Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[harmless]

I'd feel much better if Mirella came back on and reassured me that Sirens sounds nothing like Oasis

Trust me, it does not sound like Oasis at all. And I have seen Oasis live too. In fact, I have gotten to dislike Oasis recently. I was always more a Blur girl .
It does not sound like Blur either.

groetjes,
Mirella (and I am not typing what evil enimmi next to me just said)

Blur is much better, yeah.

[McParadigm]

Yup. Sorry for my freak-out by the way, McP. I don't think you were trying to say anything negative in retrospect.

Was trying for a compliment, matter of fact. Internet.

Let me try and present it differently, even though I should just let it go: when King Animal came out, there was a song on there that you described as being melodically bland. I don't recall which one. Shortly thereafter, you commented that you considered all the songs on the album to be at least near-great (or something to that effect).

So what I was trying to say is, your bond with bands seems (to my eyes) to be such that you can be critical of them and recognize the flaws in a song or album, and still appreciate the qualities of that song/album that you DO like without being bothered so much by said flaw(s). Sort of like if you put together a 200 piece puzzle, and five of the pieces are missing...some of us (hi) are irritated as fuck by those missing pieces. "Pearl Jam had 4 years to get this puzzle together, dammit! Why couldn't they fucking get it right? Who produced this shit?" I get the impression that your reaction is more to go "Yeah, there really are some missing pieces. Wish we had those....but look how great this fucking picture is!"

Whether that perception is accurate or not...and I realize I may be off....I certainly don't see it as having negative connotations. And it could explain why some people might perceive your comments to be inconsistent: on one hand you can and will talk at length about how a song is flawed and frustrating...and on the other you're just totally into everything about it that isn't.

Whether or not I'm right, I honestly see that approach as admirable and complimentary.

[HardTI]

First Review of LB is in.......
http://www.clashmusic.com/features/albu ... tning-bolt

Track four, ‘Sirens’, is the first step into Pearl Jam’s refined acoustic territory. At its beginning there’s just Vedder with a single guitar, before McCready ups the track’s intensity and the vocals rise in unison. It’s an all-out affair.

And then, something completely different, as ‘Pendulum’ sounds unlike anything these men have recorded previously. It’s a bleak piece, reverbed guitar bringing a real sense of desolation to proceedings. A tambourine comes in, and an adagio bassline furthers the song’s atmospheric, experimental sound.

Thanks for the link!

This part makes me happy.
"‘Sleeping By Myself’ is taken from ‘Ukulele Songs’, but further developed here, as you’d expect from a full-band version. The emotion of the original remains, though, with a great connection between the lyrics and melodic backing."

[WaitingForBluey]

It’s an all-out affair.

Can anyone explain to me what the hell this means?

[Mirella]

I have to admit.... I'm actually very nervous about Sirens. As the 4th track, it could really make or break this album. So far everything I have been reading sounds pretty positive and that's without the most intriguing songs yet (MFS, Infallible, Pendulum, YM).

But it's pretty clear from the listening party reviews that Sirens received a very mixed reaction. As in, the ladies all raved about it. The dudes were like... eh? That makes me pretty nervous. It just needs to be better than Just Breathe. That's my target. A song that I don't have to love, but definitely one that I don't want to skip only 4 tracks into the album.

Seriously, do you make a difference based on gender?! Are my words weighed differently than my boyfriends, for instance? That is kinda sad, is not it?...

groetjes,
Mirella

[harmless]

Yup. Sorry for my freak-out by the way, McP. I don't think you were trying to say anything negative in retrospect.

Was trying for a compliment, matter of fact. Internet.

Let me try and present it differently, even though I should just let it go: when King Animal came out, there was a song on there that you described as being melodically bland. I don't recall which one. Shortly thereafter, you commented that you considered all the songs on the album to be at least near-great (or something to that effect).

So what I was trying to say is, your bond with bands seems (to my eyes) to be such that you can be critical of them and recognize the flaws in a song or album, and still appreciate the qualities of that song/album that you DO like without being bothered so much by said flaw(s). Sort of like if you put together a 200 piece puzzle, and five of the pieces are missing...some of us (hi) are irritated as fuck by those missing pieces. "Pearl Jam had 4 years to get this puzzle together, dammit! Why couldn't they fucking get it right? Who produced this shit?" I get the impression that your reaction is more to go "Yeah, there really are some missing pieces. Wish we had those....but look how great this fucking picture is!"

Whether that perception is accurate or not...and I realize I may be off....I certainly don't see it as having negative connotations. And it could explain why some people might perceive your comments to be inconsistent: on one hand you can and will talk at length about how a song is flawed and frustrating...and on the other you're just totally into everything about it that isn't.

Whether or not I'm right, I honestly see that approach as admirable and complimentary.

Ah, now that... that... is completely accurate. The last Incubus album was so, so, so awful that they will have to give me musical GOLD for me to be interested again. Brandon Boyd has completely lost the plot. But by and large, the bands I love, and have for a long time, need to do a huge amount of shit before I'll stop listening to them. I'll be critical while I'm listening but I'll still listen for the good bits and remain obsessed with hearing the new stuff. I have less than a handful of bands to which that applies, and PJ are the most important. It might look like I'm only into a few bands because here on a PJ forum I talk a lot about equivalent bands, rather than brand-new music, just because PJ comparisons abound on a PJ message board. I have an opposite approach to new music, actually; a new / emerging band needs to have done mostly really good stuff for me to stay interested. So it was pretty hard to take, for example, when Midlake released a stinker of a second album after Van Occupanther.

[McParadigm]

It’s an all-out affair.

Can anyone explain to me what the hell this means?

[HardTI]

It’s an all-out affair.

Can anyone explain to me what the hell this means?

Stone blowing Ed, Ed boning Jeff, etc. It's going to be a challenging, but fun listen.

[EJ]

It’s an all-out affair.

Can anyone explain to me what the hell this means?

maybe each member is "full-bodied" in this song.

[McParadigm]

It's all fun and games until someone fails to catch their breath to breathe.

[numbers]

Really proud of myself for finding this leak without anyone's help.

[Iowaska_Experience]

It's all fun and games until someone fails to catch their breath to breathe.

I forget already - do we know which song that line is from?

[harmless]

"Black" into "Black, Red and Yellow" into "Yellow Moon" into "Yellow Ledbetter" is going to be so awesome.

[harmless]

It's all fun and games until someone fails to catch their breath to breathe.

I forget already - do we know which song that line is from?

Sirens

[Mirella]

I'd feel much better if Mirella came back on and reassured me that Sirens sounds nothing like Oasis

Trust me, it does not sound like Oasis at all. And I have seen Oasis live too. In fact, I have gotten to dislike Oasis recently. I was always more a Blur girl .
It does not sound like Blur either.

groetjes,
Mirella (and I am not typing what evil enimmi next to me just said)

Blur is much better, yeah.

If I would imagine any British band covering Sirens, it is Pulp. Or Damon Albarn solo. What I like about the vignettes is that the parts all sound great as well. I might like all MYM parts separately even more than the whole song.

groetjes,
Mirella

[WaitingForBluey]

I have to admit.... I'm actually very nervous about Sirens. As the 4th track, it could really make or break this album. So far everything I have been reading sounds pretty positive and that's without the most intriguing songs yet (MFS, Infallible, Pendulum, YM).

But it's pretty clear from the listening party reviews that Sirens received a very mixed reaction. As in, the ladies all raved about it. The dudes were like... eh? That makes me pretty nervous. It just needs to be better than Just Breathe. That's my target. A song that I don't have to love, but definitely one that I don't want to skip only 4 tracks into the album.

Seriously, do you make a difference based on gender?! Are my words weighed differently than my boyfriends, for instance? That is kinda sad, is not it?...

groetjes,
Mirella

I'm just making an observation about the reviews. It's neither a positive or a negative statement. I found it quite odd how clearly the reactions were split by gender. When I say "that makes me pretty nervous", it's the mixed reactions that make me nervous. Especially for a song that appears to be an anchor right in the middle of the 1st half.

I also tend to be much more hesitant towards PJ's ballads as compared to the more rockin' stuff. So when DaveVedder says "80's power ballad" ...that's a bit troubling.

[harmless]

I'd feel much better if Mirella came back on and reassured me that Sirens sounds nothing like Oasis

Trust me, it does not sound like Oasis at all. And I have seen Oasis live too. In fact, I have gotten to dislike Oasis recently. I was always more a Blur girl .
It does not sound like Blur either.

groetjes,
Mirella (and I am not typing what evil enimmi next to me just said)

Blur is much better, yeah.

If I would imagine any British band covering Sirens, it is Pulp. Or Damon Albarn solo. What I like about the vignettes is that the parts all sound great as well. I might like all MYM parts separately even more than the whole song.

groetjes,
Mirella

Thanks for your feedback. I'll let Brendan O'Brien know

[Iowaska_Experience]

It's all fun and games until someone fails to catch their breath to breathe.

I forget already - do we know which song that line is from?

Sirens

Great

[harmless]

I have to admit.... I'm actually very nervous about Sirens. As the 4th track, it could really make or break this album. So far everything I have been reading sounds pretty positive and that's without the most intriguing songs yet (MFS, Infallible, Pendulum, YM).

But it's pretty clear from the listening party reviews that Sirens received a very mixed reaction. As in, the ladies all raved about it. The dudes were like... eh? That makes me pretty nervous. It just needs to be better than Just Breathe. That's my target. A song that I don't have to love, but definitely one that I don't want to skip only 4 tracks into the album.

Seriously, do you make a difference based on gender?! Are my words weighed differently than my boyfriends, for instance? That is kinda sad, is not it?...

groetjes,
Mirella

I'm just making an observation about the reviews. It's neither a positive or a negative statement. I found it quite odd how clearly the reactions were split by gender. When I say "that makes me pretty nervous", it's the mixed reactions that make me nervous. Especially for a song that appears to be an anchor right in the middle of the 1st half.

I also tend to be much more hesitant towards PJ's ballads as compared to the more rockin' stuff. So when DaveVedder says "80's power ballad" ...that's a bit troubling.

Every guy loved GnR and wore tights and a perm in the 80s. Well, maybe not the tights.

[Norah]

Really proud of myself for finding this leak without anyone's help.

You know, you could have asked.