Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[VinylGuy]

MYM...i liked it enough back in the day and its still a song i listen from time to time. But again...what the fuck is happening with the guitars. Is it just one guitar? where is stone?

Ed sounds so good.

Imagine this one being recorded on the Yield sessions....

Matt is bored. This is another guy drumming.

[VinylGuy]

Finally something more interesting for Matt to do!! My Father's Son is a pretty cool song...Jeff is great and i can actually listen to Stone.

Again, the guitars are so clean...this needs so much more. But i love it anyway. Love the bridge too. Although i wish Matt could do something else.

Ed's great.

And i loooove the ending...

[VinylGuy]

Ok im a huge Sirens fan.
One of the best songs they made. I love everything. Remember the video?? Ed sounds awesome. Love Stone's guitar.

Dave Krusen on drums everybody!!!

Love it.

[VinylGuy]

I wanna say fuck you Brendan again, for playing a piano so loud in the mix of Sirens.

Yeeeshhh that guy wanted to be a part of the band so much.

[VinylGuy]

LB....mmm why release this version? The guitars sound so thin. Ed's so upfront in the mix...its karaoke.
I hate this song, really. I guess Matt's fine?

Whats a good live version of this one? Because i never understand the appeal of this one...i even remember the band talking like " yeah the fans are going to love this song live" and listening to it live and thinking...jesus guys, play Insignificance.

[VinylGuy]

Also, listening to UK AND LB almost back to back is no good.

[VinylGuy]

Like i said before...i wonder what was the idea behind Infallible until Brendan fuck it up. Im sure Stone had another much more interesting idea.

The chorus is awful. So poppy. Those background vocals my god. The drums sound awful, what the fuck is Matt hitting to? Are they recording this song in the worst place ever for dynamics and reverb?

Again, it seems there is just one guy playing guitar. " GUITAR" whatever that sound is.

I feel bad for Ed here. He is really trying but everything is such a mess.

[VinylGuy]

Jesus the solo.

It has the worst sounding effect of all time. and the build up its awful. are those keyboards? fuck you brendan.

[VinylGuy]

One of the guitars is farting at the end.

Really those are farts.

[VinylGuy]

I love love loveeeee Pendulum. The studio version, the live version....i love it. Love Ed's delivery, Matt's finally doing something cool and interesting...Jesus, what a great song.

I love live when Mike goes all Lee Ranaldo on this one.

And Jeff Thank you.

[VinylGuy]

SW maybe could have been a better song in other album? Im not sure. The acoustic guitar is awful. Where the fuck is stone? Matt is a little more interested on the chorus but thats about it.

The buildup should have been awesome and its just....thin. Reminds me of UK or Amongst The Waves.
The solo is ok. Again, such a bored tone. Nothing new. Ed's doing yeeeahh yeahhh again. Jesus.

After listening to this one, im so glad we have Gigaton guys.

[VinylGuy]

the intro of LTRP is interesting. At least the guitars have a different sound!! finally fuckers.

Of course everything is so poppy and friendly. And the claps. Another idea of Brendan. I can hear the claps more than the guitars.

Its the worst dad rock from their catalogue maybe. It does have some cool Mike's solos with a good sound. Finally!!!

Of course the end is cool and garage-y and Brendan fade out the song. Or course.

[VinylGuy]

Sleeping By Myself was supposed to be a fucking incredible b side or Christmas single. It belong there, but im still happy its on this album. Its one of the best from this album.

The band treatment is beautiful. And it actually sounds good!! i think its the best sounding song from this sessions.

[Ms Harmless]

any chance I can ask to have the title changed please? bumpers will bump I guess

[VinylGuy]

Im a big big fan of Yellow Moon.

Jeff and Matt are locked in. Ed sounds cool..a little to prominent in the mix, but ey this is LB so im not going to complain. I wish the guitars had a different tone. More experimental one maybe.

The bridge is awesome. Pure PJ. This one belongs on Vs or Yield...Imagine that sound.

Oh yeah, Brendan is trying to fuck everything with that keyboard but the song is so good he cant.

[VinylGuy]

Future Days is pure shit. Pure awful shit.

The worst piano, the worst acoustic guitar, awful lyrics. Its really the worst thing ever.

OH! THERE ARE MORE AWFUL STRING ARRANGEMENTS!! Jesus, Brendan's work on this album is plain awful.

[VinylGuy]

Well, Lightning Bolt remains as their worst album. A few great songs (Sirens, Pendulum and Yellow Moon) one good rocker thats best live (MYM), another cool interesting rocker (MFS) and a great holiday single.

The other stuff is unlistenable and the low points are so fucking low (Future Days)

Im shocked they let Brendan released this thing.

[Ms Harmless]

I don't know why but there's an awfully loud *click* on the "c" of "ever closer became us"

it's so badly done all round

[BootsToAsses]

Fuck, this record has really dropped off for me in the last year or so. I think I kept telling myself that it was fine and I liked it because I didn't want to accept that PJ made such an average record.

Gigaton has blown me away and made me remember why Pearl Jam are my favourite band, but it just exposes how lazy most of LB is.

HOWEVER,

Lightning Bolt (song) is still awesome live without all the problems of the studio recording. Global Citizen 2015 is a particularly fantastic rendition. Ed gets a tad shaky at the end but it totally works. I love how he just goes for it when they play this one live. One of the few times I enjoy Ed getting shrieky and scratchy. The guitars and drums sound appropriately loud and full in the Global Citizen version

Pendulum is a cool opener.

Other than that, pretty much everything else fails to do anything for me anymore.

[burl jam]

I legit enjoy Backspacer even if the production and length always made me feel like the overall thing was slight (certainly the length and production caught me off guard after Avocado), but this is def one of those times were a sound or creative method has outstayed it's welcome, a bit like U2's No Line on The Horizon and Metallica's Reload in that regard.

This will always be an interesting failure. How would I feel if I was at a PJ gig and they played this in full...part of me thinks I'd be pissed, but another part feels like some of these songs could be redeemed of the lifeless (or almost lifeless - Pendulum) production.