Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Strat]

This bitch leaked

Knock it off

[evenslow]

harmless you gotta change that avatar if you're going to be posting a lot, which you are, so you do.

[McParadigm]

The whole thing about Stone saying "It's going to alienate people, like No Code did" in the first session, and then saying "It sounds like Pearl Jam" in the second, doesn't have to be explained by a move from freaky awesomeness to Backspacer 2, by the way. It could just be that he was told to reign it in, don't say our new album will alienate, you'll put everyone off, etc. It doesn't necessarily indicate what kind of music he was referring to, just that the later quote was less revealing in its info. If anything, if this album is any move away from Backspacer at all, he may have felt the need to warn the pop fans about it. You know, all those people who have got on board since Backspacer...

In fairness a severe left turn artistically was predicted and expected after the last one.
I'm not buying the logical extension argument at all apart from that one song being a left over.

Sometimes songs don't find their place til later. Pj have demonstrated this often in the past.

I was only worried about that one review implying that Lightning Bolt itself sounded more like Unthought Known than it had already, played live, and also that half of the songs were entertaining but less challenging rock songs a la Backspacer. Having said that though, there are also less challenging rock songs on Riot Act and Binaural ('Get Right is a cool but uncomplicated song, so is Green Disease), so are we getting anything wildly different than normal? Possibly not.

This is probably for another thread, but I'm of the opinion UK would be more liked if it had been on a better album...say Yield or something. Does that make sense?

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it.
Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

1) Too much production polish
2) Not good structurally; the last third goes nowhere
3) Brendan's piano ruins it

Remove that piano, and the front half loses a lot of its feeling of forward motion. "So, uh...you're still playing that riff, huh? Cool..."

To me, it was always time to hit the skip button once the "nothing left"s started up.

[harmless]

I'm not saying the reviews so far suggest this but... If someone told us at the outset that Lightning Bolt was going to sound like equal parts "a logical extension of Backspacer" and equal parts "something new and different, dark and moody, experimental, strange"... I'm pretty sure most of you would have been pleased with that, right?

Ding Ding Ding!

(I could have simply said "yes," but my brain literally did that when I read your question. So here we are.)

Absolutely yes, and I'm still happy. To me it's crazy, if the band are even slowly moving back to that more serious, experimental place, to still complain about it not being enough.

Yea, and what I keep thinking is that if this new album went all the way in a whole new direction then that would leave Backspacer just standing there by itself the one oddball in the PJ catalog. However, if LB really works at mixing a bit of Backspacer with something new and exciting, that might provide a better context for Backspacer and, in the long run, may allow it to hold its proper place in the PJ catalog. Perhaps that's just way too much positive thinking for RM. Sorry.

It's OK by me. And it's a good career move, to gradually move back so as to introduce your new fans (those elusive new fans) to your wilder stuff.

[Jaeti]

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it. Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

It is pretty classic PJ, if you're willing to acknowledge there are a few different strains of "classic PJ." It's not as good as it seemed upon first hearing it, but it's good.

[dimejinky99]

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it. Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

It is pretty classic PJ, if you're willing to acknowledge there are a few different strains of "classic PJ." It's not as good as it seemed upon first hearing it, but it's good.

It's one of those songs that just spoke to me, and its much better live than in the record. Which is unusual.

[harmless]

The whole thing about Stone saying "It's going to alienate people, like No Code did" in the first session, and then saying "It sounds like Pearl Jam" in the second, doesn't have to be explained by a move from freaky awesomeness to Backspacer 2, by the way. It could just be that he was told to reign it in, don't say our new album will alienate, you'll put everyone off, etc. It doesn't necessarily indicate what kind of music he was referring to, just that the later quote was less revealing in its info. If anything, if this album is any move away from Backspacer at all, he may have felt the need to warn the pop fans about it. You know, all those people who have got on board since Backspacer...

In fairness a severe left turn artistically was predicted and expected after the last one.
I'm not buying the logical extension argument at all apart from that one song being a left over.

Sometimes songs don't find their place til later. Pj have demonstrated this often in the past.

I was only worried about that one review implying that Lightning Bolt itself sounded more like Unthought Known than it had already, played live, and also that half of the songs were entertaining but less challenging rock songs a la Backspacer. Having said that though, there are also less challenging rock songs on Riot Act and Binaural ('Get Right is a cool but uncomplicated song, so is Green Disease), so are we getting anything wildly different than normal? Possibly not.

This is probably for another thread, but I'm of the opinion UK would be more liked if it had been on a better album...say Yield or something. Does that make sense?

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it.
Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

1) Too much production polish
2) Not good structurally; the last third goes nowhere
3) Brendan's piano ruins it

Remove that piano, and the front half loses a lot of its feeling of forward motion. "So, uh...you're still playing that riff, huh? Cool..."

To me, it was always time to hit the skip button once the "nothing left"s started up.

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

[harmless]

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it. Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

It is pretty classic PJ, if you're willing to acknowledge there are a few different strains of "classic PJ." It's not as good as it seemed upon first hearing it, but it's good.

It's one of those songs that just spoke to me, and its much better live than in the record. Which is unusual.

I think it has some good lyrics and deserves a better structure underneath them.

[McParadigm]

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

I also always appreciated that it sprinkled itself high up while Ed was warbling down below, then quit doing it when he shot upward in order to leave all that space for him to fill up. That was a good move...just kind of remind people of all that empty space up there, then the bass kicks in and Ed just owns it (even if it took a lot of echo and studio to make it happen).

That song was the one thing on that record that I really thought did something interesting...especially the change in the bridge, which reminded me of the transition into the guitar solo in Springsteen's Rising...but it wasn't written out enough to stay interesting long term.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it. Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

It is pretty classic PJ, if you're willing to acknowledge there are a few different strains of "classic PJ." It's not as good as it seemed upon first hearing it, but it's good.

It's one of those songs that just spoke to me, and its much better live than in the record. Which is unusual.

I don't hate UK, but its not one of my favorites from bs just because it has always felt forced, it isn't a song that just naturally became a song that builds during the writing process, it feels like they ( or ed ) went in trying to write a song like that.

[EJ]

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it. Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

It is pretty classic PJ, if you're willing to acknowledge there are a few different strains of "classic PJ." It's not as good as it seemed upon first hearing it, but it's good.

It's one of those songs that just spoke to me, and its much better live than in the record. Which is unusual.

I think it has some good lyrics and deserves a better structure underneath them.

It veers to close to a signature Springsteen song in the middle. Its a little disappointing.

[harmless]

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

I also always appreciated that it sprinkled itself high up while Ed was warbling down below, then quit doing it when he shot upward in order to leave all that space for him to fill up. That was a good move...just kind of remind people of all that empty space up there, then the bass kicks in and Ed just owns it (even if it took a lot of echo and studio to make it happen).

That song was the one thing on that record that I really thought did something interesting...especially the change in the bridge, which reminded me of the transition into the guitar solo in Springsteen's Rising...but it wasn't written out enough to stay interesting long term.

Actually, I should clarify. I like what the piano does until the instrumental transition into the "Nothing left!" section. It's only a few seconds but it's too much Meatloaf key-bashing for me. But the single-note stuff happening in the intro really does a lot for the song.

[Strat]

Unthought Known was excellent on acoustic at eds solo shows but i think the full band version brings it down a few notches with over the top production and instrumentation choices (funny, most people say that about SOS whereas I disagree). I think 3 guitars and a piano all hammering away like monkeys on the same chords drags the song down.

Thats it.

[Buby]

This bitch leaked

Knock it off

That's the fastest way to make sure

[harmless]

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it. Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

It is pretty classic PJ, if you're willing to acknowledge there are a few different strains of "classic PJ." It's not as good as it seemed upon first hearing it, but it's good.

It's one of those songs that just spoke to me, and its much better live than in the record. Which is unusual.

I don't hate UK, but its not one of my favorites from bs just because it has always felt forced, it isn't a song that just naturally became a song that builds during the writing process, it feels like they ( or ed ) went in trying to write a song like that.

Lightning Bolt, for all its flaws, seems like the finished thing.

[evenslow]

The whole thing about Stone saying "It's going to alienate people, like No Code did" in the first session, and then saying "It sounds like Pearl Jam" in the second, doesn't have to be explained by a move from freaky awesomeness to Backspacer 2, by the way. It could just be that he was told to reign it in, don't say our new album will alienate, you'll put everyone off, etc. It doesn't necessarily indicate what kind of music he was referring to, just that the later quote was less revealing in its info. If anything, if this album is any move away from Backspacer at all, he may have felt the need to warn the pop fans about it. You know, all those people who have got on board since Backspacer...

In fairness a severe left turn artistically was predicted and expected after the last one.
I'm not buying the logical extension argument at all apart from that one song being a left over.

Sometimes songs don't find their place til later. Pj have demonstrated this often in the past.

I was only worried about that one review implying that Lightning Bolt itself sounded more like Unthought Known than it had already, played live, and also that half of the songs were entertaining but less challenging rock songs a la Backspacer. Having said that though, there are also less challenging rock songs on Riot Act and Binaural ('Get Right is a cool but uncomplicated song, so is Green Disease), so are we getting anything wildly different than normal? Possibly not.

This is probably for another thread, but I'm of the opinion UK would be more liked if it had been on a better album...say Yield or something. Does that make sense?

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it.
Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

1) Too much production polish
2) Not good structurally; the last third goes nowhere
3) Brendan's piano ruins it

Remove that piano, and the front half loses a lot of its feeling of forward motion. "So, uh...you're still playing that riff, huh? Cool..."

To me, it was always time to hit the skip button once the "nothing left"s started up.

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

I swear to God all this piano you guys notice never makes an impression on me. Certainly not enough to derail anything.

[Strat]

The whole thing about Stone saying "It's going to alienate people, like No Code did" in the first session, and then saying "It sounds like Pearl Jam" in the second, doesn't have to be explained by a move from freaky awesomeness to Backspacer 2, by the way. It could just be that he was told to reign it in, don't say our new album will alienate, you'll put everyone off, etc. It doesn't necessarily indicate what kind of music he was referring to, just that the later quote was less revealing in its info. If anything, if this album is any move away from Backspacer at all, he may have felt the need to warn the pop fans about it. You know, all those people who have got on board since Backspacer...

In fairness a severe left turn artistically was predicted and expected after the last one.
I'm not buying the logical extension argument at all apart from that one song being a left over.

Sometimes songs don't find their place til later. Pj have demonstrated this often in the past.

I was only worried about that one review implying that Lightning Bolt itself sounded more like Unthought Known than it had already, played live, and also that half of the songs were entertaining but less challenging rock songs a la Backspacer. Having said that though, there are also less challenging rock songs on Riot Act and Binaural ('Get Right is a cool but uncomplicated song, so is Green Disease), so are we getting anything wildly different than normal? Possibly not.

This is probably for another thread, but I'm of the opinion UK would be more liked if it had been on a better album...say Yield or something. Does that make sense?

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it.
Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

1) Too much production polish
2) Not good structurally; the last third goes nowhere
3) Brendan's piano ruins it

Remove that piano, and the front half loses a lot of its feeling of forward motion. "So, uh...you're still playing that riff, huh? Cool..."

To me, it was always time to hit the skip button once the "nothing left"s started up.

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

I swear to God all this piano you guys notice never makes an impression on me. Certainly not enough to derail anything.

[harmless]

The whole thing about Stone saying "It's going to alienate people, like No Code did" in the first session, and then saying "It sounds like Pearl Jam" in the second, doesn't have to be explained by a move from freaky awesomeness to Backspacer 2, by the way. It could just be that he was told to reign it in, don't say our new album will alienate, you'll put everyone off, etc. It doesn't necessarily indicate what kind of music he was referring to, just that the later quote was less revealing in its info. If anything, if this album is any move away from Backspacer at all, he may have felt the need to warn the pop fans about it. You know, all those people who have got on board since Backspacer...

In fairness a severe left turn artistically was predicted and expected after the last one.
I'm not buying the logical extension argument at all apart from that one song being a left over.

Sometimes songs don't find their place til later. Pj have demonstrated this often in the past.

I was only worried about that one review implying that Lightning Bolt itself sounded more like Unthought Known than it had already, played live, and also that half of the songs were entertaining but less challenging rock songs a la Backspacer. Having said that though, there are also less challenging rock songs on Riot Act and Binaural ('Get Right is a cool but uncomplicated song, so is Green Disease), so are we getting anything wildly different than normal? Possibly not.

This is probably for another thread, but I'm of the opinion UK would be more liked if it had been on a better album...say Yield or something. Does that make sense?

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it.
Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

1) Too much production polish
2) Not good structurally; the last third goes nowhere
3) Brendan's piano ruins it

Remove that piano, and the front half loses a lot of its feeling of forward motion. "So, uh...you're still playing that riff, huh? Cool..."

To me, it was always time to hit the skip button once the "nothing left"s started up.

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

I swear to God all this piano you guys notice never makes an impression on me. Certainly not enough to derail anything.

I will remember that when you try to tell me the studio version of Lightning Bolt isn't terrible!

[McParadigm]

Actually, I should clarify. I like what the piano does until the instrumental transition into the "Nothing left!" section. It's only a few seconds but it's too much Meatloaf key-bashing for me.

I always heard Billy Joel in that playing

Which I also consider to be unflattering

[evenslow]

The whole thing about Stone saying "It's going to alienate people, like No Code did" in the first session, and then saying "It sounds like Pearl Jam" in the second, doesn't have to be explained by a move from freaky awesomeness to Backspacer 2, by the way. It could just be that he was told to reign it in, don't say our new album will alienate, you'll put everyone off, etc. It doesn't necessarily indicate what kind of music he was referring to, just that the later quote was less revealing in its info. If anything, if this album is any move away from Backspacer at all, he may have felt the need to warn the pop fans about it. You know, all those people who have got on board since Backspacer...

In fairness a severe left turn artistically was predicted and expected after the last one.
I'm not buying the logical extension argument at all apart from that one song being a left over.

Sometimes songs don't find their place til later. Pj have demonstrated this often in the past.

I was only worried about that one review implying that Lightning Bolt itself sounded more like Unthought Known than it had already, played live, and also that half of the songs were entertaining but less challenging rock songs a la Backspacer. Having said that though, there are also less challenging rock songs on Riot Act and Binaural ('Get Right is a cool but uncomplicated song, so is Green Disease), so are we getting anything wildly different than normal? Possibly not.

This is probably for another thread, but I'm of the opinion UK would be more liked if it had been on a better album...say Yield or something. Does that make sense?

I've often felt that about UK too. It's pretty much got that classic PJ stamp all over it.
Never understood why it didn't get more love here.

1) Too much production polish
2) Not good structurally; the last third goes nowhere
3) Brendan's piano ruins it

Remove that piano, and the front half loses a lot of its feeling of forward motion. "So, uh...you're still playing that riff, huh? Cool..."

To me, it was always time to hit the skip button once the "nothing left"s started up.

Yeah, you're right... there would still need to be something in place of the piano for that section to work. I just hate the piano. I hate what's played, I hate the way it's played. The fact that it wouldn't have survived with guitars alone is probably a knock on the song more than the piano itself. I guess Mike could've done something in place of the piano, that's what usually happens, but the fact is, through their career PJ have hardly ever decided any of their musical interludes needs a piano.

I swear to God all this piano you guys notice never makes an impression on me. Certainly not enough to derail anything.

I will remember that when you try to tell me the studio version of Lightning Bolt isn't terrible!

I may not tell you that. I was not moved by the song at all when I heard it live. For that particular track, I'm just hoping for good enough.