Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[melonhead4]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

[jforte20]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

I was at Hartford 08 too..awesome show.

[harmless]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

Oh sure, they can be tight, it's just more hit and miss these days than it was in the early / mid noughties.

[Mine]

People need to stop equating "poppy" with "bad" just because they're embarrassed by the word "pop". That's juvenile. When I say "poppy" I don't mean Britney Spears, I mean something with a generally broader, more commercial appeal. Do you think "pop music" only started when they invented computers? The Beatles were a pop band.

By people, do you mean keeponjammin89? Who else is doing this?

It seems to be a pejorative term around here.
see Brendan O' Brien conversations.

Somebody whose username I can't remember (the people who are down on this material are just blurring into one for me) insisted that he wouldn't classify anything here as "pop" because it didn't sound like Michael Jackson. There are people around here who are literally offended by the idea that PJ should be allowed to play pop music.

This is a hard argument to make for this band. Ten was an album written by top 40 standards of 1987 - 1990. I presume this does fit the definition of pop well enough. You don't sign with Epic records (and Epic records doesn't sign you) if you aren't pop/ top40 material. I don't want this post to pass as Ten dissing because it isn't. This has been the main criticism towards PJ by the "cool true grunge band's fans" and probably still is. They were considered the most mainstream and the less "grunge". With this premise trying to argue them sounding too pop/mainstream isn't particularly realistic in my opinion. It can be argued that the Vs. trough No Code was an attempt to be less mainstream though.

And during Binaural and Riot Act, they just accepted where they were.

Absolutely.

[Mine]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

Oh sure, they can be tight, it's just more hit and miss these days than it was in the early / mid noughties.

I wonder why. They aren't old enough for it to be an issue.

[harmless]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

Oh sure, they can be tight, it's just more hit and miss these days than it was in the early / mid noughties.

I wonder why. They aren't old enough for it to be an issue.

Lack of time and inclination to rehearse, I reckon. That's why, for all their talk of wanting songs that "work live", part of it is that they want easily memorable stuff they won't have to practise much.

[Mine]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

Oh sure, they can be tight, it's just more hit and miss these days than it was in the early / mid noughties.

I wonder why. They aren't old enough for it to be an issue.

Lack of time and inclination to rehearse, I reckon. That's why, for all their talk of wanting songs that "work live", part of it is that they want easily memorable stuff they won't have to practise much.

Either this or they're just critical enough of themselves to know they can't pull of certain things any more. Either way

[jforte20]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

Oh sure, they can be tight, it's just more hit and miss these days than it was in the early / mid noughties.

I wonder why. They aren't old enough for it to be an issue.

Lack of time and inclination to rehearse, I reckon. That's why, for all their talk of wanting songs that "work live", part of it is that they want easily memorable stuff they won't have to practise much.

They also play their entire catalog..which a lot of bands don't do..i don't blame them for not rehearsing 200+ songs all day every day

[Lounge Lizard]

OK, lemme make a little summary.

MYM: riff borrowed from Motorhead's Ace of Spades.
Getaway: verse melody borrowed from Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven (or/and Aerosmith's Falling in Love.)
Swallowed Whole: verse melody borrowed from Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana.
LTRP doesn't seem to have any parts stolen directly from anybody, but feels recycled in general. The jury's still out on LB...

I am disappoint brothers

[harmless]

Oh don't worry, it's just a beef I have with modern-day live PJ. If you can't see it you're lucky. The Wrigley performance of this song was all over the place.

It was all over the place but it was also the first time they performed it..I remember the first performances of older songs i.e Red Mosquito and Brain of J being sloppy as well...Not comparing those songs to LB but they can redeem themselves by practicing/rehearsing.....The last time i saw PJ was Hartford 08' and they were pretty tight, im hoping they sound as good when i see them in Oct

Oh sure, they can be tight, it's just more hit and miss these days than it was in the early / mid noughties.

I wonder why. They aren't old enough for it to be an issue.

Lack of time and inclination to rehearse, I reckon. That's why, for all their talk of wanting songs that "work live", part of it is that they want easily memorable stuff they won't have to practise much.

They also play their entire catalog..which a lot of bands don't do..i don't blame them for not rehearsing 200+ songs all day every day

Yeah, this is true.

[stupidmop]

OK, lemme make a little summary.

MYM: riff borrowed from Motorhead's Ace of Spades.
Getaway: verse melody borrowed from Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven (or/and Aerosmith's Falling in Love.)
Swallowed Whole: verse melody borrowed from Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana.
LTRP doesn't seem to have any parts stolen directly from anybody, but feels recycled in general. The jury's still out on LB...

I am disappoint brothers

Dirty Diana? really? I can't hear stairway either though.

[digster]

People need to stop equating "poppy" with "bad" just because they're embarrassed by the word "pop". That's juvenile. When I say "poppy" I don't mean Britney Spears, I mean something with a generally broader, more commercial appeal. Do you think "pop music" only started when they invented computers? The Beatles were a pop band.

By people, do you mean keeponjammin89? Who else is doing this?

It seems to be a pejorative term around here.
see Brendan O' Brien conversations.

Somebody whose username I can't remember (the people who are down on this material are just blurring into one for me) insisted that he wouldn't classify anything here as "pop" because it didn't sound like Michael Jackson. There are people around here who are literally offended by the idea that PJ should be allowed to play pop music.

This is a hard argument to make for this band. Ten was an album written by top 40 standards of 1987 - 1990. I presume this does fit the definition of pop well enough. You don't sign with Epic records (and Epic records doesn't sign you) if you aren't pop/ top40 material. I don't want this post to pass as Ten dissing because it isn't. This has been the main criticism towards PJ by the "cool true grunge band's fans" and probably still is. They were considered the most mainstream and the less "grunge". With this premise trying to argue them sounding too pop/mainstream isn't particularly realistic in my opinion. It can be argued that the Vs. trough No Code was an attempt to be less mainstream though.

And during Binaural and Riot Act, they just accepted where they were.

I don't really see much, if any, resemblance between the songwriting on this new stuff and the material on the first three records, as Release_Me was alluding to. I think the fact that the songs on those records became hit singles doesn't necessarily mean they employed the tools of pop. That's not a knock on the new material; I think there's some pop tricks that are great songwriting tools, but I don't think the fact that songs on Ten became hit singles and songs on Lightning Bolt are written like hit singles necessarily makes them similar in terms of songwriting. That being said, I don't really see any resemblance between 10 and what was popular in the late 80's beyond production values, but that's another ball of wax.

[harmless]

I just heard the songs and here are my immediate first impressions / huge stretches.

[IlluminEddie]

Getaway

Everyone’s a critic, looking back at the river, every boat is leaking in this town
Everybody’s thinking that they’ll all be delivered, set in a box like lost and found
But, I found my place, and it’s all right… we’re all searching for a better way
Cause if it’s off my plate, it’s all right.. I got my own way to believe
Find a lighthouse in the dark, stormy weather, we all could use a sedative right now
Holyrollers sitting with their backs to the middle, the only thing that’s sinking is the bow
And if you want or have to pray, it’s all right, we all be thinking with our different brains
Cause if it’s off my plate, it’s all right.. I got my own way to believe
It’s ok… sometimes you find yourself having to put all your faith, in no faith
Mine is mine and yours won’t take his place, now make your getaway
Science says we’re making love like the lizards, try and say that fossils are profound
Someone says that we are not allowed to consider, that …. (?)
But, I found my place, and it’s all right… I’m bearing witness to some stranger days
Cause if it’s off my plate, it’s all right.. I got my own way to believe
It’s ok… sometimes you find yourself being told to change your ways
There’s no way, mine is mine and yours won’t take his place, now make your getaway
It’s ok… sometimes you find yourself having to put all your faith, in no faith
There’s no way, mine is mine and yours won’t take his place, now make your getaway
It’s ok… sometimes you find yourself being told to change your ways
God saves, mine is mine and yours won’t take his place, now make your getaway

To me this is a song about faith or lack there of. A song about Ed trying to rationalize why faith is individualistic. Some are saying this is a direct shot at Christians. I completely disagree. To me, he’s saying you have a right to believe in whatever you want to and so do I. The curious aspect of this song is how he says “I got my own way to believe”. Implying he does have faith which I don’t understand. This will be a nice segue into Mind Your Manners, which keeps the same theme going.


Lightning Bolt

....
She holds her lovely breast as her birds fall from the nest,
Flying towards the great northwest, yeh, yeh…
…..
She’s a lightning bolt
Uncontrollable
Like you.

These are the new lyrics from lightning bolt (from the Wrigley version). I find it funny that Ed’s songs are so confusing these days. This one is clearly telling a story, but I’m not quite sure who “she” is in the dialogue. I’m thinking She is a supreme being of some sort – God, Mother Nature, etc. Keeps the theme alive.

Swallowed Whole
I can feel the dawn, I can feel the earth, I can feel the living, all around, round …
I choose a path, I choose a word, I start the healing, bring it now, now…
Whisper songs inside the wind, breathing in forgiveness
Life vibrations with no end, feel the planet humming
What is clear, far from the noise, gets swallowed whole
I can feel the sun, I can see the sound, I can set myself right here and drown, drown…
I can feel the rush, I can clear the clouds, I can set the needle, spin it loud, loud…
I can hear the crash, I can feel the pound, I can feel the current, pulling down, down..
Whisper songs inside the wind, breathing in forgiveness
Life vibrations with no end, feel the planet humming
What is clear, far from the noise, gets swallowed whole
With no quiet to be found, spirit lifted off the ground
and what lies beyond the grave, might be welcome change,
and what will come, come what may, with no rest in peace, until that day.
I choose a path, I choose a word, I start the healing, bring it now, now…
I can be the sun, I can be the sound, I can set myself right here and drown, drown….
Whisper songs inside the wind, breathing in forgiveness
And the chapter, I’ve not read, turn the page

Cool verse melody, the chorus is pretty lame. The outro “turn the page” is the worst I’ve heard in a long time. I can see why a few at the listening party said this was boring. On lyrics, of course, this blends with into the wild material… but, I feel like these lyrics are forced and pretty bland. The bridge almost saves the song from it's chorus. There the lyrics there are the best in the whole song, but then it just goes back to being what it was. The song has a very similar theme to ½ full and in hiding.

If this song does link with the rest, the link’s contained in the bridge. The rest of the lyrics is just nature-related fodder.

Let the Records Play

When the Kingdom comes, he puts his records on, and with his blistered thumb, he plays
And with the volume up, and let’s the drummers, drum away…
Breaking, forsaking, what’s that your taking?
Needing, the feeling, he let’s the records play…
Shut the ? dim, cigarette lights in, vaporize the green light grey
And when the shot glass talks, he goes to listen up until he’s nice and numb again
Shaking, the waking, not one for faking, no
Feeling, his healing, he let’s the records play..
There’s wisdom in ways.
I’ve been down and fell so hard and far from grace
I’ve been hurt and I still recall the flaws on her face
I’ve been off but I’m on, I’m above my feet, my feet again.
Shaking, forsaking, what’s that your taking?
Needing, the feeling, he let’s the records play…
Shaking, the waking, not one for faking, no
Needing, his healing, he let’s the records play..
There’s wisdom in ways.

This song is interesting. As some have already said, they have to have Shania Twainn fans in the band. This is now two songs (Unemployable and this) that replicate her sound. Those who said it sounds like sitcom song, are also right. That said, I’m OK with this song and kinda like it for what it is - the filler song or throw away. The one thing that I would say is the lyrics are pretty horrible. But, so are Privacy, Bugs, Red Dots, etc.

If this is linked to the other songs' theme, I feel it’s through the notion of “let the records play” indicating a hand’s off type approach. Just enjoying life, that sort of thing.
I think it’s a fun song, but some have said SBM is “displaced” and “doesn’t belong”. I can see this song adding to a somewhat confusing, schizophrenic second half of the album. This may have made more made sense to put on Backspacer.


I'm not terribly impressed yet. Sirens and Pendulum better be good.

[harmless]

OK, lemme make a little summary.

MYM: riff borrowed from Motorhead's Ace of Spades.
Getaway: verse melody borrowed from Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven (or/and Aerosmith's Falling in Love.)
Swallowed Whole: verse melody borrowed from Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana.
LTRP doesn't seem to have any parts stolen directly from anybody, but feels recycled in general. The jury's still out on LB...

I am disappoint brothers

We could do this for any five songs in the catalogue, I guarantee it. The only difference now is that we read about their influences on the Internet. They always borrowed.

[Mirella]

OK, lemme make a little summary.

MYM: riff borrowed from Motorhead's Ace of Spades.
Getaway: verse melody borrowed from Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven (or/and Aerosmith's Falling in Love.)
Swallowed Whole: verse melody borrowed from Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana.
LTRP doesn't seem to have any parts stolen directly from anybody, but feels recycled in general. The jury's still out on LB...

I am disappoint brothers

When I first heard it, I had this song in mind for LTRP, but it is a good one, so that is okay



groetjes,
Mirella

[wilkins]

Um, Led Zeppelin borrowed, everything, from old delta blues, might even say stole, so it's all relative. Music is like that.

[Waverider]

Leaked Songs > Mind Your Manners.

Listening to these on a top end stereo in my car, makes me realize how much better these songs will be when we get final CD quality. As they stand, they're only at 60% goodness. Final product will take up everyone's rankings a fair amount.

[McParadigm]

That's not a knock on the new material; I think there's some pop tricks that are great songwriting tools, but I don't think the fact that songs on Ten became hit singles and songs on Lightning Bolt are written like hit singles necessarily makes them similar in terms of songwriting.

I'd describe the songwriting trend post-Riot Act as an increasing desire to be "friendly." Ten was catchy, but driving and a bit too dramatic to be completely coherent a lot of the time. I think that the band pushed in the direction of their muse and desired level of fame for a long time, and then around the switch of the decade it sort of felt like it backfired. Divorce, death, a feeling of having neutered themselves by withdrawing so completely when they felt the need to affect what they saw as desperately needed political change...I think that between the Binaural tour and the end of the Vote for Change stuff, the whole thing sort of went out from underneath. Ever since then, it's been a greater and greater push to be friendly/inviting/etc. The first step was to try and create an album that returned to what they saw as their "rock sound roots," or whatever...to try and be the band they used to be. It didn't totally work, though it didn't totally fail either. So then they added a bit more direct friendliness to that basic sound, and gentled it a bit, for Backspacer. That went over better, but it didn't really give them a clear path forward. This record seems to be trying to save that friendliness while injecting a little of something else into the mix.

Also Shania Twain.

[HardTI]

Getaway is a 5 star song. I think were going to have a few of those on LB.