Gigaton: Official album thread

[Kevin Davis]

the most striking thing for me after reading that new josh evans interview is that pearl jam won a grammy for lightning bolt. i had no idea.

how?

That was the year "Yellow Moon" won record of the year, wasn't it?

[EJ]

the most striking thing for me after reading that new josh evans interview is that pearl jam won a grammy for lightning bolt. i had no idea.

how?

That was the year "Yellow Moon" won record of the year, wasn't it?

is that a joke?

[verb_to_trust]

the most striking thing for me after reading that new josh evans interview is that pearl jam won a grammy for lightning bolt. i had no idea.

how?

Jeff's packaging/artwork

[RAG319]

It's really funny to me the whole expectations vs. reality when it comes to this record. After being down on Pearl Jam for the past decade, I really thought they needed to give me something "new", something "innovative", something really "different" than what they've been on post-Avocado for me to even be interested again.

The reality is Pearl Jam are not recreating the wheel on this record...at all. Anyone who was looking for this band to get out of their box will be disappointed. But, and maybe it's cause I'm far older now and the current pandemic we got goin' on right now, this album surprised me in it's solidity. It's, for the most part, competency.

It's maybe not the wild out there approach that I initially had hoped for, but it's quite listenable and reminds me "Hey, Pearl Jam are STILL a really good band." I'm just happy the songs aren't cringey and boring...and most importantly...don't sound like over-compressed shit.

(Seriously, it sounds like they're playing out of McDonalds grade plastic on Lightning Bolt and Backspacer.)

[VinylGuy]

You know i couldnt care less about this guys making something new...what, trap? Hip Hop? Instead they made their best album since, maybe Binaural?
And they really expanded and change their ways to work. Its really great.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[SJM]

Looks like it’s gonna sell around 50k albums the first week. I know not many people are buying albums anymore and a lot of places are on lockdown - but lightning bolt managed around 160k if I recall. Wonder if the band had any expectations?

[RockPusher]

(Seriously, it sounds like they're playing out of McDonalds grade plastic on Lightning Bolt and Backspacer.)

I've been re-listening to albums in order to form my rankings post-Gigaton, and boy did I notice this with Lightning Bolt. I sold my PJ vinyl a while back, so I don't know how well this was overcome on that version of LB (I recall it sounding good to me at the time), but it's like night and day with LB and Gigaton.

[Monkey_Driven]

Looks like it’s gonna sell around 50k albums the first week. I know not many people are buying albums anymore and a lot of places are on lockdown - but lightning bolt managed around 160k if I recall. Wonder if the band had any expectations?

I'm not sure that this month is a good time to compare sales of anything.

[Donald]

Looks like it’s gonna sell around 50k albums the first week. I know not many people are buying albums anymore and a lot of places are on lockdown - but lightning bolt managed around 160k if I recall. Wonder if the band had any expectations?

I'm sure after LB, they just glad someone out there is still listening and buying this stuff

[scrub12]

Looks like it’s gonna sell around 50k albums the first week. I know not many people are buying albums anymore and a lot of places are on lockdown - but lightning bolt managed around 160k if I recall. Wonder if the band had any expectations?

How does that work with streaming? That platform is a little different now than it was 6 years ago or whatever.

[unLEASHed]

Looks like it’s gonna sell around 50k albums the first week. I know not many people are buying albums anymore and a lot of places are on lockdown - but lightning bolt managed around 160k if I recall. Wonder if the band had any expectations?

Not that it really matters but wikipedia says they sold about 85 million records worldwide, is there any website that can confirm that? that keeps track of that stuff...seems like a big leap from 60 million a few years back...

purely curiosity...

[unLEASHed]

It's really funny to me the whole expectations vs. reality when it comes to this record. After being down on Pearl Jam for the past decade, I really thought they needed to give me something "new", something "innovative", something really "different" than what they've been on post-Avocado for me to even be interested again.

The reality is Pearl Jam are not recreating the wheel on this record...at all. Anyone who was looking for this band to get out of their box will be disappointed. But, and maybe it's cause I'm far older now and the current pandemic we got goin' on right now, this album surprised me in it's solidity. It's, for the most part, competency.

It's maybe not the wild out there approach that I initially had hoped for, but it's quite listenable and reminds me "Hey, Pearl Jam are STILL a really good band." I'm just happy the songs aren't cringey and boring...and most importantly...don't sound like over-compressed shit.

(Seriously, it sounds like they're playing out of McDonalds grade plastic on Lightning Bolt and Backspacer.)

I think thats half true...there is enough in this record that pushes the envelope for them...I for one see a Fleetwood Mac influence all over the placd more so than Pink Floyd...Its kinda half a leap forward and half the pearl jam we all now and love with just amount of tweaks here and there to not totally freak people away...

I wonder if this got them excited to release another one sooner in the same lane.

[Strat]

It's really funny to me the whole expectations vs. reality when it comes to this record. After being down on Pearl Jam for the past decade, I really thought they needed to give me something "new", something "innovative", something really "different" than what they've been on post-Avocado for me to even be interested again.

The reality is Pearl Jam are not recreating the wheel on this record...at all. Anyone who was looking for this band to get out of their box will be disappointed. But, and maybe it's cause I'm far older now and the current pandemic we got goin' on right now, this album surprised me in it's solidity. It's, for the most part, competency.

It's maybe not the wild out there approach that I initially had hoped for, but it's quite listenable and reminds me "Hey, Pearl Jam are STILL a really good band." I'm just happy the songs aren't cringey and boring...and most importantly...don't sound like over-compressed shit.

(Seriously, it sounds like they're playing out of McDonalds grade plastic on Lightning Bolt and Backspacer.)

I think thats half true...there is enough in this record that pushes the envelope for them...I for one see a Fleetwood Mac influence all over the placd more so than Pink Floyd...Its kinda half a leap forward and half the pearl jam we all now and love with just amount of tweaks here and there to not totally freak people away...

I wonder if this got them excited to release another one sooner in the same lane.

Pearl jam has always had a sound. They never rewrote the book on rock music. They never meant to. But what they were always good at was pushing the walls forward in that which they created within. Each album felt like a "logical extension" of a group getting more comfortable as a group of 5 songwriters and a band that has been on the road at a continual pace. Even backspacer felt like a logical extension at the time considering world events and where they were at in their career. Around the time ed stated something "Forgive us if we enjoy this now for a bit". Say wha tyou will about backspacer, but it was a specific attempt at creating short and to the point music. That felt natural at the time.

The problem though...is that we sat on that for 4 years? And then lightning bolt came around it felt like a complete rehash of what they had done before, only without the grit and determination of a band trying to prove themselves. That was the first time it didnt feel like a "logical extension" for the band. To me. That term got thrown around quite a bit but....

Gigaton? Honestly feels like a band trying to prove their place in music history. They feel like they are trying and scraping towards something that once again is viable for where they are at. This feels like a logical extension to all of that which is pearl jams career.

Its perfect.

Lightning bolt was a big wet fart that we had to sit on for 7 years. On top of that, it was really only 1 of 2 albums in 11 years.

So, yea, whatever.

[RockPusher]

I am struck by how much worse a number of songs on Lightning Bolt sound, now that I have experienced Gigaton. I used to love Infallible, for instance. Now it sounds like an emaciated and repressed version of Pearl Jam. Ditto Swallowed Whole and Yellow Moon, both of which I held in higher esteem before. As far as tracks that many have panned, such as Sleeping By Myself and Future Days, I used to defend those but now they just seem so far beneath what this band is capable of.

[sweeper]

Looks like it’s gonna sell around 50k albums the first week. I know not many people are buying albums anymore and a lot of places are on lockdown - but lightning bolt managed around 160k if I recall. Wonder if the band had any expectations?

Not that it really matters but wikipedia says they sold about 85 million records worldwide, is there any website that can confirm that? that keeps track of that stuff...seems like a big leap from 60 million a few years back...

purely curiosity...

The smaller number (I think in the low 30 millions) was always US-only. The 85 million is the entire world.

[smallest_oceans]

Well after living with this album since last Friday, I've got to say I love it.

I'm also really enjoying the shared reactions with you all. So many great songs. I really liked the Jeff Amet unboxing. The Josh Evans article was great. The Jeff and Ed on Bill Simmons pod was even better. I too find random songs from the whole album popping into my head. Rivercross sooo much >>> Future days. Lots to be excited about. The boys have been allowed to indulge their creative and almost proggy instincts for the first time since RA and it has paid off ten fold.

I haven't been this excited and grateful for a PJ release since probably Yield. And as much as I enjoy moments of the Binaural-avocado run (and there are some excellent tracks, even favorites, on those albums) I feel sooo vindicated for holding onto my fandom for all these years.

[Monkey_Driven]

Well after living with this album since last Friday, I've got to say I love it.

I'm also really enjoying the shared reactions with you all. So many great songs. I really liked the Jeff Amet unboxing. The Josh Evans article was great. The Jeff and Ed on Bill Simmons pod was even better. I too find random songs from the whole album popping into my head. Rivercross sooo much >>> Future days. Lots to be excited about. The boys have been allowed to indulge their creative and almost proggy instincts for the first time since RA and it has paid off ten fold.

I haven't been this excited and grateful for a PJ release since probably Yield. And as much as I enjoy moments of the Binaural-avocado run (and there are some excellent tracks, even favorites, on those albums) I feel sooo vindicated for holding onto my fandom for all these years.

I'm with you. Nice post. Stick around for a bit.

[joostone]

It's really funny to me the whole expectations vs. reality when it comes to this record. After being down on Pearl Jam for the past decade, I really thought they needed to give me something "new", something "innovative", something really "different" than what they've been on post-Avocado for me to even be interested again.

The reality is Pearl Jam are not recreating the wheel on this record...at all. Anyone who was looking for this band to get out of their box will be disappointed. But, and maybe it's cause I'm far older now and the current pandemic we got goin' on right now, this album surprised me in it's solidity. It's, for the most part, competency.

It's maybe not the wild out there approach that I initially had hoped for, but it's quite listenable and reminds me "Hey, Pearl Jam are STILL a really good band." I'm just happy the songs aren't cringey and boring...and most importantly...don't sound like over-compressed shit.

(Seriously, it sounds like they're playing out of McDonalds grade plastic on Lightning Bolt and Backspacer.)

I think thats half true...there is enough in this record that pushes the envelope for them...I for one see a Fleetwood Mac influence all over the placd more so than Pink Floyd...Its kinda half a leap forward and half the pearl jam we all now and love with just amount of tweaks here and there to not totally freak people away...

I wonder if this got them excited to release another one sooner in the same lane.

Pearl jam has always had a sound. They never rewrote the book on rock music. They never meant to. But what they were always good at was pushing the walls forward in that which they created within. Each album felt like a "logical extension" of a group getting more comfortable as a group of 5 songwriters and a band that has been on the road at a continual pace. Even backspacer felt like a logical extension at the time considering world events and where they were at in their career. Around the time ed stated something "Forgive us if we enjoy this now for a bit". Say wha tyou will about backspacer, but it was a specific attempt at creating short and to the point music. That felt natural at the time.

The problem though...is that we sat on that for 4 years? And then lightning bolt came around it felt like a complete rehash of what they had done before, only without the grit and determination of a band trying to prove themselves. That was the first time it didnt feel like a "logical extension" for the band. To me. That term got thrown around quite a bit but....

Gigaton? Honestly feels like a band trying to prove their place in music history. They feel like they are trying and scraping towards something that once again is viable for where they are at. This feels like a logical extension to all of that which is pearl jams career.

Its perfect.

Lightning bolt was a big wet fart that we had to sit on for 7 years. On top of that, it was really only 1 of 2 albums in 11 years.

So, yea, whatever.

Agreed, well said! Backspacer was a fine record because it added another color to the Pearl Jam palette. Eventhough the songwriting wasn't always inspiring it did provided us with new tones and sentiment. The only color Lightning Bolt added was grey...It did had some good songs for sure, but overall I think it's their worst album by far (dadrock). Someday they will release Lost Dogs 2 and we will discover they left out some great tracks from both BS and LB.....

Gigaton is soo much better than both!

[joostone]

It's really funny to me the whole expectations vs. reality when it comes to this record. After being down on Pearl Jam for the past decade, I really thought they needed to give me something "new", something "innovative", something really "different" than what they've been on post-Avocado for me to even be interested again.

The reality is Pearl Jam are not recreating the wheel on this record...at all. Anyone who was looking for this band to get out of their box will be disappointed. But, and maybe it's cause I'm far older now and the current pandemic we got goin' on right now, this album surprised me in it's solidity. It's, for the most part, competency.

It's maybe not the wild out there approach that I initially had hoped for, but it's quite listenable and reminds me "Hey, Pearl Jam are STILL a really good band." I'm just happy the songs aren't cringey and boring...and most importantly...don't sound like over-compressed shit.

(Seriously, it sounds like they're playing out of McDonalds grade plastic on Lightning Bolt and Backspacer.)

I think thats half true...there is enough in this record that pushes the envelope for them...I for one see a Fleetwood Mac influence all over the placd more so than Pink Floyd...Its kinda half a leap forward and half the pearl jam we all now and love with just amount of tweaks here and there to not totally freak people away...

I wonder if this got them excited to release another one sooner in the same lane.

Pearl jam has always had a sound. They never rewrote the book on rock music. They never meant to. But what they were always good at was pushing the walls forward in that which they created within. Each album felt like a "logical extension" of a group getting more comfortable as a group of 5 songwriters and a band that has been on the road at a continual pace. Even backspacer felt like a logical extension at the time considering world events and where they were at in their career. Around the time ed stated something "Forgive us if we enjoy this now for a bit". Say wha tyou will about backspacer, but it was a specific attempt at creating short and to the point music. That felt natural at the time.

The problem though...is that we sat on that for 4 years? And then lightning bolt came around it felt like a complete rehash of what they had done before, only without the grit and determination of a band trying to prove themselves. That was the first time it didnt feel like a "logical extension" for the band. To me. That term got thrown around quite a bit but....

Gigaton? Honestly feels like a band trying to prove their place in music history. They feel like they are trying and scraping towards something that once again is viable for where they are at. This feels like a logical extension to all of that which is pearl jams career.

Its perfect.

Lightning bolt was a big wet fart that we had to sit on for 7 years. On top of that, it was really only 1 of 2 albums in 11 years.

So, yea, whatever.

Agreed, well said! Backspacer was a fine record because it added another color to the Pearl Jam palette. Eventhough the songwriting wasn't always inspiring it did provided us with new tones and sentiment. The only color Lightning Bolt added was grey...It did had some good songs for sure, but overall I think it's their worst album by far (dadrock). Someday they will release Lost Dogs 2 and we will discover they left out some great tracks from both BS and LB.....

Gigaton is soo much better than both!