Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Farmer John]

Do we know who wrote Getaway?

Ed I think.

That prechorus is very WWS-like.

Yes it is. Maybe why I like it.

Is the pre-chorus the "it's alright" part?

Yeah I think so. It's that angular guitar part, which makes WWS groovy just as it does this one.

That part is probably the biggest hook of any of the songs so far. At least for me.

[jtr101]

Tweet Came a little while ago:

"@Pearl Jam : Coming soon ... #Sirens ... "

Also had a link to the Youtube page, assuming the video is coming the same time?

I'm really not sure I want to subject myself to the video.

Everyone's a critic looking up the jam river

Dime, you don't have to keep doing that. The video could be great but at least allow for the fact it could be terrible.

I was trying to make a funny about us as pj fans criticising everything. Especially in retrospect.
Poor execution or my genius is not understood in its time.

I have no interest in criticizing it. I'd just rather shy away from it in the event it's not really good, or even if it's just bland. Like, I don't need to see the guys on stage faking a performance of it. I'd want it to be something interesting, like one long tracking shot of a lost cat walking in the rain wondering where home is.

Totally. This needs to just be looking out over a rainy street at night.

No Lazers?

[harmless]

Also, I wish Sirens was somehow the first thing ever broadcast via radio. It should be our first attempt at communication with the galaxy.

Yeah this should be playing from Voyager 1.

[harmless]

Tweet Came a little while ago:

"@Pearl Jam : Coming soon ... #Sirens ... "

Also had a link to the Youtube page, assuming the video is coming the same time?

I'm really not sure I want to subject myself to the video.

Everyone's a critic looking up the jam river

Dime, you don't have to keep doing that. The video could be great but at least allow for the fact it could be terrible.

I was trying to make a funny about us as pj fans criticising everything. Especially in retrospect.
Poor execution or my genius is not understood in its time.

I have no interest in criticizing it. I'd just rather shy away from it in the event it's not really good, or even if it's just bland. Like, I don't need to see the guys on stage faking a performance of it. I'd want it to be something interesting, like one long tracking shot of a lost cat walking in the rain wondering where home is.

Totally. This needs to just be looking out over a rainy street at night.

No Lazers?

Ideally not, but we know there's a real siren in it, so...

[jtr101]

Ideally not, but we know there's a real siren in it, so...

This incorporates cats, cities, and lasers....

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Ideally not, but we know there's a real siren in it, so...

This incorporates cats, cities, and lasers....

[LooseGroove927]

It's been confirmed there's a b-side.

It's Better Man (live)

[digster]

Finally heard the song...wasn't what I was expecting. It didn't seem so much power ballad as an overblown version of the kind of soft-country pop that Ryan Adams does pretty often. It also kind of reminded me of R.E.M.'s Around the Sun record; not so much in the instrumentation, but it's like they're taking these really hackneyed songwriting and instrumentation ideas and digging to find a good song in them.

On the first few times, I liked the song, but it's certainly a confusing listen.

Digster, where are you at right now with what you've heard from the record?

Tough question...I'm not really sure yet. I mean, I definitely enjoy listening to it but I usually enjoy PJ records and songs off the bat, and it takes a bunch of listens for it to sink in.

I think there's some stuff here that's interesting, but overall they haven't shaken the issues that I think were there on the last few records. Right now it's around 5 out of 10 to me; nothing horrible, but there's really nothing going on I find particularly interesting with these songs overall. My favorite by a fair margin is probably Mind Your Manners, followed by Getaway.

I'm hoping one of these songs we have yet to hear is a 5-star classic. I feel like it helps when you have at least one really amazing song to make the album worth it, even if the record surrounding it is solid rather than great.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

It's been confirmed there's a b-side.

It's Better Man (live)

[Jaeti]

Ideally not, but we know there's a real siren in it, so...

This incorporates cats, cities, and lasers....

This works for me.

[nomorecrackpipes]

I see we've reached the acceptance stage on Sirens.

Everything is setting up to be the usual PJ record release:
* Curious niche rocker opening single
* Second single a ballad meant for mass appeal
* Album full of some fast ones, some slow ones, it's Pearl Jam

[harmless]

Can I ask: in terms of song tempo, what other categories are there other than "fast", "mid-tempo" or "slow"? Has not terminology kind of painted PJ into a corner?

[hlniv]

So, who's ripping the official high-quality take on this sirius/xm PJ radio spin in a few minutes?

I'm guessing we aren't getting a download today from the 10C

[Jaeti]

I see we've reached the acceptance stage on Sirens.

Everything is setting up to be the usual PJ record release:
* Curious niche rocker opening single
* Second single a ballad meant for mass appeal
* Album full of some fast ones, some slow ones, it's Pearl Jam

Except MYM isn't "curious", it's good, but standard. Sirens, to put it mildly, is the "curious" one. And the listening party reviews have pretty much told us that MYM is by far the fastest on the record, so really it sounds like we're getting medium ones and slow ones.

[dimejinky99]

Lads. Stop taking the piss.

If I were standing beside you at a Pj show and I looked around as the into to better an played, you would each be giving it your whole hearted full throated voice, singing along.
I know it's a skit but betterman is deserving of better than this.

Can't find better fans n all that

[bodysnatcher]

I see we've reached the acceptance stage on Sirens.

Everything is setting up to be the usual PJ record release:
* Curious niche rocker opening single
* Second single a ballad meant for mass appeal
* Album full of some fast ones, some slow ones, it's Pearl Jam

[harmless]

What that a joke too?

[dimejinky99]

What that a joke too?

No. Yes. Totes emosh listening to it loud on the radio for the first time

[McParadigm]

dammit dime, are you in a phone again?

[nomorecrackpipes]

I see we've reached the acceptance stage on Sirens.

Everything is setting up to be the usual PJ record release:
* Curious niche rocker opening single
* Second single a ballad meant for mass appeal
* Album full of some fast ones, some slow ones, it's Pearl Jam

Except MYM isn't "curious", it's good, but standard. Sirens, to put it mildly, is the "curious" one. And the listening party reviews have pretty much told us that MYM is by far the fastest on the record, so really it sounds like we're getting medium ones and slow ones.

I'd say MYM is curious because it's along the lines of PJ upsetting conventional wisdom; to me, this is the song. It clearly stands out on the record.

I was paraphrasing the now iconic Stone quote with the third bullet point.