Yellow Moon... It was a slower song. Don't remember a lot of details on it though.

Future Days... Again we have all heard it by now.

All in all, I enjoyed the album. A lot more slower songs than I expected. I thought there would be a lot more Real Faster Rock type songs after hearing Mind Your Manners. (MYM is certainly the fastest song on the album)
But I did enjoy it.
I can't wait to listen to it all again, and REALLY process all the songs and lyrics on a more personal level.

Just remember, everyone is different!
You may think the total opposite of me when you hear it for yourself!
Keep an open mind and listen for yourself!
Then Decide.

It was awesome to be able to be a part of this. And nice to get some insight directly from Brendan O'Brien himself.

I felt very fortunate to be included. Especially when I wasn't even on the list to actually go. The German fans welcomed me with open arms. I spoke no German at all, but everyone was incredibly kind to me! All curious why/how I came from NYC when I wasn't even sure I could get in.
'You have to much money to spend, so you come to see if you can get in and listen?"
We all had a good laugh over that, after I explained myself. :)

I met some really great people! And am certain I'll be in touch with them all again soon! Several of them I will get to see again next month for the fall tour!

Bring On Oct 15th... I need to hear it all again!
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
WaitingForBluey
Future Drummer
Posts: 2647
Joined: Thu March 21, 2013 1:08 am
Twitter: https://twitter.com/homeforbed
Location: Pennsyltucky
Contact:

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by WaitingForBluey »

I just scrolled through the last 10 pages or so but I didn't see the posted yet, sorry if it's a repeat

Another review from Berlin: http://community.pearljam.com/viewtopic ... 5#p5226343

Ok,,, my thoughts on Lightning Bolt.

It's a good album. But I also find it very hard to judge fully based off one listen.
I'm very much a lyrics person. I need to sit and listen to it few times with headphones on and no distractions.
I need to hear the music AND the lyrics. I want to take it all in, and grasp what they are actually singing about.
It was a busy place! Not to crowded, but enough press people there, I guess it was just an everyday thing for them.
A lot more talking going on than I wanted. (from Press People)
Made it noisy and hard to fully hear some parts of it.

I was not able to take notes. I was seriously let in at the very last minute. I wasn't on the list and didn't win the contest to be there. But it was The Ramones Museum,,, And I Believe in Miracles.
A Miracle Happened, and I got in!

So off Memory ( and from reading Franzi and Chris's reviews, which jogged my memory on some songs)
I was able to remember and write out some of my own thoughts.

Getaway... First song it seemed catchy. I remember it had a good beat and I enjoyed it. An upbeat faster tempo.
Not nearly as fast MYM, but it was good.

Mind Your Manners... We all know it. No explanation needed.

My Father's Son... I remember thinking this song was very different. Different how? Honestly,, I don't know how to describe it. I just remember it was very different.

Sirens... I loved this one! It's long and a slow song. I remember the lyrics "Hear the Sirens.. Hear the Sirens" I also remember a nice guitar solo. I see this a classic PJ ballad that fans are going to like.

Lightning Bolt... Again we have all heard this

Infallible... Honestly I can't remember a lot of this one. I think I remember liking this... But Honestly, I can't really give you any good thoughts or description on this one.

Pendulum.... I remember really liking this song also. Kind of a dark slow song.
Found it interesting that Brendan O'Brien said it was suppose to be on Backspacer but it was cut.

Swallowed Whole... Don't remember a lot of this one either. But after the show and discussing it with Franzi and Chris, Chris pointed out "Swallowed Whole" was a lyric in the Song, Unthought Known.
"Swallowed Whole in Negatives" I found this very interesting and something I hadn't really thought about.
Really want to listen close on this one again. See if I find any similarities to Unthought known. Or if it's pure coincidence.

Let The Records Play... Fun Catchy Rock Song. I think I will like it more as I listen to it. For some reason in my head I was thinking it would be something along the lines of Spin the Black Circle. But it definitely was not.
All in all I do remember enjoying the song.

Sleeping By Myself... Disappointed. I really do like the song. Great lyrics and Great song. But I wanted them to change it up. Make it a super rock song, something totally different than the Uke Version. It seemed Very Folk like.
And you do notice just a small bit of the Uke at the end of the song. Maybe I'll like it more after listening to it a bit.
But it seemed out of place on the album.
Brendan O'Brien said HE was the one who pushed to have this song on the album. HE wanted it on.

Yellow Moon... It was a slower song. Don't remember a lot of details on it though.

Future Days... Again we have all heard it by now.

All in all, I enjoyed the album. A lot more slower songs than I expected. I thought there would be a lot more Real Faster Rock type songs after hearing Mind Your Manners. (MYM is certainly the fastest song on the album)
But I did enjoy it.
I can't wait to listen to it all again, and REALLY process all the songs and lyrics on a more personal level.

Just remember, everyone is different!
You may think the total opposite of me when you hear it for yourself!
Keep an open mind and listen for yourself!
Then Decide.

It was awesome to be able to be a part of this. And nice to get some insight directly from Brendan O'Brien himself.

I felt very fortunate to be included. Especially when I wasn't even on the list to actually go. The German fans welcomed me with open arms. I spoke no German at all, but everyone was incredibly kind to me! All curious why/how I came from NYC when I wasn't even sure I could get in.
'You have to much money to spend, so you come to see if you can get in and listen?"
We all had a good laugh over that, after I explained myself. :)

I met some really great people! And am certain I'll be in touch with them all again soon! Several of them I will get to see again next month for the fall tour!

Bring On Oct 15th... I need to hear it all again!
theplatypus wrote:A solo is when the guitar goes twiddly diddly
User avatar
evenslow
Stone's Bitch
Posts: 9164
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:47 pm
Location: unnamed mental hospital

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by evenslow »

bluestate wrote:sorry if it's a repeat
:lol:
Strat wrote:Alas, we are RM
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

Just got there before ya.

The SBM review looked better; I'm fine with folky and not that different. Otherwise, not much to see here. It's a shame we get no comments about the live songs in studio.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
warehouse
Rank This Poster
Posts: 4993
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 3:34 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by warehouse »

what did u guys think the first time u heard 'in my tree'?

anything like this?
I remember thinking this song was very different. Different how? Honestly,, I don't know how to describe it. I just remember it was very different.
User avatar
elliseamos
Mind Your Tanners
Posts: 8900
Joined: Thu January 10, 2013 2:19 am
Location: SOUTH PORTLAND

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by elliseamos »

Iowaska_Experience wrote:
elliseamos wrote:
Iowaska_Experience wrote:Definitely. Paul's Boutique, Check Ur Head, and Ill Communication have a ton of variety across tracks [but, of course, some of these albums have 20+ tracks].
i have listened to each of these countless times, what do y'all mean by varitey/eclecticism that i don't when discussing no code and the descriptions we have of lightening bolt?
Combinations of hip/hop, jazz, funk, country, agro-punk, trippy psychedelia songs.
again, i'm not even remotely approaching a case against the beasties as varied and innovative, but i'm failing to see how an album like paul's boutique show's anything but a single genre throughout.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

The first time I heard IMT and GTF was the same: ooh, that's a kinda nice and edgy approach to a U2 epic.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
enimmi
A Return To Form
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 9:58 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by enimmi »

Here's mine. Hope it makes sense. ;) (off to bed now cause it's 2 in the morning and I got a festival to go to tomorrow. :))

Exclusive listening session, September 4th 2013, Melkweg, Amsterdam.

The listening session took place in a small cinema room with a large
screen and about 60 seats, with us taking the first row. This turned
out to be a good place to listen to the album because everybody kept
quiet when the album was played, like you would also do in a real
cinema. It started off with a 10 min video promo in which we were
shown bits and pieces of the songs and interviews with the band which
were done by 4 different persons, mainly Judd Apatow, Carrie
Brownstein, Mark Richards and Steve Gleason. These were just really
short cuts and I bet we will get to see the complete interviews later
on, perhaps as a part of the digital package.
Steve Gleason started with saying it's been 5 years since the last
record, what the fuck? Which made the band just sit there and laugh.
The record was described as a stormy dark imagery and Ed said that you
just needed to pay attention to the planet to find something to get
angry about pretty quick. Carrie asked about hearing loss because of
the loud songs in the past and Mike said he suffered from tinnitus
right at that very moment. He is really proud about Sirens and it was
said that Ed stayed up the night before in Los Angeles, writing the
lyrics, and hearing the sirens at night and writing about that.
Jeff said he was writing more the last 4 or 5 years. Ed compared the
record to a flophouse and that he was always glad to finish an album
so he could kick out the current tenants, meaning the songs, and he
hoped the new ones would behave better. :) The promo ended with Ed and
Danny Clinch sitting in a car getting ready to listen to the new album
and when it started, the volume was too loud and they couldn't turn it
down, which made Ed turn it up even more instead, to the point of
distortion.

Then it was time to listen to the album itself.

Getaway (+/- 3:00)
I brought a stopwatch to time the songs, but I was too excited so I
forgot to time Getaway but it's about 3 minutes long. The song itself
sounds hip and fresh and could easily been written by one of the
current rock bands. The song started with the lyric "Everyone's a
critic", which I guess will prove itself once the record is out. ;)
Other lyrics included '"Find a lighthouse in dark stormy weather",
"it's ok,....make your getaway". The song had a start/stop feel to it
and ended with a guitar shredding outro.

Mind Your Manners (2:40)
The sound on this was much clearer than Getaway to me, but all the
songs were in a compressed format anyway so it was hard to tell
exactly what caused the difference.

My Father's Son (3:02)
This song begins with some spoken wordish lyrics a la 'Bushleaguer'
about insemination and getting a release. This song had a pleasant
rhythm (my notes read tadadadum), and halfway it descends it something
a bit slower and with more bass. The way the lyrics were sung here
reminded me of 'Johnny Guitar'.

Sirens (5:37)
It starts off with the line "Hear the Sirens" x 3 and something about
a circus profound. I liked the start of the song but later on it
becomes a bit more like a power ballad, but the "Hear the Sirens" line
might save it. Need to hear it more to make a better judgement. It
ends with a guitar solo that reminded me of something you would hear
on a Guns N' Roses song.

Lightning Bolt (4:35)
This song features a piano and a guitar fade out. It felt to me like
this song will work better live than on the album somehow.

Infallible (5:15)
This is the song that was played during the soundcheck in London,
Ontario this year, only it has a different intro than the way it
started live. Lyrics featured lines such as "Keep on locking your
doors", "Won't get you this time", "Ships coming in and sinking",
"Thinking we're infallible, we're tempting faith instead". It features
a guitar solo and ends with a fade out.

Pendulum (3:36)
This one starts with some drums and lyrics "We are here and then we're
gone", "My shadow left me long ago", "Understand what we don't know".
Later in this song the guitar sounds a bit like a slide guitar. It's
definitely a darker song, also because of the lyrics which further
include "Into the fire but still I'm cold", "Nothing works for me
anymore". Ed later on starts singing "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah" and singing over
this as well. I liked the different layers of this song. Could become
one of my favourites on this album.

Swallowed Whole (3:49)
I pictured this song to be more somber but it actually is quite a lot
more happy sounding. It begins with some nice strumming guitar sound
and the lyrics seemed to be more darker than the song itself. It
features some rhyme repeating words like drown, drown, drown and loud,
loud, loud, the currents pull me down, the songs are like wind,
breathing forgiveness. Thinking back on it, it could have the same
meaning as 'In Hiding' and it definitely features typically Ed ocean
imagery. Enjoyed this song as well, also because of the way it was
sung. Ends with a guitar solo.

Let The Records Play (3:42)
The most blues rock song on the album but with a fun feel to it and
therefore it stands out from the others, like someone in a party mood
suddenly enters a room where others are having a serious discussion.
Typically a goofy Stone song. Lines include "When the kingdom comes,
he puts the records on", "Shaking but waking, wisdom in his bones".
Features a Stone solo and handclaps (according to my fellow companions
but I did not notice them myself) and ends with a fade out. This song
could go any which way after a few listens. Difficult to say if it
stays with you or not.

Sleeping By Myself (2:59)
Considering the reactions this song got from the rest of the company I
was in, most people are going to shit all over this song. Brendan
O'Brien even said they had a hard time making this song sound less
commercial, which makes you wonder you even more about what the other
versions of this song sounded like.
This is definitely the Speed of Sound of this album. I actually still
kind of liked it. It's as if they made a happier sounding version of
this song, like it is actually quite swell to be sleeping by oneself.
I wrote down that this version reminded me of 'Soon Forget'. It still
features a uke as well. Looking forward to people's reaction to this
once the album is officially out.

Yellow Moon (3:47)
Here we arrive at my personal favourite song on the album. I was even
singing along halfway into the song, which prompted Mirella to shush
me. Not really sure what made me like the song so much but it was just
like seeing a great jacket in a shop and when you try it on it fits
like a glove. It could have been the words as well, which went
something like "Here far away, feel the earth vibrate, the moon
chasing shape", "Round we go, where we stop no one knows", "As the sky
grows dark, we're falling stars". The chorus goes "Yellow moon on the
rise" with the rise part being sung as riiiiiiiise. Looking forward to
hearing this song again soon.

Future Days (4:20)
The album version opens with a piano, at least to me it sounded like a
real piano and not a keyboard. A lot of different instruments can be
heard on this song. A mandolin, a violin. I asked Brendan about it and
he said that only the violin was played by someone outside the band
and the rest was all played by the band itself and Brendan. The
beginning is just a single guitar with Ed singing. The song itself has
a Springsteen feel to it. It ends with the piano as well and
eventually fades out. Lots of fades on this record. There were two
songs which sort of seemed to blend into each other but I cannot
remember which ones these were.

So that is my take on these songs. It seems I enjoyed the second hakf
of the album more, and it looks like I will be in the minority on this
one, judging from other people reviews so far. Let me just say that I
found it very difficult to describe what I was hearing. The album is
not easily digestible in one go, which usually is a good sign. Time
will tell how all these tracks will hold up and how they will stand
when played live. I think we are in for an interesting ride to say the
least.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

elliseamos wrote:
Iowaska_Experience wrote:
elliseamos wrote:
Iowaska_Experience wrote:Definitely. Paul's Boutique, Check Ur Head, and Ill Communication have a ton of variety across tracks [but, of course, some of these albums have 20+ tracks].
i have listened to each of these countless times, what do y'all mean by varitey/eclecticism that i don't when discussing no code and the descriptions we have of lightening bolt?
Combinations of hip/hop, jazz, funk, country, agro-punk, trippy psychedelia songs.
again, i'm not even remotely approaching a case against the beasties as varied and innovative, but i'm failing to see how an album like paul's boutique show's anything but a single genre throughout.
Disagreement is fine, man.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
bodysnatcher
NEVER STOP JAMMING!
Posts: 22324
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 11:15 pm
Location: the bathroom

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by bodysnatcher »

So, to summarize.
bluestate wrote:
Getaway = seemed catchy.
My Father's Son = this song was very different. Different how? Honestly, I don't know
Sirens = It's long and a slow song.
Infallible = I can't remember a lot of this one. I think I remember liking this
Pendulum = I remember really liking this song also
Swallowed Whole = Don't remember a lot of this on
Let The Records Play = I was thinking it would be something along the lines of Spin the Black Circle. But it definitely was not.
Sleeping By Myself = Disappointed. I really do like the song.
Yellow Moon = Don't remember a lot of details on it though.
GREAT REVIEW!!
User avatar
E.H. Ruddock
Guys, I am not a moderator! I swear to God! Why does everyone think I'm a moderator?
Posts: 52045
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:48 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by E.H. Ruddock »

Since you assholes litter this thread with ten pages a minute, can someone just tell me if there have been any Dutch reviews?
Clouuuuds Rolll byyy...BANG BANG BANG BANG
warehouse
Rank This Poster
Posts: 4993
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 3:34 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by warehouse »

harmless wrote:The first time I heard IMT and GTF was the same: ooh, that's a kinda nice and edgy approach to a U2 epic.
:haha: really? everyone compares GTF to zeppelin. i'm more talkin about at their point in their career. i remember thinking it sounds like a soundtrack to getting abducted by aliens. kinda scary and intriguing at the same time. nothing i never really heard from them. i was also like 13 when the album came out so.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

enimmi wrote:Here's mine. Hope it makes sense. ;) (off to bed now cause it's 2 in the morning and I got a festival to go to tomorrow. :))

Exclusive listening session, September 4th 2013, Melkweg, Amsterdam.

The listening session took place in a small cinema room with a large
screen and about 60 seats, with us taking the first row. This turned
out to be a good place to listen to the album because everybody kept
quiet when the album was played, like you would also do in a real
cinema. It started off with a 10 min video promo in which we were
shown bits and pieces of the songs and interviews with the band which
were done by 4 different persons, mainly Judd Apatow, Carrie
Brownstein, Mark Richards and Steve Gleason. These were just really
short cuts and I bet we will get to see the complete interviews later
on, perhaps as a part of the digital package.
Steve Gleason started with saying it's been 5 years since the last
record, what the fuck? Which made the band just sit there and laugh.
The record was described as a stormy dark imagery and Ed said that you
just needed to pay attention to the planet to find something to get
angry about pretty quick. Carrie asked about hearing loss because of
the loud songs in the past and Mike said he suffered from tinnitus
right at that very moment. He is really proud about Sirens and it was
said that Ed stayed up the night before in Los Angeles, writing the
lyrics, and hearing the sirens at night and writing about that.
Jeff said he was writing more the last 4 or 5 years. Ed compared the
record to a flophouse and that he was always glad to finish an album
so he could kick out the current tenants, meaning the songs, and he
hoped the new ones would behave better. :) The promo ended with Ed and
Danny Clinch sitting in a car getting ready to listen to the new album
and when it started, the volume was too loud and they couldn't turn it
down, which made Ed turn it up even more instead, to the point of
distortion.

Then it was time to listen to the album itself.

Getaway (+/- 3:00)
I brought a stopwatch to time the songs, but I was too excited so I
forgot to time Getaway but it's about 3 minutes long. The song itself
sounds hip and fresh and could easily been written by one of the
current rock bands. The song started with the lyric "Everyone's a
critic", which I guess will prove itself once the record is out. ;)
Other lyrics included '"Find a lighthouse in dark stormy weather",
"it's ok,....make your getaway". The song had a start/stop feel to it
and ended with a guitar shredding outro.

Mind Your Manners (2:40)
The sound on this was much clearer than Getaway to me, but all the
songs were in a compressed format anyway so it was hard to tell
exactly what caused the difference.

My Father's Son (3:02)
This song begins with some spoken wordish lyrics a la 'Bushleaguer'
about insemination and getting a release. This song had a pleasant
rhythm (my notes read tadadadum), and halfway it descends it something
a bit slower and with more bass. The way the lyrics were sung here
reminded me of 'Johnny Guitar'.

Sirens (5:37)
It starts off with the line "Hear the Sirens" x 3 and something about
a circus profound. I liked the start of the song but later on it
becomes a bit more like a power ballad, but the "Hear the Sirens" line
might save it. Need to hear it more to make a better judgement. It
ends with a guitar solo that reminded me of something you would hear
on a Guns N' Roses song.

Lightning Bolt (4:35)
This song features a piano and a guitar fade out. It felt to me like
this song will work better live than on the album somehow.

Infallible (5:15)
This is the song that was played during the soundcheck in London,
Ontario this year, only it has a different intro than the way it
started live. Lyrics featured lines such as "Keep on locking your
doors", "Won't get you this time", "Ships coming in and sinking",
"Thinking we're infallible, we're tempting faith instead". It features
a guitar solo and ends with a fade out.

Pendulum (3:36)
This one starts with some drums and lyrics "We are here and then we're
gone", "My shadow left me long ago", "Understand what we don't know".
Later in this song the guitar sounds a bit like a slide guitar. It's
definitely a darker song, also because of the lyrics which further
include "Into the fire but still I'm cold", "Nothing works for me
anymore". Ed later on starts singing "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah" and singing over
this as well. I liked the different layers of this song. Could become
one of my favourites on this album.

Swallowed Whole (3:49)
I pictured this song to be more somber but it actually is quite a lot
more happy sounding. It begins with some nice strumming guitar sound
and the lyrics seemed to be more darker than the song itself. It
features some rhyme repeating words like drown, drown, drown and loud,
loud, loud, the currents pull me down, the songs are like wind,
breathing forgiveness. Thinking back on it, it could have the same
meaning as 'In Hiding' and it definitely features typically Ed ocean
imagery. Enjoyed this song as well, also because of the way it was
sung. Ends with a guitar solo.

Let The Records Play (3:42)
The most blues rock song on the album but with a fun feel to it and
therefore it stands out from the others, like someone in a party mood
suddenly enters a room where others are having a serious discussion.
Typically a goofy Stone song. Lines include "When the kingdom comes,
he puts the records on", "Shaking but waking, wisdom in his bones".
Features a Stone solo and handclaps (according to my fellow companions
but I did not notice them myself) and ends with a fade out. This song
could go any which way after a few listens. Difficult to say if it
stays with you or not.

Sleeping By Myself (2:59)
Considering the reactions this song got from the rest of the company I
was in, most people are going to shit all over this song. Brendan
O'Brien even said they had a hard time making this song sound less
commercial, which makes you wonder you even more about what the other
versions of this song sounded like.
This is definitely the Speed of Sound of this album. I actually still
kind of liked it. It's as if they made a happier sounding version of
this song, like it is actually quite swell to be sleeping by oneself.
I wrote down that this version reminded me of 'Soon Forget'. It still
features a uke as well. Looking forward to people's reaction to this
once the album is officially out.

Yellow Moon (3:47)
Here we arrive at my personal favourite song on the album. I was even
singing along halfway into the song, which prompted Mirella to shush
me. Not really sure what made me like the song so much but it was just
like seeing a great jacket in a shop and when you try it on it fits
like a glove. It could have been the words as well, which went
something like "Here far away, feel the earth vibrate, the moon
chasing shape", "Round we go, where we stop no one knows", "As the sky
grows dark, we're falling stars". The chorus goes "Yellow moon on the
rise" with the rise part being sung as riiiiiiiise. Looking forward to
hearing this song again soon.

Future Days (4:20)
The album version opens with a piano, at least to me it sounded like a
real piano and not a keyboard. A lot of different instruments can be
heard on this song. A mandolin, a violin. I asked Brendan about it and
he said that only the violin was played by someone outside the band
and the rest was all played by the band itself and Brendan. The
beginning is just a single guitar with Ed singing. The song itself has
a Springsteen feel to it. It ends with the piano as well and
eventually fades out. Lots of fades on this record. There were two
songs which sort of seemed to blend into each other but I cannot
remember which ones these were.

So that is my take on these songs. It seems I enjoyed the second hakf
of the album more, and it looks like I will be in the minority on this
one, judging from other people reviews so far. Let me just say that I
found it very difficult to describe what I was hearing. The album is
not easily digestible in one go, which usually is a good sign. Time
will tell how all these tracks will hold up and how they will stand
when played live. I think we are in for an interesting ride to say the
least.
This all sounded very interesting. Nearly all of it has me more excited. Orchestration on Future Days (real piano?), decent-sounding lyrics on LTRP. And some decent snatches of lyrics this time all round.

But, piano on Lightning Bolt? It's going to be Unthought Known again. :shake:
Last edited by harmless on Thu September 05, 2013 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
evenslow
Stone's Bitch
Posts: 9164
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:47 pm
Location: unnamed mental hospital

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by evenslow »

enimmi, you're the king. :thumbsup:
Strat wrote:Alas, we are RM
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

evenslow wrote:enimmi, you're the king. :thumbsup:
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
bodysnatcher
NEVER STOP JAMMING!
Posts: 22324
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 11:15 pm
Location: the bathroom

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by bodysnatcher »

Nice move, Steve Gleason :haha:
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by harmless »

warehouse wrote:
harmless wrote:The first time I heard IMT and GTF was the same: ooh, that's a kinda nice and edgy approach to a U2 epic.
:haha: really? everyone compares GTF to zeppelin. i'm more talkin about at their point in their career. i remember thinking it sounds like a soundtrack to getting abducted by aliens. kinda scary and intriguing at the same time. nothing i never really heard from them. i was also like 13 when the album came out so.
I wasn't familiar enough with Led Zep to know about that, and even now I'm not sure what GTF is supposed to have copied from them. I just haven't bothered to find out. I obviously think those songs are totally awesome now, but that's partly thanks to the benefit of many years of reflection and time spent with them.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
stupidmop
Future Drummer
Posts: 2796
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 4:29 pm

Re: Lightning Bolt - October 15

Post by stupidmop »

Song times!

Man I always thought the uke version of Sleeping by myself was happy enough as is.
Post Reply