Gigaton: Official album thread

[LikeLukin]

Holy Jesus do we actually have a good album here?!

[Tuolumne]

I think one of the things I like so much about this record is that in almost every place where historical Pearl Jam would have tossed in a quick, forgettable solo, hit another chorus, and then repeated either the verse or the chorus progression into a fade out, this record looks for something else to do. It feels less like a bunch of dudes asking each other “OK so what do we do for the bridge,” and more like a song happened. Like they stretched out and played with totally open minds, without concern for how it will work live or whether it sounded too corny or whatever.

Never Destination is a great example. I can understand why some people would be turned off by the first half (I like it), because at this point just the IDEA of fast Pearl Jam is a little exhausting. But what would have in previous years been 20 seconds of idea played for 2 1/2 minutes now blossoms in the second half, exposing a beauty that no rushed post-punk pearl jam effort ever gave you, before landing as delicately as a butterfly.

Great record. Front to back.

So, I think you make some good points here. However, I don't attribute the approach they took on the last few records as being ha'f ass or lazy in any way at all. I think they scrutinized those songs for the purposes of tightness and precision. They went gave the songs a look over, "how can we make this more concise and to the point?" It was the old 'don't bore us get to the chorus' mindset, and I think that's from being big fans of garage rock. There is the BoB factor too, where there are choices they make n Gigaton that he just wouldn't have allowed. I think they knew it was time for something different, and they let the songs breathe more, which is what we have here.

[evenslow]

I think one of the things I like so much about this record is that in almost every place where historical Pearl Jam would have tossed in a quick, forgettable solo, hit another chorus, and then repeated either the verse or the chorus progression into a fade out, this record looks for something else to do. It feels less like a bunch of dudes asking each other “OK so what do we do for the bridge,” and more like a song happened. Like they stretched out and played with totally open minds, without concern for how it will work live or whether it sounded too corny or whatever.

Never Destination is a great example. I can understand why some people would be turned off by the first half (I like it), because at this point just the IDEA of fast Pearl Jam is a little exhausting. But what would have in previous years been 20 seconds of idea played for 2 1/2 minutes now blossoms in the second half, exposing a beauty that no rushed post-punk pearl jam effort ever gave you, before landing as delicately as a butterfly.

Great record. Front to back.

yes, as i said somewhere before this is a record full of IDEAS and a sense of exploration. the back half of Never Destination is a good example b/c it could very easily been phoned in and buttoned up but they take it somewhere else instead. the final 1m50s of Retrograde is another example. the progression throughout DOTC is another.

[dimejinky99]

Who Ever Said - **** - Great opener. Catchy and fun
SBWM - **** - This would have been the best track on Backspacer. I like that album and I really like this song.
Dance - *** It's fine. Other bands do this better. The dicks and fix and fire things line is awful.
Never Destination - ***** What a groove. Best song they've written in forever.
Alright - ****1/2 Ed sounds nice. I like the sentiment of this one.
Seven O'Clock - * Like the music, but what the fuck is Ed doing with these verses?
Never Destination - ***1/2 This is fun. Verb's Huey Lewis reference is right on.
Take the Long Way - ***1/2 Matt is great, isn't he?
Buckle Up - *** "Do no Ho-arm" Christ. Also, just don't think you can sing "bed sores" pretty.
Comes Then Goes - ***** I love this song. The only part that is jarring is when he hammers on the guitar, but it sort of reminds me of Fred Rogers banging on the low keys of the piano. It's just anger and frustration. He lost his friend. He should have a moment to pound on the guitar in the midst of the melancholy.
Retrograde - *** This song doesn't offend me. It's just there. Bland.
River Cross - ****1/2 Great closer. So happy with what the band added to it.

It's probably a ***1/2 star album for me. The highs are really high, though, so maybe 4. If Seven O'Clock wasn't on here, 4 stars for sure.

you've got Never Destination twice with two different scores

Cos it’s the same bullshit song. Only twice

[evenslow]

Please don’t confuse darthvedder81’s post with mine. Can he change his name? I was here first.

The Pearl Jam hipsters are out in full force today!

we were due for another darth vedder-off, weren't we? it's like the locusts coming out.

[Tuolumne]

Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.

[Tim]

Guys the first three songs on binaural and cropduster are quality.

[Ms Harmless]

Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.

totally agree

I was drawn to PJ over the other "grunge" bands because of Ed's sentimentality and spirituality; over and above anything else, their music moved me; if they want to throw "Disney song" into their emotional wheelhouse in their old age, that's OK; it works better for being just the one song here

[Monkey_Driven]

It's ok to be cheesy, but the music and hook still need to be interesting.

[McParadigm]

Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.

I love it. I can fully appreciate the “it sounds like Sirens, so it sucks” knee jerk, but it isn’t the case that no song with that type of sound can be good. I also think it serves near the heart of the record’s message and as home to most of its dwindling hope.

[Ms Harmless]

I find Retrograde to have a hook

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Fever dog

Is


Better

Than


Quick escape






There. It needed saying.

Definitely not, though one if these new songs has a solo that reminds me of the fever dog solo, i just cant remember which

[gardenparty]

Who Ever Said - **** - Great opener. Catchy and fun
SBWM - **** - This would have been the best track on Backspacer. I like that album and I really like this song.
Dance - *** It's fine. Other bands do this better. The dicks and fix and fire things line is awful.
Quick Escape- ***** What a groove. Best song they've written in forever.
Alright - ****1/2 Ed sounds nice. I like the sentiment of this one.
Seven O'Clock - * Like the music, but what the fuck is Ed doing with these verses?
Never Destination - ***1/2 This is fun. Verb's Huey Lewis reference is right on.
Take the Long Way - ***1/2 Matt is great, isn't he?
Buckle Up - *** "Do no Ho-arm" Christ. Also, just don't think you can sing "bed sores" pretty.
Comes Then Goes - ***** I love this song. The only part that is jarring is when he hammers on the guitar, but it sort of reminds me of Fred Rogers banging on the low keys of the piano. It's just anger and frustration. He lost his friend. He should have a moment to pound on the guitar in the midst of the melancholy.
Retrograde - *** This song doesn't offend me. It's just there. Bland.
River Cross - ****1/2 Great closer. So happy with what the band added to it.

It's probably a ***1/2 star album for me. The highs are really high, though, so maybe 4. If Seven O'Clock wasn't on here, 4 stars for sure.

Good work Mr Twat. This is basically where I'm at after 3 listens. Though I'll move one of those stars from SBWM to DOTC

[Ms Harmless]

Who Ever Said - **** - Great opener. Catchy and fun
SBWM - **** - This would have been the best track on Backspacer. I like that album and I really like this song.
Dance - *** It's fine. Other bands do this better. The dicks and fix and fire things line is awful.
Never Destination - ***** What a groove. Best song they've written in forever.
Alright - ****1/2 Ed sounds nice. I like the sentiment of this one.
Seven O'Clock - * Like the music, but what the fuck is Ed doing with these verses?
Never Destination - ***1/2 This is fun. Verb's Huey Lewis reference is right on.
Take the Long Way - ***1/2 Matt is great, isn't he?
Buckle Up - *** "Do no Ho-arm" Christ. Also, just don't think you can sing "bed sores" pretty.
Comes Then Goes - ***** I love this song. The only part that is jarring is when he hammers on the guitar, but it sort of reminds me of Fred Rogers banging on the low keys of the piano. It's just anger and frustration. He lost his friend. He should have a moment to pound on the guitar in the midst of the melancholy.
Retrograde - *** This song doesn't offend me. It's just there. Bland.
River Cross - ****1/2 Great closer. So happy with what the band added to it.

It's probably a ***1/2 star album for me. The highs are really high, though, so maybe 4. If Seven O'Clock wasn't on here, 4 stars for sure.

you've got Never Destination twice with two different scores

Cos it’s the same bullshit song. Only twice

the first instance was in the Quick Escape slot

[Gigalogy84]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker for many years. I've always enjoyed reading everyone's opinions on topics on this site and decided to finally register. I've been listening to Pearl Jam since I was 10 years old during the Vitalogy days. Some albums I've enjoyed more than others and a couple albums I don't care to go back and revisit that much. I just thought I'd share some thoughts on Gigaton because the hype has been so huge. As far as the overall impression of the album goes...I honestly want to say that it is possibly and I mean POSSIBLY the best album since Yield. I can't really say that it is because I need to look at the longevity. The leak has only been out for a couple of days plus they had a run of good albums after Yield (I really like Riot Act through Backspacer). Also, this album isn't perfect. There are a couple songs that I think don't fit well on this album. I'm talking about Buckle Up and Retrograde. Not that they are both terrible songs but if both of these songs were removed then the album would have been perfect in my opinion. If I had to compare this album to previous work I would say it feels like a mix of Yield and Riot Act in terms of it's content and overall feel. As far as how I rank the songs...

1. Who Ever Said
2. Quick Escape
3. Comes Then Goes
4. Alright
5. Superblood Wolfmoon
6. Dance of the Clairvoyants
7. Never Destination
8. Take The Long Way
9. Seven O'Clock
10. River Cross
11. Buckle Up
12. Retrograde

[Strat]

Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.

I love it. I can fully appreciate the “it sounds like Sirens, so it sucks” knee jerk, but it isn’t the case that no song with that type of sound can be good. I also think it serves near the heart of the record’s message and as home to most of its dwindling hope.

Sirens is wonderful. Retrograde sucks.

[Milkypearljam]

Can someone send me a link?

[Monkey_Driven]

Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.

I love it. I can fully appreciate the “it sounds like Sirens, so it sucks” knee jerk, but it isn’t the case that no song with that type of sound can be good. I also think it serves near the heart of the record’s message and as home to most of its dwindling hope.

Sirens is wonderful. Retrograde sucks.

Correct.

[Fattie_Vedder]

Amending my previous statement about Gigaton being the love child of Yield and Riot Act. It’s still that, but the nanny Lightning Bolt has definitely influenced the child’s upbringing.

I swear I’m not high. Yet.

[Ms Harmless]

I'm repeating myself but I wish people would stop comparing Retrograde to Sirens

I love Sirens, but this is a more lowkey "Swallowed Whole" that is more... gently nibbled