Gigaton: Official album thread

[WaitingForBluey]

I'm so happy I could cry. First listen, picking my jaw off the floor. It's not that these are the greatest songs they've ever written, it's just how it all sounds. There is this somewhat odd controlled level of chaos all throughout the album. The level of experimentation is unlike anything we've ever heard from this band...and that includes No Code!

[dimejinky99]

Woohooo yeah! Is my first impression. Thank you to those that sent me the link. I'm not on board with any of the LB and Backspacer hate here. I'm generally of the mind that this band falls into that Tom Petty-like 'high batting average' band, where they just seem incapable of putting out something I won't like. Too many strong songwriters. They're not a band that puts out those mind bending/change-the-game/makeeveryone else catchup records, but not many do. And well on first listen ... I think they are gonna give me yet another keeper. I'm not on some trip of being a "rejuvenated" fan or needing to be rejuvenated ... I've dug the past few albums and felt they were necessary. This continues the journey and I'm so proud they're still around and doing it. I usually fall pretty close to Stip, and I think he said this is a Yield-Riot Act-Lightning Bolt sort of mix and I think I might agree. I also think this album has it's own distinct character. I love that they can do that. There's a Gigaton vibe. I love how their albums sort of speak to each other. I can't comment much on the lyrics yet, but here are my initial impressions.

Who Ever Said - So, I'll need a few go rounds with this one. I'm a *huge* fan of Getaway. One of my all time favorite openers along with Life Wasted and Go. This one I'll get back to. I liked it, but I can't say highlight. It rocked, it had some cool guitar, there's a song there I'm gonna like. Did it lead into the vibe of the rest of the record? I dunno, may be not. But it sounded good. Looking forward to more listens.

Superblood - It's growing on me. Like I said before, a musical cousin to Gods Dice and Grievance with the choppy chord sequences.

Dance of the Clairvoyants - yep, killer song. They sure did it. A track that stands out in their catalogue as it's own thing. Bravo.

Quick Escape - Oh man! Loved it, gave me chills actually. Man just a cool mixture of sounds, grooves, solos, and just a total ripping trip of a song. Put a huge smile on my face and will be a stunner in concert. Matt and Jeff are stars here.

Alright - flowed nicely after QE, I really felt good about this one. I'm gonna dig future listens. Really helps establish that core Gigaton vibe that's going on here. It has the core qualities of this album. If I were to describe this album's vibe, this song might contain alot of it.

7 oclock - Maybe a War on Drugs sort of sound here? Definitely some Bruce, but it's got some good flourishes that further establishes the album vibe that Alright established. This is really turning out to be an *album* at this point. I'm not sure how the first couple tracks fit with these, but this is the core of the album, and I'm digging it.

Never Destination - yeah it's a rocker, but it fits the vibe of the tracks that preceded it. I don't know why. Now I'm a little bit more puzzled by the first 2 tracks and I'm not sure how they lead into the rest of the album.

Take the Long Way - put another smile on my face. I really like Matt's Cavedweller, and this feels like that. This was missing on LB, why wasn't he given a song on that?

Buckle Up - yes! some weirdo shit, and I think I'm gonna be down with it. Riot Act had Help Help, which I didn't like at first but is *spot on* now. This one could be one of the stronger 'weirdo' PJ tunes. I'm gonna have to go back to it some more.

Comes Then Goes - some Far Behind esque guitar playing. The chords really stand out. Again, I usually need time with lyrics but I feel like this is gonna deserve repeat listens. He's gonna sound great w/ this on stage during a quiet section or in his solo sets.

Retrograde - dug it, and dug the climactic finish. It feels like it gives resolution to some of the themes and sounds heard in the middle section, so I think this feels like it could be a key track. I'll want to spend some time with this. Could play an In Hiding role, but In Hiding was something else entirely and hard to ever top.

River Cross - completes the Gigaton vibe. The band members tastefully added good bits to it.

I am not on board in any form with the idea that the band didn't put effort in the last 2 albums. I feel like, if any criticism was fair, it's that they beat the songs up too much and didn't let them breathe. They clearly scrutinized, or maybe overscrutinized at times, the songs on those albums. This is them relaxing in the studio. They're taking a few chances, but still being self-assured. They're kicking it, losing themselves in some of the sounds but also recognizing the gravity of where they are at in their career and what's going on in the world. I feel like this will be relevant to me, and I'm gonna really enjoy playing this on my turntable and my earphones. Backspacer and LB were big "car" records. I think this is gonna be a headphones record. Good late career record. Essential if we want to see how older rockers can age well.

nice post

Really was.

[ghost]

Who Ever Said ***
Superblood Wolfmoon **
Dance of the Clairvoyants *****
Quick Escape *****
Alright *****
7:00 ***
Never Destination ****
Take the Long Way ****
Buckle Up *****
Comes Then Goes ****
Retrograde ***
River Cross ***

Starts and ends weak, but the middle 8 songs...holy moly.

[stip]

I'm so happy I could cry. First listen, picking my jaw off the floor. It's not that these are the greatest songs they've ever written, it's just how it all sounds. There is this somewhat odd controlled level of chaos all throughout the album. The level of experimentation is unlike anything we've ever heard from this band...and that includes No Code!

Could be. And there is a confidence to it all that is impressive.

[stip]

I think Dance may be my only true 5 star song on here, but there area lot of really really good songs, and this works really nicely as an album

[Sgt. Crackpot]

I'm legitimately enjoying the experience of you all loving this album. So much so, it's enough to tie me over to next Friday.

[Homeboyd]

I think Dance may be my only true 5 star song on here, but there area lot of really really good songs, and this works really nicely as an album

First Impression - above or below Backspacer for you?

[dimejinky99]

I'm legitimately enjoying the experience of you all loving this album. So much so, it's enough to tie me over to next Friday.

Same

These are the best days on RM:)

It’ll all go south and rather malignant eventually but hopefully we get a nice bounce with this one.

[daft twat]

one of the reviews said "this is the album that should have been called Pearl Jam"

and I like the title, but agree with this sentiment; this album is a real showcase of everything latter-day PJ is capable of

That wasn’t a review. That was me. I’m as far as Buckle Up right now and I’m loving everything.

[stip]

I think Dance may be my only true 5 star song on here, but there area lot of really really good songs, and this works really nicely as an album

First Impression - above or below Backspacer for you?

Backspacer is ahead of it for now, but for all we know I'm the world's biggest Backspacer fan. But this album has a lot of potential. While Dance is the only 5 star song for me the overall album is strong start to finish, and the songs have some open density to them that will take some time to digest. Backspacer has fewer layers so it was easier to get a handle on it more quickly.

I can see this nestling itself fairly comfortably in the middle of the pack for me. Something I never would have expected from a band 30 years into their career. And it plays like a warm blanket, which is exactly what I needed from this album. I'm angry at the world all the time, and I don't need an album to soundtrack that. I need one to make me feel better.

[Ms Harmless]

one of the reviews said "this is the album that should have been called Pearl Jam"

and I like the title, but agree with this sentiment; this album is a real showcase of everything latter-day PJ is capable of

That wasn’t a review. That was me. I’m as far as Buckle Up right now and I’m loving everything.

oh, OK

I can't remember why you said that before you'd heard it? was it a prediction based on reviews?

[Homeboyd]

I think Dance may be my only true 5 star song on here, but there area lot of really really good songs, and this works really nicely as an album

First Impression - above or below Backspacer for you?

Backspacer is ahead of it for now, but for all we know I'm the world's biggest Backspacer fan. But this album has a lot of potential. While Dance is the only 5 star song for me the overall album is strong start to finish, and the songs have some open density to them that will take some time to digest. Backspacer has fewer layers so it was easier to get a handle on it more quickly.

I can see this nestling itself fairly comfortably in the middle of the pack for me. Something I never would have expected from a band 30 years into their career. And it plays like a warm blanket, which is exactly what I needed from this album. I'm angry at the world all the time, and I don't need an album to soundtrack that. I need one to make me feel better.

Thanks. Well said as always. You're still crazy for your Backspacer love but we all have crosses to bear

[Parrhesia]

Very pleasantly surprised. Highlights for me so far are: Quick Escape, Alright, Buckle Up, Take The Long Way.

[stip]

This feels like the love child of Sirens and Speed of Sound, but missed the best parts of each (two songs I really like).

[stip]

Once this gets to the 'could be thunder, or a crowd' part - around 3:20, it turns into a totally different song. The final two minutes of this one are great.

[stip]

thought I was in the retrograde thread

[Waverider]

Ok, so I've read so many thing being said while I was at work. I have not heard anything, as I have not asked for a link. That's a first for me. With my other account I had, and then this latest one, I always came here at new album time, and got an early listen. I told myself that wasn't going to do that again, and I won't. I really am enjoying reading everything people are saying, it's great, and I feel all your enthusiasm etc.

I would like to ask a few questions.....

Although very, very early, If you would give "Yield" a 10 let's say, where would this record place out of ....you know.....10 for you, and where did you rank the last 3 albums as well? I'm not interested in pre Yield, because that's just in a different galaxy then we are now.

Also, I know the leak quality apparantly isn't the best, but vocally, how does Ed sound opposed to the last 3 records in your opinion?

Thank you for any feedback, seriously.

[McParadigm]

I might add to this tomorrow, or just wish I never wrote it instead. One or the other. Or neither. But this is something I like about the record.

This is an album about surviving past the end. It’s an unexpectedly appropriate subject for this day and age, and Pearl Jam is a uniquely authentic musical voice for it. They are capable of capturing, without fetishistic assumption or romanticism, the real experience of survival. They know what it means to live with losses that you can’t outlive. They know it’s not always going to feel like it was worth it.

So save your predictions, and burn your assumptions. But the band also wants you to feel the natural jubilance of the phrase “there’s much to be done.” Its reaction to the bitter end isn’t trademark fury, but just the same I’m still alive, different day.

The inspirations were clearly (primarily) Trump and climate change, but the band’s empathetic fixation on surviving hardships (both physically and spiritually) make this the ideal album to carry into uncertain quarantine. It’s an album that wants you to feel less alone. First, do no harm. Then: buckle up.

Even the president, lazily disparaged, is then immediately sympathized with in terms the band cannot help but understand. “His best days gone, hard to admit,” and here the smugly-strutting song becomes a mother’s hug. “Angry punches, with nothing to hit.” It’s like a Riot Act song all grown up...still furious for all of the denied and powerless, but now able to find its own reflection in the failures of the powerful.

Pearl Jam used to make albums about surviving the moment. Then, for a while there, they sort of made albums about remembering what it was like to be surviving the moment. Now, they’re finally ready to talk about you do next. Which in its way is just another kind of promise to survive. Whoever said it’s all been said gave up on satisfaction.

I could very well end up humiliated by how much I like this. I’ll live with it. Because whether or not this is a great record, it hits me right now because I’m pretty scared but hoping, and a hope dies last.

[Monkey_Driven]

I might add to this tomorrow, or just wish I never wrote it instead. One or the other. Or neither. But this is something I like about the record.

This is an album about surviving past the end. It’s an unexpectedly appropriate subject for this day and age, and Pearl Jam is a uniquely authentic musical voice for it. They are capable of capturing, without fetishistic assumption or romanticism, the real experience of survival. They know what it means to live with losses that you can’t outlive. They know it’s not always going to feel like it was worth it.

So save your predictions, and burn your assumptions. But the band also wants you to feel the natural jubilance of the phrase “there’s much to be done.” Its reaction to the bitter end isn’t trademark fury, but just the same I’m still alive, different day.

The inspirations were clearly (primarily) Trump and climate change, but the band’s empathetic fixation on surviving hardships (both physically and spiritually) make this the ideal album to carry into uncertain quarantine. It’s an album that wants you to feel less alone. First, do no harm. Then: buckle up.

Even the president, lazily disparaged, is then immediately sympathized with in terms the band cannot help but understand. “His best days gone, hard to admit,” and here the smugly-strutting song becomes a mother’s hug. “Angry punches, with nothing to hit.” It’s like a Riot Act song all grown up...still furious for all of the denied and powerless, but now able to find its own reflection in the failures of the powerful.

Pearl Jam used to make albums about surviving the moment. Then, for a while there, they sort of made albums about remembering what it was like to be surviving the moment. Now, they’re finally ready to talk about you do next. Which in its way is just another kind of promise to survive. Whoever said it’s all been said gave up on satisfaction.

I could very well end up humiliated by how much I like this. I’ll live with it. Because whether or not this is a great record, it hits me right now because I’m pretty scared but hoping, and a hope dies last.

There are not enough hearts to give this post.

[Ms Harmless]

Ok, so I've read so many thing being said while I was at work. I have not heard anything, as I have not asked for a link. That's a first for me. With my other account I had, and then this latest one, I always came here at new album time, and got an early listen. I told myself that wasn't going to do that again, and I won't. I really am enjoying reading everything people are saying, it's great, and I feel all your enthusiasm etc.

I would like to ask a few questions.....

Although very, very early, If you would give "Yield" a 10 let's say, where would this record place out of ....you know.....10 for you, and where did you rank the last 3 albums as well? I'm not interested in pre Yield, because that's just in a different galaxy then we are now.

Also, I know the leak quality apparantly isn't the best, but vocally, how does Ed sound opposed to the last 3 records in your opinion?

Thank you for any feedback, seriously.

if Yield is a 10

Gigaton is a 8.5

S/T is a 6
Backspacer is a 5
Lightning Bolt is a 5