Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[evenslow]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

The melodies really elevate these songs, especially something as pedestrian as LTRP. It's by far the most basic of the four, but for some reason that chorus melody has been in my head all weekend long.

Getaway is a fucking blast, and not quite like anything else they've done. To get that sense of uniqueness from a Pearl Jam "fast song" 22 years in is pretty great.

I'm kind of all over the map on LB. When I heard it at Wrigley it just did nothing for me. It was just kinda there. It sounds way better here and there's a lot more going on. The structure is pretty special, but there are several moments where it sounds like a wall of generic. Matt Cameron gives it a nice kick in the ass over the last 2 minutes.

Swallowed Whole - I love at 1:17 when this goes from an ITW song into a Pearl Jam song. And that little tool in the songwriting bag of repetition ("around, round, round, round") serves it really well. I'll take the occasional "PJ does REM" song when they do it this well.

I see no point in comparing these 4 songs to an album like Binaural or this suddenly famed "middle period." It's a different band and they're bringing together different aspects now. That's a good thing. If they stayed in the ballpark of Binaural and Riot Act for every album I'd be bored to tears by now. I can understand pining for something you once liked, but it's often the cheapest form of criticism.

I'm excited that we have a handful of supposedly more challenging songs to go with these (My Father's Son, Infallible, Pendulum, Yellow Moon). And let's hope Sirens doesn't shit the bed.

If this ends up being a mish-mash of the brighter end of the spectrum with the darker end of the spectrum, I'll be pleased.

[mray10]

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.

I would genuinely not be shocked if it was about his surf board.

[Mirella]

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.

Why don't you understand that he does have faith?It is not something exclusively for Christians or other religious people. And you are right about this theme finding a nice continuation in MYM. I 'sang' both in Dutch last night, for fun, and it was really very vivid. I could almost see the Jehovas with their feet between the door while Eddie was singing this to them .

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.

I think that is the good thing: confusion about who the 'she' is. That way, it can contain a lot more than when it was 'just' a person or 'just' one thing. To me, it's about inspiration. That could be litterally an inspiring person who brightens up your life, but also everything else. If you take the lightning bolt as the main example: you have to wait for it to strike, and it lights everything up and is beautiful, but at the very same time it is dangerous and causes fire. Fire can be both very good and very bad. And you can not hold onto it. It also makes a lot of sense with the interviews, in which they said they had to just wait for the music to come, for the inspiration to get there. Then, once it's there, all you have to (or can) do is ride the wave . When I saw someone mention they had managed to bottle the lightning, that was the same sort of image I got. And I hope most people will agree once the whole album is there to be experienced.

groetjes,
Mirella

[harmless]

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.

I would genuinely not be shocked if it was about his surf board.

Mother Nature is right I think... but the surfboard is a deliberate allusion too.

But as Mirella says, it's deliberately left open.

[IlluminEddie]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

Do you honestly think Ed's vocal delivery is good in Swallowed Whole? Particularly, the chorus?

"Whisper songs inside the Wiiaaiianndd... Breathing in forgiiiaaaiiveneeeaass... Liaaiiaaaf's vibrationnnnss with no end... hear the planet hummaiaiaaianing"

[Mirella]

And about the poll: I do not think it is fair to judge Future Days without having heard the album version. Like most early reviewers agreed LB sounded much better on record than live, they said the same thing about FD.

groetjes,
Mirella

[harmless]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

Do you honestly think Ed's vocal delivery is good in Swallowed Whole? Particularly, the chorus?

"Whisper songs inside the Wiiaaiianndd... Breathing in forgiiiaaaiiveneeeaass... Liaaiiaaaf's vibrationnnnss with no end... hear the planet hummaiaiaaianing"

Weird pronunciation aside... I don't know why he has to give words with one syllable two, but there we have it. He sounds good and energised.

[stupidmop]

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.

I would genuinely not be shocked if it was about his surf board.

Oh man wouldn't it be fun if all the songs on this we thought we're about his wife were actually about a personification of his surfboard. There can be a FD video with ed staring longingly at his surfboard while singing.

[harmless]

And about the poll: I do not think it is fair to judge Future Days without having heard the album version. Like most early reviewers agreed LB sounded much better on record than live, they said the same thing about FD.

groetjes,
Mirella

I think it could end up being gorgeous.

[HardTI]

And about the poll: I do not think it is fair to judge Future Days without having heard the album version. Like most early reviewers agreed LB sounded much better on record than live, they said the same thing about FD.

groetjes,
Mirella

I think it could end up being gorgeous.

ur fugin crazy.

[harmless]

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.

I would genuinely not be shocked if it was about his surf board.

Oh man wouldn't it be fun if all the songs on this we thought we're about his wife were actually about a personification of his surfboard. There can be a FD video with ed staring longingly at his surfboard while singing.

I'd love that actually, if this album was entirely about a surfboard, but there was all these other possibilities as well. I've just reviewed a poetry book which is named after a Hotpoint dryer, but it's really not just about that. The dryer is just a muse, a metaphor, like Eddie's surfboard.

[IlluminEddie]

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.

Why don't you understand that he does have faith?It is not something exclusively for Christians or other religious people. And you are right about this theme finding a nice continuation in MYM. I 'sang' both in Dutch last night, for fun, and it was really very vivid. I could almost see the Jehovas with their feet between the door while Eddie was singing this to them .

Because he's a self-admitted atheist. We could get into a circular discussion on whether atheists have "faith" in nothing, but you know what I mean. If he's changed - great. If not, great. I don't really care. I just think it's curious using that line in this particular song is all.

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.

I think that is the good thing: confusion about who the 'she' is. That way, it can contain a lot more than when it was 'just' a person or 'just' one thing. To me, it's about inspiration. That could be litterally an inspiring person who brightens up your life, but also everything else. If you take the lightning bolt as the main example: you have to wait for it to strike, and it lights everything up and is beautiful, but at the very same time it is dangerous and causes fire. Fire can be both very good and very bad. And you can not hold onto it. It also makes a lot of sense with the interviews, in which they said they had to just wait for the music to come, for the inspiration to get there. Then, once it's there, all you have to (or can) do is ride the wave . When I saw someone mention they had managed to bottle the lightning, that was the same sort of image I got. And I hope most people will agree once the whole album is there to be experienced.

groetjes,
Mirella

I do like it when lyrics are left open. But, I normally like to be a led a bit... just a bit. Normally Ed does do this. I'm simply saying that's changing a little.... which is fine. Just different. It may be about his surfboard actually. Makes sense.

[harmless]

And about the poll: I do not think it is fair to judge Future Days without having heard the album version. Like most early reviewers agreed LB sounded much better on record than live, they said the same thing about FD.

groetjes,
Mirella

I think it could end up being gorgeous.

ur fugin crazy.

[dimejinky99]

I for one, can barely remember the last time ed sounded this good on an album.

He's singing within his register
His voice has depth and timbre, sounds really solid.
And fuck me, it's melodic!!


No screeching. No screaming.

Powerful without sounding like axl having a hissy fit(exactly what all of his big vocals on ST conjured)

He's probably my favourite thing about these songs.

[IlluminEddie]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

Do you honestly think Ed's vocal delivery is good in Swallowed Whole? Particularly, the chorus?

"Whisper songs inside the Wiiaaiianndd... Breathing in forgiiiaaaiiveneeeaass... Liaaiiaaaf's vibrationnnnss with no end... hear the planet hummaiaiaaianing"

Weird pronunciation aside... I don't know why he has to give words with one syllable two, but there we have it. He sounds good and energised.

Fair enough. But, you would admit the weird pronunciation stuff is relatively new (like last 5-10 years), right? For me, it just bothers my ears. It really does. Some songs he doesn't do it, others it's piercing.

[stip]

Because song craft, if it's conscious enough, can work to achieve those feelings and emotions. You don't just accidentally come up with a song with feeling... not often, anyway.

Actually more often than not it is the way a song happens.

If you try and sit down and write something, 90% of the time you come up with nothing.

You have to have the initial spark of inspiration, sure, I'm not denying that. But a song doesn't really just fall into your lap. If it does, you get Backspacer.

I think we have to give Backspacer more credit than that even if some of us (myself included) are not big fans of it. I still would like to think that most elements of that record were a conscious decision as opposed to just lazy song writing.

Oh I agree, there was intention. I just think that the deliberate intention was to have fewer intentions, throw it all into a pot and see what came out, but not to spend much time on it. That seems to have been a very conscious decision for the band, and something they hadn't done before.

hey, the melodies on backspacer are strong

[evenslow]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

Do you honestly think Ed's vocal delivery is good in Swallowed Whole? Particularly, the chorus?

"Whisper songs inside the Wiiaaiianndd... Breathing in forgiiiaaaiiveneeeaass... Liaaiiaaaf's vibrationnnnss with no end... hear the planet hummaiaiaaianing"

Weird pronunciation aside... I don't know why he has to give words with one syllable two, but there we have it. He sounds good and energised.

Fair enough. But, you would admit the weird pronunciation stuff is relatively new (like last 5-10 years), right? For me, it just bothers my ears. It really does. Some songs he doesn't do it, others it's piercing.

It's mildly annoying but it misses the forest for the trees. His energy and commitment to melody is what matters here.

[HardTI]

I for one, can barely remember the last time ed sounded this good on an album.

He's singing within his register
His voice has depth and timbre, sounds really solid.
And fuck me, it's melodic!!


No screeching. No screaming.

Powerful without sounding like axl having a hissy fit(exactly what all of his big vocals on ST conjured)

He's probably my favourite thing about these songs.

Right on! My first few listens I really thought he sounded weak, but the more I listen the more power and control I hear.
There is screeching on LB but he controls it so well.
God, I'm so exccited for this album. I LOVE every track so far sans Future Days.

[harmless]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

Do you honestly think Ed's vocal delivery is good in Swallowed Whole? Particularly, the chorus?

"Whisper songs inside the Wiiaaiianndd... Breathing in forgiiiaaaiiveneeeaass... Liaaiiaaaf's vibrationnnnss with no end... hear the planet hummaiaiaaianing"

Weird pronunciation aside... I don't know why he has to give words with one syllable two, but there we have it. He sounds good and energised.

Fair enough. But, you would admit the weird pronunciation stuff is relatively new (like last 5-10 years), right? For me, it just bothers my ears. It really does. Some songs he doesn't do it, others it's piercing.

Yes, it's very recent and I don't get it. I don't think anything here is as bad as a couple of spots on Backspacer, though (it was way worse in 'Just Breathe').

[stupidmop]

First off, I think Ed is hot fire here. I like him when he sounds most engaged, and in that respect these songs recall his performances on Yield and Into the Wild. He obviously doesn't have the voice from '93 anymore, but his approach to these 4 songs is just right in my book. He doesn't get screamy either, which is a plus.

Do you honestly think Ed's vocal delivery is good in Swallowed Whole? Particularly, the chorus?

"Whisper songs inside the Wiiaaiianndd... Breathing in forgiiiaaaiiveneeeaass... Liaaiiaaaf's vibrationnnnss with no end... hear the planet hummaiaiaaianing"

Weird pronunciation aside... I don't know why he has to give words with one syllable two, but there we have it. He sounds good and energised.

Fair enough. But, you would admit the weird pronunciation stuff is relatively new (like last 5-10 years), right? For me, it just bothers my ears. It really does. Some songs he doesn't do it, others it's piercing.

Weeeeyyuuunnnddddd rooolllssssss buuuuuuuuuaaayyyyyyyyyy lllluuhoooooooo luuuuiiiiiggghhtttttt.

Yeah its been around for a few years, its definitely a little annoying. Its what he sounds like now though, i try to look past it unless it totally fucks with the song. Fingers crossed its not too pronounced on the slower stuff on this album.